Hungrier as you raise calories? Is it a thing?
Gamliela
Posts: 2,468 Member
I'm hungrier as I raise calories to maintenance level.
I'm about 50 calories up from what I was doing most days and sometimes 100. I'm aiming for 1400, my mfp maintenance amount.
Its making me so much hungrier. Seems impossible!
Anybody else experienced MORE hunger as you moved into maintenance and increased calories?
I'm about 50 calories up from what I was doing most days and sometimes 100. I'm aiming for 1400, my mfp maintenance amount.
Its making me so much hungrier. Seems impossible!
Anybody else experienced MORE hunger as you moved into maintenance and increased calories?
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Replies
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1400 is very low, are you tiny?0
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No, its my age and my sedentary level of activity that causes the low calorie amount. I'm nearly 67. I do a lot of house work and I walk, but thats (1400) what mfp gives me as maintenance calories. So I accept it and really I haven't been hungry on the 1200. I weigh around 125.0
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Last week some days I was over 1400 and some days around 1300, I get hungrier on the higher amounts.
I just don't get how that could be, and I'm curious if anyone else has experienced it.0 -
I'm almost 5'7", just under.0
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No, its my age and my sedentary level of activity that causes the low calorie amount. I'm nearly 67. I do a lot of house work and I walk, but thats (1400) what mfp gives me as maintenance calories. So I accept it and really I haven't been hungry on the 1200. I weigh around 125.
So you should log that or increase your activity level. 1400 is based on you being sedentary0 -
Does sedentary mean actually sitting in a chair all day long? I think I read here on the forums that unless you stand a lot or have children and arre running around a lot that sedentary should be ok for people who don't have active jobs or do formal excersize, like in a gym or zumba class or running?
If I did log, how would I log housework. I walk only maybe 20 minutes or half an hour usually.0 -
I noticed that phenomenon, too. I hit my final, final goal recently and now I'm slowly adding calories to find my maintenance sweet spot... but dang it all, I'm hungrier now than I was when I was eating only 1200 calories a day. Its a bit frustrating, but I'm cutting myself some slack and when the hunger pangs start in earnest I'll either drink some hot tea (with cream now!) or have an egg white. I hope it evens out for you, for me, too. I'm also 125 pounds now, too, btw but only 5'3".2
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I'm hungrier as I raise calories to maintenance level.
I'm about 50 calories up from what I was doing most days and sometimes 100. I'm aiming for 1400, my mfp maintenance amount.
Its making me so much hungrier. Seems impossible!
Anybody else experienced MORE hunger as you moved into maintenance and increased calories?
yes1 -
I'm hungrier as I raise calories to maintenance level.
I'm about 50 calories up from what I was doing most days and sometimes 100. I'm aiming for 1400, my mfp maintenance amount.
Its making me so much hungrier. Seems impossible!
Anybody else experienced MORE hunger as you moved into maintenance and increased calories?
Yes...it is a hormonal response.5 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »I'm hungrier as I raise calories to maintenance level.
I'm about 50 calories up from what I was doing most days and sometimes 100. I'm aiming for 1400, my mfp maintenance amount.
Its making me so much hungrier. Seems impossible!
Anybody else experienced MORE hunger as you moved into maintenance and increased calories?
Yes...it is a hormonal response.
Would you mind expounding upon this further? What is the specific cause of this hormonal response? Is it something that passes with time? Is there any way to mitigate it?
I, too, am having a heck of a time with hunger since I've reached my goal weight range.
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Ah, thanks all of you! At least its not just some wierd phenomena or some mistake I made during this process of losing and now trying to maintain. Thanks for the honesty, I don't recall much discussion about it.
A hormonal response to more food.
Does it ease off, or ...... ?1 -
Ah, thanks all of you! At least its not just some wierd phenomena or some mistake I made during this process of losing and now trying to maintain. Thanks for the honesty, I don't recall much discussion about it.
A hormonal response to more food.
Does it ease off, or ...... ?
Hormones are responsible for hunger cues...when we cut calories and lose weight, we ultimately jack around with those hormones...that's why it's fairly typical to be hungry in the beginning but then for appetite to be suppressed...and it's one of the reasons anorexics "living" off of a handful of calories can claim to not be hungry. I don't know all of the ins and outs, but essentially hormones are largely responsible for the slowing adaptation of the metabolism...
When you increase calories, you essentially "reset" and normalize your hormones...metabolism increases and many people find that they can maintain on more calories than they thought...with increased metabolism comes increased hunger...essentially you are resetting everything...and yes, it subsides.
