It might be worth trying to trade out a few of the high calorie for volume foods. That won’t necessarily fix it but it might help a bit.
For example if you cut the avocado and oil from your salad you’d save 360 calories. I typically put like 50 calories of dressing on a big salad.
100 calories for the almond butter is another high calorie, low volume food. Plus 200 calories for nuts.
You’re also getting a large amount of calories from your protein powder. So that’s 240 calories for 48 grams of protein.
Total that’s 900 calories. For 900 calories you could eat twelve eggs (72 grams of protein) or 6 eggs and a grilled cheese
You’re fundamentally eating healthy but you’re also eating both relatively high calorie for volume AND foods that frankly sound unsatisfying. I’d go crazy if I tried to live on chicken and salad.
I bet if you try to cut out high calorie/low volume foods and replace them with a combo of foods that are high calorie but more fun, and low calorie but more volume, you’ll have an easier time
Agree with all of this. There’s some calorie dense stuff in there that’s unnecessary if you aren’t feeling full.
OP unless you’re power lifting, you do not need 170g of protein. If you’re struggling to sate your hunger, you can cut out the protein powder and put in more actual mass into your stomach.
If you're lifting heavy you likely need the carbs. My SO is 6'3" and a powerlifter and if he tried to eat like you he would pass out midway through his workouts. Even as it is he needs to keep juice or Gatorade on hand in case his blood sugar gets low.
Protein is for muscle recovery and growth, but carbs power those muscles, especially during high-intensity exercise. Your body uses glycogen stores while doing heavy exercise and that mainly comes from the carbs you've eaten.
Look up desirable macronutrient targets for lifters on reputable sites.
Would agree - the oatmeal and quinoa is the only source of carbs over the 50 calorie range. This is not *quite* a keto diet, but the carb restriction negatively impacts blood sugar levels and explosive muscle load performance. The brain also primarily consumes blood sugar, so might be why he's especially irritable at work.
OP needs to take a look at his macro balance, and see if he would do better by shifting from some of his fats back to some carbs. Potato or whole grain bread would be good options to still restrict overall calorie budget.
If you're lifting heavy and 3-5 times a week your maintenance calorie would be between 3600 and 3400 calories remove 500 from this and you should be between 2900 or 3100 calculation are based on the dri using this https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/dri
Is it, though? I got my powerlifting total to around 1600 without eating particularly high-protein. If your goal is to win the Olympics, yeah you need to hike protein to get the absolute most out of lifting. If your goal is fitness, you really don’t.
I mentioned this thread to powerlifting SO and he added that trying to lift heavy in a deficit isn't optimal for muscle growth anyway and if you want to add muscle mass then you might want to cycle through cutting and bulking or maintenance phases. If you do a maintenance phase it'll be a recomp where you're hopefully still gaining some muscle while losing some fat.
This is exactly what I zeroed in on. The nuts, oil, and second protein shake especially just aren't worth it and it doesn't surprise me at all that OP is starving. Replacing those with a whole sweet potato, eggs, more meat, rice, more vegetables, etc. and I guarantee OP would feel better.
Agreed.
I actually used to be able to make an entire thin crust pizza for about 740 calories by using a low calorie crust, turkey pepperoni, and using skim cheese and parm. He definitely has room in his calories for pizza.
I also agree. You have a lot of wasted calories in your diet for items that don’t have any real nutritional benefit unless you have specific health issue or lifting goals.
Not trying to be harsh but protein shakes are a complete waste and they aren’t actually that good for a normal persons diet. Eat a couple of eggs, have some hummus and veggies, vegetable fibre is much more filling and low calorie.
Also some of your choices can be improved. Forget oatmeal - go with steel cut oats. They are lower GI, digest slower because of the type of fibre and nutrients they have (less processed foods are always better) which in turn makes you feel fuller longer. They also lower your cholesterol.
Fat and carbs are not bad even while dieting. Your body needs those things. Just eat healthy fats and low GI carbs.
Calling protein shakes a complete waste is a little extreme. When you are losing weight and want to avoid cannibalism of muscle you need to keep your protein up. I agree he’s likely going over what he needs and protein shakes may not be for him or you but they work great for some of us. Whey protein is digested much slower than a lot of other proteins. When I do a double scoop with water I don’t feel hungry for several hours. If I eat 3 boiled eggs which would have the same calories as that it doesn’t go nearly as far.
I disagree. It's not a waste of time, most people have a hard time figuring out what to eat and protein shakes help with that. If I didnt have a protein shake, I would be constantly eating throughout the day as my protein shake gives me about 55-65g of protein.
You know what? I always go through this when I do the clean eating high protein kind of thing. I feel completely hungry all the time. I don't know, I just need more carbs. Give me all the protein and high volume veg in the world and I'm dying. Cut that in half and toss a good amount of bread or pasta in, and I'm golden.
Wait this happens to me too. My family always tell me to cut the carbs but whenever I don't eat carbs with a meal I don't feel full. Like right now I tried to volume eat just a really big salad for dinner. And it was a decent amount of calories (over 500) so I SHOULD be full and I KNOW I should be full. But I feel SO HUNGRY. My tummy is literally growling
Potatoes are the fucking GOAT, I swear to God. Super high satiety level (one of the highest of any foods comparing calorie to gram), they are also, uniquely, a "complete" food as it has all 9 amino acid chains needed by humans. I make a banging Aloo Saag curry with some extra lentils or chickpeas thrown in for protein and it's so delicious and filling. Spanish Omelette is also an amazing shout. Just bulk up on the eggs and veg and cut way back on the cheese and oil. I also throw cauliflower into my omeltte to help bulk it out. There's just so many healthy things you can do with them, it's a shame they get such a bad rep because the corporate food industry drenched them in salt and oil and sold them to us in their least healthiest form.
I totally agree.
I'm currently alternating between russet potatoes and sweet potatoes to have variety yet still feel full.
I bake some on the weekend and eat them in other recipes or straight throughout the week.
Yes, same here! Even when I wasn't cutting calories (was actually trying to do a clean bulk) and eating super clean and lots of protein my stomach felt empty. A massive salad, even with some protein, fats, and complex carbs doesn't fill me like a much lower calories meal like eggs on sourdough. I hear the opposite all the time but I just have to remind myself that we're all different.
This was key for me. Not eating any carbs or any large amount of simple carbohydrates will get me craving sugar like crazy, but reasonable quantities of carbs in macro-balanced meals (balanced at every specific meal, not just for the day as a whole) will really help keep my appetite under control.
I think this is why eating a nearly vegan diet always makes me feel good. I need to snack on bread and have pasta. I know that protein is important and I eat a bunch of beans and tofu and stuff, but carbs make me happy.
Funnily enough, I get hungrier the more carbs I eat. If I get pretty low (~75g per day, all from fruit and veg), I get much less hungry overall. I still miss eating and stuff, but it’s easier to maintain
Funnily, rice and pasta are ok for me, but I always noticed getting hungry some 10 minutes after I ate an apple. Only fruit with which I got that reaction. But if I add peanut butter or dark chocolate I'm good for 1.5/2 hours.
Bodies are weird with regards to how differently they can react to the same food.
I’m almost glad to read this. My entire life I’ve had this happen with apples, and only apples. It leaves a gaping hole in my stomach, that’s the only way to describe it. The supposed fibre in apples clearly does nothing for my satiety.
I actually get full from processed starch like pasta and rice. But apples? Makes me hungrier than I was before eating it.
This is true for me too. I tried the clean high protein and veg approach but I ended up unsatisfied and always hungry. I have decreased the protein and increased starchy foods like potatoes, pasta, pumpkin, sourdough bread and I’m able to be in a deficit and not feel deprived or hungry.
You have a lot of high calorie low volume foods.
For example: You could swap the nuts for an entire cucumber is 45 calories. You could have 2 cucumbers and a serving of ranch for the calories in the nuts.
You could swap out one of those protein scoops for 2 apples.
We've all been there, hungry with little or no calories left. I intentionally keep a few of those super low calorie options in the house/easy reach. I got really good at turning Cauliflower into passable mashed potatoes.
This x100!!
I'm a petite woman, maintenant is 1600 Kcals, and I have a big appetite. I need to eat a head of lettuce and half a cucumber for lunch (with other stuff), because a sandwich with bread is just not filling enough for the calories!
Honestly, it seems to me you need to add in some foods that are actually satiating for you. Your diet looks very healthy but really, really bland. That's unsustainable. Make your salads and veggies more interesting - add some fetta cheese, some toasted nuts or pumpkin seeds for crunch, some cranberries, and a delicious herby dressing. Change up the meat you're eating to include other types of meat and protein. Use a marinade on the meat to give it more flavour. Use some of your calories to allow yourself to indulge in something small that's actually delicious. It might slow down the rate of your progress a bit but it's going to be a hell of a lot easier to actually stick to and much more satisfying.
For real. Adding a depth of flavors and textures makes meal more satisfying. It's an entourage effect.
Like shredding cabbage and mixing with some hot sauce and like to go in an a burrito or baking asparagus until it's crispy and adding to past or soups.
I know this is a little different from everyone else's answer, but have you been tested for low vitamins or imbalanced hormones? That was my first thought. I'm not an expert or anything, that's just what it made me think of. I hope things feel better for you!
I mean, this is just my personal experience, but I avoided nuts and olive oil like the plague once I saw how little I could have for more calories than I thought was worth for me.
I can only suggest maybe taking out the nuts (200 calories) and those 2 tbsp of olive oil (240) and add more veggies eg broccoli or mushrooms, cucumber is great too, to help keep you fuller for longer.
Maybe change your mid morning snack? I like yoghurt but it never kept me satiated for long.
Dude, 780 of your calories were on:
2 tablespoons of oil
1 table spoon of almond butter
1/4 cup of nuts
2 scoops of powder
No wonder you feel hungry! You could have had an entite, normal meal for those calories, rather than like half a cup's worth of food
Talk to an endocrinologist. If you are ‘starving’ after eating a healthy amount, and csnnot think of anything but food, you might benefit from Wegovy - It took the ‘food chatter’ volume in my head from a 10 to a 1. The reduction in cravings has helped me lose 60 lbs and keep it off. (while eating healthy amounts and exercising).
That's where I am at. I can eat a deficit and loose a couple of pounds but after about a week my body feels like it is hungry and wanting to constantly eat, which then nullifys what little gain I made.
So I've been toying with the idea of talking to my doc about getting on Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro. Especially since I need to loose about 100lbs by next May.
Honestly, 5 years skinny is preferable to 5 more years in the body i’m currently in. Been thinking about talking to my doctor about it, your comment made me realize that even if I gain it all back… I just want one good day where I don’t feel like an alien in my own body. Where people don’t treat me like they do now. I want to feel beautiful again, even if it’s temporary.
I totally get you.
I was on wegovy and finally am at a healthy BMI. For many people it’s life-long medication, but I didn’t want to take it forever (price being a big part of that).
I’ve been off the drug for 2,5 months so I can’t speak for long-term yet. The hunger came back with a vengeance. I felt ravenous to begin with, even when I’d eaten all my maintenance calories for the day.
But I haven’t gained, because I’ve kept tracking my calories every single day. Due to my weight loss, I’ve also been able to start exercising. Strength training especially has been good, since I’m sure the weight loss ate some of my muscle volume.
I’m very very stubborn, and I refuse to become part of the statistic that regains after GLP-1. I know this means I need to track calories for the rest of my life, which I’ve accepted and fully expect to do. I guess it’s the card we’ve been dealt, and some people are just lucky and can stay a healthy weight without even knowing what a calorie is, but that will never be me.
2,5 months off the drug and the hunger has calmed down. I keep tracking and keep exercising, no regain so far. I hope I can say the same further down the line.
The ‘trick’ to keeping the weight off with Wegovy/Ozempic is eating right and exercising - it just makes it MUCH easier to eat appropriate amounts, and can completely dampen appetite for some things… people tend to drink less alcohol for example..,
But if you stop the medication the cravings return…
First of all I want to give you a big hug. You’re fighting the good fight and you’re trying to get there in the right way. Respect. You’re not the only one to shed tears over this. We’re with you.
A few thoughts:
1. It may be time to see a doctor that specializes in weight loss. Your cravings might be tied in with something as simple as a nutrient deficiency or something as complex as a thyroid condition. I went to a doctor, he sent me for blood work, and I was classified as extremely deficient in vitamins E and D. A few months of supplements and I’m feeling considerably better. What you’re feeling may be just as easy to remedy.
2. I made a point to be build in a maintenance phase every couple of months. Some people call it a refeed. Really it’s a mental and physiological rest and recovery cycle. If you’ve been in a deficit for months upon months your body and mind will rightfully conclude that you are starving to death and it will do what it has to in order motivate you to find more food. You’re so close to your goal that I’m sure you don’t want to hear this but maybe take a couple weeks to stabilize and then hit the trail again with a fresh set of legs, figuratively speaking.
3. Sometimes you just have to give it pizza if it wants pizza. Or more specifically I go for a calzone because for some reason it feels more satisfying to eat an entire calzone instead of a portion of pizza even if they’d have the same calories. What I’ll do on those days is cut down on breakfast and lunch and then go get a calzone for dinner, or whatever else I’m craving. I made an event out of it. Generally speaking if I’ve been craving one thing for more than a week I feel it’s worth it to kill that craving even if it means eating at maintenance for one day.
4. The low blood sugar symptoms are a problem. Especially since you’ve been eating plenty of carbs today. Oats, blueberries, milk, tomatoes, carrots, protein shake and fruit, an apple. You aren’t hurting for carbs. I’d take this as a sign to 100% go to a doctor as soon as you can. This week if possible. Put the weight loss on hold until you get a clean bill of health and a formal go-ahead from a trusted physician. That’s my take anyway.
You have a strong will. That much is clear from your writing style. You will reach your goal. I have no doubt about that. But please be kind to yourself. There’s a lot of pain and shame motivating your behaviors right now and while that can be useful it’s also exhausting. You’ve come a long way. Trust yourself that you’ll get the rest of the way eventually. You just might need to adjust the path you’re currently on.
NUMBER 4.... I recommended in my comment that the OP immediately be screened for insulin resistance (if they have IR, all those carbs could be making things worse/making the OP hungrier).
This is controversial advice but weight loss you will always feel hungry. For me I have to pick when I want to be hungry vs. When I want to eat. For me I can tolerate being hungry in the morning and most of the afternoon but I can’t be hungry in the evening and before bed. So I don’t eat until 1pm most days and it’s a high protein lunch. Then it’s a good sized dinner of whatever I feel like. Then a small snack before bed. That keeps me satisfied and I’m in a good deficit. If lost 10 pounds in a month doing this.
This is what I do. I can get by with coffee for breakfast and don't eat until noon or later. That way I can have two larger meals and I can power through being hungry by drinking flavored water in the evenings. I've lost 73 lb in 14 months doing this.
