What the heck, Im HUNGRY!

Hi all,

i've been coming here for a while, lost some weight, was injured, gained back some and now want to get back on track.  I was really lax about food for a while but I have been exercising 6 days a week for 1.5 to 2 hours a day (3 spin classes, 3 runs, 3 lap swims, pilates, yoga, bosu ball) for over 18 months and gained control of the eating about a month ago.  In the last month I've been eating about 1500-1600 calories a day and burning between 400-600 calories a day (usually 600).  I feel unsatisfied if not down right hungry all the time and worse yet...have lost only about 6 lbs in the month and only 1 in the last week.  I really doubt i'm not eating enough.  I even gave up the BOOZE.  what the heck!  Anyone have any advice?  I'm 39 and weigh in the 180's. 

You aren't getting enough calories.  Eating 1600 and burning 600 means you have a net of only 1000 calories.  That is so not enough.  Try upping your calories.  Yes, it sounds counter-productive, but it's not.  You will be more satisfied and you will lose weight.

How tall are you, and what is your goal?

And...are you accurately logging your food everyday?

Can you give a sample of what you eat for the day? maybe someone will be able to give you ideas of food that will be more filling.

I'm 5'3 and my goal is 140ish.  I do log each day.  Today I ate:

2 egg whites with an ounce of 75% fat free cheddar and salsa, a fat free yogurt, lean meatballs (biggest loser recipe) on whole grain sandwich round with same cheese above, an apple and a south beach diet high protein bar.  I believe that puts me at around 900 calories so far today.  I'll eat dinner with my husband later.  I'll get about 500 calories there and I'll have celery with peanut butter around 4 pm. 

according to my numbers here, I burn a total of about 2350 per day and am eating say 1600.  that's a deficit of 750 calories which should net me 1.5 lbs per week.  Right?

That sounds good. And it sounds like you are eating pretty good also. Plenty of protein.

I like the 750 cal deficit as well. But if it is not working, and you are plateaued you can try something that has worked for me once or twice: eat at maintenance for a few days or a week and step up the intensity of your workouts a little, and then go back to a deficit. That has helped me to get back to losing lbs in the past. I have had a couple of weeks where I maintained just to give myself a break.

Try some oatmeal in the mornings. It helps me so much to not get hungry. Sometimes I will put a handful of berries or something in mine. The serving is 1/2 a cup dry (150 cals if made with water) and I am fine for a few hours after that.

When you eat is important too. I try to listen to my body (we are all different), but I found that I got hungry around 10 am , 2.5 hours after breakfast, and around 2:30 PM. (I eat lunch around 12) So I always bring snacks to work (laughing cow cheese wedge with blueberries or dry Kashi cereal or something similar in the morning, a protein bar for the afternoon always holds me over) Waiting too long to eat can cause you to overeat or get too hungry. I also get a lot of my higher energy foods in the morning or earlier in the day, like the oatmeal, and that seems to make somewhat of a difference for me.

Also, lots of water, cause sometimes needing water can be mistaken for being extra hungry. Whenever I eat, I usually go through a  .5 liter bottle of water each time.

Swimming has been shown to increase appetite, due to the lowering of the body's core temp.  Just a thought.