PLEASE HELP. I'M ALWAYS HUNGRY
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Isn't bulgur wheet?
If you have an orthopedic break, do note that bone healing requires extra calories and could be placing you in a larger than expected deficit
Also healing and recovery are accomplished faster closer to maintenance than in a deficit.
How is your protein consumption? While meat and dairy may be used by many of us, fish and legumes can also be used effectively.
In the past two weeks my next door neighbours have delivered: lentil, barley and chick pea soup; a falafel shawarma with loads of fresh onions, parsley, tomato, and garlic, and very small amount of yogurt sauce; lentils and chick peas mixed with rice (to which I added 0% Greek yogurt); cabbage dolma that were heavy on the cabbage and had rice, parsley, onion and meat in tomato sauce (this one has a bit of oil too); chicken breast shawarma with the meat shredded and mixed with onions and tomatoes and light yogurt sauce.
While generally light in meat compared to something I would have prepared, all their meals seem to have a good mix of proteins, and ones that also complement each other too--not a requirement, but interesting to see from people who are preparing their food without explicitly examining their macros and calories (they don't).
They do tend to add more oil than i would too, but that's something you can experiment with seeing whether it is more satiating to you.
If struggling I would not attempt a high deficit. Even 500 Cal is a high deficit for a tdee of 2000-2500 (20-25%, best tolerated by someone who is obese by body fat %)
If fasting has proven a help to you in controlling your Calories, then by all means use it beyond the scope of religious, or spiritual, reasons. If it hasn't proven to be helpful, continue your experimentation till you find something that does. I have a friend on mfp who eats most of her calories in the morning. I do the opposite, but do not fast.2 -
Isn't bulgur wheet?
If you have an orthopedic break, do note that bone healing requires extra calories and could be placing you in a larger than expected deficit
Also healing and recovery are accomplished faster closer to maintenance than in a deficit.
How is your protein consumption? While meat and dairy may be used by many of us, fish and legumes can also be used effectively.
In the past two weeks my next door neighbours have delivered: lentil, barley and chick pea soup; a falafel shawarma with loads of fresh onions, parsley, tomato, and garlic, and very small amount of yogurt sauce; lentils and chick peas mixed with rice (to which I added 0% Greek yogurt); cabbage dolma that were heavy on the cabbage and had rice, parsley, onion and meat in tomato sauce (this one has a bit of oil too); chicken breast shawarma with the meat shredded and mixed with onions and tomatoes and light yogurt sauce.
While generally light in meat compared to something I would have prepared, all their meals seem to have a good mix of proteins, and ones that also complement each other too--not a requirement, but interesting to see from people who are preparing their food without explicitly examining their macros and calories (they don't).
They do tend to add more oil than i would too, but that's something you can experiment with seeing whether it is more satiating to you.
If struggling I would not attempt a high deficit. Even 500 Cal is a high deficit for a tdee of 2000-2500 (20-25%, best tolerated by someone who is obese by body fat %)
If fasting has proven a help to you in controlling your Calories, then by all means use it beyond the scope of religious, or spiritual, reasons. If it hasn't proven to be helpful, continue your experimentation till you find something that does. I have a friend on mfp who eats most of her calories in the morning. I do the opposite, but do not fast.
OH MY GOSH YOU ARE A LEGEND! I can't believe I didn't consider the importance of nutrition and enough calories in healing!! I've injured multiple ligaments in my ankle (2 months ago) but I still cannot walk and I still have swelling (so it's pretty bad). This must explain why I'm finding it harder to stick to 1200 calories this time around. My body must literally need more food. It ALSO explains why I've lost more weight than I expected. I lost 5 pounds in one week!! I was only supposed to lose 2lbs maximum.
Ahhh.
Genius.
Wow you have lovely neighbours!! Haha that all sounds delicious. I love eating lentils and chickpeas etc. I try to get most of my protein from vegetable sources as well as tinned tuna and mackerel etc. I eat chicken maybe once every 7-10 days and I eat red meat about once a month on average
I try not to add much oil to my cooking in order to maximise food volume and nutrients.
I do enjoy fasting for religious reasons however these 'fasts' I've been doing recently are just water fasts where I eat 1-2 meals a day towards the late afternoon/early evening time. I could never just eat in the morning haha. My favourite meal is dinner!
