Insane hunger

I've noticed lately, more and more, that every couple hours after I've finished eating, I experience absolutely insanely powerful hunger, like I'm going to faint if I don't eat RIGHT NOW. I know I am underweight so is this why perhaps? It's just so strange, I literally don't think i could go more than 4 hours without feeling like I'm going to die! Have any of you noticed anything similar?

Yeah, being underweight is probably why. I've heard that when your body isn't satisfied with the weight you're at, you'll feel inclined to binge until your body returns to a normal weight. I'm actually going through this right now..

What are you eating? How many calories a day?

I know I have not been eating enough, I'm 4'11" but only 82 lbs right now :S I think I've been doing between 1000-1200 a day, feeling stuffed, but then in between meals I get this insane hunger..I am proactively going to start eating more tomorrow I have decided. Its just so strange because I feel absolutely so full after each meal, so I'm always convinced I ate enough but then I tally it up at the end up the day and its like 1000 calories! aggh. Time for some cashews and olive oil I think haha!

Original Post by cowcow44:

I know I have not been eating enough, I'm 4'11" but only 82 lbs right now :S I think I've been doing between 1000-1200 a day, feeling stuffed, but then in between meals I get this insane hunger..I am proactively going to start eating more tomorrow I have decided. Its just so strange because I feel absolutely so full after each meal, so I'm always convinced I ate enough but then I tally it up at the end up the day and its like 1000 calories! aggh. Time for some cashews and olive oil I think haha!

 You just answered your own question. You are starving your body. That is why you are hungry. I am also 4'11" and would drop over at 82LB you need to see a Doctor or a Nutritionist and start eating more. I eat between 1700-2300 calories a day. I am 95LB. What are you eating? I bet not enough fats, carbs and protein.

Oh yes, that's wayyy too low. It's your body's way of telling you that you need to eat more. I suggest you increase your calories in small incriments until you're eating a healthier amount.

yea I am making it a goal to gain 5 pounds soon (as a start), my history with eating issues is that I started restricting calories a couple years ago and then developed bulimia and now just eat really healthily, but the urges to binge and eat a lot have gotten stronger lately and I suppose that is why! Anyhow, I actually Want to get to a healthy weight now I am sick of this.

I am trying to get a good balance of protein and such, I think I definitley should add more fats like healthy hummus or something...its just things like nuts and oils are very stigmatized in my mind and if I eat too much my mind say GO Puke lazy! So...i should just get over that sorry I am basically giving myself advice I guess this post wasn't necessary!

How much protein should I be eating a day, how much do you aim for?

You need to see someone. A counselor and get help for your eating disorder. How old are you? Go here http://www.mypyramid.gov/

Look at the food pyramid which is a good reference point on what you should be eating everyday. Gaining 5 LB is a good place to start but that will still leave you underweight. Have you seen a counselor before? Do your parents know you have an eating disorder. Do you have support.

If you want to get to a healthy weight you need to eat way more. You are so hungry for one you are restricting still and you are underweight. I too think you should reach out and get help and a gp physical. I think I saw you on the weight gain forum maybe and if you look on there the weight gain plan is to be at 2500. Can you start increasing a couple hundred at a time every few days?

I agree with the above posters about needing to eat more, and you know it also...but I'd like to suggest that perhaps you are hypoglycemic?

I don't know very much about it, but I know that it's a pre-diabetic condition in which your sugar levels drop very low if you don't eat often, leaving you feeling weak and dizzy. The same thing has been happening to me for years. I'm going to be speaking to my doctor when I see him next month. Maybe you should as well?...

I talked to my parents but didn't mention my eating problems, just that I only weighed 82 pounds and was it healthy? (My dads a doctor) and he recommended that I try eating more calorie dense food so that I could gain a few pounds. I'm also Japanese and small-framed, so I can stay on the lighter end of healthy range. I'm going to try not counting today I think, or maybe I will and try and make 2000!

Alos, I don't think that I'm hypoglycemic, but thats a interesting idea! Thanks.