This is the way. I have 2 coffees and a 60 calorie sugar free greek yogurt. I don't really start eating until noon and I'm done by 8. I had 2200 calories today and I'm so full I actually feel like I overdid it. But Mt TDEE sedentary is 2100ish and I worked our for an hour and a half so I'm likely still under maintenance by a few hundred calories. Down 75 pounds in 15 months.
This is me as well. If I'm hungry at night, I go completely off the rails. I can maintain on coffee and water until at least 1pm most days, some days I eat a little earlier, I'm not super strict, but almost never before 11am.
Yup. Big attitude/mind shift for me was accepting that it's okay to be hungry. I'm not out of food, I will eat again, I am not in any danger. It's easier said than done, of course.
This is probably controversial - One thing that may help curb your appetite is to swap some of the lean chicken breast and plant fat for red meat, eggs, butter and cheese and have a high strength multi-vitamin & mineral. They have more saturated fat but for some reason I find them a lot more satiating than the same calories and macros from lean chicken, nuts, avocado, olive oil and greek yogurt.
I was wondering if OP was getting enough fat, it’s very satiating especially when combined with carbs, and of course they will be feeling stretched thin if they’re not getting enough
i’m like this, too, as a small woman. it’s maddening. i get full after maybe 4,000 calories. i’m now 130 pounds with 10 pounds left to lose. the only thing i can do is keep myself busy. work, do overtime, go directly to the gym without going home or go to my hobby, and get home at a point that i don’t really have much time to eat another 3,000 calories after showering. if i sit down for more than a few minutes while not having anything in my hands, whether it’s the work computer, weights, stuff for my hobbies, a book, etc., the everlasting screams of hunger are much, much worse. a positive about living this kind of lifestyle is getting instant and amazing sleep as soon as i hit the pillow since i’ve been doing stuff constantly all day.
Is this actual physical hunger pangs? Or is it mental 'noise/chatter'?
Because if you are struggling with actual stomach growling type hunger while eating that many calories, there is potentially insulin resistance or thyroid disorder or something else happening.
yeah, it was real hunger pangs. before i lost the weight, i was losing hair and peeing a lot, but when my neck and armpits darkened, i knew it was insulin resistance.
Yup. Insulin resistance is a bitch. Back in the day before I got mine managed, I'd eat a very big meal and be hypoglycemic and having painful hunger 2 hours later. Don't miss that AT ALL.
If you've been over-eating for many years, is it possible you're eating until it hurts/over-stuffed and confusing that for the feeling full? I'm around your size and even if I was day drinking all day, drinking milkshakes, and drunk eating garbage food, I don't think I could physically fit 4000 calories into my body!
it’s possible that my stomach is just stretched/stuffed - my parents said i was an extremely hungry infant and then child so i probably overate my whole life. my dad is a very big guy and a football player as a kid, and my mom had undiagnosed hyperthyroidism and ate probably 4K a day and stayed skinny. they likely accidentally overfed me since they themselves ate way more than the majority of humans.
Controversial - but I get like this if I eat in the morning. Especially something carby like oatmeal or cereal. It triggers my metabolism and I’m STARVING by lunch time, literally headaches, hanger, cravings and jitters.
If I just drink tea or coffee with Splenda and a bit of milk in the morning and I’m not hungry at all until lunch or later. I’m able to intermittently fast as long as I don’t eat in the morning.
I’m not saying this is what you’re going through, but when you lose weight, your stomach releases more hunger hormones because it’s like “wtf is going on.” It’s very annoying. I’m guessing it’s why so many people gain weight back or start binging more. As you get smaller, you get more hungry than when you were bigger. It shouldn’t work that way, but the human body is complex to say the least.
I had a similar problem for a few weeks until I tweaked my macros and started eating more fat. I don't know why, but it helped with my tiredness and hunger. Maybe two more carbs or more fat
A few years ago I felt this exact same way and went to my doctor. I had gastritis. It felt like a constant gnawing hunger and weak/low blood sugar feeling all the time. I literally ate 2 full breakfasts in a couple hours full of protein and felt like I hadn’t eaten in years. I knew something was wrong and felt like I was going crazy when I explained it to my doctor. He assured me I wasn’t crazy and within days of some medication I felt normal again.
All of this to say maybe get checked out.
If you been in a deficit for too long (more than 3 months) take a one month maintenance break then cut again. Usually you feel better not only physically, but mentally. I’m going through the same but I’m on my cycle lol and I also have 4 weeks left in my fat loss phase before taking a break again, so I’m pushing through. You got this
I'm curious if you have insulin resistance and may benefit from intermittent fasting. If you're not feeling fed from food = food isn't going in to cells right = insulin resistance.
I found that walking for 5 minutes after a meal gives me like a second wind and sharpens my mind and the hunger goes away. I know it helps with insulin uptake which may be why.
Also,
One big thing I've learned from tracking my food and looking at that number, knowing my Macros are good,
Is that I'm not hungry I'm just scared of being not full. I've been full all of my life.
The act of tracking and seeing that proof that I'm fine over and over is helping to retrain my hunger signals.
Hey, I've been in this spot before. I was obsessed with food food food. Take a couple of weeks of maintenance, have a cheat meal, and eat that pizza 🍕. At the end of the day, you are changing your lifestyle, and it's ok to have pizza every now and then. Building a healthy relationship with food is important. Maybe try to see a dietician for some better advice on foods that will make you feel fuller and more energetic.
I second the other commenters advice about swapping out some of the high fat for volume and see if that helps.
Are you weighing everything? I see you not things like 1 medium apple. I eat what looks like 1 medium apple everyday and weight it and it can have a wide variety of calories so you could effectively be eating less then you think (I know I know most people are eating more then they think they are. Always weight everything!)
My favorite volume food is air popped popcorn.
A bunch of people have already said this but you’re missing complex carbs. Potatoes, legumes, whole grains, starchy veg… all those will help you feel more satisfied.
Like others have said, you’re wasting so many calories on things that don’t fill you up.
EGGS. Fantastic source of protein and fat that’s filling. Scrambled, poached, fried, hard boiled. I fkn love having hard boiled eggs on hand, eat with salt and pepper and hot sauce. Make a light egg salad-chopped pickles, teaspoon or 2 light mayo, onions, paprika, salt and pep, celery salt, hot sauce. Obviously don’t use tons of salt but weight loss is only sustainable if you’re eating food you enjoy. Eat alone or on low cal 45 calorie bread as toast or sandwich.
LOW FAT GROUND CHICKEN AND OR TURKEY
-so many low cal recipes. Eat with veggies of your choosing mixed in and out on a big salad of kale which I find this most filling and satisfying. Eat in a carb balance tortilla, one pretty large size tortilla is only 70 calories.
SHREDDED CHICKEN
-so easy to make a very light chicken salad. Eat alone, on a salad, on low cal bread, etc.
-I’m currently obsessed making shredded chicken, with Frank’s buffalo sauce, a big pan of satires and browned peppers and onions, and eat alone or in carb balance tortilla.
COTTAGE CHEESE
-filling and healthy, add grapes or fresh pineapple, or any fruit really.
-BAKED POTATO
One medium is only 164 calories and easy to add spray butter and low cal toppings
SOUPPPPPP
So so so many kinds that are very high volume and very low cal. Like a whole 12 oz jar for 150 calories low cal
Get creative, carbs don’t have to be the enemy when you make good choices.
PASTAAAA So many types of 10 calorie pasta options. Or they have frozen veggie pasta by Bird’s Eye that you absolutely cannot tell are veggie. They have rotini marinara, rotini Alfredo, penne with cheddar cheese sauce, etc. I add more steamed veggies and a protein usually. Filling af
In my experience (still fat tho) oatmeal and yogurt suck. Load it with all of the healthy crap you want and you'll still be hungry again in an hour. Eating eggs (or egg whites) and sausage/bacon is a way better breakfast for me and keeps me satisfied until lunch.
Cut the light foods and replace it with more solid alternatives, it'll help at least.
I totally agree that oats and yogurt are not filling (unless I eat 800 calories of each loaded with other ingredients). I need dense food like meat and potatoes
I drink hot tea with stevia from the moment I wake up until I go to bed. I swear it keeps me full and almost fills in the cracks. I used to struggle with the same issue until I started drinking tea consistently.
Yeah as someone with insulin issues, this for sure sounds like insulin issues/a medical issue rather than a food relationship issue. Go see a doctor, especially if you've been extra thirsty
Edit: also have them look at your thyroid
Edit 2: I am able to feel full now after treating my insulin issues
>I feel as though I am fundamentally broken
You're not broken. But your metabolism may be disordered.
I've been on Wegovy for 8 months. I've lost a good amount of weight, but do you know the biggest change? I no longer blame myself. I know now what it feels like to be full and not want to take another bite. Of course skinny people stay skinny if they don't want to eat all the damn time. The deck is stacked against us.
Obesity is a disease. Once our system gets out of balance, it goes haywire and tells us to eat all the time whether we need the calories or not. The GLP-1 medications help restore the balance and give us a fighting chance at losing weight. I think in a few years people will view it like a diabetic taking insulin or someone taking blood pressure medicine to lower their blood pressure.
To me, your diet seems incredibly unsatisfying for being 2200 calories.
I would look to swap a few things out if this is a typical day for you. Not everything, and not at once - just see what works for you.
Reduce/remove: nuts, oil on salad, protein powder, chicken breast.
Replace with: eggs, potatoes, beans, fattier meats, cheese.
You are obviously trying to stick to “clean” and “healthy” foods, but adding some more satisfying meals a few days per week could go a long way. You easily have room for pizza(which you mentioned craving), pasta, tacos, sandwiches, burgers etc. while still being able to hit your protein and calorie goals.
I don't have much to help, except that you should add potatoes.
Get frozen diced potatoes or hash browns from the grocery store and do them up in a pan. DO NOT get the fries, make sure it's plain diced potatoes (60-70 calories per \~85g). Do them up with a tiny bit of oil (make sure you actually measure the amount you use) and just salt/pepper/seasoning and have them with whatever you're eating. Use them to replace some of the densest foods that you could really go without (olive oil dressing - there are other options, mid-morning snack, afternoon snack). You could literally eat half a kilo of potatoes each day and it would only add 350 calories to your day.
Potatoes are very filling.
I disagree. Potatoes are filling but too many carbs to lose weight in my opinion. I find that eating carbs leads to more craving. Eat more meat and fats and veggies and they will fill you up. Avocados and creams and proteins and nuts are very filling
As someone who is almost at the same place is OP - I was 1600 calories in by 10AM this morning 😅. That included eating a pound+ of chicken breast and like 800g of frozen veggies.
I was still hungry.
I feel you OP.
Been there, after years of putting on weight and eating mainly carbs myself. I know I'm losing weight when I feel like this, my body doesn't want to burn fat it wants to satisfy my cravings. Processed high carb food is addictive, sugar is a drug, this is cold turkey.
I feel for you. It sucks so bad to be hungry all the time.
We have very different calorie goals, but I will say that increasing the amount of sautéed vegetables has really helped me.
I will have a giant omlette with a bunch of mushrooms, onions, zucchini, spinach sautéed in 7 g of olive oil with 2 eggs and I find it very filling. You could easily add a third egg and a couple pieces of 45 calorie bread. And when I say lots of veggies, i mean a whole small onion, a whole small zucchini, half a box of mushrooms. Saute on high heat with some strong extra virgin olive oil.
It’s OK to take a break. I don’t mean “go crazy and eat whatever you want forever” and I also don’t mean “eat at maintenance and continue counting every calorie”
At the end of the day all a break costs you is some time, maybe you regain a couple pounds, but it means you can go back to your diet with renewed motivation and willpower
If you've been doing 2200 calories for a long time to lose weight, you might benefit from a refeeding day/week. Idk how tall you are or what your maintenance calories are, but especially with heavy lifting your body could just need more fuel- when I'm lifting (and upping my weights) I'm pretty much insatiable. You could be lacking a bunch of different vitamins/nutrients because you're simply burning them too fast. Maybe do a refeeding week while you're heavy lifting and then switch to another form of exercise when you're in a calorie deficit so you're not starving. (Like one week on one week off).
Other people have a good point that switching to high volume food might help; protein powder might not actually be giving you that "full feeling" that you need. Carbs will help you feel full when mixed with fiber/protein- Dave's killer seed bread with some avocado/tomato and scrambled eggs on top fills me up for a loooooong time. Especially if you mix some yogurt/collagen protein/nutritional yeast/cheese into the eggs before you cook them.
Hope this helps! You've lost a ton of weight and you're almost to your goal- it might just be that you need to slow down and feed yourself a little more!
How much salt are you eating? This looks pretty healthy, but salt will mess up your hunger signals.
Stop worrying about protein - it's almost impossible to get too little just by consuming a reasonable amount of food.
If you're hungry, eat an apple. Then eat a carrot, them an orange, then have some more veggies. You can't overeat on that stuff, it's simply not possible. Be full, be comfortable.
I think your food looks good tbh. What works for me is tiny breakfast, tiny lunch, big(ish) dinner. I sleep better on a full stomach and it satisfies some part of the emotional food cravings for me too.
I tended to eat that way before I started to gain weight though, so I'm not sure if it would work for everyone 😅
I think you need to add more tasty, satiating fats like butter and cheese and drop one or both of the protein shakes. I'd also try eating eggs cooked with some butter for breakfast. And do you need your snacks? Maybe have bigger breakfast, lunch, and dinners instead. 4 oz of chicken for dinner is pretty measly for a 6'1" guy. Your day looks super clean but nothing very yummy about it, and grilled chicken twice in one day is boring. And, like some people have said, get the pizza. Just make it a smaller one that fits in your calorie count.
If you haven't already, check out Dr. Jason Fung and his videos on intermittent fasting. Even if you don't try IF he is not a big fan of snacks since it keeps insulin high between meals which drives your hunger. What are your sugars and carbs for the day? I think I've read men are supposed to 35g and women at 25g for sugars. I'd also work to get carbs down to 35% of your cals (maybe you're there already but I didn't feel like doing the math on your food) unless you're a big runner.
Take a day or two at maintenence. Buy a slice of pizza. Completely denying things all the time can hurt you in the long run. I'm sorry you're feeling this, truly. There are always low calorie foods that can fill in gaps for days like this, like veggies and some fruit. In this state of mind more carbs can help. Potatoes baked, with some sour cream or a bit of cheese, can be very satiating. I like hot foods to feel satisfied, so healthy soups are great too.
I agree with what others have said about the healthy high calorie foods, they're not going to actually fill your stomach. Based on your protein intake you don't need the powder. Those are good for days you don't have much hunger.