Thanks for your message!!
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I’m in the same boat girl, I’m literally always hungry and always thinking about food even just after a meal and just like u I am trying to somehow over come it, what I find works for the most part is trying to keep busy which is harder then it sounds especially on days where I just wanna do nothing. I’m supporting u boo lmk how ur doing!!!!0
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Amb3rlyrose wrote: »I’m in the same boat girl, I’m literally always hungry and always thinking about food even just after a meal and just like u I am trying to somehow over come it, what I find works for the most part is trying to keep busy which is harder then it sounds especially on days where I just wanna do nothing. I’m supporting u boo lmk how ur doing!!!!
Bless your heart, thank you so much for the supportive message! It's reassuring to know I'm not alone in this haha. We can do it!0 -
Ok, so you do realize that you've answered your own question as to why you're hungry all the time.
Effectively it doesn't even have to do with heeling, other than as a tangent, but everything to do with the effective size of your deficit.
which, based on your apparent rate of loss, may be too large in relation to your TDEE.
Things to consider and to explore.
*If you have swelling you have water retention and currently show a higher scale weight.
*Weight level may best be determined using a combination of weight trend app, scale weight, and common sense (weight trend app and common sense help you not panic with scale results that are unexpected; and scale results and common sense are useful if the weight trend app is lagging, as it sometimes does, either on the way down or the way up)
*1200 may be necessary for SOME ladies but it is not necessary for all. It is more likely to be necessary if you're shorter, lighter, and less active; much more unlikely to be necessary to see results if the above three conditions don't apply.
Your results don't seem to indicate that you need to be applying such a large deficit to see results over time.
Results over time such as a decreasing weight trend in the 0.5% - 1% of body weight per week range when looked at from a 4-6 week perspective are absolutely fabulous and effective... are you pushing for more? See my above about limiting deficit to 25% of total calories to minimize potential side effects.
From another discussion today, @psychod787 pointed to a paper that compared 15% to 20% calories from protein during weight loss with 20% showing slightly better results.
And yes, my neighbours are wonderful people who don't seem to be able to grasp that I am perfectly happy eating my yogurt with cereal and that for more than 40 years have managed to cook perfectly edible-ish food whenever I've wanted to!
To protect the guilty I did not mention zat'aar pizza, backlava, or the unknown coconut, condensed milk, flour, oil? syrup drenched baked cake squares that have also arrived in the same time frame! We are down to delivering using disposable plates to discourage tit for tat exchanges! I am losing badly and cannot keep up! Only thing (barely) saving me is that I deliver for six while they are only trying to over feed one!!!3 -
I have always had this problem, especially when I try to lose weight (I’ve fluctuated 15 pounds over the past 10ish years, but when I make myself lose weight I struggle). Like I literally ate an entire bag of Birdseye broccoli with rice and fish and was STARVING afterwards. When we go out to eat my friends gawk at how much I can put away (more than most of the men)
It’s even more frustrating when stuff that is supposed to fill you up.. doesn’t.
Anywho.
I’ve started back on my weight loss to get under 130 before vacation. I’m at like 137 but hitting it pretty hard so I’m between 1000-1200 calories a day. I can’t attest to the healthiness of everything I do so it take it with a grain of salt. Keep in mind what works for me may not work for you.
• Bananas are oddly filling, of all the 100 calorie snacks out there this one tops any of them for fill factor
• Cereal and milk. Sometimes if I still feel hungry after a meal I eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch or peanut butter Cheerios (sooo healthy) but it works. Usually takes two small bowls but recently I’ve just ate cereal as a meal replacement.
• Protein shakes combined with banana and berries. So delicious. Very filling. I usually make fairly large ones and do it as meal replacement
• Water doesn’t fill me up either, but coffee and carbonated water does. I can feel ravenous and have a drink and feel much better. I drink coke zeros (again, not healthy) but I think there are naturally sweetened, low calorie options too? Like La Croix maybe?
I don’t like the term boredom hunger but I do believe a lot of it is mental and over time you can start eating less and feeling fuller.
I also eat very little during the day. Talking less than 400 calories. Then at night (5:30/6) I’ll eat more. This is probably the single thing that helps me the most because at night when I go to bed I feel full which is the most important time of day for me. I can deal with hunger throughout the day but I can’t go to bed hungry.0 -
Try a high protein diet.
