Frustrated. So hungry. Please help
ekta827
Posts: 5 Member
Good morning everyone! So today I’ll be going to either the track or the mall to get my cardio in! I find the treadmill so boring and it hurts my shoulders for some reason and when I don’t do treadmill and just do laps downstairs it’s also so boring and such a small space! The track or the mall goes by way faster! anyway I’m having an issue today that I’m pretty glum over. It seems the more activity I do the hungrier I get! I thought my body would get used to it but it never does, and what ends up happening is I essentially don’t have a calorie deficit because I’m starving and eat back the calories I burned. Yesterday I had a calorie deficit, I ate 1750 calories and burned 2100 calories, during the day I wasn’t that hungry, my food yesterday consisted of salmon, Greek yogurt, and other filling foods. Before I went to bed I even had eggs, toast, and fruit. My day is essentially flipped in that I have breakfast before going to bed instead of in the morning because I sleep in in the morning but also because I absolutely need to eat before bed because then If I don’t I get really low sugar in my sleep and it’s a bad situation, especially if I exercised that day. Also, I can’t eat a breakfast in the morning and a breakfast in the evening because my calorie count goes way over, I’ve tried having both and the calorie count becomes too high and I can’t out exercise the calories I take in. So yesterday night I ate my eggs and everything and then about a couple hours into my sleep I just got so hungry and I don’t just mean hungry I mean starving to the point where you’re brain isn’t working properly like you can’t think properly you’re out of it because you need to eat so badly, my sugar dropped hard, it is still dropped because I refuse to eat because I need a deficit. If I ate I’d end up with 2000 calories in my day and having burned 2100 calories meaning that I would’ve lost zero weight or even gained weight since calories in and out cannot be measured completely accurately. So right now I’m still just starving I am so hungry, it’s frustrating because I didn’t even go super hard yesterday with the exercise. It’s just super frustrating. 1800 calories is a lot for a woman, that’s a lot of food and yet I’m so hungry and my body’s not adjusting to exercise. Ideally I don’t want to go over 1600 calories a day and be burning 2100 calories a day. I know there’s nothing anyone can do but it just sucks to still feel so starving on 1800 calories where you’ve eaten all the right things and everything. It’s like what’s the point of exercise then? Of course there’s a point to exercise for good health and because currently I’m sedentary without a job but in my specific case I’m trying to lose weight and it’s backfiring. Just wanted to share my frustrations. Thanks ❤️. We all know if you’re hungry day after day doing diet and exercise that you’ll end up binging or won’t be able to stick to it. I just want to be able to lose weight and I understand a little hunger is normal but to being hungry to the point of not being able to think properly sucks.
8
Replies
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How much weight are you trying to lose?
What is your current weight?
How tall are you?
How are you calculating your calorie burn?
How are you calculating your calories eaten? Are you using a food scale to weigh all solid food?
1800 is not necessarily "a lot for a woman." It may or may not be a lot for you depending on your answers to these questions.15 -
Have you seen a doctor regarding your blood sugar issues? Because that isn't normal.
Also, ditto pp's questions.6 -
MFP is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories and still lose weight. Many other methods include your exercise in the calorie calculations but MFP doesn't. You still need to properly fuel your body during and after exercise.5
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I would also like to see your stats as requested by @apullum
No one can advise you without that information, also people could probably help a lot if you let them view your diary.4 -
I’m also interested to see if you are hitting your protein goal consistently and drinking enough water to stay well hydrated. Plus your current stats.0
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The more cardio you do the hungrier you will get. Focus on your diet first and keeping a steady caloric deficit. This is more important than cardio at this stage. For your cardio, I would recommend walking at a normal speed and reach the 10k steps every day. Start slowly and stack habits as months go by. For example, for the next 4 weeks, you can have the goal of keeping your daily calories at 1,800 every day and reach 5k steps per day. Then next month, keep the calories at 1,700 and steps at 6k daily and so on. I used this method and lost 65 pounds over three years. This might seem like a long time but it is sustainable and there is no going back up on the scale.6
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There are a few questions that come to mind based on your post.
The first question is whether we are ALL using the same TERMS to describe the same things.