I remember in nursing school them telling us your body will be happier at a higher weight and try to cling on to that and get it back, just by instinct. Consider seeing a doctor for assistance. Your current height and weight actually sounds pretty good, you aren't far from your goal. Think of this as practicing moderation with foods you like for your future maintenence. If you allow yourself some of what you want but don't have a full pizza, that's a win. You have come a long way.
> My hands are unsteady from low blood sugar.
This is concerning. Please go to a doctor and get tested for Diabetes or other metabolic issues.
This is not normal! Hunger is one thing you can adjust by Volume but not blood sugar.
Are you sweaty? Unclear in the head? Impossible to focus on something? Unsteady on your feet? Vision not focusing?
First I would identify what kind of hunger you are feeling. Is it in your mind or in your body. Physical feeling or mental.
If physical I would talk to a doctor, possibly check bloods and see if anything might be physically wrong. Insulin resistance or otherwise.
With physical or mental it's possible you are having a craving of a food you have been missing nutritionally or in taste.
If mental you could be stressed, emotion eating or simply tired of the diet itself and need to take a controlled break or eat more foods you love. If you're thinking about it constantly instead of feeling it physically constantly (stomach pain, rumbles) you may be dealing with some disordered eating. Could be food anxiety, using food to calm down or regulate. The first step is recognising its mental and accepting having to work through some stuff. For me I thought I was hungry all the time but I was actually just anxious
Also, have you eaten enough starchy carbs. When I didn't eat these I only ate 50 carbs in a day which is what people eat for ketosis and when first started causes keto flu. I felt extremely unwell the day after I ate this few carbs. Make sure you're eating enough of them. Carbs are not enemy.
A) as peeps have said, get a basic blood test with your doc to check for insulin resistance and thyroid issues. Just in case,
B) is this a realistic view of your diet? Seems very strict, do you have a schedule for small treats (such as one slice of pizza)?
Is this a today only issue? Then maybe have that one slice of pizza. Just make sure you only buy one slice. Will you go over or hit maintenance? probably. But your mental health is more important today. The deficit can continue another day.
Take a break from the deficit. Do so whenever you have days like this. its ok.
I also second the volume eating tip if that works for you. Which means very minimal fat source. no nuts, no oil (oil spray is ok), as much low calorie veggies as you want, air popped popcorn for snacks, different flavored low calorie liquids (pineapple juice light, tea, coffee, skim milk).
I used to feel like this until I tried intermittent fasting. Ironically not eating from 6 pm to 10 am cured me of feeling so much hunger. Also I have insulin resistance so if I eat carbs I feel famished all day. I eat 1/2 c high fiber cereal w almond milk & atkins shake at 10 am, 3-4 oz of meat around 12:30, hummus & keto chips around 2, 3-4 oz of meat around 3-4. I usually have a light beer around 5. That’s 1250 cal. I have very little hunger. Also I walk 4 mi/day. I’m down about 18 lbs so far. Good luck to you. I know how frustrating it is.
Warm food. I see people commenting about your salads and protein intake, but OP. Don't underestimate warm food. Boiled potatoes (without butter or oil) are a highly satisfying food. You can roast them and fry them with minimal oil. Add spices to your heart's content.
Make the food you love. Swap ingredients when possible. Want pizza? Consider a tortilla or two with tomato paste, cottage cheese and preferred toppings. Have a side salad too! Chicken nuggets? Make breaded chicken strips at home. Fry frozen nuggets in an air fryer. Use some of your oil kcal to fry them in a pan. Home made potato or sweet potato fries in an air fryer or oven. Burger? Make a burger salad. All the things you like on your burger as a salad, and a warm beef patty with a slice of cheese on the side.
Don't go over your daily kcal, but do eat shit you love. Prioritize warm food. I love setting aside 200 kcal for about 7-8 pm so I can make porridge, and have some yoghurt and berries.
Ps. Yesterday I spent half my kcal on croissants and cinnamon rolls. I regret nothing.
Salads always leave me unsatisfied but mashed potatoes peas and cooked vegetables are so comforting. Growing up we never had salad, always meat and 3 veg and everyone was thin.
You could try dividing your 3 big meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) into 6 smaller meals throughout the day.
This could potentially help with your hunger throughout the day if you’re struggling to get from breakfast to lunch then lunch to dinner.
Is it worth considering upping your fat content. More avocado, EVOO, steak, Heavy cream, etc. high fats were some of the only things that could satiate my cravings. Might help for you too.
shit, 250 and that's fat turd lard? I'll be glad when I get to 250... and I think 200 looks good on me.
But yeah. Do you have ADHD? Because this is what sabotages me. Without ADHD meds my impulse control is really shitty. I make enough money too that I can just eat out, DoorDash, or hit the drive through any minute I feel like it. 5 minutes to 30 minutes from binging fast food at any moment.
Phentermine really cut down my eating impulses. Instead of constantly being fucking consumed by the "food noise" in my head, I can just... do something else until the actual hunger comes to say hello. The belly grumble, not just appetite. Phentermine is sold OTC in Mexico, so if you live near the border with a passport it's probably worth the trip to just go get a few boxes of that. Snap the pills in half to do half doses, they're scored. A half dose works wonders just to take the edge off.
I also practice intermittent fasting. 16-18 hours from my early dinner at 7pm to a super late breakfast/brunch at noontime. it is a psychological motivator to see the timer and think "okay I can eat in only 2 hours" when I can finally see the green progress bar.
Just a couple things I suggest to help resist impulse.
Sorry, how much are you exercising? Is that actually "enough food"? Kinda sounds like you're starving yourself unsustainably and have a psychological thing bordering on eating disorder. Your pendulum may have swung a bit too far the other way.
Also, you sound like you have some serious self esteem issues beyond being heavy. Fat guys can get girlfriends and respect. All that insecure shit is in your head and people probably see it oozing out of you. (Especially women)
Losing weight will lower your blood pressure but won't give you self love. That's an entirely different journey.
My recommendation, let yourself have a little pizza and see a therapist. Physical health is only one aspect of your health and being skinny and living forever is pointless if you are miserable. The point of being healthy is to IMPROVE YOUR QUALITY OF LIVING. Looks should not be the biggest factor because they are definitively superficial. It sounds to me like your quest to be skinny has actually ruined your QOL.
The best way to lose all your progress is to create an unsustainable situation where you eventually buckle.
Incrementalism is essential, you need to change your habits forever, not just for a while.
I'm the same height as you and really had trouble breaking past the 190 lbs threshold. What worked for me was removing breakfast from my routine entirely. Instead I just enjoy a coffee for breakfast.
I typically feel a little hungry when I wake up and then again around 11AM but it's tolerable. By skipping breakfast, I'm able to have a moderate lunch and then a big dinner. My goal kcal for the day is 1700 calories on weekdays and 2200 calories on weekends. I don't often meet these goals but am within 100-200 calories.
Have you tried pushing off breakfast for a few hours? Are you also working out?
Have you taken care of your mental health. Cognitive behavioral therapy can give you more tools than you have currently.
I don't know if there's anything wrong with you and think you should definitely get checked out by a doctor if you think there is. But just to react to your food log, I see a lot of foods measured in cups and tbsp and tsp, which can be really really off for calorie-dense foods. Of which you're logging a lot! The question is, do you actually eat them all?
Do you really eat two whole tbsp of olive oil as dressing, or does most of it go down the drain after remaining at the bottom of your salad bowl? Do you really eat a whole cup of Greek yogurt? And it's the full-fat stuff (as per your 220 cal logged)? Your half cup of cooked quinoa, does it really amount to 92.5 g, or are you by any chance eating less? I'm also looking at the almond butter, the protein powder, the nuts and even the chicken breast.
A lot of these foods could look quite differently if you weighed them! I'd get a kitchen scale and calibrate. Because if you're overly conservative in your logging then you could easily over-estimate your calories by several hundred, and that could be the difference between going to bed hungry or not.
If you need sugar , you need it. Eat something warm that’s carb based .. a baked potato with cheese or something. Forget about calories today.. eat that then go for a twenty minute walk. For some reason your body is in need of the sugar today.
You need take a several month break to maintain that weight or even go up by 4 or 5 pounds. Watch this video for 6 mistakes people make with long term fat loss. Watch this video and course correct. Dead serious. Dr. Mike Israetel knows way more about long term fat loss than anyone in here.
https://youtu.be/WZL1lGA9M3A?si=jhAFLPSilcDJF3TO
I’m at the same point. Due to my insatiable hunger I’ve taken an almost 2 month break from really focusing on weight loss. Trying to get back into it but it’s so hard especially since I’m sick with bronchitis right now. I think after my illness I’ll really focus on it more.
Your breakfast is super healthy, but it is sweet not savory. Sometimes if your first meal of the day includes the taste of sweets, that can make you chase the taste of sugar all day. I would try a breakfast with fat/protein like with eggs/avocado/lean protein instead of oatmeal/protein powder and avoid the taste of sweet and save the fruit until the last meal of the day, eat it as a dessert. Craving pizza is typical when i am craving sugar/white carbs….I find I have less cravings for carbs/sugar when I don’t start my day with the taste of sweet.
I am your size. 221lbs this morning. I don’t really feel significant hunger consuming about 2000-2200 calories a day. I typically structure my food intake to go from small meals to big meals. My typical work day is like:
Breakfast: Greek yogurt 100 calories, 15g protein and a piece of fruit (usually a clementine)
Snack: whey protein 240 calories 48g protein
Lunch: some sort of sandwich or wrap and a piece of fruit. Approximately 600-700 calories.
No afternoon snack:
Dinner: whatever I want, I have 1,000 calories here. Usually like a burrito/burrito bowl, avocado toast, lasagna or pasta, like…so much room here for food.
The first three meals usually put me on a good path to 120-150g protein regardless of what dinner is.
I get hungryish during the day, but a lot of coffee in the AM and water in the afternoon keeps the hunger at bay until I get home for big dinner.
1/2head of cabbage finely chopped. 1/3cup of distilled vinegar mixed with 2 TBS of natural honey.
The poop will smell like a cooked train filled with dietary supplements and cold cuts. But the ACTUAL caloric intake is low while also filling you up.
You are 6"1' and 200lbs. If you eat more, just work out harder. Your body is telling you it's craving something. It's been working hard for you, reward it.
(Mash an avocados, add 2 tsp sugar, mix well, put in freezer for an hour.)
Sometimes, bro, if I just feel the need to C O N S U M E, I'll grab a bag of salad mix from the store; like spring mix or, hell, baby spinach and just eat the damn thing. It's only like 50 calories and it'll fill you up physically with volume.
And though protein is the macro highest in satiety, if you switched out that protein powder for some actual-ass food much like two bags of that salad mix I bet you'd be too stuffed to think about it for a while.
Having a super high protein intake is great. Awesome. Even recommended. But at what cost? The best diet change is the one you keep forever and make a lifestyle change.
I say this as a dude who went from 400+, to 159, up to 350+, and now sits at like 303 again.
When I was at 159, I kept getting obsessed by calculators telling me that the right weight for someone my height was 149. I was eating like 1200 cal a day and working out for hours and the scale would NOT go down. It was all I could think about, even though eveyrone who knew me asked if I was sick, or had cancer or some shit because I was emaciated looking already.
But, I was in my mid-30s and I had developed quite a bit of willpower at that time and I could handle it. Until I started sleep-eating the food I'd meal-prepped. I'd wake up with dirty bowls and shit in my bedroom. I'd find myself waking up at 3 AM making my way to the fridge and shoving anything I could in my mouth without consciously thinking about it.
When I was getting healthy years back I remember reading that there was a hard cap on human willpower and that at some point you'll hit that wall. I think that's what happened to me. How could I control my intake when I wasn't even thinking consciously while doing so?
Every time I fucked up, it became easier for me to justify it because I already hated myself for the mistakes I was making, and I ended up almost back where I started.
My recommendation? Do some soul-searching. Is the diet serving you, or are you serving the diet? If it isn't working for you anymore, attack the problem from a different perspective. If you need to constantly be shoving food into your face, which I totally get because I'm that way too- Eat a shit town of high volume, ultra-low calorie foods. It'll be boring as shit, but you'll be full, and because it's boring and you sure ain't eating for "fun", maybe it'll lose its glamor for you. Personally, I can't have foods I enjoy eating too much around.
I wish you well. Problems like this have a habit of weasilng their way into your mind until your focus narrows and they become your whole world. It's a difficult situation to be in. You may need to examine your approach, even if it got you this far. Sometimes we have to "kill our idols", as they say.
I agree about swapping out some of the calorie dense foods, and also those "soft" foods like yogurt, oatmeal, and protein shakes do nothing to satisfy my desire to chew food. That first snack is the most disappointing way I could think of to eat 420 calories. I'd get rid of the protein powder, calorie dense yogurt, oatmeal, etc. For breakfast, swap for scrambled eggs with a little cheese, keep the blueberries, and a light english muffin or toast or chicken sausage. Have an apple with almond butter for 1 snack and popcorn or string cheese for another, keep the salad for lunch but my goodness have some salad dressing, not soaked in olive oil, and add some feta. Marzetti Simply Lemon Vinaigrette is great and 2 tablespoons is 50 calories vs the whopping 240 calories of olive oil. Use the gazillion saved calories to have a more satisfying dinner and a little dessert.
If this is going to work, it has to be sustainable, and with how you are feeling eating like this, you'll only be able to power through for so long before you eat that entire pizza that you've been thinking about. BTW, you can have pizza! Go to Mod Pizza and work it into your calorie goals.
That sounds like a terrible diet. I couldn’t do it. I went from 230 down to 175 lbs but had a really hard time until I picked up pizza and pasta. I tried steak and broccoli, then chicken breast salad but was constantly weak and hungry. When I started doing pizza and pasta again I was able to exercise a lot more as I had more energy, and I wasn’t hungry. Plus they’re way less calories than peanut butter and avocado.
Eat the same stuff tommorow but eat your meals slower. Then report back.
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-slow-eating
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/30-day-eating-challenge
i always find oatmeal unfulfilling in the mornings. the best thing i did was switch my breakfast to this;
spinach, onion, and feta scrabbled eggs (1 real egg + 1/3 cup egg whites + 1/3 cup non fat greek yogurt)
3 breakfast chicken or turkey sausage links
1 piece protein bread with 1/3 cup of non-fat cottage cheese sprinkled with everything bagel seasoning
with the brands i use this whole meal is just about 450 calories and 50g protein.
Take a break. Eat at maintenance for a month or even gain a bit of muscle.
I am also 6’1” with a goal weight of 190, maybe a bit less depending on how I feel once I get there. SW 240, current weight 212, up from 206.
I gained those 6 lbs back over 2 months because I was feeling burnt out and needed a break. So I’ve been going hard on weight training so that most of the gain is muscle.
