why am i so hungry!!!
kymmymeredith
Posts: 4 Member
I've been on this diet for 81 days - why am i so hungry now? - I hit the dreaded plateau for three weeks... didn't lose anything!!!! - finally started losing again last week, but i am so hungry and i am eating the same amount of calories as before the plateau just exercising a little more. I'm down 30 lbs total but I don't want to backslide because i am so hungry all the time now. any suggestions?
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Replies
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How many calories are you eating per day and what is your goal rate of loss per week?3
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iam eating 1290 daily and i have been losing 3 lbs a week ( except the plateau weeks) and then last week i lost 1.5 lbs3
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Here's a great read on why everyone should take diet breaks: https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
Basically, the longer you restrict calories, the more your hunger hormones get out of whack. Taking a break and eating at maintenance for a little while is great for fixing up those hormones and providing a much-needed mental break from restriction.
Aside from diet breaks, it's also worth looking at:
- Your calorie deficit. Is it too aggressive?
- The satiety-factor of the foods you're eating. If they aren't keeping you full, can you try something else?
Everyone finds different things satiating. Some like tons of low-calorie fibrous veggies, others find fats and proteins more filling. It takes some experimentation.
Good luck!7 -
if youre losing 3 pounds a week, you probably need to eat more.25
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Is it hunger or appetite?
A critical component of my personal success was learning the difference and developing coping mechanisms to not respond to appetite signals.
http://diet.mayoclinic.org/diet/eat/hunger-versus-craving?xid=nl_MayoClinicDiet_20180305
I drink 16 oz water prior to meal time. I know which foods satisfy me for long periods - eggs/oatmeal/popcorn for example.
Could be the stress of not seeing movement on the scale in the past three weeks (also not a plateau as first of all they aren't real and take 6 weeks). Let it go. Focus on the gains that are not scale related. You were on a great path - keep with it. Weight loss is not linear.3 -
kymmymeredith wrote: »iam eating 1290 daily and i have been losing 3 lbs a week ( except the plateau weeks) and then last week i lost 1.5 lbs
3 lbs/week is not sustainable or realistic. 1.5 lbs is remarkable!!!13 -
kymmymeredith wrote: »iam eating 1290 daily and i have been losing 3 lbs a week ( except the plateau weeks) and then last week i lost 1.5 lbs
You're probably hungry because you aren't eating enough.13 -
Do you eat your exercise calories back? is 1290 right for your activity level if you aren't?.0
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kymmymeredith wrote: »iam eating 1290 daily and i have been losing 3 lbs a week ( except the plateau weeks) and then last week i lost 1.5 lbs
Are you eating back any of your earned exercise calories? Do you have the fat stores to sustain a 3lb/week loss?
These are my really general tips for hunger. I would stress #1
1. Make sure that your calorie goals are actually set appropriately. Don't skip this step. A lot of people set goals that are too aggressive and then wonder why they're having a hard time. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
2. Try different macros. A lot of people look for foods higher in protein, fat, and fiber. These help us stay full and more satisfied longer. If you're using MFP's default settings, try to consider protein, fat, and fiber as minimums to reach every day rather than maximums to stay below. Others feel better with high volume, higher carb diets (I trend this way during my period, personally). That's okay, too. See what makes you feel best.
3. Drink plenty of fluids. Some people really do confuse thirst and hunger.
4. Get plenty of rest. This includes sleeping enough and taking rest days from the exercise. Sometimes our bodies look for food when they're exhausted.
5. Play around with your meal timings. Some people do really well on 5-6 small meals a day and others feel like they want to gnaw their own arm off eating like that. Skipping breakfast, eating breakfast, 16:8 fasting, 6 small meals, 3 larger meals, snacks, no snacks, meal timing won't make a big difference to your weight loss, but it may help your hunger levels, mood, concentration, gym performance, etc. throughout the day. Don't be afraid to try a different way and see if it helps.
6. Wait it out. If you know you're eating enough and the other steps above aren't helping, you may just have to wait it out. Our bodies send out hunger signals partially out of habit. If you eat at a certain time every day your body will start to get hungry at that time. The good news is that these signals can be retrained to stop telling you to be hungry all the time. The bad news is that you may just have to be hungry for a little bit while that happens.
7. I also think it's important to remember that there's a habitual component to hunger. This goes along with point #6, but if you eat because you're bored or you're used to eating in front of the TV or in the car or whatever it is, then you can replace those habits with others that are better for you. Things like keeping water on hand to sip instead of snacking or picking up hobbies that keep your hands busy or that get you out of the house more can help out a little while you're retraining your hunger cues. You might need to pay attention to why you're eating/hungry or what you're feeling when you eat and try to replace food with other things, but it can be really beneficial over time.19 -
1) You most likely weren't eating enough before.
2) Now that you're more active (which burns more calories) and still eating at the same calorie level, it's not surprising that you're more hungry.
MFP's process intends for you to eat your exercise calories back (at least some of them, since expenditure estimates are usually overblown).6 -
thank you all for the insights and advice - and the good articles...4
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The same thing has happened to me on my journey and inevitably I find it usually means I am eating too many refined carbs and not enough protein and fibre. Take a look at what you were eating at the start and what you are eating now and see if you have changed your macros. That could be the issue. I also agree with the diet break stategy. I had to do that to break my plateau although I had been dieting for a year.5
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You ARE starting to impact your weight loss negatively by selecting and pursuing an unsustainably large deficit.
When obese a deficit in the 25% range is probably going to be well enough tolerated without too many side effects. This drops down to 20% when overweight or normal weight.