Get dry TVP, rehydrate in water and spices, then fry at med-high heat. Add canola oil, fry at high heat until little bits are burnt. If you can't find it locally, Amazon has it. Brand name Hoosier Hill. While you're on Amazon, get some MSG for chicken flavor, or Totole Mushroom Bouillon for beef flavoring (both vegan flavorings). Dry TVP to oil ratio is 100g : 1oz for cooking.
If you have a Walmart, look for Great Value Peanut Butter Powder. There are other brands, but this one is the cheapest per gram of protein. You get 426g per $9.98 container. Slowly add water unt it's a dry paste, then eat. Making it too watery makes it a bit bitter.
Roasted soy nuts are also a great snack, if you can find them. They would likely be in a bulk aisle rather than packed as a brand name item.3 -
Ok, so you do realize that you've answered your own question as to why you're hungry all the time.
Effectively it doesn't even have to do with heeling, other than as a tangent, but everything to do with the effective size of your deficit.
which, based on your apparent rate of loss, may be too large in relation to your TDEE.
Things to consider and to explore.
*If you have swelling you have water retention and currently show a higher scale weight.
*Weight level may best be determined using a combination of weight trend app, scale weight, and common sense (weight trend app and common sense help you not panic with scale results that are unexpected; and scale results and common sense are useful if the weight trend app is lagging, as it sometimes does, either on the way down or the way up)
*1200 may be necessary for SOME ladies but it is not necessary for all. It is more likely to be necessary if you're shorter, lighter, and less active; much more unlikely to be necessary to see results if the above three conditions don't apply.
Your results don't seem to indicate that you need to be applying such a large deficit to see results over time.
Results over time such as a decreasing weight trend in the 0.5% - 1% of body weight per week range when looked at from a 4-6 week perspective are absolutely fabulous and effective... are you pushing for more? See my above about limiting deficit to 25% of total calories to minimize potential side effects.
From another discussion today, @psychod787 pointed to a paper that compared 15% to 20% calories from protein during weight loss with 20% showing slightly better results.
And yes, my neighbours are wonderful people who don't seem to be able to grasp that I am perfectly happy eating my yogurt with cereal and that for more than 40 years have managed to cook perfectly edible-ish food whenever I've wanted to!
To protect the guilty I did not mention zat'aar pizza, backlava, or the unknown coconut, condensed milk, flour, oil? syrup drenched baked cake squares that have also arrived in the same time frame! We are down to delivering using disposable plates to discourage tit for tat exchanges! I am losing badly and cannot keep up! Only thing (barely) saving me is that I deliver for six while they are only trying to over feed one!!!
Hey again! I don't know tbh. The whole TDEE thing is confusing me at the moment because it's coming up to around 1745 which is so low- in which case eating at 1200 doesn't feel like an extreme deficit? I calculated it at sedentary as I can't walk or do much until my ankle heals. Also I'm around 42% body fat so that lowered it too.
I have swelling in my ankle so I suppose maybe I'm retaining some water but I've also lost more weight than I was supposed to so I don't really know to be honest. I'm scared that I'm losing a lot of muscle because I can't exercise much? I use Samsung Health and MyFitnessPal to track my weight usually. I'll deffo try to increase my protein, thanks for that.
Haha bless you! Those treats sound lovely. I wish I had a relationship like that with my neighbours! You've inspired me to put more effort into cultivating it. Baklava is delicious but so easy to overeat haha. Which is why I try to resist it entirely.
Thanks for the message!1 -
paniologal wrote: »I have always had this problem, especially when I try to lose weight (I’ve fluctuated 15 pounds over the past 10ish years, but when I make myself lose weight I struggle). Like I literally ate an entire bag of Birdseye broccoli with rice and fish and was STARVING afterwards. When we go out to eat my friends gawk at how much I can put away (more than most of the men)
It’s even more frustrating when stuff that is supposed to fill you up.. doesn’t.
Anywho.
I’ve started back on my weight loss to get under 130 before vacation. I’m at like 137 but hitting it pretty hard so I’m between 1000-1200 calories a day. I can’t attest to the healthiness of everything I do so it take it with a grain of salt. Keep in mind what works for me may not work for you.
