Hungry Every Day

StarBrightStarBright · August 2018

I suspect I'm on the low end of calorie burning in general. I declared myself at maintenance 3 pounds over my goal weight because for six months I wasn't able to get any lower.

I stopped logging for a bit and sure enough my weight crept up about 4 pounds. I'm currently at 1460 for calorie allowance - that is what keeps me at 3 pounds over goal. Honestly y'all, I'm hungry all the time!

I've played with macros and that helped a little but I go to bed hungry every night when I'm trying to maintain.

I am lightly active (walk the dog a few miles a day, peddle around town on errands) but don't really have the facilities or time for weight training.

What else am I missing here? I believe in CICO but I always thought the right amount of calories for my body would leave me feeling good.

Height 5'6" . Current weight 147, goal 140. Perfect logging/eating gets me to 142.8 (at best).

kommodevaran · August 2018

At your height and weight and activity level, your maintenance calories should be at least 2000. Do you have cheat days (will explain not losing weight)? Are you eating a lot of junkfood/drinking your calories (will explain hunger even on 2000 calories)?

TavistockToad · August 2018

Sounds very low. How long have you been eating 1400 cals?

StarBrightStarBright · August 2018

When I'm tracking I don't have cheat days, other than I allow myself a single glass of wine or a beer on friday and saturday nights. I only drink water and coffee (other than the weekend glasses of wine) on a regular basis. An occasional cocktail is always logged. I sometimes use Huel as a meal replacement just because I often don't have time to eat breakfast on work days so I do drink that but I'm counting it.

I am generally a very healthy eater and 90% of our food is cooked from scratch by me.

I definitely cheat when I'm not tracking - not eating bad food. But eating until I'm full.

When I track my weight is very steady (if still not what I want it to be). If I don't track it takes a couple of months but my weight creeps right back up.

xxzenabxx · August 2018

You might need to reverse diet. My metabolism used to be really really slow (due to my ED) but over the years I've built it up by building muscle. People say that it doesn't make that much difference but building muscle is metabolically expensive. I can eat more now than I used to. It's worked for me so it might work for you. Also what kind of foods are you eating? Try eating more protein and fibre. I make sure to eat enough protein and that's how I managed to stay within my calories.

StarBrightStarBright · August 2018

TavistockToad wrote: »

Sounds very low. How long have you been eating 1400 cals?

hmm - I honestly can't remember. I think I started around 1500 calories when I started (starting weight was 155). but I've been at 1460 for well over a year.

TavistockToad · August 2018

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

When I'm tracking I don't have cheat days, other than I allow myself a single glass of wine or a beer on friday and saturday nights. I only drink water and coffee (other than the weekend glasses of wine) on a regular basis. An occasional cocktail is always logged. I sometimes use Huel as a meal replacement just because I often don't have time to eat breakfast on work days so I do drink that but I'm counting it.

I am generally a very healthy eater and 90% of our food is cooked from scratch by me.

I definitely cheat when I'm not tracking - not eating bad food. But eating until I'm full.

When I track my weight is very steady (if still not what I want it to be). If I don't track it takes a couple of months but my weight creeps right back up.

So you've been on 1400 for a year, except when you don't track. How much of the year is tracked/not tracked?

StarBrightStarBright · August 2018

@TavistockToad - Sorry was misunderstanding you! I had excellent tracking from January 2017 until about June 2017. Then fell off for a couple months. Good tracking from August 2017 until May 2018. I started tracking again about a week ago.

TavistockToad · August 2018

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

@TavistockToad - Sorry was misunderstanding you! I had excellent tracking from January 2017 until about June 2017. Then fell off for a couple months. Good tracking from August 2017 until May 2018. I started tracking again about a week ago.

And what was your calorie goal each time? And how much did you lose?

CharlieBeansmomTracey · August 2018

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

@TavistockToad - Sorry was misunderstanding you! I had excellent tracking from January 2017 until about June 2017. Then fell off for a couple months. Good tracking from August 2017 until May 2018. I started tracking again about a week ago.

then give it more time. 1 week of tracking again isnt enough to see a change. its very easy to eat more than you think if you are not using a food scale .healthy eating and cooking from scratch mean nothing when it comes to weight loss. you need to be in a deficit. and if you have very little weight to lose its going to be very slow coming off. so give it more time and see what happens.every 6-8 weeks you should take whats called a diet break for a week or two. that can help with weight loss again once you go back to it. but it wont matter if you arent in a true deficit and with so little to lose you need to be as accurate as you can.