Please let us know the following:
-Current Weight, Current Height, Age, and goal weight.
-Current eating goal according to MFP?
-Did you set your MFP guided setup to lose? What rate (lbs or kg per week) did you select?
-Did you chose sedentary as your activity level?
-Can you describe a typical day (do you sit at home? take a train to work and sit at a computer? go to classes? that sort of thing)
-is your food log open?
-what was your starting weight, how long ago was that? How often do you weigh?
-how do you measure the calories that you describe above as spending doing exercise?
-what kind of exercise do you do?
Thank you.6 -
Hello OP - same requests as everyone else for stats and data.
Also, are you monitoring your blood glucose ?0 -
Assuming you have a menstrual cycle, if you are premenstrual, you may wish to just eat at maintenance for a few days. For many of us, we are hungrier at this time because our metabolism is a little revved up in preparation. Often, increased hunger is the first and only symptom that my period is imminent.2
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Hey everyone thanks for all your answers. I am 5’6 and a 180 pounds, I’d like to be atleast 155 pounds. I average only 500 steps a day, so even though my MFP is set to losing a pound a week and sedentary, I’m not sure how many steps sedentary is.0
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To loose weight you must reduce your sugar intake. Myfitnesspal monitors this, so keep an eye on your daily intake. Eating late at night is a big NO in my book. I don't think our bodies digest food very well when we sleep. Fast weight loss is easy with a Keto diet. Try reading Leslie Kentons' book, The X factor Diet. This works well with Myfitnesspal.67
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To loose weight you must reduce your sugar intake. Myfitnesspal monitors this, so keep an eye on your daily intake. Eating late at night is a big NO in my book. I don't think our bodies digest food very well when we sleep. Fast weight loss is easy with a Keto diet. Try reading Leslie Kentons' book, The X factor Diet. This works well with Myfitnesspal.
None of these things are true.
Sugar intake is not relevant to weight loss unless it causes you to go over your calorie goal, and it is not necessary to monitor it unless your doctor has told you that you need to restrict sugar.
Eating late at night is not relevant to weight loss unless it causes you to go over your calorie goal. The only reason to avoid eating late at night is if it causes you to have trouble sleeping.
Keto is a personal preference and does not do anything special for weight loss. All people lose weight in a calorie deficit. You can achieve that calorie deficit without following any named diet. The only reasons to follow a keto diet are if you prefer to eat that way or if your doctor prescribed it to treat a medical condition.32 -
Your post is a little confusing. Are you eating 1750 calories a day, but burning 2100 calories from exercising? When you put your stats and goal into MFP, it gives you a certain amount of calories to eat to reach your weight loss goal. The calories given to you already has the deficit built in. You don't need to exercise to create any deficit. Even if you didn't exercise and ate all of the calories given to you by MFP, you would lose weight (assuming you were accurately logging, etc.). Any calories you earn from your exercises should be eaten back. If you really burned 2100 calories by exercising but only ate 1750, it's no wonder you woke up starving! You need to eat those calories, or at least a portion of them.3
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Hey everyone thanks for all your answers. I am 5’6 and a 180 pounds, I’d like to be atleast 155 pounds. I average only 500 steps a day, so even though my MFP is set to losing a pound a week and sedentary, I’m not sure how many steps sedentary is.
How about the rest of the questions?
So you want to lose about 25lbs and you're currently in the overweight but not obese range. I am not sure if you are averaging 500 or 5000 steps a day and from your original narrative I am not sure if that includes treadmill and mall walking or not.
Also when you were talking about burning 2100 calories I am not sure what you're basing that on, hence all the questions that were asked and which you ignored.
Below I address the following situation: "Female, 5ft 6", 180lbs, total daily activity including all step based exercise not exceeding 5,000 steps a day. Wants to lose weight"
Set MFP to sedentary and to lose 0.5 to 1lb a week. I would suggest 1lb a week to start, i.e. a daily deficit of 500 Cal.
Log using a scale for food measurement and using entries you verify with packaging or the USDA standard reference database. As you re-use entries you will find them in your "recent" list and it will become easier. Do not forget to log liquids, condiments, bites, or tastes. Having an off day does not mean that you can't log your overage just as you log your good days.