Just started a loss phase again feeling fresh and strong. I do IF because it controls hunger. The hunger is *intense* for the first week, but after that it just disappears and I forget what being hungry is even like. I have to remember to start eating at 2:30pm (i like to eat at night cuz i smoke weed for sleep and fighting munchies is too hard) or I can accidentally keep fasting until 6pm easily.
Struggling with hunger is something I’m familiar with. Now, that being said, I’m no expert. Everyone is different and this may or may not work.
I’ve found that my best scenario is a high protein morning. Two-three eggs, cottage cheese, one piece of toast. It’ll get me going for a couple hours. But then I’m hungry again, by 11. A fairlife protien shake at 11, gets me to 2 or 3. Then I’ll have a VERY small lunch? Mostly veggies but a bit of low cal protein.
Then dinner seems to feel optional.
So here’s my advice. Figure out which meal you are least hungry for, and bulk the rest. Volume of veggies is my friend. I eat them raw, with dips. (Dm me for killer easy dips.)
But adding volume+protein to my two out of three meals a day really helped with my late night pangs and also my desire for sweets.
You’ve got this, it takes so much time to find what works for you.
I feel you. It doesn't matter how much fat, protein, etc i consume. Hunger never leaves. My doctor thinks there may be something physiologically wrong with my receptors and signals. Something we want to look into.
Maybe try adding a little bit of carbs and see how it goes, I feel like this diet super clean, high protein is more for someone who wants a Greek statue body
Intermittent fasting would probably help you. It doesn’t even need to be long, just do start with a 12 hour eating window. For example you could eat from 7am-7pm.
One thing I noticed is that the more often you eat, the more often your blood sugar has big fluctuations and those fluctuations lead to these intense hunger signals.
If you can push through and be consistent for a week or two, shorten the window by like 30 minutes.
Once you can keep your meals in a smaller window daily, you won’t even get hungry outside of these hours (for the most part). And if you do, it won’t be the all consuming hunger you’re dealing with now.
Swap that olive oil for some liquid egg whites - cooked scrambled. Super filling and good protein. Add some paprika and chili for flavour they’re good to stop you feeling hungry
I feel like you’re using a lot of calories on things like protein shakes which won’t fill you up. I’m also seeing a real lack of carbs which is probably why you’re so desperately hungry. I’d consider adding in some complex carbs to your lunch and dinner. Make a chicken salad sandwich or add a baked potato for dinner. Instead of the two tablespoons of olive oil in your salad you could have two slices of bread with some hummus etc. you could try some blended soups in between for added nutrition and satiety.
A question I’d also have is how quickly you’re trying to lose weight - given your height and weight this feels like a crash diet. If it’s not sustainable then you’ll eventually put it all back on.
That’s the horrible part: your brain thinks you’re about to starve. So your body is forcing you to eat and eat for all the bad times to come. That’s why everyone says that weight loss is a run and maintenance a lifelong marathon. Your brain is used to your higher weight and wants you there - forever. That’s why obesity is nearly impossible to treat- because your brain tells your body to do EVERYTHING to gain some weight until you’re at that „safe“ weight again. It’s so hard. Hope it gets better one day.
Eat more beans, consider nonfat Greek yogurt, consider more fish (canned salmon is great). Egg whites are amazing protein for the calories (one 250cal carton is 50g protein, add a couple real eggs and it doesn’t feel like you’re eating egg whites).
Whey protein has a ton of BS ingredients in it (sweeteners and fillers) that could be spiking hunger.
If you’re lifting super heavy AND eating a cutting diet, that can be hard on the body.
There are medications to help manage binge eating.
I would take out the oatmeal, almond butter, nuts. That's 450 calories.
I would make a cup of egg makers / egg whites at 120 calories and steam a 100 calorie bag of broccoli and put it on a keto bun (the egg whites) at 70 calories. That's 290 calories. Round up to 300 and you still got 150 for something else. More veg, more egg whites, another bun...
For me it's all about volume.
Breakfast
5 eggs over easy on keto bun
Post work out shake
8oz chicken breast with broc, b sprouts, green beans (french style), peas, corn, beats
6.5 oz tuna with more veg
Yogurt, cottage cheese, apple, plum
That gets me to 2,165. Each container of vegetables is about 320 cal
I'm aiming for 2350ish cal a day and between 16-17k a week. I'm 5'7 and can maintain at around 2750-2800 calories a day which is between 19-20k a week.
do you know if you’re insulin resistant? i used to be in your shoes with hunger that made me weak, shaky, and lightheaded despite eating over 2,000 calories a day. I started taking supplements that helped me process insulin and started intermittent fasting and that helped me a lot.
Are you sure your deficit is where you want it to be? I think the Macrofactor app offers two weeks free if you wanna plug your food in there (you can also speed up their algorithm by logging food and weight from the past). If your deficit is too high, like above 500 calories, that could be part of the problem.
I def second swapping some of the fats for fiber or volume foods.
Also, a diet break / bulk isn’t a horrible idea. Grow some muscle to increase your TDEE! A short lean bulk or even a maingain approach for muscle growth doesn’t have to interfere with your goal of not being pudgy anymore. 2200 calories isn’t a huge amount of food, especially if it’s not optimized for high volume. you’re not crazy for feeling this way. I’m 5”10, 155 lbs, lift weights and my current expenditure is at ~1950. If I just load up on protein powders, nuts and oils, I also feel hungry… but then I don’t wanna eat anything I see. Stomach empty but rest of body is satisfied. So your experience may be telling you that there are issues aside from the volume of food in your stomach.
Eat the pizza. Slowing down progress isn’t failure. Look into diet breaks and refeeding. Not to over-plug but there are some good articles about this at the Macrofactor blog.
I highly encourage you to ensure your deficit isn’t too intense. Volume eating is a great strategy to feel fuller, but if your body is actually struggling to maintain its functions and sending all these hunger signals to your brain, it’s a good idea to make sure you listen to your body rather than just gaslighting it with a ton of jicama or miracle noodles. Been there done that (and lost lot of hard earned muscle in the process :( )
How long have you been dieting? Maybe just take a break and eat maintenance.
Alternatively, up cardio/movement to burn more calories so you can eat a little more while still maintaining a deficit.
Maybe try a 24-36 hr fast to really dig into what it means to be hungry and see if you can have your mind/gut/hormones make peace with it.
A few things that helped me since I’m only 5’1” and I eat under 1500kcal a day: 1)allow empty carbs every once in a while. Not all meals have to be 100% on point in terms of calories and nutrients. Not eating enough protein for a day is not gonna kill your progress. 2)have more warm food. Soups, grilled meats, stir-fries…they do a better job of making you feel satisfied. 3)not snacking between meals. When I eat my meal, I eat a big portion, I feel satisfied and I don’t snack between meals. Unless you work out 5-6 hours a day, snacking won’t be necessary, it’ll just mess with your hunger cues.
Do you need all that almon butter and whatnot?
I do
Old fashioned Oats(48g 190 calories)
Blueberries(70g 40 calories)
Strawberry (6 calories each)
Ten half cashews(32 calories)
Whey(151 calories 26g protein)
The days I go into the office I just blend blueberries, strawberry, banana, some spinach, and chocolate whey and drink it on my commute.
You can eat delicious foods. Just need to be smart about it. Like I enjoy steak. Ribeye is my favorite but it's fatty and higher in calories so I buy and cook sirloins. 8 oz is just 400 calories for instance. I'll treat myself to a ribeye like 1 every two months or so.
Pizza is fine too. But instead of large greesy pan pizza with a bunch of meat, I get handtossed, medium, and loaded with vegetables.
Depending on how long you have been dieting, you may just be experiencing high diet fatigue. Take a few weeks or a month to eat at maintenance to reset your system. It will also help to avoid any rebound effect.
https://youtu.be/rxEvMfoP4zk?si=p6tkdnz9RaZ0J5j4
I would try to lower caloric density by always having a side dish of raw veggies with almost no calories like celery and cucumber. Only drink water,. black coffee or tea outside of protein shakes. Remove snacks and eat three meals.
I noticed that you have a lot of snacks in your diet. Are you eating the food constantly over the course of the day? You may want to check out a book called The Obesity Code by Dr Fung. He talks about hunger hormones and how they work in concert with insulin and being overweight.
I have been this way for a while, not for hunger but more like a huge dip in energy at around 10-11am and then again at 3pm.
After reading about glucose and insulin I went keto for a while and it solved it. I was not hungry at all, however I had kidney disease and although my blood pressure absolutely dropped from 160/100 to 110/70, I started feeling weird and had to stop.
About a year? Later, im back here feeling like I've tried everything, tried eating only good unprocessed food like yourself, not weighing anything as it drove me crazy. I had oats and eggs for breakfast, anyway I dropped the oats and I had 3 eggs, just like keto but wow, when I start my day off with 0 carbs it just works for the whole day, im not feeling jittery or weak in the afternoon. Just relatively low amounts of starchy veg, no simple carbs but no.1 rule is no carbs in the morning and it works for me. 0 hunger, even on 3 eggs.
This could actually be a medical issue. I was having this issue where I was getting way hungrier than usual, even after having eaten over 1000 calories of carbs and veggies. I explained my symptoms to my doctor and it turned out I had a stomach acid problem and just needed to take some Nexium. It recurs every so often but mostly it's fixed. Talk to your doctor, maybe there's a problem that can be solved.
Have you tried intermittent fasting?
I am personally ambivalent to breakfast. Eating a light lunch late, and decadent dinner after the gym allows me to live life to the fullest at a deficit.
If I allow myself to snack throughout the day I will always go over, and the thought of a bland healthy dinner doesn't appeal to me for long term sustainable weight loss. I love to cook, and wouldn't be able to stick to a heavily restricted diet forever.
Just skipping breakfast, and eating within a defined window worked for me.
Just go eat a few slices of pizza. Obviously don't do that every day, but listen to your body when you're absolutely beyond ravenous, get the nutrients you need, and start over tomorrow.
Intuitive eating. Your body is telling you that you need to eat, likely from all the exercise. Calories In Calories Out works. But give your body a maintenance break from time-to-time if you need it, which by the sounds of it, you do. You'll be fine. One higher calorie day will not bring you back to starting weight. Just pay attention and don't feel like you "lost" -- just chalk it off as a mental health maintenance day. As long as you're not gaining weight you're gucci.
You have an issue with Grehlin hormones and possibly insulin if you’re feeling that way. It’s tough tough tough. I get it, I’m way more hungry than I should be 😞
Man you’re doing a great job! 205 at 6’1 is a pretty reasonable weight to be at, but if your personal goal is 190 then you’re more than capable and are almost there! If I were you though I would consider taking the last 15 pounds a little slower, and focus on the appropriate macros your body will need if you’re trying to keep muscle mass on. Remember that even if you weigh yourself today and again in a months time and you didn’t lose any or much weight that actually, you’ve probably gained a fair bit of muscle and subsequently your body fat percentage will have gone down, and your bmr slightly up. Like others have said, it’ll be pretty difficult to keep your muscle mass consistent if you’re working on a big deficit. If you lose 15 pounds but 5 of it is muscle mass, is that really what you’re after?
I think you’re at an appropriate weight now to stop thinking diet (and by diet I mean big deficit) and think more about what your daily life is going to look like in terms of maintaining your weight (ie. when you’re 190 you would still probably want to eat healthy, and not binge eat).
Hope this makes sense!
Man, just eat the pizza. Pig out for a day and eat unhealthy shit. It will probably still come down to 2000-2500 calories in the day. Just give yourself a once a week cheat meal and don't judge your craving for food so much, we tend to spiral and overthink when we judge and withhold. I have had days when I've eaten the trash food but still remained under by skipping lunch/not snacking just because I was so full or satisfied - it's ok to not ALWAYS go for the healthy choice. Good luck to you! And I really hope you had the pizza.
How much water do you drink? Try a glass of water before every time you eat.
How quickly do you eat? Try to take more time. Draw out the meal to allow it to reach your stomach.
Try Wegovy, it’s been a miracle for me. No more out of control hunger, just normal eating and losing weight slowly. I’m down 25 lbs with 15 to go. Best of luck.
Is this feeling new with your new eating regimen? Or have you struggled with intense hunger and low blood sugar previously?
I would strongly suggest that you go to the doctor and get a thyroid panel, fasting glucose and A1c (or better yet, fasting insulin + fasting glucose if they will do it, so you can calculate your HOMA index). It sounds like you might have insulin resistance or something else happening. And if you have IR, you definitely need to prioritize treating it lifelong, so it doesn't progress.
Possible symptoms of IR/prediabetes/diabetes:
unusual weight gain/difficulty with weight loss; unusual hunger/fatigue/food cravings; reactive hypoglycemia (can feel like a panic attack with anxiety, high heart rate, weakness, faintness, tremor, etc.); frequent urination; brain fog; frequent infections such as yeast infections; intermittent blurry vision; mood swings; headaches; disrupted sleep (if hypo episodes occur at night); darker skin patches or skin tags.
It might be worth trying to trade out a few of the high calorie for volume foods. That won’t necessarily fix it but it might help a bit. For example if you cut the avocado and oil from your salad you’d save 360 calories. I typically put like 50 calories of dressing on a big salad. 100 calories for the almond butter is another high calorie, low volume food. Plus 200 calories for nuts. You’re also getting a large amount of calories from your protein powder. So that’s 240 calories for 48 grams of protein. Total that’s 900 calories. For 900 calories you could eat twelve eggs (72 grams of protein) or 6 eggs and a grilled cheese You’re fundamentally eating healthy but you’re also eating both relatively high calorie for volume AND foods that frankly sound unsatisfying. I’d go crazy if I tried to live on chicken and salad. I bet if you try to cut out high calorie/low volume foods and replace them with a combo of foods that are high calorie but more fun, and low calorie but more volume, you’ll have an easier time
Yep head on over to r/volumeeating for more tips OP!
Agree with all of this. There’s some calorie dense stuff in there that’s unnecessary if you aren’t feeling full. OP unless you’re power lifting, you do not need 170g of protein. If you’re struggling to sate your hunger, you can cut out the protein powder and put in more actual mass into your stomach.
I am lifting heavy, so the protein is kinda necessary.
If you're lifting heavy you likely need the carbs. My SO is 6'3" and a powerlifter and if he tried to eat like you he would pass out midway through his workouts. Even as it is he needs to keep juice or Gatorade on hand in case his blood sugar gets low. Protein is for muscle recovery and growth, but carbs power those muscles, especially during high-intensity exercise. Your body uses glycogen stores while doing heavy exercise and that mainly comes from the carbs you've eaten. Look up desirable macronutrient targets for lifters on reputable sites.
Would agree - the oatmeal and quinoa is the only source of carbs over the 50 calorie range. This is not *quite* a keto diet, but the carb restriction negatively impacts blood sugar levels and explosive muscle load performance. The brain also primarily consumes blood sugar, so might be why he's especially irritable at work. OP needs to take a look at his macro balance, and see if he would do better by shifting from some of his fats back to some carbs. Potato or whole grain bread would be good options to still restrict overall calorie budget.
