Always hungry

lillyy23
lillyy23 Posts: 136 Member
edited December 24 in Getting Started
This is so hard I’m always starving , and even when I eat pretty healthy at night I always wanna eat something. What should I do because I’m 5’2 and I really wanna lose weight it’s creeping back after Christmas :( I don’t understand this calorie thing , also I have an injury should I just force my joint injury to lose a few lbs? And then take another break

Replies

  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    I thought your post was this one. Maybe something has already been mentioned here that might help you:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10778281/always-hungry/p1
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    edited January 2020
    In response to your other questions, set up your MFP profile and set it to lose 1 lb/week. Log everything you eat meticulously and hit that calorie goal. If you do any exercise, and this is completely optional and likely not wise if you are dealing with a fresh injury, be sure to log it and eat back at least half of the calories it gives you. Be patient and get comfortable with the idea that this process takes a lot of time. That's really all there is to it.

    Now, if you want to understand more about the process, logging, or how weight loss works, which I completely recommend, I'd encourage you to read the stickies at the top of the "getting started" and "general diet and exercise" forums. Wish you the best. :)
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    Are you "hungry" or "thirsty"? First I make myself a good cuppa and wait a few minutes - usually my body just needs some liquid.
  • lillyy23
    lillyy23 Posts: 136 Member
    How many calories a day are you eating? You may be in a more aggressive deficit than is necessary. There's no need to rush, and you may find slower weight loss is more sustainable, as you can actually, you know, live your life while losing weight. As for "forcing a joint injury to lose weight" - that sounds pretty unwise. You don't need to exercise to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit which can be achieved through diet alone. If you end up injuring yourself further, will you think it was worth the extra 150 or whatever calories you burned? Or will you get upset, discouraged, and more likely to give up and revert to old eating habits? Give your injury time to heal, get medical advice if necessary, and go easy on yourself. It's a marathon, not a sprint etc etc.

    Thanks for being so nice :) I know it’s silly force it , but some people my family don’t understand they just tell me that everyone has pain and some people have to go to work with pain etc you know ? Makes me feel bad . Like I don’t have energy or motivation to do something?
    As for the injury it has been a long time already I just been pretty sedentary and before I was really sad because like I couldn’t do anything about this. I’m gonna try reading some info on here I’m just stuck on getting started like there’s so many calculators online and it’s confusing
  • fiftyonefour
    fiftyonefour Posts: 105 Member
    Agree with the above. Set weight loss to 1lb/week and track EVERYTHING.

    One thing that really helped me with cravings is reducing sugar intake. I cut bread and grain due to a cough and it actually supported me not having any cravings within one month. Oddly I have to remind myself to eat. Which is VERY unlike me.

    With an injury you may be able to do modified or low intensity workouts or pool work. Or some yoga or low intensity workouts are available on YouTube as well.

    I added you as a friend:)
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    lillyy23 wrote: »
    How many calories a day are you eating? You may be in a more aggressive deficit than is necessary. There's no need to rush, and you may find slower weight loss is more sustainable, as you can actually, you know, live your life while losing weight. As for "forcing a joint injury to lose weight" - that sounds pretty unwise. You don't need to exercise to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit which can be achieved through diet alone. If you end up injuring yourself further, will you think it was worth the extra 150 or whatever calories you burned? Or will you get upset, discouraged, and more likely to give up and revert to old eating habits? Give your injury time to heal, get medical advice if necessary, and go easy on yourself. It's a marathon, not a sprint etc etc.

    Thanks for being so nice :) I know it’s silly force it , but some people my family don’t understand they just tell me that everyone has pain and some people have to go to work with pain etc you know ? Makes me feel bad . Like I don’t have energy or motivation to do something?
    As for the injury it has been a long time already I just been pretty sedentary and before I was really sad because like I couldn’t do anything about this. I’m gonna try reading some info on here I’m just stuck on getting started like there’s so many calculators online and it’s confusing

    There are a ton of calculators and info online, and a lot of it is BS. I would suggest for the month of January, you stick to MFP particularly with the pinned links that have been vetted by experienced people. Set a reasonable deficit (as was pointed out, "you can actually live your life" while eating in a deficit). There's no reason really to be in tooooooooo big a hurry to the point that you barely hang on for a week and then eat everything in sight.

    In terms of hunger, there's a difference between "I could eat something now" and "I would gladly eat my arm plus a can of creamed spinach immediately." When I first started my "I'm serious" weight loss journey, the first few months were about making peace with feeling like I wasn't "full" and distinguishing that from the hunger related to "I really need to refuel my body." (For the record, canned creamed spinach is revolting to me and so I knew I was legitimately HUNGRY when even that sounded somewhat palatable.)