Log your daily weight ins using a weight trend app and consider your actual weight to be equal to your weight trend.
Compare your expected weight loss to your actual weight trend after 4 to 6 weeks (using 3500 Cal per lb of weight trend change) and adjust your rate of loss based on your actual results.
Consistent logging is more important that absolutely correct logging. Consistent logging is what allows you to make a meaningful correction. Attempting to achieve absolutely correct logging increases your chances of actually achieving consistent logging
When close to the normal weight range be prepared to switch to a lower rate of loss.
Log NON STEPPED BASED, or un-usual exercise, as it happens, and eat at 50 to 80% of the calories back, adjusting as per above. This is because most equipment or logs do not show you net additional calories, they are showing you total calories spent during a certain amount of time. MFP is already giving you some calories for the same time period and these have to be accounted for.
Having said that, your MFP goal already includes your desired deficit and it is NOT ALWAYS a good idea to be trying to increase it. Which is why you should be eating back most exercise calories to keep your deficit from becoming excessive and to fuel your exercise so that you can get the most health benefits from it.
If you are, indeed, averaging 500 steps a day and you are not under a health limitation necessitating this level of activity restriction, you may find it beneficial to gradually increase your daily activity to where you are, at least, flirting with "lightly active" status... which is at just about the 5,000 step per day level.
Again this addresses the hypothetical as stated and assumes a person free of health 'defects'... thus may not be suitable in all situations. <there is some underlying concern due to the mention of sugar levels in the OP which was not followed by clarification as to why it may be a concern... i.e. if diabetic or other conditions that may influence best course of action and might be better addressed by professionals in the various fields>12 -
I have occasionally woken up really hungry a couple of hours into my sleep to the point where I have gotten up, gone downstairs and had a snack. Tends to happen when I've been in a modest (like 250-300 calories/day) deficit and have also been to the gym that day, plus taken my usual walks with the dog which amounts to maybe a couple of hours spread out over the whole day. All of that activity is theoretically accounted for, but I think that sometimes my body just needs more fuel. If it were to happen MOST nights I would say something is wonky either on the calories-in or calories-out equation. But it doesn't, and so I just log the snack and move on.
One question for you, ekta827, is where you are in your menstrual cycle when you awaken feeling famished. Some women find they do better eating at maintenance the week just prior, or the week of menstruation. Just something to think about in addition to feedback above.4 -
Hello I burn 2100 calories total a day, not 2100 calories through exercise. I will have to do some exercise it seems just to hit a healthy step goal for the at least because right now I only hit a 1000 steps a day. Thank you everyone. ❤️1
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To loose weight you must reduce your sugar intake. Myfitnesspal monitors this, so keep an eye on your daily intake. Eating late at night is a big NO in my book. I don't think our bodies digest food very well when we sleep. Fast weight loss is easy with a Keto diet. Try reading Leslie Kentons' book, The X factor Diet. This works well with Myfitnesspal.
None of these things are true.
Sugar intake is not relevant to weight loss unless it causes you to go over your calorie goal, and it is not necessary to monitor it unless your doctor has told you that you need to restrict sugar.
Eating late at night is not relevant to weight loss unless it causes you to go over your calorie goal. The only reason to avoid eating late at night is if it causes you to have trouble sleeping.
Keto is a personal preference and does not do anything special for weight loss. All people lose weight in a calorie deficit. You can achieve that calorie deficit without following any named diet. The only reasons to follow a keto diet are if you prefer to eat that way or if your doctor prescribed it to treat a medical condition.
Well, technically, the main clause of the second sentence is true. MFP does track sugar.