• Bananas are oddly filling, of all the 100 calorie snacks out there this one tops any of them for fill factor
• Cereal and milk. Sometimes if I still feel hungry after a meal I eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch or peanut butter Cheerios (sooo healthy) but it works. Usually takes two small bowls but recently I’ve just ate cereal as a meal replacement.
• Protein shakes combined with banana and berries. So delicious. Very filling. I usually make fairly large ones and do it as meal replacement
• Water doesn’t fill me up either, but coffee and carbonated water does. I can feel ravenous and have a drink and feel much better. I drink coke zeros (again, not healthy) but I think there are naturally sweetened, low calorie options too? Like La Croix maybe?
I don’t like the term boredom hunger but I do believe a lot of it is mental and over time you can start eating less and feeling fuller.
I also eat very little during the day. Talking less than 400 calories. Then at night (5:30/6) I’ll eat more. This is probably the single thing that helps me the most because at night when I go to bed I feel full which is the most important time of day for me. I can deal with hunger throughout the day but I can’t go to bed hungry.
Bless you! I can't even imagine eating that much broccoli in one sitting haha. And same here- I can honestly eat so much food in one sitting if I allowed myself to. 'Tis astonishing! Good luck with your weight loss
I love bananas too. They're definitely more filling. I also like overcooked rice with vegetables mixed in as it is super fluffy so gives the illusion of a bigger portion haha.
I like protein shakes but they never fill me up. My body just treats it like a normal drink. I must say though, the only drink that has ever filled me up is Mango Lasso which is made from mango pulp and yoghurt. That was VERY filling. And yes, I just realised yesterday that drinking herbal tea helps much more than water! Heck, even drinking hot water is better than cold water.
I'm a night eater. I can't end the day on empty stomach. Idk how people do it.
Thank you for the message!1 -
Try a high protein diet.
Get dry TVP, rehydrate in water and spices, then fry at med-high heat. Add canola oil, fry at high heat until little bits are burnt. If you can't find it locally, Amazon has it. Brand name Hoosier Hill. While you're on Amazon, get some MSG for chicken flavor, or Totole Mushroom Bouillon for beef flavoring (both vegan flavorings). Dry TVP to oil ratio is 100g : 1oz for cooking.
If you have a Walmart, look for Great Value Peanut Butter Powder. There are other brands, but this one is the cheapest per gram of protein. You get 426g per $9.98 container. Slowly add water unt it's a dry paste, then eat. Making it too watery makes it a bit bitter.
Roasted soy nuts are also a great snack, if you can find them. They would likely be in a bulk aisle rather than packed as a brand name item.
Very informative. Thanks so much for this. I live in the UK so I might have to find alternative products but I'll definitely look into these. Thank you! I love peanut butter so dry peanut butter sounds interesting. Thanks for the texture tip haha. Also I thought MSG was flavourless? I didn't realise it gave off a chicken flavour haha1 -
MSG is salty/umami.
The PB mentioned above is de-fatted and dried peanut butter. I found it OK as an add on to give other things peanut butter taste. Amazon should deliver it to the UK. Look for PB2 or PB&Me as brands.. or possibly no name peanut flour might do the same trick.
Various things make one feel more or less full.
In random order I've found various forms of success with: apples (not bananas), plain potatoes, 0% plain greek and 0% sucralose sweetened yogurts, fat free artificially sweetened refrigerated jello puddings, whole eggs to egg whites in a 1:2 and up to 1:3 per gram ratio (so a 50g whole egg with 100 to 150g of egg white added), unsweetened cocoa powder (hersheys), reasonable amounts of cinnamon, adding onion and garlic, coffee (black these past few years and enjoying it), hot whole wheat plain cream of wheat and/or plain oatmeal or mixed plain and flavoured, various soups and chilies, spicier indian food-sometimes cut with 0% yogurt and often with extra veggies, frozen and fresh bags of veggies (shredded coleslaw sits in the fridge to be randomly added to things), fish (and shellfish) when I can be bothered to "cook" proves to be a good bargain!, sharp and stronger tasting cheese (danish blue for example), all bran bud cereal--for the longest time my night-time meal was a tub of yogurt with all bran bud cereal and some cocoa mixed in! The general idea for me was to bulk up meals with less calories and skew the macros towards higher protein. I found that, in general, fats took care of themselves--as in i was never in danger of not eating enough of them!
