Increased hunger on rest days

Have you considered reducing how many pounds you want to lose so you can eat more food? What's your loss rate set to right now?

I notice I'm pretty hungry on Mondays which follow my long-run Sundays. I think it's because I burn so many calories on that run (usually around 1,300) that my body is still trying to make up for it even the next day. Maybe try for more protein and/or fiber to help you feel fuller longer. Keep plenty of veggies on hand. Drink a little extra water. But either way, hang in there, you are on the right track.

I usually do a song and dance with fluffy words but on this one...

You are hungry because you aren't eating enough. 1350 is nowhere near the recommended intake for you. It's reconfirmed by simply taking your total cals by week, instead of more cals on exercise days splitting your total by day and eating those cals everyday (same weekly total). You would be hungry every day. This is your body telling you that.

Your long term skin tone and metabolism will thank you if you slow down.

gabriellax92 wrote: »

xchocolategirl wrote: »

Have you considered reducing how many pounds you want to lose so you can eat more food? What's your loss rate set to right now?

2 pounds a week. I'm 5'3 and 249 pounds so I really don't want to increase calories. I lost 10 pounds over the past 6 weeks, I want to keep it up.

That doesn't sound right when you click on the goals option and list that you want to lose 2 pounds what's the calorie number that MyFitnessPal lists?
I'm also 5'3 and I'm 153 pounds though I'm aiming to lose 0.5 pounds a week and my calorie intake is at 1400 calories. If I eat to lose 2 pounds it's at 1200 calorie which I have no desire to eat at.

Try inputting your information into MyFitnessPal and see what number agree I agree with the other user that number seems awfully low for your height and weight. If you want to have a better toned body eating more will help with that. Fast weight loss isn't always that great you could end up with loose skin since you could just end up losing muscle which no one wants to loses muscle is what gives you more tight skin.

My guess based on my experience: You're hungry on rest days because your metabolism is still accelerated from working out. My experience is elevated metabolism lasts about 24 hours from my last workout. I have trouble not exceeding daily calories on such days, but try to put more fiber and water in my diet to help feel more full.

Add me!

I found my hunger level wasn't really less on lower activity days (I might be hungry from a long run the day after), so I flexed calories throughout the week and then switched to the TDEE method. You might want to look into that.

If TDEE method isn't familiar to you, it's where you put in exercise over a week to get an estimated daily TDEE that doesn't change and then cut off a percentage or set amount. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

I'm a long distance runner and I do a long run (2 hours+) usually in the evenings on Sunday. I find it impossible to eat back my calories that night (usually about 1300-1500). I usually just have a protein shake with a banana added or if someone in my house has cooked for me I usually forced myself to eat the carbs and some of the protein. But it usually ends up being about a 300 calorie meal. In the morning when I wake up I am absolutely starving and have a 700 calorie breakfast (usually involving a couple eggs or a turkey sausage patty). Then I eat as I usually would for the rest of the day (two more 400 calorie meals and the milk in my coffee in 'snacks') which usually only puts me slightly above my calorie count for the day. I find this works the best for me. I don't see the point in forcing myself to eat when my body is saying no or starving myself when my body is saying gimme gimme gimme! I'm telling you all this to give you an idea of how I deal with this problem but also to hear from others if this is suitable for weight loss or not. I know trying to lose weight should ideally be saved for a runners 'off' season but it really is extra weight im trying to lose and so long as I stick closely to my macros I think the weight loss is helping my ability to train harder. I'm pretty relaxed weighing myself only every couple of weeks and keeping in mind I'm gaining muscle but I am seeing atleast a 3 pound weight loss every couple weeks.

I find that exercise tends to reduce my hunger. I agree tho that you are probably used to higher intake on exercise days as well.

Theo166 wrote: »

xchocolategirl wrote: »

gabriellax92 wrote: »

xchocolategirl wrote: »

Have you considered reducing how many pounds you want to lose so you can eat more food? What's your loss rate set to right now?

2 pounds a week. I'm 5'3 and 249 pounds so I really don't want to increase calories. I lost 10 pounds over the past 6 weeks, I want to keep it up.

That doesn't sound right when you click on the goals option and list that you want to lose 2 pounds what's the calorie number that MyFitnessPal lists?
I'm also 5'3 and I'm 153 pounds though I'm aiming to lose 0.5 pounds a week and my calorie intake is at 1400 calories. If I eat to lose 2 pounds it's at 1200 calorie which I have no desire to eat at.

Try inputting your information into MyFitnessPal and see what number agree I agree with the other user that number seems awfully low for your height and weight. If you want to have a better toned body eating more will help with that. Fast weight loss isn't always that great you could end up with loose skin since you could just end up losing muscle which no one wants to loses muscle is what gives you more tight skin.

@xchocolategirl MFP isn't actually giving you a plan to lose 2lbs, you would get the same calorie goal if you input 1lb a week. You've hit their hard limit of 1200 calories that they don't go below regardless of your size and intent.

Right, at 5'3 at 249, plus sedentary, 1350 seems about right for 2 lbs. When I started MFP I was 200 and 5'3 (and older than OP) and got 1200 with the estimate it would be a loss of about 1.8 lb/week. I ate 1250 net and lost more, since I was not sedentary -- most people are probably at least lightly active, or at least I was.