Do you feel still hungry?

mskarthy4
mskarthy4 Posts: 4 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Just started to lose weight to be healthy. My intake for calories daily is 1200. Now question is it normal to fell hungry at night? I just keep drinking water to make the hunger go away. I also try to sleep so I can forget it. Do you guys feel hungry too?

Replies

  • sophie7591
    sophie7591 Posts: 78 Member
    MFP gives me 1390 calories per day but I usually come in a little under. Some days I'm hungry at night but I'll just have some fruit. Like strawberries. Or an apple and peanut butter. It's gotten better though. Going on 2 months.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited June 2017
    Sometimes, but I always leave room for a late night snack.

    That said, I usually feel satisfied. While my net is currently at 1200, after adjustments to account for exercise and above sedentary daily activity I usually eat 1800-2000 calories a day. My current average is 19xx a day with 0.65 lbs per week loss (I'm on a couple vanity lbs right now). Next week I will be eating to maintain since I'm having surgery Monday afternoon and will work on a deficit again after recovery.
  • janae7613
    janae7613 Posts: 6 Member
    I like to have a protein shake 30g or clear protein drink 20g to help keep me satisfied. If that doesn't work I snack on olives or pickles ( just cuz I like them and they are low calorie)
  • WendyLeigh1119
    WendyLeigh1119 Posts: 495 Member
    edited June 2017
    No, but I exercise about 3 hours daily, so even on days where I do slower, lower burn type exercises....I feel all amped up and full of water afterward. I'm a "2 meals per day" person, though. Have never had as morning or daytime appetite at all, so I save mostly all of my calories for 6pm to midnight because eating other times of the day makes me feel gross/sluggish.

    Only since I started dieting and exercising in March did I train myself to gag down breakfast. I think it helps that many of my workouts are back to back....then a "down" hour....then more working out. Maybe try exercising in "spurts".

    On days I don't exercise and can only have 1200 calories ...I live on eggs and small amounts of avocados, berries, and usually a Tuna Steak with mango salsa or similar for dinner. Breakfast & Dinner only works for my energy and hunger levels best. And drinking over 200 ounces of water daily (I'm 150 lbs).

    Try eating pickles....(No calories)....then drink somed water....then wait. If 15 minutes passes and you're still hungry, your mind will be in a better place to have a reasonable snack.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    At night is when I feel the least hungry. I save calories for the evening and eat a high volume dinner at 7:30 and a high volume dessert at 9. Go to bed with a nice fully tummy.

    I am pretty hungry right before I eat lunch and right after work. Luckily I save for a snack as well.
  • spdaphne
    spdaphne Posts: 262 Member
    edited June 2017
    If I eat dinner too early, then yes, I'm hungry. Ideally, eat some berries, yogurt, ... something small as you shouldn't go to bed with your stomach trying to digest still.

    Also depends what I'm eating throughout the day. What are you eating on a typical day? You may need to balance your meals more so you're not hungry at night.
  • Sheisinlove109
    Sheisinlove109 Posts: 516 Member
    Op...is it possible you have your calories too low?

    I agree with others...save some calories for night and find low calorie ones so you can eat more :)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Hunger has never been a real issue for me - of course I get hungry, but that is normal, and good. When you lose weight, your body "eats" from your fat stores in addition to what you take in through your mouth each day, so, as long as you aren't eating too little, you're not going to be more hungry. But the awareness of having to restrict food intake can make you think about food more, and then about hunger, and think that you are more hungry.