It could also be hypoglycemia caused by eating too many carbs and not balancing them properly with the other macronutrients. I totally understand your fear of fats though. I've been struggling with that too. :-/ I'm sure much of your hunger would go away if you both increased calories and increased the amount of fat you're eating. I noticed a huge difference when making a few simple changes, such as putting nuts in my oatmeal, switching to regular yogurt, or spreading peanut butter on my toast. Sure, will fill you up too. But I find that just a bit of fat fills me up wayy more.

I plugged in your stats into a BMI calculator, and came up with a BMI of about 16.5, which is very underweight.

Aren't carbs mainly like grains, breads, pasta, etc? I eat a lot of fruits and veggies though perhaps those are considered carbs. I probably should start adding more fats into my diet I think I am going to eat things like hummus and guacamole perhaps yummy. Yea I realize my bmi's really low :/

I tried eating "intuitively" this morning but I felt completely out of control and insane and purged :( so I am going to have to measure my calories still and make sure that I eat enough that way instead. That way at least I'll feel organized.

its not hypoglycaemia. its flippn starvation. you know this. 1000-1200 is a ridiculously low amount. you know this. you also know as an ed sufferer you should be eating more.

ppl get fed up with these posts especially when you know the answer

Original Post by fidget84:

its not hypoglycaemia. its flippn starvation. you know this. 1000-1200 is a ridiculously low amount. you know this. you also know as an ed sufferer you should be eating more.

ppl get fed up with these posts especially when you know the answer

 Uh...yea did you not notice that I wrote that I realized I probably wasn't eating enough, so thats why I was starving in between meals.? I wrote this post because I hadn't really quite formulated that conclusion and also to see what others thoughts on the issue were. Did I whine and say OMG I DONT KNOW WHY I'M HUNGRY I'M SO FAT or anythig like that? Do I go around yelling at everyone because they something I think is obvious? No. You need to not be so rude to everyone, fidget84, ESPECIALLY on a support forum I might add, beause it is unhelpful and plain mean. I'm not asking for pity I just was genuinely trying to figure out what was going on with me and now I have. God.

 

Cowcow, Talk to your Dad. If he is a Doctor he should realize you have a problem. Tell him you have an eating disorder and ask for his help. You need to up your calories right away. Eat a balanced diet. Eat fats and carbs and get healthy. An eating disorder is a medical condition. You need to treat it. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Being stick thin is not necessary. Society is completely out of whack in thinking that. A healthy weight with good muscle tone is what you should aim for. Please talk to your Dad. Tell him directly you have an eating disorder and want help. You are setting yourself up for a life time of pain if you don't do something about this now.

Original Post by cowcow44:

Aren't carbs mainly like grains, breads, pasta, etc? I eat a lot of fruits and veggies though perhaps those are considered carbs. I probably should start adding more fats into my diet I think I am going to eat things like hummus and guacamole perhaps yummy. Yea I realize my bmi's really low :/

I tried eating "intuitively" this morning but I felt completely out of control and insane and purged :( so I am going to have to measure my calories still and make sure that I eat enough that way instead. That way at least I'll feel organized.

 Yep, they are. Fruits and veggies are mostly fiber and water (plus sugar in fruits). Unless you're eating a ridiculous amount of fruit, I don't think this is your problem. Not only will increasing your fat and protein intake help with hunger, but they'll also help get your calorie totals up to a reasonable amount.

I totally understand. :( Maybe rather than starting so suddenly, you should slowly increase your calories by say..200 per day. So tomorrow, try and eat 1400, then the next day eat 1600, etc.

Hey ya yeah i feel that alot of the time. My tip is to listen to what your body is telling you. Your body knows what it needs and it will send messages to the brain. For example if you are craving bread etc and you eat fruit, you have not satisfied your body needing carbs, so after an hour you will be starving. I eat things like cold veg and pasta salads. they fill you up. Im no healthcare professional but this is what i think. hope it helps. :)

Yea I am very committed to being healthy now and am starting to increase cals. 1400 today, then i'll do 1500 the next, etc etc.  :)

Good for you. Did you talk to your Dad about getting some counseling?

No I did tell him that I only weighed 81-82 pounds though and basically was like Is this helathy? (I'm not ready to mention the ED aspects of my life yet) and my parents were like no..you should probably gain some weight. I talked to my boyfriend about everything and he has been helping a lot and giving me relaly good support and someone to talk to, so i'm going to try to beat this on my own one last time and I think I can.