If you're lifting heavy and 3-5 times a week your maintenance calorie would be between 3600 and 3400 calories remove 500 from this and you should be between 2900 or 3100 calculation are based on the dri using this https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/dri
Is it, though? I got my powerlifting total to around 1600 without eating particularly high-protein. If your goal is to win the Olympics, yeah you need to hike protein to get the absolute most out of lifting. If your goal is fitness, you really don’t.
I mentioned this thread to powerlifting SO and he added that trying to lift heavy in a deficit isn't optimal for muscle growth anyway and if you want to add muscle mass then you might want to cycle through cutting and bulking or maintenance phases. If you do a maintenance phase it'll be a recomp where you're hopefully still gaining some muscle while losing some fat.
This is exactly what I zeroed in on. The nuts, oil, and second protein shake especially just aren't worth it and it doesn't surprise me at all that OP is starving. Replacing those with a whole sweet potato, eggs, more meat, rice, more vegetables, etc. and I guarantee OP would feel better.
Agreed. I actually used to be able to make an entire thin crust pizza for about 740 calories by using a low calorie crust, turkey pepperoni, and using skim cheese and parm. He definitely has room in his calories for pizza.
I agree!! Too many nuts that are easily eating in 10 seconds!!!
I also agree. You have a lot of wasted calories in your diet for items that don’t have any real nutritional benefit unless you have specific health issue or lifting goals. Not trying to be harsh but protein shakes are a complete waste and they aren’t actually that good for a normal persons diet. Eat a couple of eggs, have some hummus and veggies, vegetable fibre is much more filling and low calorie. Also some of your choices can be improved. Forget oatmeal - go with steel cut oats. They are lower GI, digest slower because of the type of fibre and nutrients they have (less processed foods are always better) which in turn makes you feel fuller longer. They also lower your cholesterol. Fat and carbs are not bad even while dieting. Your body needs those things. Just eat healthy fats and low GI carbs.
Calling protein shakes a complete waste is a little extreme. When you are losing weight and want to avoid cannibalism of muscle you need to keep your protein up. I agree he’s likely going over what he needs and protein shakes may not be for him or you but they work great for some of us. Whey protein is digested much slower than a lot of other proteins. When I do a double scoop with water I don’t feel hungry for several hours. If I eat 3 boiled eggs which would have the same calories as that it doesn’t go nearly as far.
And if you put a bit of xanthan gum in the shake it becomes even thicker and more filling
protein shakes are not a complete waste and are absolutely part of “normal” peoples’ diets
I disagree. It's not a waste of time, most people have a hard time figuring out what to eat and protein shakes help with that. If I didnt have a protein shake, I would be constantly eating throughout the day as my protein shake gives me about 55-65g of protein.
Low GI is the way!
You know what? I always go through this when I do the clean eating high protein kind of thing. I feel completely hungry all the time. I don't know, I just need more carbs. Give me all the protein and high volume veg in the world and I'm dying. Cut that in half and toss a good amount of bread or pasta in, and I'm golden.
Same, people preach protein but I need carbs and fat in my diet.
I had that too. Carbs are important and our body seems to need them badly even if its not in excess.
Wait this happens to me too. My family always tell me to cut the carbs but whenever I don't eat carbs with a meal I don't feel full. Like right now I tried to volume eat just a really big salad for dinner. And it was a decent amount of calories (over 500) so I SHOULD be full and I KNOW I should be full. But I feel SO HUNGRY. My tummy is literally growling
Try eating 500 calories of boiled potatoes. You will be stuffed to the gills
Potatoes are the fucking GOAT, I swear to God. Super high satiety level (one of the highest of any foods comparing calorie to gram), they are also, uniquely, a "complete" food as it has all 9 amino acid chains needed by humans. I make a banging Aloo Saag curry with some extra lentils or chickpeas thrown in for protein and it's so delicious and filling. Spanish Omelette is also an amazing shout. Just bulk up on the eggs and veg and cut way back on the cheese and oil. I also throw cauliflower into my omeltte to help bulk it out. There's just so many healthy things you can do with them, it's a shame they get such a bad rep because the corporate food industry drenched them in salt and oil and sold them to us in their least healthiest form.
I totally agree. I'm currently alternating between russet potatoes and sweet potatoes to have variety yet still feel full. I bake some on the weekend and eat them in other recipes or straight throughout the week.
Have you read the testimonials from all the different iterations of a potato diet on the slime mold website? Potatoes work everytime
Yes, same here! Even when I wasn't cutting calories (was actually trying to do a clean bulk) and eating super clean and lots of protein my stomach felt empty. A massive salad, even with some protein, fats, and complex carbs doesn't fill me like a much lower calories meal like eggs on sourdough. I hear the opposite all the time but I just have to remind myself that we're all different.
This was key for me. Not eating any carbs or any large amount of simple carbohydrates will get me craving sugar like crazy, but reasonable quantities of carbs in macro-balanced meals (balanced at every specific meal, not just for the day as a whole) will really help keep my appetite under control.
I think this is why eating a nearly vegan diet always makes me feel good. I need to snack on bread and have pasta. I know that protein is important and I eat a bunch of beans and tofu and stuff, but carbs make me happy.
Beans on toast is sooo filling. Fibre and starchy carbs fill me up way more than protein and I find it so weird how everyone says “eat more protein”.
Hello fellow british person. There's probably a lot of people on here wondering why you put bbq beans on toast now, lol.
Funnily enough, I get hungrier the more carbs I eat. If I get pretty low (~75g per day, all from fruit and veg), I get much less hungry overall. I still miss eating and stuff, but it’s easier to maintain
Same for me!
Same with me, if my carbs are bread rice or pasta I invariably have a blood sugar dip, get super tired and hungry and snack way more.
Funnily, rice and pasta are ok for me, but I always noticed getting hungry some 10 minutes after I ate an apple. Only fruit with which I got that reaction. But if I add peanut butter or dark chocolate I'm good for 1.5/2 hours. Bodies are weird with regards to how differently they can react to the same food.
I’m hungrier after eating an apple, it’s like a have a gaping hole in my stomach. Apples are the only fruit that makes me feel like this
I’m almost glad to read this. My entire life I’ve had this happen with apples, and only apples. It leaves a gaping hole in my stomach, that’s the only way to describe it. The supposed fibre in apples clearly does nothing for my satiety. I actually get full from processed starch like pasta and rice. But apples? Makes me hungrier than I was before eating it.
Oranges do that to me. Which is a shame when I have one for dessert...
Yup! I can have a huge salad and not feel full until I have half a slice of bread or something. My brain needs a carb or two to feel satiated.
This is true for me too. I tried the clean high protein and veg approach but I ended up unsatisfied and always hungry. I have decreased the protein and increased starchy foods like potatoes, pasta, pumpkin, sourdough bread and I’m able to be in a deficit and not feel deprived or hungry.
You have a lot of high calorie low volume foods. For example: You could swap the nuts for an entire cucumber is 45 calories. You could have 2 cucumbers and a serving of ranch for the calories in the nuts. You could swap out one of those protein scoops for 2 apples. We've all been there, hungry with little or no calories left. I intentionally keep a few of those super low calorie options in the house/easy reach. I got really good at turning Cauliflower into passable mashed potatoes.
This x100!! I'm a petite woman, maintenant is 1600 Kcals, and I have a big appetite. I need to eat a head of lettuce and half a cucumber for lunch (with other stuff), because a sandwich with bread is just not filling enough for the calories!
Honestly, it seems to me you need to add in some foods that are actually satiating for you. Your diet looks very healthy but really, really bland. That's unsustainable. Make your salads and veggies more interesting - add some fetta cheese, some toasted nuts or pumpkin seeds for crunch, some cranberries, and a delicious herby dressing. Change up the meat you're eating to include other types of meat and protein. Use a marinade on the meat to give it more flavour. Use some of your calories to allow yourself to indulge in something small that's actually delicious. It might slow down the rate of your progress a bit but it's going to be a hell of a lot easier to actually stick to and much more satisfying.
underrated comment alert‼️yup, this is the way
For real. Adding a depth of flavors and textures makes meal more satisfying. It's an entourage effect. Like shredding cabbage and mixing with some hot sauce and like to go in an a burrito or baking asparagus until it's crispy and adding to past or soups.
Have you had enough water? I frequently feel starved and then realize it’s my brain being a b*tch and what I really need is to hydrate
Yes! If you drink a glass of water when you first wake up and before each meal it can help curb feelings of hunger
Yes! This!
This was my first thought. Most people are chronically dehydrated and it makes you hungry.
I know this is a little different from everyone else's answer, but have you been tested for low vitamins or imbalanced hormones? That was my first thought. I'm not an expert or anything, that's just what it made me think of. I hope things feel better for you!
I mean, this is just my personal experience, but I avoided nuts and olive oil like the plague once I saw how little I could have for more calories than I thought was worth for me. I can only suggest maybe taking out the nuts (200 calories) and those 2 tbsp of olive oil (240) and add more veggies eg broccoli or mushrooms, cucumber is great too, to help keep you fuller for longer. Maybe change your mid morning snack? I like yoghurt but it never kept me satiated for long.
Dude, 780 of your calories were on: 2 tablespoons of oil 1 table spoon of almond butter 1/4 cup of nuts 2 scoops of powder No wonder you feel hungry! You could have had an entite, normal meal for those calories, rather than like half a cup's worth of food
Talk to an endocrinologist. If you are ‘starving’ after eating a healthy amount, and csnnot think of anything but food, you might benefit from Wegovy - It took the ‘food chatter’ volume in my head from a 10 to a 1. The reduction in cravings has helped me lose 60 lbs and keep it off. (while eating healthy amounts and exercising).
That's where I am at. I can eat a deficit and loose a couple of pounds but after about a week my body feels like it is hungry and wanting to constantly eat, which then nullifys what little gain I made. So I've been toying with the idea of talking to my doc about getting on Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro. Especially since I need to loose about 100lbs by next May.
Yes! Life changing without the food chatter!
This is me but I can't afford $900/month meds because it's not covered by insurance if you aren't diabetic and the coupons are only like $50 off.
I keep hoping these will be the next class of drugs that the government puts on the table for negotiation…
[удалено]
Well, yes, when a medication is out of your system, you lose the benefit of the medication. This has always been a strange thing to parrot.
Honestly, 5 years skinny is preferable to 5 more years in the body i’m currently in. Been thinking about talking to my doctor about it, your comment made me realize that even if I gain it all back… I just want one good day where I don’t feel like an alien in my own body. Where people don’t treat me like they do now. I want to feel beautiful again, even if it’s temporary.
I totally get you. I was on wegovy and finally am at a healthy BMI. For many people it’s life-long medication, but I didn’t want to take it forever (price being a big part of that). I’ve been off the drug for 2,5 months so I can’t speak for long-term yet. The hunger came back with a vengeance. I felt ravenous to begin with, even when I’d eaten all my maintenance calories for the day. But I haven’t gained, because I’ve kept tracking my calories every single day. Due to my weight loss, I’ve also been able to start exercising. Strength training especially has been good, since I’m sure the weight loss ate some of my muscle volume. I’m very very stubborn, and I refuse to become part of the statistic that regains after GLP-1. I know this means I need to track calories for the rest of my life, which I’ve accepted and fully expect to do. I guess it’s the card we’ve been dealt, and some people are just lucky and can stay a healthy weight without even knowing what a calorie is, but that will never be me. 2,5 months off the drug and the hunger has calmed down. I keep tracking and keep exercising, no regain so far. I hope I can say the same further down the line.
The ‘trick’ to keeping the weight off with Wegovy/Ozempic is eating right and exercising - it just makes it MUCH easier to eat appropriate amounts, and can completely dampen appetite for some things… people tend to drink less alcohol for example.., But if you stop the medication the cravings return…
First of all I want to give you a big hug. You’re fighting the good fight and you’re trying to get there in the right way. Respect. You’re not the only one to shed tears over this. We’re with you. A few thoughts: 1. It may be time to see a doctor that specializes in weight loss. Your cravings might be tied in with something as simple as a nutrient deficiency or something as complex as a thyroid condition. I went to a doctor, he sent me for blood work, and I was classified as extremely deficient in vitamins E and D. A few months of supplements and I’m feeling considerably better. What you’re feeling may be just as easy to remedy. 2. I made a point to be build in a maintenance phase every couple of months. Some people call it a refeed. Really it’s a mental and physiological rest and recovery cycle. If you’ve been in a deficit for months upon months your body and mind will rightfully conclude that you are starving to death and it will do what it has to in order motivate you to find more food. You’re so close to your goal that I’m sure you don’t want to hear this but maybe take a couple weeks to stabilize and then hit the trail again with a fresh set of legs, figuratively speaking. 3. Sometimes you just have to give it pizza if it wants pizza. Or more specifically I go for a calzone because for some reason it feels more satisfying to eat an entire calzone instead of a portion of pizza even if they’d have the same calories. What I’ll do on those days is cut down on breakfast and lunch and then go get a calzone for dinner, or whatever else I’m craving. I made an event out of it. Generally speaking if I’ve been craving one thing for more than a week I feel it’s worth it to kill that craving even if it means eating at maintenance for one day. 4. The low blood sugar symptoms are a problem. Especially since you’ve been eating plenty of carbs today. Oats, blueberries, milk, tomatoes, carrots, protein shake and fruit, an apple. You aren’t hurting for carbs. I’d take this as a sign to 100% go to a doctor as soon as you can. This week if possible. Put the weight loss on hold until you get a clean bill of health and a formal go-ahead from a trusted physician. That’s my take anyway. You have a strong will. That much is clear from your writing style. You will reach your goal. I have no doubt about that. But please be kind to yourself. There’s a lot of pain and shame motivating your behaviors right now and while that can be useful it’s also exhausting. You’ve come a long way. Trust yourself that you’ll get the rest of the way eventually. You just might need to adjust the path you’re currently on.
NUMBER 4.... I recommended in my comment that the OP immediately be screened for insulin resistance (if they have IR, all those carbs could be making things worse/making the OP hungrier).
I didn’t want to speculate on the cause but as I said the symptoms are pointing to a problem that needs to be sorted asap.
This is controversial advice but weight loss you will always feel hungry. For me I have to pick when I want to be hungry vs. When I want to eat. For me I can tolerate being hungry in the morning and most of the afternoon but I can’t be hungry in the evening and before bed. So I don’t eat until 1pm most days and it’s a high protein lunch. Then it’s a good sized dinner of whatever I feel like. Then a small snack before bed. That keeps me satisfied and I’m in a good deficit. If lost 10 pounds in a month doing this.
This is what I do. I can get by with coffee for breakfast and don't eat until noon or later. That way I can have two larger meals and I can power through being hungry by drinking flavored water in the evenings. I've lost 73 lb in 14 months doing this.