    Make sure you have set your calories right, for your height, weight and weight loss rate (1% of your body weight per week is a good goal), and that you eat a balanced diet with lots of variety and fresh, whole foods. Getting enough sleep and rest, not just work and exercise, is important too.
  • WanderingRivers
    WanderingRivers Posts: 612 Member
    I do feel hungry at times after I eat my 1K for the day but I remind myself that I have eaten my calories for the day and I need to suck it the heck up. Weight loss comes by eating way less and I can't eat every time I get the least bit peckish.
  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
    My hunger doesn't really go away until I'm at about 1800 calories. At 1200, yes, I was starving when I went to bed and woke up.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 661 Member
    Some hunger is expected. You are losing weight after all. If after your water, or some hot tea, you still feel hungry then have a small snack for 100 calories or less. I try to budget an after dinner snack for this reason, even though dinner is already my biggest meal.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    Yes sometimes. I like to save more calories for the evening... I don't like being hungry before I go to bed. So I'm usually really hungry in the morning before lunch and again in the afternoon around 3-4 up until I eat dinner.
  • WanderingRivers
    WanderingRivers Posts: 612 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I do feel hungry at times after I eat my 1K for the day but I remind myself that I have eaten my calories for the day and I need to suck it the heck up. Weight loss comes by eating way less and I can't eat every time I get the least bit peckish.

    You don't have to suffer this much to lose weight. You want to eat less but not way less... You want it to be sustainable. That is a very low amount of calories.. you want to make sure you are fueling yourself adequately and receiving enough nutrients for your body.

    I don't feel weak or anything by eating that much. I'd upped my goals to lose 2lbs a week so it makes sense to me to have that extra bit of deficit in order to make sure I accomplish my goals. :)

    I'm still fat so there's no danger of me falling over from starvation.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I do feel hungry at times after I eat my 1K for the day but I remind myself that I have eaten my calories for the day and I need to suck it the heck up. Weight loss comes by eating way less and I can't eat every time I get the least bit peckish.

    You don't have to suffer this much to lose weight. You want to eat less but not way less... You want it to be sustainable. That is a very low amount of calories.. you want to make sure you are fueling yourself adequately and receiving enough nutrients for your body.

    I don't feel weak or anything by eating that much. I'd upped my goals to lose 2lbs a week so it makes sense to me to have that extra bit of deficit in order to make sure I accomplish my goals. :)

    I'm still fat so there's no danger of me falling over from starvation.

    I thin the concern is less about "starvation" and more about your body cannibalizing muscle instead of fat. I saw on another thread (I'll try to find it) a great explanation for why too low calories is dangerous, even if you FEEL fine. The summary is that the body can only effectively burn so much fat per pound, so if your intake is too low, you don't actually burn more fat. You burn the body's max amount of fat and then the body starts attacking lean muscle tissue, including vital organs. So, you could still have a decent amount of body fat, but if you're consistently taking in 1k calories a day (especially if you are also adding in exercise), you're losing muscle in order to get the scale to go down, creating more long term problems - not to mention setting yourself up to have a MUCH harder time once you get to maintenance.

    TL;DR: Weight Loss SHOULD = Fat Loss. Too few calories makes weight loss = Fat + Muscle Loss = dangerous.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    mskarthy4 wrote: »
    Just started to lose weight to be healthy. My intake for calories daily is 1200. Now question is it normal to fell hungry at night? I just keep drinking water to make the hunger go away. I also try to sleep so I can forget it. Do you guys feel hungry too?

    1200 is really too little for most women unless they are very very short. How tall are you, how much weight do you want to lose total, and what's your weekly weight loss goal?

    The Biggest Loser gave me distorted expectations of how much weight I should lose per week.
  • WanderingRivers
    WanderingRivers Posts: 612 Member
    DamieBird wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I do feel hungry at times after I eat my 1K for the day but I remind myself that I have eaten my calories for the day and I need to suck it the heck up. Weight loss comes by eating way less and I can't eat every time I get the least bit peckish.

    You don't have to suffer this much to lose weight. You want to eat less but not way less... You want it to be sustainable. That is a very low amount of calories.. you want to make sure you are fueling yourself adequately and receiving enough nutrients for your body.

    I don't feel weak or anything by eating that much. I'd upped my goals to lose 2lbs a week so it makes sense to me to have that extra bit of deficit in order to make sure I accomplish my goals. :)

    I'm still fat so there's no danger of me falling over from starvation.

