Hunger

[Kelly1]

Hi everyone!! Recently I have noticed that I am always really hungry. I run/walk/ use the elliptical machine 4 x a week for 30 minutes. I eat anywhere between 1000 and 1600 calories a day (higher calorie intake includes a fall off of the LC wagon) and my carb intake varies between 15 to 30 (higher also includes a slip). This doesn't feel like fake hunger, and right after I eat it feels like I haven't eaten at all. Does anyone have any suggestions about what is going on? Should I cut out out as many carbs as possible?

[Mitra]

If you're hungry, why not eat more? Eat more protein and fat - don't overeat, just have enough that you're not hungry. It's likely that your weight loss will slow down somewhat, but as you're not far from your goal now, that's not a bad thing. By the time you get there, you'll have a good idea of the quantities that you need to be eating for maintenance. This would also be a good time to read up on the transition/maintenance bits of whichever book you have.

[Gaelen]

Kelly, I know nothing about your size and current height/weight, but the Eadeses' general advice about this plan is that if you're hungry, eat additional lean proteins.

At your energy output/exercise level, I would think that 1000 calories per day is far too little, unless you're under 5 feet tall and weigh less than about 100 lbs. Most people over 5 feet tall, weighing more than 100 lbs, need more than 1000 calories per day just to sustain life, much less actually spend any energy on exercise. ;) While 1600 calories may be too much for you, somewhere in the middle on a consistent basis might actually banish those hunger pangs.

BTW, 30g ECC of carb intake is NOT a 'slip' off the low carb wagon on this plan. Regardless of what you've heard about controlling carbs on other plans, Protein Power permits 30-40g ECC on Phase I of the plan, more on Phase II. The Drs. Eades have maintained since they first published PP in 1995 that going below 30g ECC offers no tangible additional benefits to people trying to reverse insulin resistance and reshape their bodies. So please don't consider 30g ECC per day a 'slip.'

Without knowing more about what you're actually eating and your current age, height and weight, it's hard to make concrete recommendations. But I wouldn't worry about eliminating more carbs. I'd focus on getting in your minimum daily recommended protein requirement (you do know what that number is, right?). Make sure you get at LEAST your protein minimum, plus between 30g-40g ECC of carbs per day. Aim for a daily caloric intake that's more in line with your energy expenditure and size (probably something closer to 1300-1400 calories per day), made up of additional lean proteins and healthy fats. Stop 'falling off the low carb wagon' by overindulging in more than 40g ECC per day. All of those things combined should help you to get your hunger back under control.

Hope this helps, and welcome in.

[Kelly1]

Thanks for the suggestions, my menu is basically the same every day I have a protein shake with 3 carbs for both breakfast and lunch, then an afternoon snack like eggs, and dinner almost all protein followed by a cup of coffee.
I'm 5'5 and right now 134 lbs with a body fat percentage of about 30%. I'm only about 10lbs away from my goal, but I have been stalled for several months. I just lost 2 lbs last week, but I don't seem to be losing anymore. I tried the meat and eggs diet/fast and it didn't work for me. This intense hunger is new to me, normally I'm always a little hungry, but this is bad.
Again thanks your suggestions, I need any advice that you guys could give me.

Kelly

[Gaelen]

Kelly, just out of curiousity...what is your current body fat percentage based on--a (water immersion displacement or caliper) measurement, or a calculation taken by tape measure and using the equations in PP? If it's a calculation, or a scale that gives you BF%, you should know that the scales can be notoriously tempermental and inaccurate, and you always want to use a second method to 'verify' calculated estimates.

Cardio won't alter your BF% as effectively as resistance exercises, so if your exercise is mainly running and walking on an elliptical machine that doesn't offer any resistance work, you could add in resistance and approach reducing your BF% from another angle.

Also curious...is your goal weight of 125 something that's age and body type appropriate, or just the weight you *think* you should be at? For another perspective...I'm five feet tall, with a heavy frame (my thumb and middle finger do not meet when they encircle my wrist). With a medium frame, your thumb and middle finger would touch, and with a small frame, they would slightly overlap. Frame size speaks to your lean body mass.

I last weighed 118 lbs when I was 18. I have never been built like Twiggy--more like Selma Hayak. Pregnant. ;)
When I was 31, working 12-15 hours 7 days a week training, exercising and grooming 40-60 dogs/day and helping build a 50-run boarding kennel addition (frame, grade, side and pour/seal/paint concrete floors and walls), I weighed 140 lbs. and was at one of the fittest, strongest places in my life.

Now, I've also got some serious upper body equipment--and I'm not only talking about my upper arms and shoulder muscles. ;) Short of reconstructive reduction surgery, the rack is NOT going to ever go back to the 34B I was when I was 18. Although I did lose an inch or two and BF% from my bust, even at my goal weight I was only one cup size smaller. Now that I'm working on re-losing the 25 lbs I gained on steroids and chemo, I'm back in my 40Cs, and I don't really expect to get much smaller than the 38Cs I was wearing at goal. I also don't expect to lose things like pectoral, rib cage, shoulder and upper back muscle...nor would I want to.