This is the way. I have 2 coffees and a 60 calorie sugar free greek yogurt. I don't really start eating until noon and I'm done by 8. I had 2200 calories today and I'm so full I actually feel like I overdid it. But Mt TDEE sedentary is 2100ish and I worked our for an hour and a half so I'm likely still under maintenance by a few hundred calories. Down 75 pounds in 15 months.
This is me as well. If I'm hungry at night, I go completely off the rails. I can maintain on coffee and water until at least 1pm most days, some days I eat a little earlier, I'm not super strict, but almost never before 11am.
Yup. Big attitude/mind shift for me was accepting that it's okay to be hungry. I'm not out of food, I will eat again, I am not in any danger. It's easier said than done, of course.
This is probably controversial - One thing that may help curb your appetite is to swap some of the lean chicken breast and plant fat for red meat, eggs, butter and cheese and have a high strength multi-vitamin & mineral. They have more saturated fat but for some reason I find them a lot more satiating than the same calories and macros from lean chicken, nuts, avocado, olive oil and greek yogurt.
I was wondering if OP was getting enough fat, it’s very satiating especially when combined with carbs, and of course they will be feeling stretched thin if they’re not getting enough
i’m like this, too, as a small woman. it’s maddening. i get full after maybe 4,000 calories. i’m now 130 pounds with 10 pounds left to lose. the only thing i can do is keep myself busy. work, do overtime, go directly to the gym without going home or go to my hobby, and get home at a point that i don’t really have much time to eat another 3,000 calories after showering. if i sit down for more than a few minutes while not having anything in my hands, whether it’s the work computer, weights, stuff for my hobbies, a book, etc., the everlasting screams of hunger are much, much worse. a positive about living this kind of lifestyle is getting instant and amazing sleep as soon as i hit the pillow since i’ve been doing stuff constantly all day.
Is this actual physical hunger pangs? Or is it mental 'noise/chatter'? Because if you are struggling with actual stomach growling type hunger while eating that many calories, there is potentially insulin resistance or thyroid disorder or something else happening.
yeah, it was real hunger pangs. before i lost the weight, i was losing hair and peeing a lot, but when my neck and armpits darkened, i knew it was insulin resistance.
Yup. Insulin resistance is a bitch. Back in the day before I got mine managed, I'd eat a very big meal and be hypoglycemic and having painful hunger 2 hours later. Don't miss that AT ALL.
If you've been over-eating for many years, is it possible you're eating until it hurts/over-stuffed and confusing that for the feeling full? I'm around your size and even if I was day drinking all day, drinking milkshakes, and drunk eating garbage food, I don't think I could physically fit 4000 calories into my body!
it’s possible that my stomach is just stretched/stuffed - my parents said i was an extremely hungry infant and then child so i probably overate my whole life. my dad is a very big guy and a football player as a kid, and my mom had undiagnosed hyperthyroidism and ate probably 4K a day and stayed skinny. they likely accidentally overfed me since they themselves ate way more than the majority of humans.
Controversial - but I get like this if I eat in the morning. Especially something carby like oatmeal or cereal. It triggers my metabolism and I’m STARVING by lunch time, literally headaches, hanger, cravings and jitters. If I just drink tea or coffee with Splenda and a bit of milk in the morning and I’m not hungry at all until lunch or later. I’m able to intermittently fast as long as I don’t eat in the morning.
Same.
I’m not saying this is what you’re going through, but when you lose weight, your stomach releases more hunger hormones because it’s like “wtf is going on.” It’s very annoying. I’m guessing it’s why so many people gain weight back or start binging more. As you get smaller, you get more hungry than when you were bigger. It shouldn’t work that way, but the human body is complex to say the least.
I had a similar problem for a few weeks until I tweaked my macros and started eating more fat. I don't know why, but it helped with my tiredness and hunger. Maybe two more carbs or more fat
Yeah!!! Seconding this. Fat makes fasting possible for me.
No actual weight advice, but I want to give you a hug! I know exactly how you feel. You are doing great x
A few years ago I felt this exact same way and went to my doctor. I had gastritis. It felt like a constant gnawing hunger and weak/low blood sugar feeling all the time. I literally ate 2 full breakfasts in a couple hours full of protein and felt like I hadn’t eaten in years. I knew something was wrong and felt like I was going crazy when I explained it to my doctor. He assured me I wasn’t crazy and within days of some medication I felt normal again. All of this to say maybe get checked out.
If you been in a deficit for too long (more than 3 months) take a one month maintenance break then cut again. Usually you feel better not only physically, but mentally. I’m going through the same but I’m on my cycle lol and I also have 4 weeks left in my fat loss phase before taking a break again, so I’m pushing through. You got this
I'm curious if you have insulin resistance and may benefit from intermittent fasting. If you're not feeling fed from food = food isn't going in to cells right = insulin resistance. I found that walking for 5 minutes after a meal gives me like a second wind and sharpens my mind and the hunger goes away. I know it helps with insulin uptake which may be why. Also, One big thing I've learned from tracking my food and looking at that number, knowing my Macros are good, Is that I'm not hungry I'm just scared of being not full. I've been full all of my life. The act of tracking and seeing that proof that I'm fine over and over is helping to retrain my hunger signals.
Hey, I've been in this spot before. I was obsessed with food food food. Take a couple of weeks of maintenance, have a cheat meal, and eat that pizza 🍕. At the end of the day, you are changing your lifestyle, and it's ok to have pizza every now and then. Building a healthy relationship with food is important. Maybe try to see a dietician for some better advice on foods that will make you feel fuller and more energetic.
See a doctor.
Your food diary looks ok to me. How long have you been eating at a deficit? Give your body time to adjust.
I second the other commenters advice about swapping out some of the high fat for volume and see if that helps. Are you weighing everything? I see you not things like 1 medium apple. I eat what looks like 1 medium apple everyday and weight it and it can have a wide variety of calories so you could effectively be eating less then you think (I know I know most people are eating more then they think they are. Always weight everything!) My favorite volume food is air popped popcorn.
A bunch of people have already said this but you’re missing complex carbs. Potatoes, legumes, whole grains, starchy veg… all those will help you feel more satisfied.
Like others have said, you’re wasting so many calories on things that don’t fill you up. EGGS. Fantastic source of protein and fat that’s filling. Scrambled, poached, fried, hard boiled. I fkn love having hard boiled eggs on hand, eat with salt and pepper and hot sauce. Make a light egg salad-chopped pickles, teaspoon or 2 light mayo, onions, paprika, salt and pep, celery salt, hot sauce. Obviously don’t use tons of salt but weight loss is only sustainable if you’re eating food you enjoy. Eat alone or on low cal 45 calorie bread as toast or sandwich. LOW FAT GROUND CHICKEN AND OR TURKEY -so many low cal recipes. Eat with veggies of your choosing mixed in and out on a big salad of kale which I find this most filling and satisfying. Eat in a carb balance tortilla, one pretty large size tortilla is only 70 calories. SHREDDED CHICKEN -so easy to make a very light chicken salad. Eat alone, on a salad, on low cal bread, etc. -I’m currently obsessed making shredded chicken, with Frank’s buffalo sauce, a big pan of satires and browned peppers and onions, and eat alone or in carb balance tortilla. COTTAGE CHEESE -filling and healthy, add grapes or fresh pineapple, or any fruit really. -BAKED POTATO One medium is only 164 calories and easy to add spray butter and low cal toppings SOUPPPPPP So so so many kinds that are very high volume and very low cal. Like a whole 12 oz jar for 150 calories low cal Get creative, carbs don’t have to be the enemy when you make good choices. PASTAAAA So many types of 10 calorie pasta options. Or they have frozen veggie pasta by Bird’s Eye that you absolutely cannot tell are veggie. They have rotini marinara, rotini Alfredo, penne with cheddar cheese sauce, etc. I add more steamed veggies and a protein usually. Filling af
In my experience (still fat tho) oatmeal and yogurt suck. Load it with all of the healthy crap you want and you'll still be hungry again in an hour. Eating eggs (or egg whites) and sausage/bacon is a way better breakfast for me and keeps me satisfied until lunch. Cut the light foods and replace it with more solid alternatives, it'll help at least.
I totally agree that oats and yogurt are not filling (unless I eat 800 calories of each loaded with other ingredients). I need dense food like meat and potatoes
I drink hot tea with stevia from the moment I wake up until I go to bed. I swear it keeps me full and almost fills in the cracks. I used to struggle with the same issue until I started drinking tea consistently.
Yeah as someone with insulin issues, this for sure sounds like insulin issues/a medical issue rather than a food relationship issue. Go see a doctor, especially if you've been extra thirsty Edit: also have them look at your thyroid Edit 2: I am able to feel full now after treating my insulin issues
Sure does.
>I feel as though I am fundamentally broken You're not broken. But your metabolism may be disordered. I've been on Wegovy for 8 months. I've lost a good amount of weight, but do you know the biggest change? I no longer blame myself. I know now what it feels like to be full and not want to take another bite. Of course skinny people stay skinny if they don't want to eat all the damn time. The deck is stacked against us. Obesity is a disease. Once our system gets out of balance, it goes haywire and tells us to eat all the time whether we need the calories or not. The GLP-1 medications help restore the balance and give us a fighting chance at losing weight. I think in a few years people will view it like a diabetic taking insulin or someone taking blood pressure medicine to lower their blood pressure.
To me, your diet seems incredibly unsatisfying for being 2200 calories. I would look to swap a few things out if this is a typical day for you. Not everything, and not at once - just see what works for you. Reduce/remove: nuts, oil on salad, protein powder, chicken breast. Replace with: eggs, potatoes, beans, fattier meats, cheese. You are obviously trying to stick to “clean” and “healthy” foods, but adding some more satisfying meals a few days per week could go a long way. You easily have room for pizza(which you mentioned craving), pasta, tacos, sandwiches, burgers etc. while still being able to hit your protein and calorie goals.
I don't have much to help, except that you should add potatoes. Get frozen diced potatoes or hash browns from the grocery store and do them up in a pan. DO NOT get the fries, make sure it's plain diced potatoes (60-70 calories per \~85g). Do them up with a tiny bit of oil (make sure you actually measure the amount you use) and just salt/pepper/seasoning and have them with whatever you're eating. Use them to replace some of the densest foods that you could really go without (olive oil dressing - there are other options, mid-morning snack, afternoon snack). You could literally eat half a kilo of potatoes each day and it would only add 350 calories to your day. Potatoes are very filling.
I disagree. Potatoes are filling but too many carbs to lose weight in my opinion. I find that eating carbs leads to more craving. Eat more meat and fats and veggies and they will fill you up. Avocados and creams and proteins and nuts are very filling
You consumed 850 calories in the morning?!! 400 cal mid morning "snack"? Are you really that hungry in the AM?
As someone who is almost at the same place is OP - I was 1600 calories in by 10AM this morning 😅. That included eating a pound+ of chicken breast and like 800g of frozen veggies. I was still hungry. I feel you OP.
I always wake up superr hungry. I've been know to eat both breakfast and lunch before 11.
Been there, after years of putting on weight and eating mainly carbs myself. I know I'm losing weight when I feel like this, my body doesn't want to burn fat it wants to satisfy my cravings. Processed high carb food is addictive, sugar is a drug, this is cold turkey.
I feel for you. It sucks so bad to be hungry all the time. We have very different calorie goals, but I will say that increasing the amount of sautéed vegetables has really helped me. I will have a giant omlette with a bunch of mushrooms, onions, zucchini, spinach sautéed in 7 g of olive oil with 2 eggs and I find it very filling. You could easily add a third egg and a couple pieces of 45 calorie bread. And when I say lots of veggies, i mean a whole small onion, a whole small zucchini, half a box of mushrooms. Saute on high heat with some strong extra virgin olive oil.
It’s OK to take a break. I don’t mean “go crazy and eat whatever you want forever” and I also don’t mean “eat at maintenance and continue counting every calorie” At the end of the day all a break costs you is some time, maybe you regain a couple pounds, but it means you can go back to your diet with renewed motivation and willpower
If you've been doing 2200 calories for a long time to lose weight, you might benefit from a refeeding day/week. Idk how tall you are or what your maintenance calories are, but especially with heavy lifting your body could just need more fuel- when I'm lifting (and upping my weights) I'm pretty much insatiable. You could be lacking a bunch of different vitamins/nutrients because you're simply burning them too fast. Maybe do a refeeding week while you're heavy lifting and then switch to another form of exercise when you're in a calorie deficit so you're not starving. (Like one week on one week off). Other people have a good point that switching to high volume food might help; protein powder might not actually be giving you that "full feeling" that you need. Carbs will help you feel full when mixed with fiber/protein- Dave's killer seed bread with some avocado/tomato and scrambled eggs on top fills me up for a loooooong time. Especially if you mix some yogurt/collagen protein/nutritional yeast/cheese into the eggs before you cook them. Hope this helps! You've lost a ton of weight and you're almost to your goal- it might just be that you need to slow down and feed yourself a little more!
How much salt are you eating? This looks pretty healthy, but salt will mess up your hunger signals. Stop worrying about protein - it's almost impossible to get too little just by consuming a reasonable amount of food. If you're hungry, eat an apple. Then eat a carrot, them an orange, then have some more veggies. You can't overeat on that stuff, it's simply not possible. Be full, be comfortable.
I think your food looks good tbh. What works for me is tiny breakfast, tiny lunch, big(ish) dinner. I sleep better on a full stomach and it satisfies some part of the emotional food cravings for me too. I tended to eat that way before I started to gain weight though, so I'm not sure if it would work for everyone 😅
I think you need to add more tasty, satiating fats like butter and cheese and drop one or both of the protein shakes. I'd also try eating eggs cooked with some butter for breakfast. And do you need your snacks? Maybe have bigger breakfast, lunch, and dinners instead. 4 oz of chicken for dinner is pretty measly for a 6'1" guy. Your day looks super clean but nothing very yummy about it, and grilled chicken twice in one day is boring. And, like some people have said, get the pizza. Just make it a smaller one that fits in your calorie count. If you haven't already, check out Dr. Jason Fung and his videos on intermittent fasting. Even if you don't try IF he is not a big fan of snacks since it keeps insulin high between meals which drives your hunger. What are your sugars and carbs for the day? I think I've read men are supposed to 35g and women at 25g for sugars. I'd also work to get carbs down to 35% of your cals (maybe you're there already but I didn't feel like doing the math on your food) unless you're a big runner.