StarBrightStarBright · August 2018

Thanks guys - I'm not that worried about getting back down to 143. It is more that I am so hungry when I'm eating 1460 calories. I trust that 1460 will get me close to my goal weight, it just drains me going to bed hungry at night. I've never actually switched to maintenance calories because I've never actually hit my goal weight of 140.

So then I stop tracking thinking I have a good handle on it (because I maintain for months at a time) but I clearly gain over the course of a couple of months. In fact, the way I noticed that I had gained this time was I had a realization that I hadn't experienced hunger in a while, so I weighed myself and was up 5 pounds.

Tavistock - When I am tracking my calorie goal is 1460 and I maintain at between 142-145 on those calories. Technically it is still set to lose a half pound a week but I just don't drop under 142.

I think I'm frustrated that I might have to track AND be hungry for the rest of my life to maintain my weight.

CharlieBeansmomTracey · August 2018

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

Thanks guys - I'm not that worried about getting back down to 143. It is more that I am so hungry when I'm eating 1460 calories. I trust that 1460 will get me close to my goal weight, it just drains me going to bed hungry at night. I've never actually switched to maintenance calories because I've never actually hit my goal weight of 140.

So then I stop tracking thinking I have a good handle on it (because I maintain for months at a time) but I clearly gain over the course of a couple of months. In fact, the way I noticed that I had gained this time was I had a realization that I hadn't experienced hunger in a while, so I weighed myself and was up 5 pounds.

Tavistock - When I am tracking my calorie goal is 1460 and I maintain at between 142-145 on those calories. Technically it is still set to lose a half pound a week but I just don't drop under 142.

I think I'm frustrated that I might have to track AND be hungry for the rest of my life to maintain my weight.

you also dont have one static number for weight. you have a weight range.weight fluctuates all the time. so you may just be seeing fluctuations and not actual weight gain. but if you havent lost anything in awhile you should take a diet break and then get back to it and when you do make sure you are as accurate as you can be with weighing all solids and semi solids on a food scale and give it time. weight loss is also not linear and the less you have to lose the slower its going to be.

IGbnat24 · August 2018

Are you weighing your foods? There can be a big caloric difference between weighing vs measuring. What types of foods are you eating? Perhaps you need more filling foods?

StarBrightStarBright · August 2018

I am not weighing my foods. It is honestly the thing I've been avoiding for a while that I know I need to do! I've had problems with anxiety and obsessions every since I was a kid and weight related stuff is a huge trigger for me. I've been avoiding it.

I make a lot of from scratch meals. Tonight was breakfast for dinner for the family so I had a quarter serving of baked french toast (no syrup), one cup of fruit salad and a cup of siggi's skyr. I feel nicely full right now. I have 100 calories left for the day.

moogie_fit · August 2018

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

I suspect I'm on the low end of calorie burning in general. I declared myself at maintenance 3 pounds over my goal weight because for six months I wasn't able to get any lower.

I stopped logging for a bit and sure enough my weight crept up about 4 pounds. I'm currently at 1460 for calorie allowance - that is what keeps me at 3 pounds over goal. Honestly y'all, I'm hungry all the time!

I've played with macros and that helped a little but I go to bed hungry every night when I'm trying to maintain.

I am lightly active (walk the dog a few miles a day, peddle around town on errands) but don't really have the facilities or time for weight training.

What else am I missing here? I believe in CICO but I always thought the right amount of calories for my body would leave me feeling good.

Height 5'6" . Current weight 147, goal 140. Perfect logging/eating gets me to 142.8 (at best).

Reverse diet to restore your metabolism.. look up some of Layne Norton's videos on YouTube . It's not worth being hungry every day and being at your goal weight then eating more and feeling better being 10 lbs above your goal weight

CharlieBeansmomTracey · August 2018

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

I am not weighing my foods. It is honestly the thing I've been avoiding for a while that I know I need to do! I've had problems with anxiety and obsessions every since I was a kid and weight related stuff is a huge trigger for me. I've been avoiding it.

