Starving
zfitgal
Posts: 518 Member
Hi everyone, I was just talking to one of the trainers in my gym and she was telling me that when a person is in a caloric deficit, they should be hungry and starving. That’s how they know your metabolism is working hard. I totally disagree with that. I think of a person is on a diet and they are constantly starving. You’re constantly going to Binge. Have any of you ever heard of this before? She is a person who does compete in bodybuilding competitions and is on a ton of supplementation and I’m sure performance enhancement drugs as well. But I do not believe the average person who wants to lose 15 to 20 pounds in a 1 pound a week or half a pound of deficit should be starving. Please let me know if you feel I’m wrong.
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Not since the 90s when I was a teen watching Oprah and she said "hunger pains are fat cells crying".
And we wonder why we all grew up with a screwed up sense of what healthy weight loss looks like.
I would not go to that trainer for a lot of advice.10 -
I've been losing about half a kg a week and so I'm clearly in a deficit and I'm not starving whatsoever.2
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If I eat correctly, log my daily intake, I will loose a minimum of 1 pound a week & definitely do not starve. Feel full more than when eating unhealthy.2
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Having been married to a competitive bodybuilder, I can tell you that unless I were myself a bodybuilder, they are the absolute dead last people I’d take nutrition advice from. It’s an extremely specialized and all-consuming sport and just doesn’t translate well to regular people.14
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I don't starve myself either. I'm down 20 lbs since I changed to a high water-filled foods and protein diet. I eat a lot of fresh veggies(lettuce, tomato, cucumbers), healthy fats (love avocado 🥑) and protein (nuts, beef sticks). Water veggies are low in calories and the protein helps me feel fuller longer.2
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Bodybuilders that compete are on a different plane entirely. They starve during contest prep for a month or more, look the way they do then after the contest go back to a caloric surplus to add more muscle so in essence, yo yo dieting which for the general public is a bad idea.
You want to set up your diet as a permanently sustainable situation which can take some time to sort out but once you find your groove it’s easy.3 -
tomcustombuilder wrote: »Bodybuilders that compete are on a different plane entirely. They starve during contest prep for a month or more, look the way they do then after the contest go back to a caloric surplus to add more muscle so in essence, yo yo dieting which for the general public is a bad idea.
You want to set up your diet as a permanently sustainable situation which can take some time to sort out but once you find your groove it’s easy.
I lost 20 pounds since this past July and in March I stalled. I didn’t change my calories back in March and thought maybe it would work itself out. I do work out in a Powerhouse gym so most people who come are competitors. There of course all the average people as well, but it is very popular for a bodybuilder gym. That being said, I do feel like I’ve lost because I do see you these people going from 20 pounds or even 40 pounds overweight to getting contest lean which
is very difficult. I was eating 1600 cal for most of this deficit. I did drop my calories to 1550 to see what happened nothing happened and then I blocked them to 1450 and my body started getting anxious, wasn’t able to sleep at night,felt starving where all I can think of was food and my next meal, had constant feelings the sadness and my bowel movements slow down. I spoke to someone in the gym and they told me that it’s normal to starve, and I should lower my calories
even more. I know that’s not the right answer for me. But I do have 15 pounds left to lose. So I am in a bit of a pickle. I will tell you for the past week. I have eaten whatever I wanted have not worked out because I just I’m so tired of chasing some thing. looking forward to hearing from you and thanks for your responses2 -
I think proper nutrition is key for health. Malnourishment would be ill advised.
Starvation means not having the calories needed to support life.
Being in a modest calorie deficit and being adequately nourished is enough for weight loss.
Hunger is a feeling, starvation is a medical condition.
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If you’re cutting so hard you’re at the point of feeling like you’re “chasing something”, and too de-energized to work out, listen to your head and your body.
I worked out at a powerlifting gym when I first started doing weights. The owner’s 57 year old husband (multiple time world champ) squatted 1,000 an month after a triple bypass, and swore everyone to secrecy because he knew his wife would (reasonably) go ballistic. She has cameras throughout the gym. Duh. She knew. All hell broke loose. Thank god, because she asked me what I knew which was tres awkward.