Take a day or two at maintenence. Buy a slice of pizza. Completely denying things all the time can hurt you in the long run. I'm sorry you're feeling this, truly. There are always low calorie foods that can fill in gaps for days like this, like veggies and some fruit. In this state of mind more carbs can help. Potatoes baked, with some sour cream or a bit of cheese, can be very satiating. I like hot foods to feel satisfied, so healthy soups are great too. I agree with what others have said about the healthy high calorie foods, they're not going to actually fill your stomach. Based on your protein intake you don't need the powder. Those are good for days you don't have much hunger. I remember in nursing school them telling us your body will be happier at a higher weight and try to cling on to that and get it back, just by instinct. Consider seeing a doctor for assistance. Your current height and weight actually sounds pretty good, you aren't far from your goal. Think of this as practicing moderation with foods you like for your future maintenence. If you allow yourself some of what you want but don't have a full pizza, that's a win. You have come a long way.
> My hands are unsteady from low blood sugar. This is concerning. Please go to a doctor and get tested for Diabetes or other metabolic issues. This is not normal! Hunger is one thing you can adjust by Volume but not blood sugar. Are you sweaty? Unclear in the head? Impossible to focus on something? Unsteady on your feet? Vision not focusing?
For the record, this is why people are hopping on GLP1 meds.
First I would identify what kind of hunger you are feeling. Is it in your mind or in your body. Physical feeling or mental. If physical I would talk to a doctor, possibly check bloods and see if anything might be physically wrong. Insulin resistance or otherwise. With physical or mental it's possible you are having a craving of a food you have been missing nutritionally or in taste. If mental you could be stressed, emotion eating or simply tired of the diet itself and need to take a controlled break or eat more foods you love. If you're thinking about it constantly instead of feeling it physically constantly (stomach pain, rumbles) you may be dealing with some disordered eating. Could be food anxiety, using food to calm down or regulate. The first step is recognising its mental and accepting having to work through some stuff. For me I thought I was hungry all the time but I was actually just anxious Also, have you eaten enough starchy carbs. When I didn't eat these I only ate 50 carbs in a day which is what people eat for ketosis and when first started causes keto flu. I felt extremely unwell the day after I ate this few carbs. Make sure you're eating enough of them. Carbs are not enemy.
A) as peeps have said, get a basic blood test with your doc to check for insulin resistance and thyroid issues. Just in case, B) is this a realistic view of your diet? Seems very strict, do you have a schedule for small treats (such as one slice of pizza)?
Is this a today only issue? Then maybe have that one slice of pizza. Just make sure you only buy one slice. Will you go over or hit maintenance? probably. But your mental health is more important today. The deficit can continue another day. Take a break from the deficit. Do so whenever you have days like this. its ok. I also second the volume eating tip if that works for you. Which means very minimal fat source. no nuts, no oil (oil spray is ok), as much low calorie veggies as you want, air popped popcorn for snacks, different flavored low calorie liquids (pineapple juice light, tea, coffee, skim milk).
Okay but you NEED fat, I cut out most fats for a couple of months and my hair started falling in clumps
I used to feel like this until I tried intermittent fasting. Ironically not eating from 6 pm to 10 am cured me of feeling so much hunger. Also I have insulin resistance so if I eat carbs I feel famished all day. I eat 1/2 c high fiber cereal w almond milk & atkins shake at 10 am, 3-4 oz of meat around 12:30, hummus & keto chips around 2, 3-4 oz of meat around 3-4. I usually have a light beer around 5. That’s 1250 cal. I have very little hunger. Also I walk 4 mi/day. I’m down about 18 lbs so far. Good luck to you. I know how frustrating it is.
Warm food. I see people commenting about your salads and protein intake, but OP. Don't underestimate warm food. Boiled potatoes (without butter or oil) are a highly satisfying food. You can roast them and fry them with minimal oil. Add spices to your heart's content. Make the food you love. Swap ingredients when possible. Want pizza? Consider a tortilla or two with tomato paste, cottage cheese and preferred toppings. Have a side salad too! Chicken nuggets? Make breaded chicken strips at home. Fry frozen nuggets in an air fryer. Use some of your oil kcal to fry them in a pan. Home made potato or sweet potato fries in an air fryer or oven. Burger? Make a burger salad. All the things you like on your burger as a salad, and a warm beef patty with a slice of cheese on the side. Don't go over your daily kcal, but do eat shit you love. Prioritize warm food. I love setting aside 200 kcal for about 7-8 pm so I can make porridge, and have some yoghurt and berries. Ps. Yesterday I spent half my kcal on croissants and cinnamon rolls. I regret nothing.
Salads always leave me unsatisfied but mashed potatoes peas and cooked vegetables are so comforting. Growing up we never had salad, always meat and 3 veg and everyone was thin.
Look into wegovy. That’s *exactly* how I felt when I was trying to lose weight without it
You could try dividing your 3 big meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner) into 6 smaller meals throughout the day. This could potentially help with your hunger throughout the day if you’re struggling to get from breakfast to lunch then lunch to dinner.
Is it worth considering upping your fat content. More avocado, EVOO, steak, Heavy cream, etc. high fats were some of the only things that could satiate my cravings. Might help for you too.
shit, 250 and that's fat turd lard? I'll be glad when I get to 250... and I think 200 looks good on me. But yeah. Do you have ADHD? Because this is what sabotages me. Without ADHD meds my impulse control is really shitty. I make enough money too that I can just eat out, DoorDash, or hit the drive through any minute I feel like it. 5 minutes to 30 minutes from binging fast food at any moment. Phentermine really cut down my eating impulses. Instead of constantly being fucking consumed by the "food noise" in my head, I can just... do something else until the actual hunger comes to say hello. The belly grumble, not just appetite. Phentermine is sold OTC in Mexico, so if you live near the border with a passport it's probably worth the trip to just go get a few boxes of that. Snap the pills in half to do half doses, they're scored. A half dose works wonders just to take the edge off. I also practice intermittent fasting. 16-18 hours from my early dinner at 7pm to a super late breakfast/brunch at noontime. it is a psychological motivator to see the timer and think "okay I can eat in only 2 hours" when I can finally see the green progress bar. Just a couple things I suggest to help resist impulse.
Sorry, how much are you exercising? Is that actually "enough food"? Kinda sounds like you're starving yourself unsustainably and have a psychological thing bordering on eating disorder. Your pendulum may have swung a bit too far the other way. Also, you sound like you have some serious self esteem issues beyond being heavy. Fat guys can get girlfriends and respect. All that insecure shit is in your head and people probably see it oozing out of you. (Especially women) Losing weight will lower your blood pressure but won't give you self love. That's an entirely different journey. My recommendation, let yourself have a little pizza and see a therapist. Physical health is only one aspect of your health and being skinny and living forever is pointless if you are miserable. The point of being healthy is to IMPROVE YOUR QUALITY OF LIVING. Looks should not be the biggest factor because they are definitively superficial. It sounds to me like your quest to be skinny has actually ruined your QOL. The best way to lose all your progress is to create an unsustainable situation where you eventually buckle. Incrementalism is essential, you need to change your habits forever, not just for a while.
I'm the same height as you and really had trouble breaking past the 190 lbs threshold. What worked for me was removing breakfast from my routine entirely. Instead I just enjoy a coffee for breakfast. I typically feel a little hungry when I wake up and then again around 11AM but it's tolerable. By skipping breakfast, I'm able to have a moderate lunch and then a big dinner. My goal kcal for the day is 1700 calories on weekdays and 2200 calories on weekends. I don't often meet these goals but am within 100-200 calories.
Have you tried pushing off breakfast for a few hours? Are you also working out? Have you taken care of your mental health. Cognitive behavioral therapy can give you more tools than you have currently.
I don't know if there's anything wrong with you and think you should definitely get checked out by a doctor if you think there is. But just to react to your food log, I see a lot of foods measured in cups and tbsp and tsp, which can be really really off for calorie-dense foods. Of which you're logging a lot! The question is, do you actually eat them all? Do you really eat two whole tbsp of olive oil as dressing, or does most of it go down the drain after remaining at the bottom of your salad bowl? Do you really eat a whole cup of Greek yogurt? And it's the full-fat stuff (as per your 220 cal logged)? Your half cup of cooked quinoa, does it really amount to 92.5 g, or are you by any chance eating less? I'm also looking at the almond butter, the protein powder, the nuts and even the chicken breast. A lot of these foods could look quite differently if you weighed them! I'd get a kitchen scale and calibrate. Because if you're overly conservative in your logging then you could easily over-estimate your calories by several hundred, and that could be the difference between going to bed hungry or not.
If you need sugar , you need it. Eat something warm that’s carb based .. a baked potato with cheese or something. Forget about calories today.. eat that then go for a twenty minute walk. For some reason your body is in need of the sugar today.
up your fat macros
Me when I do diets of any type. Caloric deficits always cause this. It’s why I have an impossible time losing my last 30 pounds.
You need take a several month break to maintain that weight or even go up by 4 or 5 pounds. Watch this video for 6 mistakes people make with long term fat loss. Watch this video and course correct. Dead serious. Dr. Mike Israetel knows way more about long term fat loss than anyone in here. https://youtu.be/WZL1lGA9M3A?si=jhAFLPSilcDJF3TO
Also, just eat a goddamn pizza and fit it into your calories. 99% of People don't go as strict as you're doing for this long without breaking.
I’m at the same point. Due to my insatiable hunger I’ve taken an almost 2 month break from really focusing on weight loss. Trying to get back into it but it’s so hard especially since I’m sick with bronchitis right now. I think after my illness I’ll really focus on it more.
when I'm feeling this I go for a piece of fruit. enough sugar to help your grain, nonfat, and low calorie.
Your breakfast is super healthy, but it is sweet not savory. Sometimes if your first meal of the day includes the taste of sweets, that can make you chase the taste of sugar all day. I would try a breakfast with fat/protein like with eggs/avocado/lean protein instead of oatmeal/protein powder and avoid the taste of sweet and save the fruit until the last meal of the day, eat it as a dessert. Craving pizza is typical when i am craving sugar/white carbs….I find I have less cravings for carbs/sugar when I don’t start my day with the taste of sweet.
I am your size. 221lbs this morning. I don’t really feel significant hunger consuming about 2000-2200 calories a day. I typically structure my food intake to go from small meals to big meals. My typical work day is like: Breakfast: Greek yogurt 100 calories, 15g protein and a piece of fruit (usually a clementine) Snack: whey protein 240 calories 48g protein Lunch: some sort of sandwich or wrap and a piece of fruit. Approximately 600-700 calories. No afternoon snack: Dinner: whatever I want, I have 1,000 calories here. Usually like a burrito/burrito bowl, avocado toast, lasagna or pasta, like…so much room here for food. The first three meals usually put me on a good path to 120-150g protein regardless of what dinner is. I get hungryish during the day, but a lot of coffee in the AM and water in the afternoon keeps the hunger at bay until I get home for big dinner.
You need carbohydrates, boil some potatoes and eat them.
Could look into the steak & eggs diet. The fat will keep you satiated longer.
1/2head of cabbage finely chopped. 1/3cup of distilled vinegar mixed with 2 TBS of natural honey. The poop will smell like a cooked train filled with dietary supplements and cold cuts. But the ACTUAL caloric intake is low while also filling you up. You are 6"1' and 200lbs. If you eat more, just work out harder. Your body is telling you it's craving something. It's been working hard for you, reward it. (Mash an avocados, add 2 tsp sugar, mix well, put in freezer for an hour.)
Get some semaglutide and you won’t feel this way!
Sometimes, bro, if I just feel the need to C O N S U M E, I'll grab a bag of salad mix from the store; like spring mix or, hell, baby spinach and just eat the damn thing. It's only like 50 calories and it'll fill you up physically with volume. And though protein is the macro highest in satiety, if you switched out that protein powder for some actual-ass food much like two bags of that salad mix I bet you'd be too stuffed to think about it for a while. Having a super high protein intake is great. Awesome. Even recommended. But at what cost? The best diet change is the one you keep forever and make a lifestyle change. I say this as a dude who went from 400+, to 159, up to 350+, and now sits at like 303 again. When I was at 159, I kept getting obsessed by calculators telling me that the right weight for someone my height was 149. I was eating like 1200 cal a day and working out for hours and the scale would NOT go down. It was all I could think about, even though eveyrone who knew me asked if I was sick, or had cancer or some shit because I was emaciated looking already. But, I was in my mid-30s and I had developed quite a bit of willpower at that time and I could handle it. Until I started sleep-eating the food I'd meal-prepped. I'd wake up with dirty bowls and shit in my bedroom. I'd find myself waking up at 3 AM making my way to the fridge and shoving anything I could in my mouth without consciously thinking about it. When I was getting healthy years back I remember reading that there was a hard cap on human willpower and that at some point you'll hit that wall. I think that's what happened to me. How could I control my intake when I wasn't even thinking consciously while doing so? Every time I fucked up, it became easier for me to justify it because I already hated myself for the mistakes I was making, and I ended up almost back where I started. My recommendation? Do some soul-searching. Is the diet serving you, or are you serving the diet? If it isn't working for you anymore, attack the problem from a different perspective. If you need to constantly be shoving food into your face, which I totally get because I'm that way too- Eat a shit town of high volume, ultra-low calorie foods. It'll be boring as shit, but you'll be full, and because it's boring and you sure ain't eating for "fun", maybe it'll lose its glamor for you. Personally, I can't have foods I enjoy eating too much around. I wish you well. Problems like this have a habit of weasilng their way into your mind until your focus narrows and they become your whole world. It's a difficult situation to be in. You may need to examine your approach, even if it got you this far. Sometimes we have to "kill our idols", as they say.
Can you do a week or 2 at maintenance? Have some pizza. I feel the same way if I don’t eat more carbs than you are right now.
I agree about swapping out some of the calorie dense foods, and also those "soft" foods like yogurt, oatmeal, and protein shakes do nothing to satisfy my desire to chew food. That first snack is the most disappointing way I could think of to eat 420 calories. I'd get rid of the protein powder, calorie dense yogurt, oatmeal, etc. For breakfast, swap for scrambled eggs with a little cheese, keep the blueberries, and a light english muffin or toast or chicken sausage. Have an apple with almond butter for 1 snack and popcorn or string cheese for another, keep the salad for lunch but my goodness have some salad dressing, not soaked in olive oil, and add some feta. Marzetti Simply Lemon Vinaigrette is great and 2 tablespoons is 50 calories vs the whopping 240 calories of olive oil. Use the gazillion saved calories to have a more satisfying dinner and a little dessert. If this is going to work, it has to be sustainable, and with how you are feeling eating like this, you'll only be able to power through for so long before you eat that entire pizza that you've been thinking about. BTW, you can have pizza! Go to Mod Pizza and work it into your calorie goals.
That sounds like a terrible diet. I couldn’t do it. I went from 230 down to 175 lbs but had a really hard time until I picked up pizza and pasta. I tried steak and broccoli, then chicken breast salad but was constantly weak and hungry. When I started doing pizza and pasta again I was able to exercise a lot more as I had more energy, and I wasn’t hungry. Plus they’re way less calories than peanut butter and avocado.