I make a lot of from scratch meals. Tonight was breakfast for dinner for the family so I had a quarter serving of baked french toast (no syrup), one cup of fruit salad and a cup of siggi's skyr. I feel nicely full right now. I have 100 calories left for the day.

that still doesnt say how much you ate a quarter serving of french toast is how many grams? how much was the egg you used for the french toast mix, how much did the bread weigh(no two slices will be the same)etc? how much was the cup of fruit salad? if you made it yourself how much was each fruit(for example how many grams of grapes? oranges?) and a cup of yogurt can be more or less than the label states. food labels can be off by up to 20% per serving.

its very easy to eat more than you think though. I have been there and done that. and if you have 100 calories left eat those too since you say you are often hungry your goal is to eat to your calories not be under it.

CharlieBeansmomTracey · August 2018

moogie_fit wrote: »

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

I suspect I'm on the low end of calorie burning in general. I declared myself at maintenance 3 pounds over my goal weight because for six months I wasn't able to get any lower.

I stopped logging for a bit and sure enough my weight crept up about 4 pounds. I'm currently at 1460 for calorie allowance - that is what keeps me at 3 pounds over goal. Honestly y'all, I'm hungry all the time!

I've played with macros and that helped a little but I go to bed hungry every night when I'm trying to maintain.

I am lightly active (walk the dog a few miles a day, peddle around town on errands) but don't really have the facilities or time for weight training.

What else am I missing here? I believe in CICO but I always thought the right amount of calories for my body would leave me feeling good.

Height 5'6" . Current weight 147, goal 140. Perfect logging/eating gets me to 142.8 (at best).

Reverse diet to restore your metabolism.. look up some of Layne Norton's videos on YouTube . It's not worth being hungry every day and being at your goal weight then eating more and feeling better being 10 lbs above your goal weight

you dont restore your metabolism. you reset your hormones and thats usually for those who have been dieting for a certain length of time. she stated she jut got back on to logging her food a week ago. but if shes been eating the 1460 for the last year then she may have whats called adaptive thermogenesis. your metabolism runs or it doesnt. it doesnt run out and you cant restore it. you can boost it with exercise and taking a diet break sure if thats what you mean by restore.

CharlieBeansmomTracey · August 2018

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

I am not weighing my foods. It is honestly the thing I've been avoiding for a while that I know I need to do! I've had problems with anxiety and obsessions every since I was a kid and weight related stuff is a huge trigger for me. I've been avoiding it.

I make a lot of from scratch meals. Tonight was breakfast for dinner for the family so I had a quarter serving of baked french toast (no syrup), one cup of fruit salad and a cup of siggi's skyr. I feel nicely full right now. I have 100 calories left for the day.

also try higher fiber foods and maybe a little more protein? if that doesnt satiate you try more fats.maybe a balance of fats,carbs,protein and fiber? are you getting enough sleep? I know if I dont get enough sleep I am hungrier.

kommodevaran · August 2018

This is what I believe is going on:

You are trying to eat 1400 calories, believing that is your maintenance level.
You don't use a food scale because you're scared about everything that has to do with food and weight, so you're eating more than you think you are.
You eat too little, and boring and unsatisfying food, so you feel resentful and want something else, or at least more.
You alternately undereat and overeat, which keeps your weight a little higher than you want it to be.
You have certain rules that don't work optimally for you - you have to eat breakfast, you should cook at home, that all foods you eat should be healthy.

This is what I would suggest:
Set a reasonable, middle of the road target, for instance 1800 calories, and aim to stick to that every day.
Weigh your food.
Work on your relationship with food. A healthy diet is balanced and varied. You can eat what you like. You can eat any time you like.

TavistockToad · August 2018

StarBrightStarBright wrote: »

I am not weighing my foods. It is honestly the thing I've been avoiding for a while that I know I need to do! I've had problems with anxiety and obsessions every since I was a kid and weight related stuff is a huge trigger for me. I've been avoiding it.

I make a lot of from scratch meals. Tonight was breakfast for dinner for the family so I had a quarter serving of baked french toast (no syrup), one cup of fruit salad and a cup of siggi's skyr. I feel nicely full right now. I have 100 calories left for the day.

you're not eatign 1400 cals then.

buy some scales, weigh and measure your 1400 cals for 4-6 weeks and you'll almost certainly lose weight.

