Lower calories and less hungry...?

[danzingurl77]

This is so weird- but I've noticed that when I eat less calories, I'm
Less hungry... I've been trying to "save" more calories for dinner lately- but since I've started eating less throughout the day, I'm really not hungry at night. I haven't eaten over 1000 calories for 3 days- and I exercise a lot plus am on my feet for both of my jobs. I know i need to eT more but it feels so wrong to eat when im really not hungry... However- EVERY time I start my day with a big breakfast (anything over 400 calories), I find that I am CRAZY hungry for the rest of the day.

I know this has to be some mental thing but I'm wondering if anyone else feels this way and can they figure out why?

[JennaR]

I actually don't think that this is a mental thing at all. I think it's a question of metabolism.

I used to skip breakfast ALL the time. I would never be hungry throughout the day and then be starving by dinner. This is one of the many very bad habits that calorie counting has helped me get through.

I'm no expert, but from the research and reading I've done, Skipping breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day. If you eat a balanced breakfast early enough in the day, your body will use it as fuel and that's why you're hungry throughout the day.

Now that i'm calorie counting I'm actually eating more and more often than I used to. Before cc, I would skip breakfast, maybe eat lunch late in the afternoon and then eat a HUGE dinner to makeup for it that evening. I convinced myself that it was okay since I hadn't eaten any calories that day.

Turns out that I seriously messed up my metabolism. The 1200 calories I'd ingest in the evening sat in my stomach like a rock and I had virtually no time to burn it.

Now, I split my calories between three meals and two snack each day and I'm feeling awesome. Not to mention, I've lost 15 lbs doing it this way.

Best of luck to you!!

[sontaikle]

I've found that I have trouble eating enough calories now that I'm aware of how much I'm eating. I think calorie counting forces you to think about what you eat.

I was a boredom eater, but now I find it difficult to do that unless I portion out a snack and purposely schedule it in. I'll think "do I really need to have something that's that many calories?" and usually choose not to eat it. If I really do want it, I'll have a small amount.

Much better than what I used to do, which was pile chips on my plate and just eat them!

[RookaWins]

Have you ever researched your basal metabolic rate? It's the lowest number of calories your body needs to function. I did the same thing as you when I first started calorie counting, and I hit a plateau, where I didn't have an appetite, and the scale wouldn't budge either. When you dont reach your basic metabolic needs, your metabolism slows down, and gets used to only running off of 1200 or so calories. I know this sounds counteractive, but try eating 2000 calories for one whole week. It helps reset your leptin hormones and metabolism. Then after that, eat whatever your BMR is.
The weight loss will seem slower is way, but if you stick to the BMR number and increase your activity without limit, you will see results. I promise. And as for eating 2000 for a week, I did that and I lost two pounds at the end of the week, after being stuck at 190 FOREVER.
Here is a link to the BMR calculator that I find very effective http://www.bmi-calculator.net/
And here is an article explaining this strategy.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/10...loss-plateaus/

[mizzie]

It's probably at least partially due to eating more fiber and protein, which people tend to do when they start eating healthier.

Although, I am concerned about you eating less than 1000 calories. Please don't eat less than 1200 calories daily. It's very unhealthy, especially for a woman and most especially for someone who is active.

[ncuneo]

This happens to me too. However, this is what happens to me. Usually when I eat more I'm working on eating cleaner and thus my body is more efficient and using my food for fuel and speeding up my metabolism making me more hungry more often. Also your body adapts to expecting a certain amount of food and often at certain times if you schedule your meals. I usually have MUCH better weight loss results when I eat more and eat cleaner than when I cut my cals and eat just ok.

[lin43]

This has happened to me as I've increased my calories to maintain my weight. When I was losing, I averaged 1400 calories per day, and I can't remember being hungry. However, since I've been increasing my calories to maintain, I've been hungrier than ever. This was especially true last week when I averaged 2200 calories per day. It makes no sense, but it seems as if the freedom of eating more calories gets me "on a roll" so to speak, and I want to eat even more. When I eat fewer calories, my choices are more limited, and perhaps that takes the decision-making out of the equation (e.g., "what should I eat for lunch?" "How many calories do I have left for some dessert?" etc.), making it seem easier to eat a lower calorie range.