You've had 10 weeks of 3lbs a week loss, in other words an approximate deficit of 10,500 Cal a week. You say you eat around 1290 Cal daily. Not sure if that's your eating target, or your actual average eaten, the two are not always the same!
If 1290 is what you've eaten (going back through your logging and averaging would verify that), you have been eating about 9030 Cal a week.
So your average TDEE has been around 2790 Cal a day and your daily deficit about 53.7%
There is no special prize for dropping the weight fast, especially once you've hit the first 5% to 10% lost.
To the contrary, the prize is to manage to keep it off long term, which only a few people succeed in doing! Thus it is never too early to start thinking how you will be eating and moving at maintenance... to maintain your loss!
One thing's for sure... you probably won't be able to keep pulling 53.7% deficits!
Eat more. Accept a slower rate of loss. 0.5% of bodyweight lost per week is perfectly good. More than 1% has a much greater potential to become problematic. Achieving long term compliance is much more important than fast loss at this point.14 -
i started out at 298 and currently am at 267. In the 83 days, i have cut the calories as far as i can, and i exercise 30 mins or more daily where as i used to not exercise at all. I still have a huge way to go to reach my goal of 198. I understand i need to adjust some things since the loss is slowing but I don't want to maintain the weight i need to continue to lose. If i add calories back, how will i lose?1
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kymmymeredith wrote: »i started out at 298 and currently am at 267. In the 83 days, i have cut the calories as far as i can, and i exercise 30 mins or more daily where as i used to not exercise at all. I still have a huge way to go to reach my goal of 198. I understand i need to adjust some things since the loss is slowing but I don't want to maintain the weight i need to continue to lose. If i add calories back, how will i lose?
You're averaging 2.5 or so pounds lost a week, which translates to a 1200-calorie deficit from your maintenance needs. A 1000-calorie deficit is usually considered the max safe deficit. Adding a measly 200 calories may help your hunger a great deal. Why would it stop you from losing weight?12 -
kymmymeredith wrote: »i started out at 298 and currently am at 267. In the 83 days, i have cut the calories as far as i can, and i exercise 30 mins or more daily where as i used to not exercise at all. I still have a huge way to go to reach my goal of 198. I understand i need to adjust some things since the loss is slowing but I don't want to maintain the weight i need to continue to lose. If i add calories back, how will i lose?
You will be eating more calories and LOSING *SLOWER*°.
"SLOWER" does not equal "NOT"
Using a weight trend application or web site may help you out.
°SLOWER can also be viewed as "at a more appropriate rate" in contrast to "too fast of a rate because of a counterproductively excessive deficit"!12 -
Eat more foodz! Seriously, honey.. at 267, you can EASILY eat 1700 and still lose at a steady pace (as steady as weight loss ever is) ~ I am 5'4", starting weight of 216 and losing consistantly at 1600ish calories. You will NOT maintain or gain at 1700. You could likely eat 1800 and still lose. Enter your stats into this calculator: https://tdeecalculator.net/
That will give you a good idea of what your calorie burn is. As long as you eat less than that, you'll continue to lose.
ETA: I am sedentary most of the time. I just started walking some within the last two days. Prior to that, no exercise at all.3 -
kymmymeredith wrote: »i started out at 298 and currently am at 267. In the 83 days, i have cut the calories as far as i can, and i exercise 30 mins or more daily where as i used to not exercise at all. I still have a huge way to go to reach my goal of 198. I understand i need to adjust some things since the loss is slowing but I don't want to maintain the weight i need to continue to lose. If i add calories back, how will i lose?
I have never taken my calories as low as yours and have lost. You will be ok. Losing slower with a program you can maintain is healthier long term.
When I started losing again I was about 185lb averaging 1500 cals before exercise adjustments and I’ve successfully lost 30lb. Losing weight doesn’t have to mean starving or feeling bad3 -
I agree with then people above. Eat more, but also remember that our hormones change and brains change. The body does not like to lose weight. It likes to be comfortable. Exercise helps me with some appetite control, as well as eating windows. Might not help you, but it's worth a try.1
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I get an appetite that won’t stop when I eat carbs- baked good, cereal....that sort of food. If I can restrict that intake for about ten days, I lose that need to eat. I go for a walk if I feel I want to eat or drink a big glass of ice water with lime or lemon. I’m really not hungry...it’s just the need to eat.0
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kymmymeredith wrote: »I've been on this diet for 81 days - why am i so hungry now? - I hit the dreaded plateau for three weeks... didn't lose anything!!!! - finally started losing again last week, but i am so hungry and i am eating the same amount of calories as before the plateau just exercising a little more. I'm down 30 lbs total but I don't want to backslide because i am so hungry all the time now. any suggestions?
I could've asked this question word for word. thanks for beating me to it. will read the responses.0 -
I always ate back 50% - 75% of my earned exercise calories. MFP is set up for you to do that. I continued to lose about one pound a week, which was a good and sustainable rate of loss. I didn't have very many hunger issues, and it staved off the fatigue I would get when I wasn't fueling my body enough.0
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What does “exercising a little more” mean? When I pick up running each Spring, I’m starving for the first 3-4 weeks.0
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3 lbs a week is an aggressive goal. Eat more. Change up your macros every so often so you're eating more fibre, protein and fat. Those will help keep you feeling fuller for the same amount of calories.
It's not a race, doing something you can maintain will lead to success in the long-run.0 -
increase your calorie intake and lower your carbs for a few days / weeks. Make sure you drink plenty of water. You might either be in starvation mode or in diet fatique.9
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