Extreme hunger after tough workouts...

[jhunt]

Since just after Chirstmas I've been using my Fitbit and tracking food. I'm happy to say that I'm down 7 pounds. I was 198 pounds, now 191.2 or so. Prior to tracking food, I worked out regularly, probably 60 minutes at least 3 days a week. 

So in the last few days, it's becoming really, really tough to stuck to my 750 calorie deficit. I mean, I'm literally starving. Previously as long as I ate a small meal every couple hours I felt just fine. I worked out yesterday aroun 4PM for 60 minutes and burned 667 calories per my polar chest strap. Beyond that, we used some heavier weights with this workout.

I'm wondering if my body is really churning right now, and perhaps needs extra calories because of the weight training along with 30 minutes of pretty intense cardio?

I want to stay the course, but I'm telling you, my body is telling me to eat because I'm starvingly hungry. Just wanted to put this out there. I'm thinking that I could add 500 or so calories and be at a deficit of 250 today. Even this seems like a struggle.

[WendyB]

I would listen to your body. If you are starving then eat something.

Eat something with protein or some fruit.

[carl669]

one thing to try is drink a glass of water and wait 10 minutes or so.  if the hunger comes back, then eat.

in the end, starving yourself never works in your best interest.  with the heavy workouts, you probably do need to increase your calorie intake.  also, perhaps a 750 deficit is too large?  i don't know how much weight you have to lose.  there's a lot of things to consider.  but, if you're constantly hungry, you're doing it wrong.

[Tcup]

Definitely need to up your protein if you are so hungry. Try maybe 2 hardboiled eggs (the whole egg is ~75 calories so you're at 150 with 2) or anything else high in protein. It should keep you full as well as supplying you with energy 🙂

[jhunt]

If you looked at me you wouldn't think I'd need or want to lose any weight. That said, almost everyone could stand to lose 5-10 pounds, and that's about where I am. at 6ft 190 with an athletic build, I'm not at all overweight. I'd just like to get to 180-184 as quickly as I can to then maintain it. 

Being this hungry is a new sensation though. Literally just in the last couple days. 

[Maxit]

You are attempting too large a deficit. Up your calories so that you have a 250 calorie deficit at the most.  

[Heybales]

Your body is trying to make max improvements from your exercise for the repair work.

You want your hard workout to count for max effort after what you put in to it?

Eat more.

If you merely want to lose the fat and not transform the body too, then keep the deficit and change the workout.

Weight training to do during fat loss

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/weight-training-for-fat-loss-part-1.html

[PaleoCrossfit]

Eat.

Tuna is low cal, high protein

Eggs

Protein Shake

Banana with some sort of nut butter (this is my fav)

Glass of skim milk (Or almond)

Your body needs to recover.

[SunsetRunner]

drink a glass of water slowly, what you are feeling could just be your body being thirsty

[SunsetRunner]

@jhunt not knowing your stats (gender, height, activity level) it is hard to say but my guess is you are trying to create too big of a deficit.  A 750 deficit equals (roughly) 1.5lbs/week loss.  As you get closer to your goal weight (or ideal weight) you need to decrease your caloric deficit because as you make note it gets too hard to keep high deficits because you are hungrier.

For example, I started off at 330lbs with a goal weight of 200lbs - for the first 6 months I set up for a 1,000/day deficit (2lb/week loss) which was easy since I had so much extra weight and switching to more nutritious food made me feel full longer.  After I had gotten down to about 250lbs I switched my goal to 500/day deficit as I found I was always hungry under the more aggressive strategy.  Now that I am 20lbs away from my goal I am down to 250/day deficit.  Remember it is a journey not a sprint.  None of us put on all our weight overnight, and neither can we take it off overnight.  It takes time.

[jhunt]

I'm a male, 6 ft and 191 lbs. I'm not really overweight, just think 180-185 is where I wanna be. I'm down from 198 around Christmas, so like you said I'm probably getting close to my ideal weight so it's getting tough to keep the deficit especially while working out.

[Chada]

I have found that to feel full I just eat alot of things like brocolli and other vegetables.  You can eat almost unlimited amounts of them and feel full.

[josephz2va]

That's way too low. Your body can't sustain 750 calories and you'll go into malnutrition.

While many can lose weight based on -250 to -1000 deficit, it's best to check with a nutritionist to receive recipes and recommended foods to consume and the correct amount of calories.

The most that I have consumed is 1200 to 1700 calories and burned 3900 calories to lose up to 2 pounds of excess a day. Jenny Craig, Shakeology, a fruit cup and a protein bistro box or spinach wrap. Nothing else foodwise. Exercise wise, I currently use Insanity Max:30 for High Intensity Interval Training.

[jhunt]

Update:

Just an update for all that have replied. First, I really appreciate all the feedback. I knew I had to listen to my body, and decided to set my deficit to 500 calories. From there, I would shoot for 500, but was perfectly fine to achieve a 250 deficit and some days even less. 

