Petite frame, very active but very hungry and CAN'T LOSE weight!!

How are you determining how much you're eating? Do you weigh (solids) and measure (liquids) everything you put in your mouth?

If you're not losing, you're likely not in a deficit. Do you have any medical reason why your energy needs would be lower?

Feeling fuller comes from finding a macro breakdown and meal schedule that suits you. Some like lots of starchy carbs, some like lots of fat, some like fibre, some like protein (and combinations of these things). I like eating bigger meals less frequently, instead of lots of mini meals - that's personal preference. Mini meals spread through the day make me feel constantly starving.

ellie771 wrote: »

I do log (and weigh) all solids and most liquids (in the form of skim milk in my coffee). The rest of the liquids are water and no calories drinks. No medical reasons except that I am short (5 ft) and don't weigh a lot in the grand scheme of things, which means that I just need much less calories to maintain, and even less to create a deficit.
Using different formulas a 15-20% deficit puts me in ~1400 range, which I just feel is so little to get thru a full day's work and exercise on top of that.

I suspect that i am not creating a deficit (although it feels like it from being in constant hunger), so maybe its the wrong combinations of foods that I am eating that keep me hungry (overall food is healthy with a low cal protein bar as a treat)

Most of my days are 1400-1500 at the moment. I sort of intermittent fast, without being overly regimented. I don't eat breakfast and save calories for later... I find it helps with the hunger.

What is your macro breakdown like?

5’3” and 127 lbs here, so while I have a little more wiggle room, I too have had to increase my daily calorie burn substantially so I can eat more and still lose! I have lost almost 70 lbs (almost at goal) and actually eat more than I did before! I run 40-60 km per week and try to get 20-40 k steps per day (a lot, i know). With this level of activity I can eat 2000 to 2200 calories and still lose weight. Eating 1200 - 1500 calories a day was making me miserable, so I decided to walk...run...hop skip & jump each day and enjoy feeling satiated. I would recommend you lower your weekly loss goal to 1/2 lb as you don't have much to lose and will be able to eat a bit more and still get there...eventually. Good luck!

ellie771 wrote: »

MichSmish wrote: »

I'm 5'1", been maintaining btwn 103-106 lbs since February, and am able to average about 1800 cals/day by upping my calorie burn. Unfortunately that's what us shorties have to do if we want to eat bigger - and I love to eat! Luckily I love to run too and am a distance runner, so I haven't run into a lot of issues yet.

So, maybe try upping your calorie burn to bank more calories to eat?

That's my goal weight actually. How often do you run and how many miles at a time? On a good day I can do 6 but so drained after that can only do 4 or 5 for the rest of the week with rest in btwn. Running is great but it hurts my legs so I need to recover after. Bit then running always makes me ravenous so I can easily cancel out my deficit after all that hard work.

I run about 10 miles/day. I've been distance training for over 10 years, and an athlete my whole life (32 years old now), so it has required conditioning, but it's habitual now, just like brushing my teeth every day.

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

Rozzer84 wrote: »

You need to eat more! I used to be just like you before I started flexible eating. I'm 5'1 and my weight loss plateaus because I was starving my body of the extra fuel it needed to make the workouts in the gym actually produce any results. I started flexible eating and then reverse dieting. I worked my way up from 1200 calories to 2000 calories & look & feel the best I have in my life! If you want some help with this check out this free Facebook support group https://www.facebook.com/groups/OwnYourEatingTribe/ or free resources on http://ownyoureating.com

you dont plateau because your body is starving, if you are in a deficit you will lose weight its all about CICO.your body isnt going to hang onto anything in a deficit.

Yes but lots of anedoctal​ experience of women shows that often reverse dieting or coming out of a cut into maintenance will help them drop a few more pounds and maintains on higher calories.

Luna3386 wrote: »

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

Rozzer84 wrote: »

You need to eat more! I used to be just like you before I started flexible eating. I'm 5'1 and my weight loss plateaus because I was starving my body of the extra fuel it needed to make the workouts in the gym actually produce any results. I started flexible eating and then reverse dieting. I worked my way up from 1200 calories to 2000 calories & look & feel the best I have in my life! If you want some help with this check out this free Facebook support group https://www.facebook.com/groups/OwnYourEatingTribe/ or free resources on http://ownyoureating.com

you dont plateau because your body is starving, if you are in a deficit you will lose weight its all about CICO.your body isnt going to hang onto anything in a deficit.

Yes but lots of anedoctal​ experience of women shows that often reverse dieting or coming out of a cut into maintenance will help them drop a few more pounds and maintains on higher calories.

anedoctal doesnt mean its true,its not based on fact/scientific proof or anything else. I can claim that certain foods helped me to lose weight by burning fat. Doesnt make it true which its not but anyone can claim anything. .if they are maintaining on higher calories then most likely they raised their TDEE. many will say once they became more active that they were able to eat more food/maintain weight on more calories. its because they increased their activity.

Rozzer84 wrote: »

I have lost weight by increasing my food whilst keeping my activity the same. You don't just burn calories by increasing your activity, your body burns more calories to support muscle growth & repair, brain activity & digestion (thermic effect of food). I used to think I had to run marathons & eat 1200 calories a day to achieve my body fat goals or always be in a caloric deficit. That's wrong.
Now I workout 1 hour a day (CrossFit classes not running or endurance activity), 5 days a week. Other than that I'm pretty sedentary but I now eat 2,000 cals a day & am maintaining 103lbs with muscle. In my experience, reverse dieting works.

a lb of muscle only burns an additional 6-10 calories,fat burns about 2-4 calories. which is not much,if you lost because of an increase you were still in a deficit(which is needed to lose weight) even if it was a small one.yes your body burns calories to support your body,.that is what your BMR is( the amount of calories your body needs/burns to function and do all those things).

The only other way to lose fat is to eat at maintenance and lift weights/do resistance training (whats called a recomp),you can build some muscle that way too. oTEF isnt as big of a calorie burner as you may think either,it still comes down to CICO

eating more calories than your TDEE results in weight gain and that means fat too. its simple science. it works that way for everyone.to increase TDEE you increase your activity which is why your TDEE can vary from day to day. no one says eat low calorie and run yourself to death. I would say that if you are eating 2000 calories and maintaining then that is where your maintenance(TDEE) is at. if you eat over that you will gain weight.