When I was losing I figured my maintenance would probably be around 2500 calories since I was losing so slowly on about 2200...as I increased my calories my hunger went up and I ate in response and worried quite a bit because I was way hungrier than 2500 calories...I ended up around 3,000 to maintain now for over 3.5 years.8 -
Thats wonderful to read. There have been a few mfp members who have found their maintenance calories exceeded what they expected I believe.
I can understand about the hormones, especially since more fat is the first thing I introduced to increase calories.
Now on to more fruit, looking forward to a few more carbs too.
I'll proceed with the calorie adds with more confidence now.
Thanks again, very much appreciated.
Less stress and worry make maintenance beginners more successful I'm sure.2 -
It was for me because I started eating more carbs and that makes me hungry. Protein and fat are your friends!3
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It was for me because I started eating more carbs and that makes me hungry. Protein and fat are your friends!
Yeah, I was eating below 100 carbs most of the time while losing weight, so its probably going to be interesting if I add any more. Looking at sweet potatoes and oatmeal, nothing too wild until I feel more confident I can maintain the weight lost.
Love me nut butter as well as some olive oil on the veg. It takes the monotony out of ordinary food.
Fruit like grapes seem to be counter productive to crushing hunger, much as I enjoy them.
I really don't want to go back to how I was last year at this time, ever.
Thanks for the support!
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I know I am definitely hungrier as I try to move closer to maintenance.0
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Absolutely yes. I've been upping calories steadily to ease into maintenance and am way hungrier than I was at 1400 cals. No idea why. Lately, I've added some filling snacks that help like a small microwaved sweet potato, cottage cheese, apples + decaf coffee.
At first I tried a handful of nuts or bit of peanut butter, but couldn't keep serving sizes under control. Glad I'm not the only one!3 -
2.5 years ago I was 2 lbs from my goal and doing great. Then I went on vacations and had to increase my calories. I haven't lost a pound since because I'm just too hungry. I didn't change my diet one bit after coming back and just couldn't stick to it.
That's why I never understand people who recommend eating at maintenance for a week. It just made things so much worse for me.5 -
I had the same thing happen!!1
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Yes for me too. I am not at maintenance yet but while on a long trip outside the country last year, my goal was to maintain during the 4 months. I was hungry if I ate more carbs. Less so on other things. My mother was tiny and maintained her appropriate 120 lbs all her life by allowing a 3 lb window. If she increased 3 lbs or more, then she cut back for a few days until it was down again. Rinse and repeat. I think successful maintenance should be a range and the taller or more active, the wider the range. But maybe others are more expert here.3
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This is 100% a thing.4
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Does sedentary mean actually sitting in a chair all day long? I think I read here on the forums that unless you stand a lot or have children and arre running around a lot that sedentary should be ok for people who don't have active jobs or do formal excersize, like in a gym or zumba class or running?
If I did log, how would I log housework. I walk only maybe 20 minutes or half an hour usually.
20-30 minutes walking plus housework is likely not sedentary. I have mine set to lightly active and I have a Fitbit (with negative calories on). I usually start earning extra calories just from normal stuff around the house (small bits of housework, laundry, fixing meals) even before I go and take a walk. My 30-40 minute walk will give me 200-300 extra calories. BTW I am 5'7" and 50yo F.
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I'm so please to find that other people have experienced this too - I thought it was just me. How long does it take to subside though? I've been maintaining since the end of June, and have been consistently increasing my calories since then - but the more I eat, the hungrier I seem to get. I'm way hungrier than when I was when I was eating less - still!2
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born_of_fire74 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »I'm hungrier as I raise calories to maintenance level.
I'm about 50 calories up from what I was doing most days and sometimes 100. I'm aiming for 1400, my mfp maintenance amount.
Its making me so much hungrier. Seems impossible!
Anybody else experienced MORE hunger as you moved into maintenance and increased calories?
Yes...it is a hormonal response.
Would you mind expounding upon this further? What is the specific cause of this hormonal response? Is it something that passes with time? Is there any way to mitigate it?
I, too, am having a heck of a time with hunger since I've reached my goal weight range.
I can! This is generally a result of the hormone leptin. We have two hormones which influence our hunger. We have leptin and we have ghrelin.
Ghrelin is produced in the stomach when the stomach is NOT being stretched. When the stomach is stretched this hormone is lowered on a curve until the stomach is empty again. Ghrelin is the hormone which signals to eat right then and now.
