HELP! Constantly hungry

I know the obvious answer will be, "eat more!" But I swear I eat so much everyday. I wake up every morning starving, and sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with hunger pains. Falling asleep is tough bc my stomach often growls. It's not fun and I already eat so much.

I don't count calories bc I'm not really trying to lose weight, but I'll write down what I've eaten today. I bet it's close to 3000 calories.

Banana w/peanut butter, peanut butter jelly sandwich, piece of dry toast, one egg, shrimp w/ketchup, half of turkey sandwich w/alfalfa sprouts and tomato, carrots and celery, bottle of powerade, salad w/remoulade dressing, probably 2 more servings of shrimp, handful of chocolate covered almonds, organic crackers w/apple butter, strawberries, 2 pieces of sourdough bread w/butter

Phew! Isn't that plenty of food?? I don't get why I'm still hungry!! I do burn quite a bit of calories, but even still...this is kind of ridiculous.

Should I go to the doctor or something? Or am I truly not eating enough?

not even close to 3000 cals, sorry to break it to you love.

a banana with 2 tbsp peanut butter =300

peanut butter and jelly = 450 cals if the bread wasn't light bread

dry toast = 100 if not light bread

1/2 sandwich with turkey and veggies = 200 tops

powerade regular = 100 or so cals

salad with dressing = 100 cals or so

shrimp= 240 cals for 3 servings total

chcolate covered almonds =200 depending on how much you ate

crackers with apple butter = 350 or so if you ate 2 tbsp apple butter and 1 serving crackers

strawberries = 50 cals a cup

2 pieces bread = 200 cals

Maybe 2300 calories, and that's being generous in some areas. It depends on how much you ate of the almonds, and apple butter, and peanut butter but i doubt that you ate 300 cals. So, yeah, eat more. If you're young then it's not absurd to think that your calorie needs are quite substantial. 

wow chrissy thanks for doing all that!!! I guess I did overestimate a bit. But even still - should I still be this hungry? I think my BMR is 1600. I swam for 75 minutes today and ran 7 miles (about an hour of running). I guess I burned close to 1000-1200 calories today, so my total burn is 2800. So if I did eat 2300 calories, that's a 500 cal deficit which isn't unhealthy and shouldn't cause my stomach to growl, right?

Also, I'm not purposely trying to create a deficit and lose weight, but if I lose 5 more pounds, I wouldn't complain! That's just not my primary goal at this point in time.

Edit: I'm 20 years old and have stopped growing for years, so I have the body of an adult, not a growing teen who needs to eat significantly more than adults.

Original Post by jcl76:

wow chrissy thanks for doing all that!!! I guess I did overestimate a bit. But even still - should I still be this hungry? I think my BMR is 1600. I swam for 75 minutes today and ran 7 miles (about an hour of running). I guess I burned close to 1000-1200 calories today, so my total burn is 2800. So if I did eat 2300 calories, that's a 500 cal deficit which isn't unhealthy and shouldn't cause my stomach to growl, right?

Also, I'm not purposely trying to create a deficit and lose weight, but if I lose 5 more pounds, I wouldn't complain! That's just not my primary goal at this point in time.

Edit: I'm 20 years old and have stopped growing for years, so I have the body of an adult, not a growing teen who needs to eat significantly more than adults.

regardless of how much you ate, that much activity is likely to cause an increased appetite, so any deficit could logically leave you hungry. also, id try getting more dairy in there and some more lean fats, like avocados, olive oil, olives, nuts, and even a nice little treat :) 

crap, you're right. I had basically no dairy today. Ugh!! Thank goodness for citracal :)

Another idea.... most of what you eat seems to be a series of disconnected, cold, snack food. Sandwiches, shrimps, crackers, etc are all rather 'grab and go'.   Perhaps what your tummy needs is what my gran would call a 'square meal'.... something hot with meat, potatoes, vegetables, sauces... a nice big slice of apple pie and custard .... some cheese and biscuits to finish off?   Constant grazing is a really unsatisfying way to eat whereas setting aside half an hour or so to sit down to a proper meal can actually make you feel like you've eaten something.

You probably do need 3000 cals a day to maintain your weight if you're young and very active.  Carve it up into more substantial meals and I think you'd get somewhere

Actually, you don't stop growing until well into your 20s (usually @25, but it varies per person).  It also sounds like you're underestimating your calories burned too.  7 miles at a guessimated 9 min/mile pace burns about 900 calories, that doesn't include the swim.  It might not be a terrible idea to record your food and activity for a month, just to get a more accurate idea of what your taking in and putting out.  I think you'll see that, even though it feels like you're eating alot, you're right on target for your activity level.

I'm guessing, just based on your fitness level, age, and size that you have a fast metabolism.  People with fast metabolisms can eat alot of calories ( I should know, that was me at 20, and even now, at 35), their bodies naturally burn at a higher rate.  It's completely normal and completely natural, don't fight it and don't worry about it, it's a good thing!

You sound really very fit and healthy, keep up the good work!

Karen

too many carbs? is your bread and crackers wholewheat/100% unrefined?

Thanks for the replies!!!

GIJane, I'll try to get more substantial meals, but it's hard bc I work. I usually pack a sandwich for lunch and many snacks. At dinner I typically have a large hot meal. And like this morning for breakfast, I had a big bowl of steel cut oats.

Kcburk, thanks for the kind enoucragement! I really don't think I burned 900 calories for the run. The burn meter on CC tells me it's less than 700 calories. But yeah, I am going to start counting calories and activity for a little while just to make sure I'm on track. I've already had 1344 calories today, lol.

Ktjo - the bread I had was organic multigrain and the crackers were organic whole wheat. The bread I had dinner was organic sourdough..so I guess that wasn't as healthy. I'm not sure I really understand what unrefined means. I don't know if the breads I had were unrefined or not.

Thanks again!

Original Post by jcl76:

.I swam for 75 minutes today and ran 7 miles (about an hour of running). I guess I burned close to 1000-1200 calories today, so my total burn is 2800. So if I did eat 2300 calories, that's a 500 cal deficit which isn't unhealthy and shouldn't cause my stomach to growl, right?

 

 Your caloric needs are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY more than 2300 if you're swimming for 75 minutes and running 7 miles in ONE day.  I'm 30 and until 6  months ago used to run between 7 and 10 miles a day and I ate 2000 calories or more and I ended up weighing 85 pounds.  You need more food. LOTS more food.  I'm not joking.  You would still lose weight if you ate 2300 calories a day with that amount of exercise.  What you're eating now is leaving you with negative calories... not just a deficit, but most like literally negative calories.

 

Edit: I see you said 2800, tht's closer to what you need but not much. 

Also - when you're extremely active like you are the normal bmr claculators are way off.   That's the bmr for an average person, but active people not only burn more when they exercise, they burn more at rest as well. 

I would suggust drinking a glass of water before you eat anything..the water will help fill you up some before you eat and help you eat less and make you feel full sooner...I have been doing that for a while now and it seems to help me out.