A lot of these guys are in a bubble of Crazy-Town.
One of the things she used to point out to me was how overweight most of them were, and how they’d improve if they ate better, shed a few, and most of all, stretched regularly. She even tried to teach some stretch classes herself and considered hiring a yoga instructor for her competitors, but man, they weren’t having none of it.
You do you. Common sense is called “common sense” for a reason. Make sure your calorie goal is still in line with your current weight. MFP does not always adjust automatically as you get lighter.1 -
Thank you so much for this I really appreciate this. So my fitness pal was saying that in order for me to lose half a pound a week based on my activity (which I might’ve put in too low, because I retrain five days a week and I do cardio five days a week, with one complete rest day and I complete 10,000 steps a daily) and I put myself as lightly active. Based on where I put myself it said 1650 would be where I need to be to lose half a pound a week. But every time I seem to lower my calories from fat points I would start to gain weight and I wouldn’t feel right. So I don’t really know how to adjust.springlering62 wrote: »If you’re cutting so hard you’re at the point of feeling like you’re “chasing something”, and too de-energized to work out, listen to your head and your body.
I worked out at a powerlifting gym when I first started doing weights. The owner’s 57 year old husband (multiple time world champ) squatted 1,000 an month after a triple bypass, and swore everyone to secrecy because he knew his wife would (reasonably) go ballistic. She has cameras throughout the gym. Duh. She knew. All hell broke loose. Thank god, because she asked me what I knew which was tres awkward.
A lot of these guys are in a bubble of Crazy-Town.
One of the things she used to point out to me was how overweight most of them were, and how they’d improve if they ate better, shed a few, and most of all, stretched regularly. She even tried to teach some stretch classes herself and considered hiring a yoga instructor for her competitors, but man, they weren’t having none of it.
You do you. Common sense is called “common sense” for a reason. Make sure your calorie goal is still in line with your current weight. MFP does not always adjust automatically as you get lighter.
. I do know weight loss is not linear and there are gonna be ups and downs through it but I just want to feel like I’m on the right track if you know what I mean and I don’t know what track that is right now.
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Thank you so much for this I really appreciate this. So my fitness pal was saying that in order for me to lose half a pound a week based on my activity (which I might’ve put in too low, because I retrain five days a week and I do cardio five days a week, with one complete rest day and I complete 10,000 steps a daily) and I put myself as lightly active. Based on where I put myself it said 1650 would be where I need to be to lose half a pound a week. But every time I seem to lower my calories from fat points I would start to gain weight and I wouldn’t feel right. So I don’t really know how to adjust.springlering62 wrote: »If you’re cutting so hard you’re at the point of feeling like you’re “chasing something”, and too de-energized to work out, listen to your head and your body.
I worked out at a powerlifting gym when I first started doing weights. The owner’s 57 year old husband (multiple time world champ) squatted 1,000 an month after a triple bypass, and swore everyone to secrecy because he knew his wife would (reasonably) go ballistic. She has cameras throughout the gym. Duh. She knew. All hell broke loose. Thank god, because she asked me what I knew which was tres awkward.
A lot of these guys are in a bubble of Crazy-Town.
One of the things she used to point out to me was how overweight most of them were, and how they’d improve if they ate better, shed a few, and most of all, stretched regularly. She even tried to teach some stretch classes herself and considered hiring a yoga instructor for her competitors, but man, they weren’t having none of it.
You do you. Common sense is called “common sense” for a reason. Make sure your calorie goal is still in line with your current weight. MFP does not always adjust automatically as you get lighter.. I do know weight loss is not linear and there are gonna be ups and downs through it but I just want to feel like I’m on the right track if you know what I mean and I don’t know what track that is right now.