    It's easy to injure oneself coming from a sedentary existence to vigorous (for you) exercise. So if you've injured yourself, take care of that bit and then reflect on what you think caused it. For me, I realized I needed decent footwear and I needed to walk slowly before I could walk faster, use machines with weights I could lift for 12-15 repetitions before I could move to free weights & weight progression, and to remember that my structural over-flexibility made overhead lifting tricky on my shoulders without attending first to strengthening those tiny ligaments in the joint (using the dreaded "barbie weight" with some exercises recommended by physiotherapists). Don't get goaded into doing too much too soon.

    You can totally do this.


  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
    Injuries can be tough and drag on some times, I had a persistent Achilles issue that really killed a lot of activity for a long time like everyone has pointed out caloric deficit is what will cause the loss. Log everything, drink lots of water and as you progress maybe just start with longer and longer walks -- last time I did this just walking more and caloric deficit helped me lose 30 pounds before I got more active than walking. the beginning is always a little tough as your body adapts to changes in eating habits and diet, (cutting sugar is a tough one it's a withdrawal process ) eat smaller portions and more frequently may be easier for you ...I definitely find I do better if I eat a small breakfast (even if it is just a little yogurt and a few berries)

  • shoyumirinsake
    shoyumirinsake Posts: 6 Member
    lots of helpful advice above - i strongly agree with neuge - sometimes we're actually a bit dehydrated and its mistaken for hunger. *stay hydrated* is cliche but its a solid rule. for some people (myself included), keeping a water bottle nearby with some fresh citrus squeezed in makes drinking water more appetizing and feels more like a treat. good luck.
  • OpinionatedCyborg
    OpinionatedCyborg Posts: 70 Member
    Cut out all sugar. You're body is addicted to it.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Cut out all sugar. You're body is addicted to it.

    How have you drawn that conclusion from the information presented?
  • OpinionatedCyborg
    OpinionatedCyborg Posts: 70 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Cut out all sugar. You're body is addicted to it.

    How have you drawn that conclusion from the information presented?

    Just a guess! Let her respond. ;)
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    If you have the means to do so, a visit to a physical therapist could be beneficial. This way your injury could be properly assessed and appropriate exercises recommended which will improve the injury rather than make it worse.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    lillyy23 wrote: »
    This is so hard I’m always starving , and even when I eat pretty healthy at night I always wanna eat something. What should I do because I’m 5’2 and I really wanna lose weight it’s creeping back after Christmas :( I don’t understand this calorie thing , also I have an injury should I just force my joint injury to lose a few lbs? And then take another break

    Firstly, the calorie thing:
    It's really quite simple. A calorie is a unit of energy. Your body uses a number of calories per day and you eat a number of calories per day. If you eat more calories than you use your body stores those extra calories as fat, if you eat fewer calories than your body uses it will start to draw on those fat reserves to make up the difference. There's nothing magic about it. It's just pure maths. If it helps, think of it as money. You have your expenditures (food, travel, etc) and you have your income. If you earn more money than you spend put that extra into a savings account. Over time if you consistently earn more than you spend your savings account will grow. Conversely if you start earning less money but your expenditures don't change you won't be earning enough to maintain them and you'll have to start to draw money from your savings account to cover the difference. Money = calories, Saving account = fat.

    About being hungry all the time:
    Feeling satisfied can be achieved a number of different ways. Some people are satiated by protein, fats or fibre. So experiment with different foods and see if you might fall into one of those categories. Others, (myself included) are volume eaters where it doesn't matter what food we eat we just need to eat in large volumes. This can be achieve by eating large quantities of low calorie density foods or by eating few very large meals each day.

    The other thing to consider is, are you eating foods you really enjoy?
    Now I don't mean foods you think you should eat because they're "healthy" or foods that are 'OK' or that you 'kinda like' or that you 'don't mind'. I mean foods you genuinely enjoy and want to eat? Satisfaction can come from enjoyment of food. For example if I feel like chocolate, often an 80cal fun size bar will do the trick. If I tried to satisfy that with, say an orange (also 80cal) I'd finish that orange off and be on the prowl for more food. Make sure your satisfying your tongue as well as your belly

    Finally the injury thing. That's something you'll need to speak with a doctor about to determine if you're safe to exercise. But, if you're told to rest then understand that you by no means need to exercise to lose weight. MFP is designed that the calorie target you're given doesn't include calories burned via workouts. So if you're not working out you can still stick to the target MFP has given you and still achieve fat loss.

    G'luck
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