Deviette · August 2018

^^^^ This

In addition:

Do you use another method of logging, because excluding yesterday I can't see where you've logged any of your meals? Also, looking at yesterday: a quarter of a slice of french toast? "1 slice" of a cherry clafoutis? These are somewhat suspicious entries, and are quite probably off. There's also a lot of calorie dense food: French Toast, Lots of Fruit, Cherry Clafoutis. They give you lots of calories for not a lot of volume. Also I'm seeing virtually no vegetables which are good at giving you lots of volume for calories, and fibre which can fill you up.

StarBrightStarBright · August 2018

I do have another method of logging - I use a paper journal most of the time and only use MFP when I suspect my logging isn't catching calories accurately enough.

I felt badly about the clafouti - but my husband made it and not eating it would have made him grumpy all day!

I tend to eat veggies only once a day or so and try to avoid excessive fiber. I have digestive and absorption issues since a gallbladder removal several years ago and too much fiber is . . not good. Almost like dumping syndrome but I've never had gastric bypass. The Huel is actually something I've started because it seems to help alleviate the worst of the digestive issues (I don't actually like meal replacements instead of real food but anything that lets me leave the house is a good thing

).

I usually input the recipe, divide it by the number of servings and that is how I get at slice, or quarter, etc. I guess I need to resign myself to weighing if I really want to get down to 140. And I probably need to do some serious thinking about whether or not that is really important to me.

Hmm to answer other questions - I average about 6 hours of sleep a night. Not really changeable at this point. I have a 60 hour a week job and two young children (one a night owl, one a lark). I myself, am a night owl, but if I want to get a good walk in in the morning I have to do it before the littlest one wakes up.

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to read this! and I really appreciate everyone giving suggestions.

Francl27 · August 2018

You're probably eating more than you think... which I know isn't going to help you if you need to eat less to lose.

Honestly, I'm with you. I can't afford ANY treat, really, even 200 calories worth of chocolate or chips, or I'll be hungry. And I'm more active than you (which is the first thing I'd change in your shoes... try to walk more).

But yes, the 6 hours of sleep is probably the worst - I'm always hungrier when I sleep less than 7 hours.

SummerSkier · August 2018

So regardless of what calorie level the you are really eating (weighing your food IS a big deal for solid foods and not that hard) I see the problem is that you are HUNGRY when in maintenance at what true level you are eating 1450 or 1800 or whatever. I agree that you need to figure that out because that is not sustainable and why of course you go off track. So here are a two of my thoughts - others may have better ideas:

1) CICO works but some foods DO make you feel hungrier - try changing up what you eat and adjusting macros
2) Try eating smaller meals through out the day - more small snacks to keep your body at more of a steady state nutrition input/output

StarBrightStarBright · August 2018

SummerSkier wrote: »

So regardless of what calorie level the you are really eating (weighing your food IS a big deal for solid foods and not that hard) I see the problem is that you are HUNGRY when in maintenance at what true level you are eating 1450 or 1800 or whatever. I agree that you need to figure that out because that is not sustainable and why of course you go off track. So here are a two of my thoughts - others may have better ideas:

1) CICO works but some foods DO make you feel hungrier - try changing up what you eat and adjusting macros
2) Try eating smaller meals through out the day - more small snacks to keep your body at more of a steady state nutrition input/output

Yes! you got it. Even if I'm eating an extra 200 calories more than I think I am, I am still physically uncomfortable with hunger by the time I go to sleep. If I eat until I'm comfortable I can't maintain.

I will try to experiment with eating smaller meals at night. Maybe I'll try to split my dinner into two portions: the first half with the family and the other half around 9:30 PM when I start the last couple of hours of work. The 9-5 portion of my job doesn't really allow me snacks during the day (I'm on the phone all day long).

Thank you!

bulldozer1984 · August 2018

In my opinion you should lower the carbs and increase protein and healthy fats ! Protein and fats are more satiating than carbs/sugar. Eating a high amount of carbs (without fats to even out the GI load) spike insulin, and when it spikes, you go into a low blood sugar state which makes you feel really hungry ! Ask yourself this, are you hungry again 2-3 hrs after eating alot of carbs ? I know I am.