Because of all your activity, you probably have a lot of water weight fluctuations going on. Intellectually you know "weight loss is not linear" but I don't think you've really internalized/accepted this. Stick to a path for at least a month (a full menstrual cycle if that applies) and then decide whether to adjust calories.
It's also possible that since you're not calculating activity level correctly, you may be under eating quite a bit, and it is currently not showing up on the scale because the stress of this has raised your cortisol level, causing you to retain even more water.
If this resonates with you, let's discuss how to dial in your activity level:
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
...a group of women who scored higher on dietary restraint scores showed elevated baseline cortisol levels. By itself this might not be problematic, but as often as not, these types of dieters are drawn to extreme approaches to dieting.
They throw in a lot of intense exercise, try to cut calories very hard (and this often backfires if disinhibition is high; when these folks break they break) and cortisol levels go through the roof. That often causes cortisol mediated water retention (there are other mechanisms for this, mind you, leptin actually inhibits cortisol release and as it drops on a diet, cortisol levels go up further). Weight and fat loss appear to have stopped or at least slowed significantly. This is compounded even further in female dieters due to the vagaries of their menstrual cycle where water balance is changing enormously week to week anyhow.
And invariably, this type of psychology responds to the stall by going even harder. They attempt to cut calories harder, they start doing more activity. The cycle continues and gets worse. Harder dieting means more cortisol means more water retention means more dieting. Which backfires (other problems come in the long-term with this approach but you’ll have to wait for the book to read about that).
When what they should do is take a day or two off (even one day off from training, at least in men, lets cortisol drop significantly). Raise calories, especially from carbohydrates. This helps cortisol to drop. More than that they need to find a way to freaking chill out. Meditation, yoga, get a massage... Get in the bath, candles, a little Enya, a glass of wine, have some you-time but please just chill.
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SafariGalNYC wrote: »I think proper nutrition is key for health. Malnourishment would be ill advised.
Starvation means not having the calories needed to support life.
Being in a modest calorie deficit and being adequately nourished is enough for weight loss.
Hunger is a feeling, starvation is a medical condition.
This is so correct. I'm pretty sure the trainer in the original post was talking about hunger, not starvation, but used the incorrect word. For many people who start on a weight loss journey, they feel they are "starving" while in reality they just feel hungry due to consuming fewer calories than they were (which of course was excessive).4 -
Thank you so much for this I really appreciate this. So my fitness pal was saying that in order for me to lose half a pound a week based on my activity (which I might’ve put in too low, because I retrain five days a week and I do cardio five days a week, with one complete rest day and I complete 10,000 steps a daily) and I put myself as lightly active. Based on where I put myself it said 1650 would be where I need to be to lose half a pound a week. But every time I seem to lower my calories from fat points I would start to gain weight and I wouldn’t feel right. So I don’t really know how to adjust.springlering62 wrote: »If you’re cutting so hard you’re at the point of feeling like you’re “chasing something”, and too de-energized to work out, listen to your head and your body.
I worked out at a powerlifting gym when I first started doing weights. The owner’s 57 year old husband (multiple time world champ) squatted 1,000 an month after a triple bypass, and swore everyone to secrecy because he knew his wife would (reasonably) go ballistic. She has cameras throughout the gym. Duh. She knew. All hell broke loose. Thank god, because she asked me what I knew which was tres awkward.
A lot of these guys are in a bubble of Crazy-Town.
One of the things she used to point out to me was how overweight most of them were, and how they’d improve if they ate better, shed a few, and most of all, stretched regularly. She even tried to teach some stretch classes herself and considered hiring a yoga instructor for her competitors, but man, they weren’t having none of it.
You do you. Common sense is called “common sense” for a reason. Make sure your calorie goal is still in line with your current weight. MFP does not always adjust automatically as you get lighter.. I do know weight loss is not linear and there are gonna be ups and downs through it but I just want to feel like I’m on the right track if you know what I mean and I don’t know what track that is right now.
I’m going to say this from a place of support and empathy, and not criticism. You’ve made a few posts about not losing, or feeling ill when you eat too little, or having a weight loss stall. It feels like you’re pushing hard to solve an “issue” which might not even be there.
