So after a few not-so-great weeks I'm back to calorie counting as of today...
And holy **** I am starving. I didn't even work out today and I'm starving. I'm eating a good amount of calories (For a day I didn't workout) and I feel like a bottomless pit.
Coming back on plan is always the hardest. But just remember how AWESOME it feels when you stuck it out and those jeans are a little loose.
Hmm....being hungry is always tough. Usually I drown out the hunger. I drink water, I drink tea (rum vanilla, peppermint), I drink calorie free drinks...then I complain, and repeat cycle. It might not be the healthiest, but about a week later when my clothes fit, I'm like YESSSS! I rule!
I'm almost pms-ing so I usually get ravenous around that TOM anyway...so this may just be triggering it a little early. Coffee and tea always saved me when I was losing the bulk of my weight. I would stick to two cups of coffee a day but that bit in the evening made a big difference. Maybe I need to think about adding a second cup in again until my body adjusts.
Haha! Oh God - right around TOM I retain water, get angry and frustrated, and usually weigh more. Added complication of being a woman. Well, you know how ravenous you are now? Well it's a tradeoff, because sometimes do you ever under-eat calories and you're not hungry at all?
Hmm...so that doesn't happen to you either? I think you just have to stick this one out. Usually if my body is really really hungry and I can just stick to around my calories, I'm fine.
Did you try eating some cottage cheese or celery with a little PB? Both of those might make you full enough to get through tonight, and for less than 100 cals.
If that doesn't work, I recommend yelling at the scale until your anger subsides. One of you will tire out first.
Boo to hunger. Low cal can do that if you're getting back on plan... But personally, I feel that you should never have to go hungry. I'm not a prime example at the moment, having gone on a 6-month lazy-festival coupled with fast food... But in my previous forays into 25 lb+ weight loss, I've always managed to find foods that are asininely low in calories to snack on when hungry. Blueberries, or chicken/vegetable stock soup are shockingly low in cals, and can fill you right up.
The way I see it is... We want to lose weight, not learn to live with tummy grumbles.
I'm sadly the opposite. Whenever I start up again I feel like I am eating soooo much! This is the byproduct of my usual schedule of barely eating with no concern for a schedule, which ultimately kills my metabolism and leads to weekend binges. :-(
I often have "hungry days" when getting back into a weight loss phase. Some people choose to do a little ad hoc "calorie cycling" and up the calories on those days, but I usually tough it out. The good news is that they usually taper off within a week or so, and then they get less frequent and usually more manageable. Still, it's not easy! There are some white knuckle days that seem endless and it's an hour-to-hour if not minute-to-minute thing. It helps to have distractions -- reading and posting on 3FC helps too!
Drinking more fluid can help; I rely on a lot of tea or coffee (decaf in the afternoon, with truvia and a little NFPM). But it seems like there are two types of hunger. Fluids and low calorie soups and veggies help with the stomach-empty kind. But there's also a "satiation" hunger (at least that's my experience). I usually budget in a little healthy fat with each meal to try to stave that off, but there's only so much you can do with restricted calories. In general, I find it is also a bit easier with lower carb, but I don't even find that to be a complete solution.
But, like I said earlier, it does usually resolve over time. Hang tough and good luck!
It's weird, I think I was one of the lucky ones who didn't have a huge issue with hunger. I got hungry, but I think it was "normal" hungry. I think it helped to do the small meals all day instead of 2 or 3 big ones. Have you tried doing that? Or like something said, try the celery & peanut butter approach: it fills you up but it's pretty low calorie (as long as you're careful with the peanut butter). Or drinking water can fill you up, though it's never really worked for me. I just sort of imagine my stomach filled with water sloshing around...doesn't make me less hungry, haha. But! Once you get used to it, you'll find that you can't eat nearly as much as you used to be able to (if you ate a lot, that is). I can eat like 1/4 as much food in one sitting as I used to. It's almost annoying. What am I going to do on Thanksgiving?! :P
Me tooooo! I am getting into an exercise plan, and monitoring my calories. I just had dinner, and I feel like I'm already hungry again! But I just have to accept that I was consuming far too many calories before, and I'll just have to be a little hungry while I get used to my dieting.
I think it's a bulk thing to be honest. I drink lots of water but as soon as my stomach empties I'm starving. Soups are a good idea though.
I think I'm just gonna have to stick with a little extra caffeine for a few days I think. Thanks for the tips guys! Already had dinner and starving again...but today I have a few extra calories to play with.
Good luck - you'll be fine gymrat. The breakstone cottage cheese ind. portions are REALLY filling (at 90 cals)...and the vita tops are really good at 90 cals too (for something sweet). You'll make it!
Y'know maybe I should start eating cottage cheese again...I eat greek yogurt (Oikos) but I haven't had cottage cheese in ages. Thanks!
Oh and I'm still super hungry. I'm also dreading the workout I'm about to go to at the gym. It's like they know I'm starving and want to exhaust me further, hahah.
Thanks RazzleNDazzle. I eat quite a lot of protein as is but I think I was going too low on the grains. My body needs that little bit of bulk to make me feel full. Drinking tons of water only makes me starving when my stomach empties.
And PMS never helps...though losing weight while PMS-ing is exciting.
I am sooooo hungry.
I think you just have to stick this one out. Usually if my body is really really hungry and I can just stick to around my calories, I'm fine.