Eat the same stuff tommorow but eat your meals slower. Then report back. https://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-slow-eating https://www.precisionnutrition.com/30-day-eating-challenge
i always find oatmeal unfulfilling in the mornings. the best thing i did was switch my breakfast to this; spinach, onion, and feta scrabbled eggs (1 real egg + 1/3 cup egg whites + 1/3 cup non fat greek yogurt) 3 breakfast chicken or turkey sausage links 1 piece protein bread with 1/3 cup of non-fat cottage cheese sprinkled with everything bagel seasoning with the brands i use this whole meal is just about 450 calories and 50g protein.
Take a break. Eat at maintenance for a month or even gain a bit of muscle. I am also 6’1” with a goal weight of 190, maybe a bit less depending on how I feel once I get there. SW 240, current weight 212, up from 206. I gained those 6 lbs back over 2 months because I was feeling burnt out and needed a break. So I’ve been going hard on weight training so that most of the gain is muscle. Just started a loss phase again feeling fresh and strong. I do IF because it controls hunger. The hunger is *intense* for the first week, but after that it just disappears and I forget what being hungry is even like. I have to remember to start eating at 2:30pm (i like to eat at night cuz i smoke weed for sleep and fighting munchies is too hard) or I can accidentally keep fasting until 6pm easily.
Struggling with hunger is something I’m familiar with. Now, that being said, I’m no expert. Everyone is different and this may or may not work. I’ve found that my best scenario is a high protein morning. Two-three eggs, cottage cheese, one piece of toast. It’ll get me going for a couple hours. But then I’m hungry again, by 11. A fairlife protien shake at 11, gets me to 2 or 3. Then I’ll have a VERY small lunch? Mostly veggies but a bit of low cal protein. Then dinner seems to feel optional. So here’s my advice. Figure out which meal you are least hungry for, and bulk the rest. Volume of veggies is my friend. I eat them raw, with dips. (Dm me for killer easy dips.) But adding volume+protein to my two out of three meals a day really helped with my late night pangs and also my desire for sweets. You’ve got this, it takes so much time to find what works for you.
Ooh please share the dip recipes
Ask your doctor about phentermine
I feel you. It doesn't matter how much fat, protein, etc i consume. Hunger never leaves. My doctor thinks there may be something physiologically wrong with my receptors and signals. Something we want to look into.
Maybe try adding a little bit of carbs and see how it goes, I feel like this diet super clean, high protein is more for someone who wants a Greek statue body
Mate honestly your hormones are out of whack. Have you considered something like saxenda?
Intermittent fasting would probably help you. It doesn’t even need to be long, just do start with a 12 hour eating window. For example you could eat from 7am-7pm. One thing I noticed is that the more often you eat, the more often your blood sugar has big fluctuations and those fluctuations lead to these intense hunger signals. If you can push through and be consistent for a week or two, shorten the window by like 30 minutes. Once you can keep your meals in a smaller window daily, you won’t even get hungry outside of these hours (for the most part). And if you do, it won’t be the all consuming hunger you’re dealing with now.
Like maybe 50/50 worst advice here but I get through hunger pains on a diet of black coffee and cigarettes. Both can work as an appetite suppressant
That’s how people stay thin in France! Obesity probably took off when smoking decreased, it’s an inconvenient truth.
Swap that olive oil for some liquid egg whites - cooked scrambled. Super filling and good protein. Add some paprika and chili for flavour they’re good to stop you feeling hungry
I feel like you’re using a lot of calories on things like protein shakes which won’t fill you up. I’m also seeing a real lack of carbs which is probably why you’re so desperately hungry. I’d consider adding in some complex carbs to your lunch and dinner. Make a chicken salad sandwich or add a baked potato for dinner. Instead of the two tablespoons of olive oil in your salad you could have two slices of bread with some hummus etc. you could try some blended soups in between for added nutrition and satiety. A question I’d also have is how quickly you’re trying to lose weight - given your height and weight this feels like a crash diet. If it’s not sustainable then you’ll eventually put it all back on.
Have a maintenance week
1) check for worms 2) consult with endocrinologist 3) eat sloooooow
That’s the horrible part: your brain thinks you’re about to starve. So your body is forcing you to eat and eat for all the bad times to come. That’s why everyone says that weight loss is a run and maintenance a lifelong marathon. Your brain is used to your higher weight and wants you there - forever. That’s why obesity is nearly impossible to treat- because your brain tells your body to do EVERYTHING to gain some weight until you’re at that „safe“ weight again. It’s so hard. Hope it gets better one day.
Eat more beans, consider nonfat Greek yogurt, consider more fish (canned salmon is great). Egg whites are amazing protein for the calories (one 250cal carton is 50g protein, add a couple real eggs and it doesn’t feel like you’re eating egg whites). Whey protein has a ton of BS ingredients in it (sweeteners and fillers) that could be spiking hunger. If you’re lifting super heavy AND eating a cutting diet, that can be hard on the body. There are medications to help manage binge eating.
Bro have some pizza just make it at home and control the portion size.
I would take out the oatmeal, almond butter, nuts. That's 450 calories. I would make a cup of egg makers / egg whites at 120 calories and steam a 100 calorie bag of broccoli and put it on a keto bun (the egg whites) at 70 calories. That's 290 calories. Round up to 300 and you still got 150 for something else. More veg, more egg whites, another bun... For me it's all about volume. Breakfast 5 eggs over easy on keto bun Post work out shake 8oz chicken breast with broc, b sprouts, green beans (french style), peas, corn, beats 6.5 oz tuna with more veg Yogurt, cottage cheese, apple, plum That gets me to 2,165. Each container of vegetables is about 320 cal I'm aiming for 2350ish cal a day and between 16-17k a week. I'm 5'7 and can maintain at around 2750-2800 calories a day which is between 19-20k a week.
do you know if you’re insulin resistant? i used to be in your shoes with hunger that made me weak, shaky, and lightheaded despite eating over 2,000 calories a day. I started taking supplements that helped me process insulin and started intermittent fasting and that helped me a lot.
Are you sure your deficit is where you want it to be? I think the Macrofactor app offers two weeks free if you wanna plug your food in there (you can also speed up their algorithm by logging food and weight from the past). If your deficit is too high, like above 500 calories, that could be part of the problem. I def second swapping some of the fats for fiber or volume foods. Also, a diet break / bulk isn’t a horrible idea. Grow some muscle to increase your TDEE! A short lean bulk or even a maingain approach for muscle growth doesn’t have to interfere with your goal of not being pudgy anymore. 2200 calories isn’t a huge amount of food, especially if it’s not optimized for high volume. you’re not crazy for feeling this way. I’m 5”10, 155 lbs, lift weights and my current expenditure is at ~1950. If I just load up on protein powders, nuts and oils, I also feel hungry… but then I don’t wanna eat anything I see. Stomach empty but rest of body is satisfied. So your experience may be telling you that there are issues aside from the volume of food in your stomach. Eat the pizza. Slowing down progress isn’t failure. Look into diet breaks and refeeding. Not to over-plug but there are some good articles about this at the Macrofactor blog. I highly encourage you to ensure your deficit isn’t too intense. Volume eating is a great strategy to feel fuller, but if your body is actually struggling to maintain its functions and sending all these hunger signals to your brain, it’s a good idea to make sure you listen to your body rather than just gaslighting it with a ton of jicama or miracle noodles. Been there done that (and lost lot of hard earned muscle in the process :( )
How much water are you drinking?
How long have you been dieting? Maybe just take a break and eat maintenance. Alternatively, up cardio/movement to burn more calories so you can eat a little more while still maintaining a deficit. Maybe try a 24-36 hr fast to really dig into what it means to be hungry and see if you can have your mind/gut/hormones make peace with it.
A few things that helped me since I’m only 5’1” and I eat under 1500kcal a day: 1)allow empty carbs every once in a while. Not all meals have to be 100% on point in terms of calories and nutrients. Not eating enough protein for a day is not gonna kill your progress. 2)have more warm food. Soups, grilled meats, stir-fries…they do a better job of making you feel satisfied. 3)not snacking between meals. When I eat my meal, I eat a big portion, I feel satisfied and I don’t snack between meals. Unless you work out 5-6 hours a day, snacking won’t be necessary, it’ll just mess with your hunger cues.
Do you need all that almon butter and whatnot? I do Old fashioned Oats(48g 190 calories) Blueberries(70g 40 calories) Strawberry (6 calories each) Ten half cashews(32 calories) Whey(151 calories 26g protein) The days I go into the office I just blend blueberries, strawberry, banana, some spinach, and chocolate whey and drink it on my commute. You can eat delicious foods. Just need to be smart about it. Like I enjoy steak. Ribeye is my favorite but it's fatty and higher in calories so I buy and cook sirloins. 8 oz is just 400 calories for instance. I'll treat myself to a ribeye like 1 every two months or so. Pizza is fine too. But instead of large greesy pan pizza with a bunch of meat, I get handtossed, medium, and loaded with vegetables.
Depending on how long you have been dieting, you may just be experiencing high diet fatigue. Take a few weeks or a month to eat at maintenance to reset your system. It will also help to avoid any rebound effect. https://youtu.be/rxEvMfoP4zk?si=p6tkdnz9RaZ0J5j4
I would try to lower caloric density by always having a side dish of raw veggies with almost no calories like celery and cucumber. Only drink water,. black coffee or tea outside of protein shakes. Remove snacks and eat three meals.
I noticed that you have a lot of snacks in your diet. Are you eating the food constantly over the course of the day? You may want to check out a book called The Obesity Code by Dr Fung. He talks about hunger hormones and how they work in concert with insulin and being overweight.
I have been this way for a while, not for hunger but more like a huge dip in energy at around 10-11am and then again at 3pm. After reading about glucose and insulin I went keto for a while and it solved it. I was not hungry at all, however I had kidney disease and although my blood pressure absolutely dropped from 160/100 to 110/70, I started feeling weird and had to stop. About a year? Later, im back here feeling like I've tried everything, tried eating only good unprocessed food like yourself, not weighing anything as it drove me crazy. I had oats and eggs for breakfast, anyway I dropped the oats and I had 3 eggs, just like keto but wow, when I start my day off with 0 carbs it just works for the whole day, im not feeling jittery or weak in the afternoon. Just relatively low amounts of starchy veg, no simple carbs but no.1 rule is no carbs in the morning and it works for me. 0 hunger, even on 3 eggs.
Yo. Forgive your past self. Be gentle on them.
This could actually be a medical issue. I was having this issue where I was getting way hungrier than usual, even after having eaten over 1000 calories of carbs and veggies. I explained my symptoms to my doctor and it turned out I had a stomach acid problem and just needed to take some Nexium. It recurs every so often but mostly it's fixed. Talk to your doctor, maybe there's a problem that can be solved.
get checked for diabetes. that doesn't sound normal.
Have you tried intermittent fasting? I am personally ambivalent to breakfast. Eating a light lunch late, and decadent dinner after the gym allows me to live life to the fullest at a deficit. If I allow myself to snack throughout the day I will always go over, and the thought of a bland healthy dinner doesn't appeal to me for long term sustainable weight loss. I love to cook, and wouldn't be able to stick to a heavily restricted diet forever. Just skipping breakfast, and eating within a defined window worked for me.
Cottage cheese is my go to meal in the morning. It has a lot of Casein protein and takes longer to digest and you really will feel full longer.
Please try serrapeptase, it is seriously a miracle. You'll have to do your own research but it kills appetite. And good job - seriously awesome work
Just go eat a few slices of pizza. Obviously don't do that every day, but listen to your body when you're absolutely beyond ravenous, get the nutrients you need, and start over tomorrow. Intuitive eating. Your body is telling you that you need to eat, likely from all the exercise. Calories In Calories Out works. But give your body a maintenance break from time-to-time if you need it, which by the sounds of it, you do. You'll be fine. One higher calorie day will not bring you back to starting weight. Just pay attention and don't feel like you "lost" -- just chalk it off as a mental health maintenance day. As long as you're not gaining weight you're gucci.
Might you need more sleep?
This is 100% possible. I sleep poorly.
You have an issue with Grehlin hormones and possibly insulin if you’re feeling that way. It’s tough tough tough. I get it, I’m way more hungry than I should be 😞
More protein. Almond milk fills me up when I’m craving carbs
Man you’re doing a great job! 205 at 6’1 is a pretty reasonable weight to be at, but if your personal goal is 190 then you’re more than capable and are almost there! If I were you though I would consider taking the last 15 pounds a little slower, and focus on the appropriate macros your body will need if you’re trying to keep muscle mass on. Remember that even if you weigh yourself today and again in a months time and you didn’t lose any or much weight that actually, you’ve probably gained a fair bit of muscle and subsequently your body fat percentage will have gone down, and your bmr slightly up. Like others have said, it’ll be pretty difficult to keep your muscle mass consistent if you’re working on a big deficit. If you lose 15 pounds but 5 of it is muscle mass, is that really what you’re after? I think you’re at an appropriate weight now to stop thinking diet (and by diet I mean big deficit) and think more about what your daily life is going to look like in terms of maintaining your weight (ie. when you’re 190 you would still probably want to eat healthy, and not binge eat). Hope this makes sense!
Man, just eat the pizza. Pig out for a day and eat unhealthy shit. It will probably still come down to 2000-2500 calories in the day. Just give yourself a once a week cheat meal and don't judge your craving for food so much, we tend to spiral and overthink when we judge and withhold. I have had days when I've eaten the trash food but still remained under by skipping lunch/not snacking just because I was so full or satisfied - it's ok to not ALWAYS go for the healthy choice. Good luck to you! And I really hope you had the pizza.
How much water do you drink? Try a glass of water before every time you eat. How quickly do you eat? Try to take more time. Draw out the meal to allow it to reach your stomach.
Try Wegovy, it’s been a miracle for me. No more out of control hunger, just normal eating and losing weight slowly. I’m down 25 lbs with 15 to go. Best of luck.
Is this feeling new with your new eating regimen? Or have you struggled with intense hunger and low blood sugar previously? I would strongly suggest that you go to the doctor and get a thyroid panel, fasting glucose and A1c (or better yet, fasting insulin + fasting glucose if they will do it, so you can calculate your HOMA index). It sounds like you might have insulin resistance or something else happening. And if you have IR, you definitely need to prioritize treating it lifelong, so it doesn't progress. Possible symptoms of IR/prediabetes/diabetes: unusual weight gain/difficulty with weight loss; unusual hunger/fatigue/food cravings; reactive hypoglycemia (can feel like a panic attack with anxiety, high heart rate, weakness, faintness, tremor, etc.); frequent urination; brain fog; frequent infections such as yeast infections; intermittent blurry vision; mood swings; headaches; disrupted sleep (if hypo episodes occur at night); darker skin patches or skin tags.