Mass constant hunger/appetite - what to do?

Hi first time poster but long time lurker.

Im a 21 year old male 6 feet 2 and weight 145 pounds (prob a lil more now)

Anyways

After a big battle, going from eating 1500-1800 calories a day and exercising tons I decided to stop calorie counting. In doing so broke some kinda invisible 3000 calorie barrier that seemed to be holding me back, but all of a sudden I get this huge appetite/hunger almost constantly now - I could honestly eat all day if I wanted to - nothing extreme, I have no desire to eat chocolates, sweets cakes etc but have a mass appetite - it seems as though my stomach is never full, or it is yet I simply feel like eating something - why is this and should I heed these signals - i've largely ignored them for the time being or just purposely snacked on lower calorie foods such as fruit. (hitting at a guesstimate around 3500 cal) I'm purposely not counting anymore but I figure I could eat an easy 4-5k a day if I listened to my body, should I keep eating or just wait it out til my next 'meal' (given how I use to eat every 3 hours)

I've read in the past that those recovering from ED need a lot of calories for repair and should aim for at least 3 thou whilst totally sedentary (keep in mind I go the gym 3x a week doing heavy compound lifting (sometimes 5x but this is very rare)) and it makes me think that I should just keep eating, but on the other hand I don't wanna go from one extreme to the other and figure that I could develop binge eating disorder

Im not aware of how many calories im eating (I assure you its gonna be a lot - I figure tallying them up would only potentially scare me and possibly start restricting) but id guesstimate I hit around 4k - 3k a day quite easily anyways

You could easily maintain on 2500 calories a day without much exercise. with moderate exercise you burn 2700 calories a day. your bmi is very low, and you're exercising intensely. so 3000 calories a day is nowhere near enough to gain. many females eat 3000 to gain and they are 2/3 your size in height and weight. you are extremely thin, and to gain 2 pounds a week you'd need closer to 4000 calories a day consistently so yes keep eating. since you dont want to count calories, which can be a good choice, just eat when you're hungry if that means you're always eating then you're always eating. the hunger will fade when you're at your bodies ideal and natural weight. don't worry. if you have any questions just message me!!

Hey,

I know how you feel. Im always starving. And my BMI isn't even that low! (I'm 16 years old, 5'4, and 108 lbs. )

I've kinda been this way my whole life. My appetite is monstrous. I feel like i could eat 3 large pizzas and still have plenty of room for desert! It's crazy.

I'm eating 3000 a day right now, trying to gain. I burn about 600 through exercise/ day. I don't think im gaining much though. I dont weigh myself because i don't want to freak myself out... I should probably bump my intake up to 3500...

ANYWAYS, since you're 10 inches taller than me, I'd say you need over 4000 to gain anything. Probably more like 5000, honestly. I was in the hospital for a few weeks when I dropped down to 103 pounds... they worked me up to a 7500 calorie/day meal plan! On 7500 calories, completely sedentary, I gained about 4 pounds a week.

Good luck! And listen to your body... eat! I know it's hard... But I've tried listening to my body recently, and it's getting easier and easier. You're body craves food for a reason... it needs it!

You might feel you have a large hunger for carbs. If you think you do, protein and fat should be combined with carbohydrates to keep you satisfied. You seem to be getting fibre so that's good, remember fluids also.

Ps. Beana, the OP might need as much as you're saying, but they might not. They are older than you and it seems you had an ED and they didn't? Not sure. But anyway, you can't really eat too much in gaining I suppose, but the more you eat the faster it will be. That could be a good or bad thing. In eating disorder recovery it is good to gain weight at a steady pace for the emotional side of things, but quickly for the physical recovery.

Thanks for the advice guys, I would say I had an ED, I use to be 133lbs (quickly shot to 142 after water weight) and I was admitted to hospital with a low ecg for a few hours, but no - I wasn't medically diagnosed with one - I think my fear of being constantly hungry stems from fear of gaining to fast, so I suppose that could be seen as disordered thinking as well.

I just seems strange that I started slowly gaining weight (.5-1lb) a week eating around 3kcals but now all of a sudden I have mass appetite and hunger and could probably easily exceed this calorie figure. Im not sure how much weight I will gain from this - im purposely giving it 2 weeks from fear of restricing again - my main worry is that it may very develop into some kind of binge eating disorder, but i've been assured that things will probably even out eventually, that it's my body repairing itslef/ wanting to be a normal weight (I am a natually stocky guy - makes my weight even worse) and my metabolism will more than likely settle in a while.

Thanks you the help - I get the impression you are really trying to help me here, and I sincerly thank you for this

Okay this describes me today.  I was on a plane early and flew back to the states and ate breakfast and lunch on the plane but since i have been home...i have been starving.  I have eaten and then waited and my stomach growls.  Nothing is filling me up! It's getting frustrating.

Original Post by calisbabe10:

Okay this describes me today.  I was on a plane early and flew back to the states and ate breakfast and lunch on the plane but since i have been home...i have been starving.  I have eaten and then waited and my stomach growls.  Nothing is filling me up! It's getting frustrating.

well what did you eat?