    I thin the concern is less about "starvation" and more about your body cannibalizing muscle instead of fat. I saw on another thread (I'll try to find it) a great explanation for why too low calories is dangerous, even if you FEEL fine. The summary is that the body can only effectively burn so much fat per pound, so if your intake is too low, you don't actually burn more fat. You burn the body's max amount of fat and then the body starts attacking lean muscle tissue, including vital organs. So, you could still have a decent amount of body fat, but if you're consistently taking in 1k calories a day (especially if you are also adding in exercise), you're losing muscle in order to get the scale to go down, creating more long term problems - not to mention setting yourself up to have a MUCH harder time once you get to maintenance.

    TL;DR: Weight Loss SHOULD = Fat Loss. Too few calories makes weight loss = Fat + Muscle Loss = dangerous.

    To be fair, I just want to be skinny and I'm working to get there. If I die earlier from those efforts of cutting calories, meh, so be it. We're all gonna kick it someday, just a matter of when and how.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
    DamieBird wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I do feel hungry at times after I eat my 1K for the day but I remind myself that I have eaten my calories for the day and I need to suck it the heck up. Weight loss comes by eating way less and I can't eat every time I get the least bit peckish.

    You don't have to suffer this much to lose weight. You want to eat less but not way less... You want it to be sustainable. That is a very low amount of calories.. you want to make sure you are fueling yourself adequately and receiving enough nutrients for your body.

    I don't feel weak or anything by eating that much. I'd upped my goals to lose 2lbs a week so it makes sense to me to have that extra bit of deficit in order to make sure I accomplish my goals. :)

    I'm still fat so there's no danger of me falling over from starvation.

    I thin the concern is less about "starvation" and more about your body cannibalizing muscle instead of fat. I saw on another thread (I'll try to find it) a great explanation for why too low calories is dangerous, even if you FEEL fine. The summary is that the body can only effectively burn so much fat per pound, so if your intake is too low, you don't actually burn more fat. You burn the body's max amount of fat and then the body starts attacking lean muscle tissue, including vital organs. So, you could still have a decent amount of body fat, but if you're consistently taking in 1k calories a day (especially if you are also adding in exercise), you're losing muscle in order to get the scale to go down, creating more long term problems - not to mention setting yourself up to have a MUCH harder time once you get to maintenance.

    TL;DR: Weight Loss SHOULD = Fat Loss. Too few calories makes weight loss = Fat + Muscle Loss = dangerous.

    To be fair, I just want to be skinny and I'm working to get there. If I die earlier from those efforts of cutting calories, meh, so be it. We're all gonna kick it someday, just a matter of when and how.

    I sincerely hope that you get to enjoy being skinny before you suffer the negative consequences. I'm not gonna lecture (who am I to talk, right?!) but as food for thought, keep in mind that a more moderate deficit will increase your chances of success, so if you REALLY want to just be skinny you may want to consider upping to 12k or 13k and taking a little longer to get to goal, but being far happier once you get there. Don't discount calorie math - an extra 200 calories a day (bringing you much closer to healthy and HAPPY weight loss - makes less than a 2 pound monthly difference on the scale (1.7).
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    I am especially hungry at night and have trouble sleeping on an empty stomach, so I time my meals and calories to make sure I have a pre bed snack every night. It definitely gets better/more routine over time. Some people claim they don't get hungry while losing weight, but I know I do, and have for a long time.

    You do need to eat more than 1k calories though. You can't be surprised you're hungry if you're *literally* starving yourself.
  • WanderingRivers
    WanderingRivers Posts: 612 Member
    DamieBird wrote: »
    DamieBird wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I do feel hungry at times after I eat my 1K for the day but I remind myself that I have eaten my calories for the day and I need to suck it the heck up. Weight loss comes by eating way less and I can't eat every time I get the least bit peckish.

    You don't have to suffer this much to lose weight. You want to eat less but not way less... You want it to be sustainable. That is a very low amount of calories.. you want to make sure you are fueling yourself adequately and receiving enough nutrients for your body.