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Is 1750 your TDEE? Have you ever calculated your BMR and TDEE? If not this video is a good place to start -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bYEVIqBEW4. What are your macros? You mentioned your brain doesn't feel like it's working. How much fat are you eating? Fat is essential for brain function and keeping your endocrine system running efficiently. When I first started this journey back in Jan my macros were all wrong. I was eating high protein, low fat, mid carbs with mixed results and I always felt hungry. Additionally, I was counting my exercise calories and trying to eat them back. I can tell you what finally worked for me. First, I calculated my TDEE to be about 2796 calories (6'3, initially 212lbs, and about 25% body fat). I started with a conservative 500 calorie deficit (20%) and set my macros to: Protein 0.8g - 1.0g/lb of body weight; Fat 0.4g-0.5g/lb of body weight; remaining to carbs. I hit the gym six days a week for three days of strength training and two days of HIIT, and one day of cycling. I turned OFF the "count my exercise in MFP" because those burn rates could be off significantly; you may think you were in a deficit when you're actually not. It's now May and I'm at 181lbs and 14-15% body fat. I don't have empirical data, but I'm certain the catalyst for me was ramping my fat intake from 40 grams a day up to 80 to 90 grams a day, and trying to hit the daily values of potassium and fiber. I feel great every day (I eat 6 times a day in 2-3 hour intervals) and no longer have the constant hunger pangs. My favorite fats are avocados, coconut oil, 86% and higher cacao, and nut butters. I normally eat a couple squares of dark chocolate, PB, and a protein shake just before bed. Just realize that everyone is different and what works for me may not work for you. If you have some disposable income you may want to visit a nutritionist. Good luck! 1 -
Hello I burn 2100 calories total a day, not 2100 calories through exercise. I will have to do some exercise it seems just to hit a healthy step goal for the at least because right now I only hit a 1000 steps a day. Thank you everyone. ❤️
How do you know that you burn 2100 Calories total a day?
<I am not actually disputing the figure; I am just trying to figure out what it is based on>
A healthy step goal doesn't exist as a goal. The World Health Organization has the following minimum activity/exercise recommendation: https://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_adults/en/
Adults aged 18–64 should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or do at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.
Aerobic activity should be performed in bouts of at least 10 minutes duration.
For additional health benefits, adults should increase their moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity to 300 minutes per week, or engage in 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity.
Muscle-strengthening activities should be done involving major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.
A purposeful walk (which for most people ends up) averaging around 100 steps per minute usually qualifies as moderate intensity activity.
In terms of CALORIES, MFPs sedentary setting is calibrated at an activity level of approximately 3500 steps a day. MFP envisions these steps as "incidental" during the day, not as a deliberate activity.
An incidental day where 3500 steps are performed over 16 or what have you hours will be more active (burn more calories) than a day where a single bout of 3500 steps is taken.
MFP envisions your activity level as separate from your deliberate exercise one.
When I first started trying to increase my activity I started by forcing myself to try and get up and walk around (the house when I first started) for 1 minute every hour. Then 2. Then 3. Then any time I was on the phone 4 -
I didn't read through all the other answers but I was once told by a health professional to have a basic protein shake before bed. If you just do powder and some milk, it's like 200 cal but it will help in recovery and you wake up feeling clear minded and can last longer without food.11
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Hey everyone thanks for all your answers. I am 5’6 and a 180 pounds, I’d like to be atleast 155 pounds. I average only 500 steps a day, so even though my MFP is set to losing a pound a week and sedentary, I’m not sure how many steps sedentary is.
You're the same height and weight as my wife. She works as a carhop. One day her fitbit indicated her pace as 2112 steps per mile and about 1000 steps in an hour. Did you omit a "0" in your steps per day?0 -
No your math is wrong. Your not eating enough!!! U should have around +1,500 calories at the end of the day give or take a few hundred calories depending on your weight, height, and gender. (I'm 5'4, 189lb, female and my weight loss Dr told me I should eat 1,200 calories a day.) So if u eat 2,000 calories and burn off 2,100 that means ur -100 at the end of the day! If your following the 1,500 calories u would still need to eat 1,600 more calories. What u said in your original post you are negative -350 calories at the end of the day! Of course your sugars are dropping at night, your literally starving yourself! No wonder your so hungry girl!!! lol. How do u burn 2,100 calories a day anyways? That's a ton! That obviously will make u hungry also. U need to aim to have eaten 1,500 at the end of the day after you minus how many calories you've burned. So if you burn off -1,500 calories from exercise you need to eat +3,000 calories to end up at +1,500 at the end of the day. Or if u don't exercise that day just aim to eat +1,500. Do u understand better now? Just to be a little more clear, you should be eating back all the exercise calories your burn off.