In any case, my current calculated goal weight, based on my measurements and lean body mass, is somewhere between 135 and 145 lbs. When I carried more LBM, my goal weight was 150. Even if I had a small frame, with this amount of LBM, my goal weight wouldn't be lower than 125--and I'm five inches shorter than you are. I'm not an endurance athlete--I'm just aiming for fitness--so a healthy BF% for me, is around 25%. Even 28% is perfectly acceptable. So what's your current BF%, and what are you aiming at? That may be a more realistic way to calculate your goal weight than "I want to weigh X lbs."

[Omlette]

Hi Kelly,

I'm 5'4", and I only want to get to 145. When I get below 140, I start looking anarexic (sp).

Gaelen had some very good points about weight training. The last time I was near my goal weight, I actually was at 151 lbs. I was wearing a size 8, and I had a really nice shape. I was very muscular. I spent very little time doing cardio - I primarily warmed up for 15 to 20 minutes then lifted weights.

As far as being hungry, I find that if I add some sort of healthy fat to my diet, then I am not nearly as hungy. Ex. advocado as a side to your steak. Peanut butter (or a different nut butter) either by the spoon or on some celery. A little cream cheese in my chicken salad that I rolll in to a slice of ham or turkey.

It is not adding a lot of calories per se, but the satiety level is there and definitely keeps me from getting so hungry especially if I am eating really lean cuts of meat.

Maybe make deviled eggs and add a little flax oil. Have a few eggs with your protein drink. Or, have a slice of Ezekial bread (I like the blueberry or cinnamon raisin) with a little cream cheese or peanut butter with your protein drink or as a snack.

Also, add a little fiber to your protein drinks might would help.

1000 calories per day is very low. Also, I find that if I rotate calories - set a certain number of calories that you want to eat for a week not per day, that my body doesn't hold on to the weight as much either.

Example:

1100 on Monday
1500 on Tuesday
1000 on Wednesday
1500 on Thursday
2000 on Friday
1500 on Sat
1200 on Sunday
---------------
9800 total for the week
1400/day on the average

This will also keep your metabolism from thinking that it is in starvation mode.

[Kelly1]

My current body fat percentage is 31.4 and I used the equation in the book. I chose 125lbs more just for the number, my real focus is on body fat. I am very heavy around my middle, which is where I keep a good deal of my fat. I think it can be better explained like this: I know how I wanna look, I don't care if I stay the same weight 134lbs or even gain a pound or two, I just want to be lean. I want to be rid of my love handles and my big tummy. Focusing on actual lbs is easier to monitor than trying to figure out body fat.
So I should cut back on the cardio and do more resistance training. I have something similar to a bowflex at home. I usually do cardio for anywhere from 20 to 30 mins a day (I keep my heart rate up the entire time) so should I just switch and do resistance training for that amount of time? That seems like a long time, and I kinda get bored after awhile.
Omlette, I'm not sure if I look at my calories for the week instead of for the day how many calories I should aim for. If I'm suppose to have no more than 1350 calories a day should I focus on 9100 a week (1300 x 7)?
I want to buy a body fat meter thing, the kind that they use at the gym, but am not sure I'm going to cuz I haven't researched it yet.

Thanks for your help, I am very grateful for all of your suggestions

Kelly

[Omlette]

Kelly,

I think that if you are going to concentrate on calories (and I don't know where you got your number for 1350 per day), then this is my suggestion for getting the number of calories per day.

I used a tool at a site that uses you age, height, weight, and type of work to figure the number of calories to maintain your current weight. What I recommend, is to put in the weight that you want to be instead of your current weight. Also, pick a sedentary type of work so it does not have expending as many calories per day.

Here is a site: http://www.calorieking.com/tools/weight_maintenance.php?sex=F&age=39&height_ft=5&height_in=4&weight=125&activity=SEDENTARY&commit=Calculate+Calories&measurement=imperial

Here is another site that has a calorie calculator, plus it shows the "calorie zig-zag" or rotation that I am talking about.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#

But to answer your question, if you are shooting for 1300 per day on average, then your total calories for the week will be 9100. You can split those among the 7 days however you like, but make sure that you vary them each day.

Hope this helps.

[Kelly1]

Hey Omlette, thanks for the links. I think I'm going to try the cycling of calories. The website gave me a calorie count of 1271 for fat loss, so my estimate was slightly high. I'm going to try it for a week and see if it is something that I can stick to. I also am going to cut back on the cardio and focus more on resistance/ weight training. I worked out this morning and I def. feel like I worked out. Thanks for all of your help, hopefully my hunger will go away.

Kelly