    I don't feel weak or anything by eating that much. I'd upped my goals to lose 2lbs a week so it makes sense to me to have that extra bit of deficit in order to make sure I accomplish my goals. :)

    I'm still fat so there's no danger of me falling over from starvation.

    I thin the concern is less about "starvation" and more about your body cannibalizing muscle instead of fat. I saw on another thread (I'll try to find it) a great explanation for why too low calories is dangerous, even if you FEEL fine. The summary is that the body can only effectively burn so much fat per pound, so if your intake is too low, you don't actually burn more fat. You burn the body's max amount of fat and then the body starts attacking lean muscle tissue, including vital organs. So, you could still have a decent amount of body fat, but if you're consistently taking in 1k calories a day (especially if you are also adding in exercise), you're losing muscle in order to get the scale to go down, creating more long term problems - not to mention setting yourself up to have a MUCH harder time once you get to maintenance.

    TL;DR: Weight Loss SHOULD = Fat Loss. Too few calories makes weight loss = Fat + Muscle Loss = dangerous.

    To be fair, I just want to be skinny and I'm working to get there. If I die earlier from those efforts of cutting calories, meh, so be it. We're all gonna kick it someday, just a matter of when and how.

    I sincerely hope that you get to enjoy being skinny before you suffer the negative consequences. I'm not gonna lecture (who am I to talk, right?!) but as food for thought, keep in mind that a more moderate deficit will increase your chances of success, so if you REALLY want to just be skinny you may want to consider upping to 12k or 13k and taking a little longer to get to goal, but being far happier once you get there. Don't discount calorie math - an extra 200 calories a day (bringing you much closer to healthy and HAPPY weight loss - makes less than a 2 pound monthly difference on the scale (1.7).

    I'm not happy now so I know being skinny won't make me happy but it will help my knee (ACL attached on only one end and arthritis) and I usually average a 400 calorie deficit since I don't eat back my exercise calories.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
    DamieBird wrote: »
    DamieBird wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I do feel hungry at times after I eat my 1K for the day but I remind myself that I have eaten my calories for the day and I need to suck it the heck up. Weight loss comes by eating way less and I can't eat every time I get the least bit peckish.

    You don't have to suffer this much to lose weight. You want to eat less but not way less... You want it to be sustainable. That is a very low amount of calories.. you want to make sure you are fueling yourself adequately and receiving enough nutrients for your body.

    I don't feel weak or anything by eating that much. I'd upped my goals to lose 2lbs a week so it makes sense to me to have that extra bit of deficit in order to make sure I accomplish my goals. :)

    I'm still fat so there's no danger of me falling over from starvation.

    I thin the concern is less about "starvation" and more about your body cannibalizing muscle instead of fat. I saw on another thread (I'll try to find it) a great explanation for why too low calories is dangerous, even if you FEEL fine. The summary is that the body can only effectively burn so much fat per pound, so if your intake is too low, you don't actually burn more fat. You burn the body's max amount of fat and then the body starts attacking lean muscle tissue, including vital organs. So, you could still have a decent amount of body fat, but if you're consistently taking in 1k calories a day (especially if you are also adding in exercise), you're losing muscle in order to get the scale to go down, creating more long term problems - not to mention setting yourself up to have a MUCH harder time once you get to maintenance.

    TL;DR: Weight Loss SHOULD = Fat Loss. Too few calories makes weight loss = Fat + Muscle Loss = dangerous.

    To be fair, I just want to be skinny and I'm working to get there. If I die earlier from those efforts of cutting calories, meh, so be it. We're all gonna kick it someday, just a matter of when and how.

    I sincerely hope that you get to enjoy being skinny before you suffer the negative consequences. I'm not gonna lecture (who am I to talk, right?!) but as food for thought, keep in mind that a more moderate deficit will increase your chances of success, so if you REALLY want to just be skinny you may want to consider upping to 12k or 13k and taking a little longer to get to goal, but being far happier once you get there. Don't discount calorie math - an extra 200 calories a day (bringing you much closer to healthy and HAPPY weight loss - makes less than a 2 pound monthly difference on the scale (1.7).

