Seriously hungry

[Alexa]

Hello,

I am wondering what to do about the fact that the past two weeks or so I have been REALLY hungry much of the day. I have tried to get my calories up to 2000 (my BMR is 1600 or so) and it doesn't seem to have made much difference overall.

It is probably because I have been exercising more timewise (about an hour a day, sometimes up to 2 and a half if I have a game and go to the gym - this rare though!)

I don't want to cut down on exercise, I don't think I can eat any more carbs at the moment without maintaining. Could it be that the kinds of food I'm eating are making me hungry - like legumes and have recently been trying sweetcorn (small portions though)?

I've been using lots of butter and mayo to up the calories, but there is only so far you can add calories without adding carbs.

Any advice? Being wobbly-hungry all day is starting to make me moody!

[Alexa]

Re: Seriously hungry

Oh also, I do spread my food out - I have a snack of nuts and or cheese in the afternoons and a 'dessert' fairly regularly in the evenings, like cream and berries, or choc moose (sp I know!).

[julirama723]

Re: Seriously hungry

I divide my foods into categories in my head. Those that are higher carb, those that are higher fat, those that are an equal mix, those that are protein, etc.

So, if I'm hungry, with room for calories but don't have a lot of carbs to spend, I'll have an egg, or a piece of cheese, or pepperoni and cheese, or some chocolate mousse. Cream is an EXCELLENT way to add calories. Whip it, or add it to sauces, pour it over berries, etc.

If I'm hungry and have lots of carbs left, I'll have an apple with peanut butter, beans with sour cream and cheese, squash puree with butter, etc.

Basically it boils down to this. If I have carbs left, I opt for higher rung foods. If I'm getting near my daily limit of carbs, I stick with lower rung foods.

[Alexa]

Re: Seriously hungry

Hey Julie,

Thanks The thing that's bothering me is I have been kind of trying to do this - but I'm getting to my carbs limit by doing this (like I have HEAPS of cream) but am still hungry. Do I need to cut back on the carb dense foods in order to have more cheese, cream etc - baring in mind I already have about 1/4-1/3rd cup of cream a day, 4 oz cheese, 3 eggs etc?

[julirama723]

Re: Seriously hungry

It's all a balance. You have to balance percentages, carbs, and yes sometimes it's important to watch calories to make sure you're eating enough. But the best thing to do is go by hunger. If you are hungry, EAT, and if you are worried about "going over" on something, do it on calories and fat, not protein or carbs.

Are you eating fat with your higher carb foods? That could be part of the problem. Even when I eat something like whole grains, I add a LOT of fat. I've never had a problem with increased hunger due to higher carb foods.

Check out my fitday to see what I've eaten...it won't exactly tell you what I ate with what, but it will show all the foods I've eaten in a day, at least.

Can you give me an example of some of the higher carb foods you eat, and what you eat with them?

[julirama723]

Re: Seriously hungry

Oh, and how many carbs have you been eating a day/can you eat a day and still lose?

[sallyseachange]

Re: Seriously hungry

Are you still losing? If you are, and you are hungry rather than craving, then I'd just eat... proportionally more spread over your usual ratios... I mean, just eat normally but a bit more of everything without analysing too much beforehand. See what your levels are and then how this affects you.
If you're eating right and feeding your hunger, you should be ok. As long as it's not craving, which could be caused by some new food you're sensitive to.

[Alexa]

Re: Seriously hungry

Thanks Sally and Julie,

I can eat around 40g net carbs but I don't think anymore than that and lose.

The higher carb foods I eat are, for example kidney beans which I have in a salad with cheese (1-2oz) and a tbsp mayo. Ditto chickpeas. Only a quarter of a cup of beans. Sweetcorn I had 1/4 cup with tuna mayo (again, 1 tbsp mayo) over salad with 2 oz cheese. Yoghurt (1/4 cup) I mix with cream (1/4 cup) to make moose, or with tofu and cream (1/3rd cup of each) and berries (OWL 5g amounts) for smoothies. I always have cream with berries to even them out also.

Generally, though my carbs have been increased by adding through the day - so for breakfast I'd have eggs, bacon and mushrooms and now also tomato.
For lunch I have 1.5 cup lettuce (or whatever) instead of 1, 1/3 cup peppers instead of 1/4 etc.

Edited to add: Also I'm pretty sure it's not cravings - it isn't for any food inparticular and it is a physical dull hollow feeling/feeling weak. Is really rubbish!

[Kawispice]

Re: Seriously hungry

I find it easiest to control my hunger with Hoodia Gordonii (the lab tested kind only). So far I have not been hungry on Atkin's diet since day 3 but if I ever do get hungry Hoodia will control it. In the dessert where the San Bushman of the Kalahari dessert use Hoodia for hunger they eat practically nothing because there is nothing there and Hoodia from a plant that grows in the dessert controls their hunger.

I am a follower of the Atkins diet but I have personally no problems bringing new knowledge not available in Dr. Atkins time, such as Hoodia to my diet. Whatever works...

[julirama723]

Re: Seriously hungry

I would not use hoodia. Hunger is a sign our bodies need fuel and energy. If we are hungry, we should eat. Hunger should NOT be confused with cravings however. Cravings should be ignored; hunger should NOT.

[julirama723]

Re: Seriously hungry

Baarb, check out my fitday and see what I'm eating. Maybe that will help? I usually eat around 1900-2200 calories a day, and I eat lots of different stuff. Obviously the amounts will be different (I've been eating 75g carbs) but many of the foods will be the same.

[sallyseachange]

Re: Seriously hungry

You say you feel weak... are you taking supplements?

[sallyseachange]

Re: Seriously hungry

You say you're feeling weak. I know hunger makes one feel weak, but just on the offchance you're lacking something... are you taking your supplements?

[Alexa]

Re: Seriously hungry

Yep,

I have been taking the same supplements the whole time.

It just feels like the appetite suppressant part of the diet has stopped working which makes it a bit harder to stick to.

Julie - I had a look at your fitday. Aside from the higher carb things, we eat fairly similar stuff.

I'm wondering whether to try eating 45g carbs per day for two weeks or so with extra calories that this will allow to see whether this makes me feel better. At the moment I'd rather maintain than crash off the diet in a massive hunger binge. Maybe I won't maintain anyway, but it will just really slow down?

Any thoughts?

[julirama723]

Re: Seriously hungry

Go ahead and try it. If it doesn't work, just drop back down.

I am guessing the cause of this hunger is all the exercise! But I believe that once you near your CCLL you might lose that appetite supression. I don't feel I've lost mine yet. But then again, I was never one of these people that didn't feel like eating for 15 hours.

Here is a question to ask yourself: Are you hungry ALL the time, or are you hungry the day of/the day after a big workout? If you're just generally hungry, it might be a lack of appetite supression. If you're hungry after a strenuous workout, that's completely natural and nothing to be afraid of. Sometimes I find that hunger feels different. There is the "normal" hunger of not eating for a while, where your tummy grumbles and is achingly empty. Then there's the hunger where your body is crying out for energy. You don't neccessarily feel it in your stomach, but you feel somewhat weak and just know that you need to eat something, sort of a whole-body feeling rather than centralized in the stomach. I have "normal" hunger if I haven't eaten for a while on most days. However, I have the whole-body hunger a few hours after a long run, or the day after a long run/huge workout.