I hope this helps! Good luck! 15 -
I know that I used to wake up starving in the middle of the night. I shifted my macros to more protein and that helped. It also helped my overall hunger.
I also found that higher carbs eliminated my insomnia altogether.
I actually eat high carb low fat and it has done really good things for my overall health.
Also track your fiber. Whole foods have much better satiety.2 -
Hey everyone thanks for all your answers. I am 5’6 and a 180 pounds, I’d like to be atleast 155 pounds. I average only 500 steps a day, so even though my MFP is set to losing a pound a week and sedentary, I’m not sure how many steps sedentary is.
How about the rest of the questions?
So you want to lose about 25lbs and you're currently in the overweight but not obese range. I am not sure if you are averaging 500 or 5000 steps a day and from your original narrative I am not sure if that includes treadmill and mall walking or not.
Also when you were talking about burning 2100 calories I am not sure what you're basing that on, hence all the questions that were asked and which you ignored.
Below I address the following situation: "Female, 5ft 6", 180lbs, total daily activity including all step based exercise not exceeding 5,000 steps a day. Wants to lose weight"
Set MFP to sedentary and to lose 0.5 to 1lb a week. I would suggest 1lb a week to start, i.e. a daily deficit of 500 Cal.
Log using a scale for food measurement and using entries you verify with packaging or the USDA standard reference database. As you re-use entries you will find them in your "recent" list and it will become easier. Do not forget to log liquids, condiments, bites, or tastes. Having an off day does not mean that you can't log your overage just as you log your good days.
Log your daily weight ins using a weight trend app and consider your actual weight to be equal to your weight trend.
Compare your expected weight loss to your actual weight trend after 4 to 6 weeks (using 3500 Cal per lb of weight trend change) and adjust your rate of loss based on your actual results.
Consistent logging is more important that absolutely correct logging. Consistent logging is what allows you to make a meaningful correction. Attempting to achieve absolutely correct logging increases your chances of actually achieving consistent logging
When close to the normal weight range be prepared to switch to a lower rate of loss.
Log NON STEPPED BASED, or un-usual exercise, as it happens, and eat at 50 to 80% of the calories back, adjusting as per above. This is because most equipment or logs do not show you net additional calories, they are showing you total calories spent during a certain amount of time. MFP is already giving you some calories for the same time period and these have to be accounted for.
Having said that, your MFP goal already includes your desired deficit and it is NOT ALWAYS a good idea to be trying to increase it. Which is why you should be eating back most exercise calories to keep your deficit from becoming excessive and to fuel your exercise so that you can get the most health benefits from it.
If you are, indeed, averaging 500 steps a day and you are not under a health limitation necessitating this level of activity restriction, you may find it beneficial to gradually increase your daily activity to where you are, at least, flirting with "lightly active" status... which is at just about the 5,000 step per day level.
Again this addresses the hypothetical as stated and assumes a person free of health 'defects'... thus may not be suitable in all situations. <there is some underlying concern due to the mention of sugar levels in the OP which was not followed by clarification as to why it may be a concern... i.e. if diabetic or other conditions that may influence best course of action and might be better addressed by professionals in the various fields>
^^All of this. Quoting because it needs to be on every page.
Regardless of whether or not the numbers are perfect, the trick is to log as accurately as possible for a long enough time to get good trending data - just like any other experiment.
Log food. Take a walk. Weigh your body regularly. Make adjustments based on results. It's a long game, so bring your patience and try to stay away from all-or-nothing/black and white thinking.
Small steady changes, pay attention and stick with something long enough to use the data. Like stick with a plan for a couple months before making big changes to calories or activity levels in the Goals section.6 -
I'm still mulling over the 500 steps per day thing. I've had days where I've sat in the same spot all day and only gotten up for the bathroom or food and have over 2000 steps. If you are going out for walks then you have done way more than 500.
Hell, I've just done 60 steps from the bedroom to the living room (next door) back to the bedroom.2
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