Fun fact, ghrelin is lowered when the stomach is stretched regardless of the calorie density of the foods you eat (I.E. by volume instead of density)
Leptin is produced by our adipose (fat) cells and it's an appetite suppressant. The way it works is that the more fat cells you have the more leptin is produced and the less hungry you should be. This is a way of self-regulating weight.
So, to re-cap....
Ghrelin (which causes hunger) is high when the stomach is empty. Nature's way of letting us know we need to eat.
Leptin (which suppresses hunger) is high when we have too much body fat. Nature's way of helping us burn off fat and maintain a health body weight.
Nowaday's with the amount of people who are obese and the duration for which they are obese there are people developing leptin resistance. This is a topic for another day though.
Essentially.... when you now have less body fat you have less leptin suppressing your appetite. This is just nature's way of trying to reach homeostasis. As you maintain this weight over time everything should adapt over-time. For now you can try and eat low-calorie but high-volume foods (think lots of greens and veggies).
Hope this helps!
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Thanks Rainbowbow1
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Does sedentary mean actually sitting in a chair all day long? I think I read here on the forums that unless you stand a lot or have children and arre running around a lot that sedentary should be ok for people who don't have active jobs or do formal excersize, like in a gym or zumba class or running?
If I did log, how would I log housework. I walk only maybe 20 minutes or half an hour usually.
20-30 minutes walking plus housework is likely not sedentary. I have mine set to lightly active and I have a Fitbit (with negative calories on). I usually start earning extra calories just from normal stuff around the house (small bits of housework, laundry, fixing meals) even before I go and take a walk. My 30-40 minute walk will give me 200-300 extra calories. BTW I am 5'7" and 50yo F.
Hey thanks! I'm just starting at logging my walks now. It already seems better in that I have more energy eating back most of the calories.
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rainbowbow wrote: »born_of_fire74 wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »I'm hungrier as I raise calories to maintenance level.
I'm about 50 calories up from what I was doing most days and sometimes 100. I'm aiming for 1400, my mfp maintenance amount.
Its making me so much hungrier. Seems impossible!
Anybody else experienced MORE hunger as you moved into maintenance and increased calories?
Yes...it is a hormonal response.
Would you mind expounding upon this further? What is the specific cause of this hormonal response? Is it something that passes with time? Is there any way to mitigate it?
I, too, am having a heck of a time with hunger since I've reached my goal weight range.
I can! This is generally a result of the hormone leptin. We have two hormones which influence our hunger. We have leptin and we have ghrelin.
Ghrelin is produced in the stomach when the stomach is NOT being stretched. When the stomach is stretched this hormone is lowered on a curve until the stomach is empty again. Ghrelin is the hormone which signals to eat right then and now.
Fun fact, ghrelin is lowered when the stomach is stretched regardless of the calorie density of the foods you eat (I.E. by volume instead of density)
Leptin is produced by our adipose (fat) cells and it's an appetite suppressant. The way it works is that the more fat cells you have the more leptin is produced and the less hungry you should be. This is a way of self-regulating weight.
So, to re-cap....
Ghrelin (which causes hunger) is high when the stomach is empty. Nature's way of letting us know we need to eat.
Leptin (which suppresses hunger) is high when we have too much body fat. Nature's way of helping us burn off fat and maintain a health body weight.
Nowaday's with the amount of people who are obese and the duration for which they are obese there are people developing leptin resistance. This is a topic for another day though.
Essentially.... when you now have less body fat you have less leptin suppressing your appetite. This is just nature's way of trying to reach homeostasis. As you maintain this weight over time everything should adapt over-time. For now you can try and eat low-calorie but high-volume foods (think lots of greens and veggies).
Hope this helps!
That's really informative and helps explain hunger signals and what hormones do to regulate them.
Relieved to read that over time there will be an adaptation!
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I used to eat around 1500 comfortably.. slowly started increasing to 2000. I have now dropped to 1800 temporarily and struggle is real to stay below that.2
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I used to eat around 1500 comfortably.. slowly started increasing to 2000. I have now dropped to 1800 temporarily and struggle is real to stay below that.
lol yeah. i had the same thing going from 1200 to around 1600 as 'maintenance'. once the first sensation of yeehah-i'm-rich wore off, it quickly turned into '1600? are you kidding me?'
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Yep. I ran a bulk last winter and was pissed that not only do I gain weight on as little as 2000 calories, I was STILL hungry. FML3
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