Weight fluctuates hugely - especially if you have menstrual cycles - and you need to just hold your nerve and track consistently for several weeks THEN see what your numbers are. Lots of things will affect your weight (notice I’m saying weight - not fat): how many carbs or salt you ate, how many times you’ve been to the bathroom (food in tummy / bowels), heat and humidity, whether you’ve travelled (retained water), your exercise intensity (muscles holding water), what your food intake was (some foods are heavier), how much water you’ve drunk, and the good old female period.
If you don’t have loads to lose then you’re better off picking a slow and sustainable rate of loss, like 1/2 - 1 lb per week. And you know what? You won’t see that every week. You might even go up a bit before get a sudden whoosh of loss. It’s why some people like to track every day and then record trends on a graph over time. There’s a great thread on here about scale fluctuations and I recommend reading that if you can find it.
If you find over several weeks that your weight has consistently crept up, then you need to check your logging is as accurate as you can make it: no eyeballing or guessing, weigh absolutely everything and check all entries you select. Then try dropping 100 cals a day, and consider what foods make you feel full and good.
We are all different, but with the volume of exercise you have stated, I would expect you to lose weight fast on the calories you mention.
Does any of this resonate, or have I missed the mark?
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This is just me, but when I lost 20 lbs in the first half of this year I was VERY hungry for at least a full hour before each meal.
If you have the time and self discipline, it may be less miserable if you eat at maintenance levels and exercise into caloric deficit.0 -
claireychn074 wrote: »
Thank you so much for this I really appreciate this. So my fitness pal was saying that in order for me to lose half a pound a week based on my activity (which I might’ve put in too low, because I retrain five days a week and I do cardio five days a week, with one complete rest day and I complete 10,000 steps a daily) and I put myself as lightly active. Based on where I put myself it said 1650 would be where I need to be to lose half a pound a week. But every time I seem to lower my calories from fat points I would start to gain weight and I wouldn’t feel right. So I don’t really know how to adjust.springlering62 wrote: »If you’re cutting so hard you’re at the point of feeling like you’re “chasing something”, and too de-energized to work out, listen to your head and your body.
I worked out at a powerlifting gym when I first started doing weights. The owner’s 57 year old husband (multiple time world champ) squatted 1,000 an month after a triple bypass, and swore everyone to secrecy because he knew his wife would (reasonably) go ballistic. She has cameras throughout the gym. Duh. She knew. All hell broke loose. Thank god, because she asked me what I knew which was tres awkward.
A lot of these guys are in a bubble of Crazy-Town.
One of the things she used to point out to me was how overweight most of them were, and how they’d improve if they ate better, shed a few, and most of all, stretched regularly. She even tried to teach some stretch classes herself and considered hiring a yoga instructor for her competitors, but man, they weren’t having none of it.
You do you. Common sense is called “common sense” for a reason. Make sure your calorie goal is still in line with your current weight. MFP does not always adjust automatically as you get lighter.. I do know weight loss is not linear and there are gonna be ups and downs through it but I just want to feel like I’m on the right track if you know what I mean and I don’t know what track that is right now.
I’m going to say this from a place of support and empathy, and not criticism. You’ve made a few posts about not losing, or feeling ill when you eat too little, or having a weight loss stall. It feels like you’re pushing hard to solve an “issue” which might not even be there.
Weight fluctuates hugely - especially if you have menstrual cycles - and you need to just hold your nerve and track consistently for several weeks THEN see what your numbers are. Lots of things will affect your weight (notice I’m saying weight - not fat): how many carbs or salt you ate, how many times you’ve been to the bathroom (food in tummy / bowels), heat and humidity, whether you’ve travelled (retained water), your exercise intensity (muscles holding water), what your food intake was (some foods are heavier), how much water you’ve drunk, and the good old female period.