After doing this, I found that I actually starting losing more weight, and didn't feel hungry at all. I'm down from 199.5 (200 would have been my - holy crap weight), to 185.6 since just after Christmas. I'm 6 ft tall fwiw. I'm shooting for aroud 180 over time but I'm feeling really great right now. 

Thanks again.

[Heybales]

Congrats.

Isn't it a great discovery that you don't have to suffer and starve your body to lose weight. That bigger deficit is not better.

[Deyadissa]

I'm the opposite on this, you should definetely aim for -1000 a day, it forces you to exercise more to get more calories. You will lose 2 pounds or more a week, if you're not then you may not be properly following your diet.

The starving sensation is all in your head, you're not actually starving, you are suffering from food withdrawls. Meditation helps a lot with this, and so does drinking lots of water. People can survive off one cocunut a day, which is only 300 calories or so a day. 

No one knows what starvation truly feels like unless they themselves have been in severe poverty. 

If you can't handle the pressure of that, then yes taking it slower is better for you; but if you want results you should push your hardest. It makes it FAR easier to keep the weight off because once you go into a maintence diet, you have 1000 extra calories you're used to not eating each day as opposed to just 200-500 and its very easy for people to gain their weight back if they're so used to low calorie defficents. 

[Maxit]

The starving sensation is all in your head, you're not actually starving, you are suffering from food withdrawls. Meditation helps a lot with this, and so does drinking lots of water. People can survive off one cocunut a day, which is only 300 calories or so a day. 

The "starving sensation" is your brain (located in your head, true), sending you signals that you have depleted accessible stores of energy and that you need to eat.  Surviving on the equivalent of one coconut a day is not what you are aiming for unless you want to catabolize muscle and suffer major organ damage.

it FAR easier to keep the weight off because once you go into a maintence diet, you have 1000 extra calories you're used to not eating each day as opposed to just 200-500 and its very easy for people to gain their weight back if they're so used to low calorie defficents. 

If this is Deyadissa's personal experience, great.  However, the current data show that weight re-gain is a likely scenario whether the deficits have been small or big.  The weight regain following large deficit is likely to be more rapid in my observation.   Smaller deficits help many people incorporate nutritional habits that will sustain them long term.

[TandemWalker]

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@jhunt wrote:

Update:

Just an update for all that have replied. First, I really appreciate all the feedback. I knew I had to listen to my body, and decided to set my deficit to 500 calories. From there, I would shoot for 500, but was perfectly fine to achieve a 250 deficit and some days even less. 

After doing this, I found that I actually starting losing more weight, and didn't feel hungry at all. I'm down from 199.5 (200 would have been my - holy crap weight), to 185.6 since just after Christmas. I'm 6 ft tall fwiw. I'm shooting for aroud 180 over time but I'm feeling really great right now. 

Thanks again.

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Hi @jhunt - I read this thread with interest and would like to add a little to the excellent feedback that you have received already.

You may want to look at the timing of your food intake in relation to your workouts. For me, in addition to varying my exercise type from day-to-day and introducing interval training, I found that geting a good serving of carbs and protein about half an hour before a workout was a good recipe to avoiding the hunger pains following a workout. You will burn the carbs immediately during your workout and your protein intake will help keep the hunger pains at bay.

My take. Hope this helps. And again, congratulations on your achievements so far. You know, in our continued quest towards our weight loss goal, we too often lose sight of where we were and where we are. It's good to sometimes remind us that we've done well. Have a nice day.

    TW     

[Rico03]

not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but you should try having a spoonful of honey right after your workout. Along side ingesting a protein shake after your workout, it will help quelch your hunger and return your blood sugar level back to par. research it. Good Luck!!!

[Knowledge]

Not to get too sciency, but the satiety hormone (Leptin) has beeen shown in the last 5 years or so to be critically dependent on low Insulin levels for functioning. What was shown is that high Insulin levels can block Leptin from properly signalling the brain that you're full.

What causes high Insulin levels? Basically added sugars and refined carbs (white flour, white bread, white rice, white pasta, processed foods with corn syrup or added sugar, etc).

Ever since going on a low-carb diet I have been able to get full on very very low calorie amounts. I wasn't intentionally trying to starve myself but I ended up eating no more than 1200-1800 calories a day simply because I was full. That is a 2000-2500 or so daily calorie deficit for me, and in that time (7 weeks) I have lost 37 lbs and 10% Body fat (down from 306 lbs starting weight and 45% starting BF).

I also do resistance training to make sure I preserve as much lean muscle as I can.

So if you try cutting out added sugars and refined carbs from your diet, you'll see your hunger pangs will vanish. It will take about a week for your Insulin levels and hence Insulin sensitivity to return to normal but it will happen! Not trying to recommend you "starve" yourself but rather shift your hormonal balance.

Our Western Diets have screwed up our bodies own hunger signals. Before doing this I would eat 3000-3500 calories per day and still feel hungry. Now if I eat more than 1500 calories in a day I feel like I'm going to burst. Amazing!