    I'm not happy now so I know being skinny won't make me happy but it will help my knee (ACL attached on only one end and arthritis) and I usually average a 400 calorie deficit since I don't eat back my exercise calories.

    Oh, man, I can sympathize with the knee issues!! Mine aren't exactly the same, but most of the cartilage and half of my medial meniscus is gone in my left knee, plus I've had a full lateral meniscus transplant in the same knee plus an MPFL replacement. Losing weight will definitely make it feel better! I noticed the constant everyday pain diminishing after about 10 pounds lost and the "always" swelling going down after about 15. Now, it mostly just bothers me (pain-wise) when I run, although I still feel a good amount of instability so I'm super paranoid and careful about what activities I do (nothing that requires lateral or complex squatting movements). My knee is part of the reason why I gained - I didn't alter my eating during most of recovery and pain meds tend to make me eat MORE, so after 5 surgeries worth, the habits were awful + the only exercise I was getting was rehab, which isn't exactly a calorie scorcher.

    I sincerely hope that you start to feel the benefits of less weight on your knees soon (even if I think you should have an extra snack ;) ). It makes a world of difference.

    Are you sure you're counting correctly, though? If you don't eat your exercise cals, then your deficit should be based on your TDEE. Is it really only 1400?!
    https://tdeecalculator.net/
  • WanderingRivers
    WanderingRivers Posts: 612 Member
    DamieBird wrote: »
    DamieBird wrote: »
    DamieBird wrote: »
    sardelsa wrote: »
    I do feel hungry at times after I eat my 1K for the day but I remind myself that I have eaten my calories for the day and I need to suck it the heck up. Weight loss comes by eating way less and I can't eat every time I get the least bit peckish.

    You don't have to suffer this much to lose weight. You want to eat less but not way less... You want it to be sustainable. That is a very low amount of calories.. you want to make sure you are fueling yourself adequately and receiving enough nutrients for your body.

    I don't feel weak or anything by eating that much. I'd upped my goals to lose 2lbs a week so it makes sense to me to have that extra bit of deficit in order to make sure I accomplish my goals. :)

    I'm still fat so there's no danger of me falling over from starvation.

    I thin the concern is less about "starvation" and more about your body cannibalizing muscle instead of fat. I saw on another thread (I'll try to find it) a great explanation for why too low calories is dangerous, even if you FEEL fine. The summary is that the body can only effectively burn so much fat per pound, so if your intake is too low, you don't actually burn more fat. You burn the body's max amount of fat and then the body starts attacking lean muscle tissue, including vital organs. So, you could still have a decent amount of body fat, but if you're consistently taking in 1k calories a day (especially if you are also adding in exercise), you're losing muscle in order to get the scale to go down, creating more long term problems - not to mention setting yourself up to have a MUCH harder time once you get to maintenance.

    TL;DR: Weight Loss SHOULD = Fat Loss. Too few calories makes weight loss = Fat + Muscle Loss = dangerous.

    To be fair, I just want to be skinny and I'm working to get there. If I die earlier from those efforts of cutting calories, meh, so be it. We're all gonna kick it someday, just a matter of when and how.

    I sincerely hope that you get to enjoy being skinny before you suffer the negative consequences. I'm not gonna lecture (who am I to talk, right?!) but as food for thought, keep in mind that a more moderate deficit will increase your chances of success, so if you REALLY want to just be skinny you may want to consider upping to 12k or 13k and taking a little longer to get to goal, but being far happier once you get there. Don't discount calorie math - an extra 200 calories a day (bringing you much closer to healthy and HAPPY weight loss - makes less than a 2 pound monthly difference on the scale (1.7).

    I'm not happy now so I know being skinny won't make me happy but it will help my knee (ACL attached on only one end and arthritis) and I usually average a 400 calorie deficit since I don't eat back my exercise calories.