If you don’t have loads to lose then you’re better off picking a slow and sustainable rate of loss, like 1/2 - 1 lb per week. And you know what? You won’t see that every week. You might even go up a bit before get a sudden whoosh of loss. It’s why some people like to track every day and then record trends on a graph over time. There’s a great thread on here about scale fluctuations and I recommend reading that if you can find it.
If you find over several weeks that your weight has consistently crept up, then you need to check your logging is as accurate as you can make it: no eyeballing or guessing, weigh absolutely everything and check all entries you select. Then try dropping 100 cals a day, and consider what foods make you feel full and good.
We are all different, but with the volume of exercise you have stated, I would expect you to lose weight fast on the calories you mention.
Does any of this resonate, or have I missed the mark?
Hi, none of this resonates with me. I meticulously track. My weight has crept up only after lowering my calories. Other than that my way has been between 145 and 147 pounds eating at 1600 cal. There is nothing that goes into my mouth that is not measured. My inches have been the same as well. My goal was to only lose half a pound a week that’s why I put my calories at 1600. I am not basing this off of one week or two weeks. I am basing this off of several months of being in the same place. The only change that I have done was lower, my calories, and it threw me off completely. I did write multiple post because I’m very lost and confused here and it’s very hard for me. The woosh affect happens after a couple of weeks at most not months. Even when I lowered my calories, I looked more swollen.
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Too low of calories and too much exercise causes water bloating. Try reverse dieting for 2 weeks and reduce exercising.
After a couple weeks of this if still no change then you need to review your diet for accuracy.1 -
Just because someone's a "trainer" doesn't make them right, or even sensible. People who are trainers can be extreme, obsessed, hyperbolic in how they express things, etc. . . . just like any other people.
I'm with you, as a generality: Extreme hunger should not be necessary. Sure, it's one normal pattern to feel hungrier than usual for the first couple of weeks, before new habits settle in. Also, there will be some people who - for one reason or another - do struggle with hunger at reduced calories. But that's not universal, IME.
I lost around 50 pounds, without feeling constantly "hungry and starving", averaging a pound a week for just under a year (faster at first, slower at the end, in practice). I'd feel a little peckish when a meal was coming up pretty soon, but no big problems or suffering on a regular basis.
I feel like some people act as if being fat is a sin that we need to expiate by suffering: Extreme food restriction, punitively intense exercise. I think that's nonsense.
Gaining weight when lowering calories is much more likely IMO to be stress-related water retention than fat gain, and it can last a surprisingly long time. The exception might be when the reduced calories cause reduced movement (including unnoticed movements like fidgeting) through fatigue. In those scenarios - persistent water retention or fatigue-reduced movement - I think Tom's got a good point about reverse dieting.
You might also want to read about refeeds and diet breaks here:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
To be clear, I'm not necessarily saying you must do refeeds or a diet break. It's that I think the science around that is interesting and potentially relevant to what you're experiencing (in addition to the link about cortisol that Kshama posted above). There's some good research-based information in both those links (and the outlinks from the thread I posted above).0 -
tomcustombuilder wrote: »Too low of calories and too much exercise causes water bloating. Try reverse dieting for 2 weeks and reduce exercising.
After a couple weeks of this if still no change then you need to review your diet for accuracy.
Yep, I'm assuming the calorie log is accurate, calories are too few given the amount of exercise, and what's showing up on the scale is water retention due to increased cortisol, not fat gain.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »Too low of calories and too much exercise causes water bloating. Try reverse dieting for 2 weeks and reduce exercising.
After a couple weeks of this if still no change then you need to review your diet for accuracy.
Yep, I'm assuming the calorie log is accurate, calories are too few given the amount of exercise, and what's showing up on the scale is water retention due to increased cortisol, not fat gain.
Correct
After a lengthy period of a lot of exercise and very low calories you’re going to look worse before you look better. Your body is in a big caloric deficit. Your body retains water and you’ll look soft and fat—this even happens to pros. This is why you want to add calories back in at the end and back off of the cardio.0 -
tomcustombuilder wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »Too low of calories and too much exercise causes water bloating. Try reverse dieting for 2 weeks and reduce exercising.