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In your OP you mentioned that you are gaining weight every time you eat normally.
I wonder about the size of swings you are attempting. And what time frames you use when looking at your results. Consider your weight TREND over several weeks, not today's weight!
Think feathering, not sledgehammers, when it comes to pushing the trend up or down.
You need to look at your weight trend over 6-8 weeks, not at your weight over a single week. And you probably should be weighing yourself daily, not once a week at "Booth's"
Unless you are low-carbing, if you lose 5 lbs you would expect to be able to add at least 1000 Cal a day AND NOT GAIN.
TDEE is the total amount of calories you spend. There is an inherent amount of estimating that only long term consistent data can help you sort through.
And it is a dynamic system: we don't burn the same amount of calories exactly in a deficit, at maintenance and on a surplus. And there are errors in measuring our weight and in measuring our calories out and calories in and.... <-- but you don't need perfection to get estimates that are good enough to yield results for you!
You said: "I lost 5 lbs in a week. I was only supposed to lose 2 lbs". And I said: "your deficit is too large". And this is in the context of you complaining that you're having trouble complying with your deficit because of being too hungry
First of all unless you're currently well in the obese range and your estimated TDEE is well over 3000, a target of more than 1lb a week for weight loss (i.e. more than 500 Cal a day) falls above a 20-25% deficit... i.e. it is probably too aggressive.
You lost 5lbs. Now I realize and already assume that it was not all fat and that some of it was water weight, etc etc. But 5lbs argues that you are effectively applying AT LEAST a 1000 Cal deficit, if not larger, as compared to what you're eating. Because if your deficit was less than 1000 Cal we would expect you to lose less than 2lbs... not more than double that!
Therefore you ARE hungry. Because you're under-eating by too much for your current situation! Because 5lbs says your deficit was more than 1000 Cal which was already potentially too much for you in the first place!
The goal is not a sprint to the finish--what finish? You're going to have to maintain your weight loss for the rest of your life!
The goal is to lose weight in a way that helps you figure out how to maintain your weight loss and generates the least amount of problems for you both now and in the future.
Starting with a super aggressive deficit that leaves you hungry and lethargic (as sometimes happens with people who persist on applying too large of a deficit for a long period of time) won't help you much down the road! Same applies with a deficit that is so aggressive you keep giving up and consuming everything under the sun after the intense restriction!
Not sure if mentioned above. Use a weight trend app and weigh yourself no more than once a day taking into account expected hormonal fluctuations as they relate to your weight when trying to figure out your weight level.
Calculate calories eaten by consistently logging everything you eat/drink. Weighing your food and choosing accurate entries helps because the more accurate you are the more consistent you will be. Consistency, ultimately matters more than accuracy.
ON AVERAGE 3500 Cal per lb lost or gained is a good enough approximation for your effective deficit. Even it if doesn't work exactly and even if the number is much more variable in reality, the approximation is good enough for you to apply a stimulus (deficit or surplus) that pushes you to achieving the results you seek (weight loss or gain).
If you find yourself targeting a >15-20% effective stimulus double check with yourself if that's the best thing for you. Risk of non-compliance and negative consequences increase with larger applications! The obvious issue exists with too small of an application: lack of results.
Like with everything else: balance works best!
TL; dr: reduce your deficit. Target 1lb per week at most. Don't try to under-eat much more than that. If your faster than expected results continue, don't hesitate to increase your calories especially if you are having trouble maintaining compliance.0 -
What worked for me was to find replacement foods for the bad things I was eating. You end up eating at least as much, but the calories are far less.
The other thing that worked for me was to amp up my exercise; when you get better of course. I would burn 800-1000cals in the gym 2 days a week and just “pig out” with the extra calories. I often couldn’t eat enough to cover my burn.
Have you tried eating skinless chicken breasts? The calories are so low relative to the amount of solid food you put into you body. It’s not the answer to all your questions, but it may help. It’s been a daily staple of mine for a year now and fills me up every time.
Whole quaker oats soaked in milk over night and egg whites from a carton cooked in a muffin pan are also good replacements. Just find the right foods, get some exercise when you are better, and let the buffet begin...0 -
1200 calories is too little. I would be starving too! Try 1500 calories. Good luck! You can do it!2
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