Lowering the amount of carbs and adding in healthy fats to your meals will reduce the GI of the meal therefore your body wont secrete as much insulin. Keeping your blood sugar level stable makes it so much easier to eat low calories as you don't get false hunger from low blood sugar.

You need to incorporate a cheat day every week (even while logging) in order to keep your body burning fat. I always eat as much of whatever I want every Sunday and have no issue maintaining/losing weight. And i am a fatty by nature with a slow metabolism.

You should also weigh your food.

Of course everyone's body is different and don't respond the same, but it is worth a try.

WilmaValley · August 2018

Really good discussion with great insights and suggestions, I needed it too!

CharlieBeansmomTracey · August 2018

bulldozer1984 wrote: »

In my opinion you should lower the carbs and increase protein and healthy fats ! Protein and fats are more satiating than carbs/sugar. Eating a high amount of carbs (without fats to even out the GI load) spike insulin, and when it spikes, you go into a low blood sugar state which makes you feel really hungry ! Ask yourself this, are you hungry again 2-3 hrs after eating alot of carbs ? I know I am.

Lowering the amount of carbs and adding in healthy fats to your meals will reduce the GI of the meal therefore your body wont secrete as much insulin. Keeping your blood sugar level stable makes it so much easier to eat low calories as you don't get false hunger from low blood sugar.

You need to incorporate a cheat day every week (even while logging) in order to keep your body burning fat. I always eat as much of whatever I want every Sunday and have no issue maintaining/losing weight. And i am a fatty by nature with a slow metabolism.

You should also weigh your food.

Of course everyone's body is different and don't respond the same, but it is worth a try.

fat and protein arent more satiating that carbs for everyone. as for low blood sugar its not an issue unless you have an issue with blood sugar. your insulin spiking is a normal bodily response to food. even protein can spike insulin. insulin spikes in someone with insulin issues have to watch their spikes. it doesnt make me feel hungry because my blood sugar doest crash or get low because I dont have sugar issues. a person who doesnt have insulin issues doesnt have to worry about keeping things stable. and eating as much as you want of whatever can throw a person out of their weekly deficit. which can slow and hinder weight loss or cause no loss at all if its done every week.

bulldozer1984 · August 2018

First of all I said everyone is different and it’s worth a try. What she is currently doing is not working !

Secondly, if one cheat day a week puts you above your deficit, you aren’t in enough of a deficit the other 6 days. Besides, it’s not just about calories in vs calories out. Your body is dynamic, not static. You can’t calculate exactly how your body will respond. Get yourself into a deficit 6 days a week, exercise 6 days a week and results will come. If not it’s because your body has adapted to low calories and the same old exercise, so change things up.

Cycle macros, change your exercise regimen, incorporate less/more cheat days etc etc

Sometimes people need to go on a cheat week or 2 just to snap the body out of its current adaption if you find that going lower and lower in calories per week isn’t working.

AnvilHead · August 2018

bulldozer1984 wrote: »

In my opinion you should lower the carbs and increase protein and healthy fats ! Protein and fats are more satiating than carbs/sugar. Eating a high amount of carbs (without fats to even out the GI load) spike insulin, and when it spikes, you go into a low blood sugar state which makes you feel really hungry ! Ask yourself this, are you hungry again 2-3 hrs after eating alot of carbs ? I know I am.

Lowering the amount of carbs and adding in healthy fats to your meals will reduce the GI of the meal therefore your body wont secrete as much insulin. Keeping your blood sugar level stable makes it so much easier to eat low calories as you don't get false hunger from low blood sugar.

You need to incorporate a cheat day every week (even while logging) in order to keep your body burning fat. I always eat as much of whatever I want every Sunday and have no issue maintaining/losing weight. And i am a fatty by nature with a slow metabolism.

You should also weigh your food.

Of course everyone's body is different and don't respond the same, but it is worth a try.

^ Ignore all this (except the 'weigh your food' part). Keto/low-carb is not a universal magic pill for weight loss or hunger.

bulldozer1984 · August 2018

Where did I say go keto/low carb ? I said a lower carb, higher protein and fat diet is more satiating. I certainly didn’t say it’s a “magic pill” I actually said it makes it easier to stay on your caloric intake target if you’re not hungry all the time which directly relates to the title of this thread.

Hungry Every Day

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