After a couple weeks of this if still no change then you need to review your diet for accuracy.
Yep, I'm assuming the calorie log is accurate, calories are too few given the amount of exercise, and what's showing up on the scale is water retention due to increased cortisol, not fat gain.
Correct
After a lengthy period of a lot of exercise and very low calories you’re going to look worse before you look better. Your body is in a big caloric deficit. Your body retains water and you’ll look soft and fat—this even happens to pros. This is why you want to add calories back in at the end and back off of the cardio.
You'll start looking better, the water will dissipate and the added calories, especially from carbs will fill the muscles back up.
This is provided you actually were in a big weekly deficit and not just underestimating your calorie amounts0 -
Starving means you are in too much of a deficit.0
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Stupid question, but are you hydrating?
Dehydration can mimic hunger.
I sweat like a hundred pigs, whether in the gym or hot yoga. Because I’m curious, I make it a habit to weight myself immediately out of bed, then I habitually drink about a quart annd an half of water/coffee/oat milk/electrolyte drink, along with a large, protein heavy breakfast.
I reweigh around 11am, after morning workouts.
In that short time, I consistently weigh 2.5-3 pound less, even after all that food and liquid. That’s sweat. And, thus, dehydration- even if my morning included 90 minutes in a swimming pool!
I’m “famished” when I get home, but sucking down some water relieves the “hunger pangs”.
Would one of the weight “smoothing” apps like Happy Scale help? I haven’t used one, because I’m so interested in the bumps and grinds and whys of loss and maintenance, so I enjoy the numbers, but someone else might be kind enough to explain.
I find sometimes when I’m frustrated and feel like I’m losing traction, that simply changing the view on the app associated with my Bluetooth scale from “week” to “3 months” helps me see the bigger picture better.
Change something up. I tend to be comparatively low carb and low fat. I’ve added a big bowl of buttered popcorn into my day to get both macros up. I’m finding it helpful.
You sound a lot like me. I’ve also actually intentionally cut back on exercise. We can get to the point we are doing so danged much in our efforts to lose or maintain that our pain/stuffness/overall- discomfort levels creep up on us. All that contributes to water retention.
I’d like to get ahold of the Health Team at Apple and vent on them. Trackers are a godsend, but constantly being encouraged with “you can do more!!!!” challenges when you’re already pushing the envelope are hell on certain personalities. Are you one of those, like me?0 -
springlering62 wrote: »Stupid question, but are you hydrating?
Dehydration can mimic hunger.
I sweat like a hundred pigs, whether in the gym or hot yoga. Because I’m curious, I make it a habit to weight myself immediately out of bed, then I habitually drink about a quart annd an half of water/coffee/oat milk/electrolyte drink, along with a large, protein heavy breakfast.
I reweigh around 11am, after morning workouts.
In that short time, I consistently weigh 2.5-3 pound less, even after all that food and liquid. That’s sweat. And, thus, dehydration- even if my morning included 90 minutes in a swimming pool!
I’m “famished” when I get home, but sucking down some water relieves the “hunger pangs”.
Would one of the weight “smoothing” apps like Happy Scale help? I haven’t used one, because I’m so interested in the bumps and grinds and whys of loss and maintenance, so I enjoy the numbers, but someone else might be kind enough to explain.
I find sometimes when I’m frustrated and feel like I’m losing traction, that simply changing the view on the app associated with my Bluetooth scale from “week” to “3 months” helps me see the bigger picture better.
Change something up. I tend to be comparatively low carb and low fat. I’ve added a big bowl of buttered popcorn into my day to get both macros up. I’m finding it helpful.
You sound a lot like me. I’ve also actually intentionally cut back on exercise. We can get to the point we are doing so danged much in our efforts to lose or maintain that our pain/stuffness/overall- discomfort levels creep up on us. All that contributes to water retention.