    Oh, man, I can sympathize with the knee issues!! Mine aren't exactly the same, but most of the cartilage and half of my medial meniscus is gone in my left knee, plus I've had a full lateral meniscus transplant in the same knee plus an MPFL replacement. Losing weight will definitely make it feel better! I noticed the constant everyday pain diminishing after about 10 pounds lost and the "always" swelling going down after about 15. Now, it mostly just bothers me (pain-wise) when I run, although I still feel a good amount of instability so I'm super paranoid and careful about what activities I do (nothing that requires lateral or complex squatting movements). My knee is part of the reason why I gained - I didn't alter my eating during most of recovery and pain meds tend to make me eat MORE, so after 5 surgeries worth, the habits were awful + the only exercise I was getting was rehab, which isn't exactly a calorie scorcher.

    I sincerely hope that you start to feel the benefits of less weight on your knees soon (even if I think you should have an extra snack ;) ). It makes a world of difference.

    Are you sure you're counting correctly, though? If you don't eat your exercise cals, then your deficit should be based on your TDEE. Is it really only 1400?!
    https://tdeecalculator.net/

    Yep. I weigh my food, don't eat breakfast as a general rule, and use my lunch break to walk 2 miles a day.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    A thought that may or may not be relevant:

    I needed to train my body to realize that being hungry and being bored aren't the same thing.

    I get physical symptoms when hungry - stomach rumbles and I get a slightly spacey feeling not dizzy just a feeling like my body just turned on the afterburners.

    When I'm bored, no physical symptoms. I just wanted something to do so eating was it.
  • vivelajackie
    vivelajackie Posts: 321 Member
    At first yes. I'd spent my life eating until I was miserable, waiting half an hour, and then finding snacks. I didn't get an honest opportunity to feel actual hunger UNTIL I had enough of being uncomfortable in my body and incredibly unhealthy (but boy did I ever like to think I was healthy for my weight!).

    Now? On my days off I don't eat until noon to 2pm and that's light so I can enjoy myself a large dinner within my calories. What are your stats? You're giving yourself absolutely no room to cut by taking the agressive route, meaning that you have to be incredibly accurate with calories. I saw you had a knee issue... So you'll have to keep going at what you're doing with exercise, or lower your deficit and lose at a SLIGHTLY slower pace which may be more beneficial to you in the long run. Less stress on you mentally and physically.
  • 43501
    43501 Posts: 85 Member
    mskarthy4 wrote: »
    Just started to lose weight to be healthy. My intake for calories daily is 1200. Now question is it normal to fell hungry at night? I just keep drinking water to make the hunger go away. I also try to sleep so I can forget it. Do you guys feel hungry too?

    I eat between 1200 - 1400 daily and I'm kind of hungry.

    Not hungry enough to be thinking and feeling "oh god I'd kill for some more food" and wanting snacks, but I'm always in a state where I'm just hungry enough to eat something if it's put in front of me. I almost never feel truly "full" unless I'm indulging in a big meal.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    I definitely did on 1200. I tried that for about 2 weeks when I first started losing weight, but quickly decided to reassess when I started having dizzy spells at my desk at work. 1500 net seems to be the sweet spot for me. Perhaps, depending on your overall goal and what you set MFP to lose, you may need to eat a little more?
  • mskarthy4
    mskarthy4 Posts: 4 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    mskarthy4 wrote: »
    Just started to lose weight to be healthy. My intake for calories daily is 1200. Now question is it normal to fell hungry at night? I just keep drinking water to make the hunger go away. I also try to sleep so I can forget it. Do you guys feel hungry too?

    1200 is really too little for most women unless they are very very short. How tall are you, how much weight do you want to lose total, and what's your weekly weight loss goal?

    The Biggest Loser gave me distorted expectations of how much weight I should lose per week.

    I'm 5'6 and my weight is 218 pounds. I'm trying to lose 2 pounds weekly.
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
    If you were to literally starve someone who is obese, they could die before becoming thin. Not all bodily functions run on calories alone and you will strip from your muscles and organs (like your heart and liver) to feed those processes.
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    You're hungry because you are not eating back your exercise calories. Eat at least half of it back and you will feel less hungry.
This discussion has been closed.