I’d like to get ahold of the Health Team at Apple and vent on them. Trackers are a godsend, but constantly being encouraged with “you can do more!!!!” challenges when you’re already pushing the envelope are hell on certain personalities. Are you one of those, like me?
My belief is that the OP is hungry because she is not eating enough to fuel her workouts. It might be helpful to her if you share your gross calories.
That said, yes, thirst can definitely feel like hunger.- I feel hungry in the AM, which goes away as I start drinking tea.
- I have fluid with me at the gym.
- I just bought a new fanny pack so I can bring a bigger water bottle with me on the trail.
- After I swim, I dry my face and the very next thing I do is start drinking - my bottle is with my towel.
Also, I struggle with constipation when I'm not sufficiently hydrated and I'm amazed at how much more fluid I need this time of year due to the heat. It's a challenge to get in all the fluid I need, but I'm working on it.
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A few years back I lost almost 40 pounds and did find a weight trend app helpful. (I have an iphone and use Happy Scale.) Some weeks and even months it didn't feel like I was making progress, but the trend line showed otherwise.0 -
Competitive bodybuilders STARVE themselves to get to single digit body fat percentages (women in the low 10's). So it sounds like it's just an objective opinion from them.Hi everyone, I was just talking to one of the trainers in my gym and she was telling me that when a person is in a caloric deficit, they should be hungry and starving. That’s how they know your metabolism is working hard. I totally disagree with that. I think of a person is on a diet and they are constantly starving. You’re constantly going to Binge. Have any of you ever heard of this before? She is a person who does compete in bodybuilding competitions and is on a ton of supplementation and I’m sure performance enhancement drugs as well. But I do not believe the average person who wants to lose 15 to 20 pounds in a 1 pound a week or half a pound of deficit should be starving. Please let me know if you feel I’m wrong.
You DON'T need to starve. But it's not uncommon to feel hungry if you were very used to eating large portions and eating all the time around the clock.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 40 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Undoubtably not eating enough if she’s working out as often as stated, and recording every bite accurately.kshama2001 wrote: »My belief is that the OP is hungry because she is not eating enough to fuel her workouts. It might be helpful to her if you share your gross calories.
OP, I started at age 56, 225’ish, 5’7”, with 1470 calorie allowance. I was sedentary. As in, I only got up to get a fresh supply of chocolate or a new book.
Two months after starting, first dietician visit suggested i increase to 1700, and then 1900 a couple months later. Got a superb trainer six months in, who insisted I increase to 2100 and then 2300. I still lost consistenly at 2300.
I have taken a slightly different tack than others. I weigh and log carefully, but always shoot for a flat number, regardless of activity, with the caveat that if there’s too large a spread, or if I get nappish or snappish, I take that as a sign to add a snack or two.
Once I reached maintenance, now the polar opposite of “sedentary”, I easily maintained at a flat 2800-3000, but that’s working out multiple times and walking the dog several times a day. (Retirement is both a luxury, and an opportunity to make “me” my full time job.)
I’ve been trying to shed a few following a couple of trips and an injury early this year. I currently eat about 24-2600 to stay in a large deficit, netting roughly 1800. I’ve now lost the weight I intended to, though, so now am increasing calories again to return to the higher number.
And yes, because I was in a large deficit, working out at the same pace or more, plus still swollen and sore, I was fatigued, falling asleep mid afternoon, peckish, and found myself relieved this week when the rain and storms limited walks and swimming.
It seems counter-intuitive, but my experience has been if you cut too hard in one direction and work harder in the other, it does nothing for you except make you retain water weight. I’ve been at this nearly six years and haven’t yet come to terms with that. It’s always a learning experience.
It just seems so logical that few calories/higher burn should work, but it’s just not true. Many people argue that’s because your NEAT activity is reduced when you don’t have the calories available. Maybe. I’m happy as a clam to spend the rest of my hours on the sofa reading, doing needlework, “coming to” an hour later after an unintended nap
As @AnnPT77 mentioned, we can get in the mindset that weight is a sin and we must punish ourselves into submission. It’s a hard mindset to lose.
But back to the original point about hydration….i drink about 45 ounces between getting up and leaving for the gym. I do not like to drink during training or cardio classes because I usually swim laps and do aquafit immediately afterwards. If I drink the hour before the pool it goes straight through me the minute I hit the water, and there’s no bigger PITA than making a quick potty run (or two) in wet britches. So, by the time I get home I’m pretty dehydrated, which feels like hunger, which translates into my head “where’s that open bag of chips?!!!” As long as I drink a glass of water , I’m usually fine til lunch.
There’s an absolutely lovely and boy-howdy-is-she-cut lady bodybuilder @JBanx256 who used to visit these boards occasionally. I don’t know if she’s one of those who left after the newsfeed was axed. What I’ve gathered from watching her and others is, they don’t “starve”. I’ve never looked at her diary but judging from her old newsfeed posts she ate heartily, and then cut hard only in the run up to competitions.
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kshama2001 wrote: »springlering62 wrote: »Stupid question, but are you hydrating?
Dehydration can mimic hunger.
I sweat like a hundred pigs, whether in the gym or hot yoga. Because I’m curious, I make it a habit to weight myself immediately out of bed, then I habitually drink about a quart annd an half of water/coffee/oat milk/electrolyte drink, along with a large, protein heavy breakfast.
I reweigh around 11am, after morning workouts.
In that short time, I consistently weigh 2.5-3 pound less, even after all that food and liquid. That’s sweat. And, thus, dehydration- even if my morning included 90 minutes in a swimming pool!
I’m “famished” when I get home, but sucking down some water relieves the “hunger pangs”.
Would one of the weight “smoothing” apps like Happy Scale help? I haven’t used one, because I’m so interested in the bumps and grinds and whys of loss and maintenance, so I enjoy the numbers, but someone else might be kind enough to explain.
I find sometimes when I’m frustrated and feel like I’m losing traction, that simply changing the view on the app associated with my Bluetooth scale from “week” to “3 months” helps me see the bigger picture better.
Change something up. I tend to be comparatively low carb and low fat. I’ve added a big bowl of buttered popcorn into my day to get both macros up. I’m finding it helpful.
You sound a lot like me. I’ve also actually intentionally cut back on exercise. We can get to the point we are doing so danged much in our efforts to lose or maintain that our pain/stuffness/overall- discomfort levels creep up on us. All that contributes to water retention.
I’d like to get ahold of the Health Team at Apple and vent on them. Trackers are a godsend, but constantly being encouraged with “you can do more!!!!” challenges when you’re already pushing the envelope are hell on certain personalities. Are you one of those, like me?
My belief is that the OP is hungry because she is not eating enough to fuel her workouts. It might be helpful to her if you share your gross calories.
That said, yes, thirst can definitely feel like hunger.- I feel hungry in the AM, which goes away as I start drinking tea.
- I have fluid with me at the gym.
- I just bought a new fanny pack so I can bring a bigger water bottle with me on the trail.
- After I swim, I dry my face and the very next thing I do is start drinking - my bottle is with my towel.
Also, I struggle with constipation when I'm not sufficiently hydrated and I'm amazed at how much more fluid I need this time of year due to the heat. It's a challenge to get in all the fluid I need, but I'm working on it.
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A few years back I lost almost 40 pounds and did find a weight trend app helpful. (I have an iphone and use Happy Scale.) Some weeks and even months it didn't feel like I was making progress, but the tryy end line showed otherwise.
OP doesn't say they are hungry. OP is asking for reaction to their reaction that someone at their gym was wrong when they said you have to feel like you're starving to know you're in a deficit.
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Bottom line is with the proper food choices you can be in a deficit without hunger.
The less fat you carry and with a steep enough deficit then yes hunger will probably be a factor but that isn’t sustainable so for anyone not in contest prep it’s not probably not the way to go.1 -
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