extreme hunger weightloss edition

June 24, 2013 5:51 AM

Been exercising for a few months now. Lost 20 lbs. Suddenly hungry all the time, and also really tired. What is going on?!

I'm down 20 lbs with a slow and steady weight loss of about 1lb a week, and at the gym for an hour 5 days/week. I'm comfortable with this pace, as it feels very doable and sustainable. I have about 20 more I want to lose.

I don't count calories, but my diet has always been pretty good. I eat mostly Mediterranean-ish - fruits, berries, nuts, veggies, olive oils, some cheese, fish, beans and legumes. The occasional sweet treat. I don't eat out often, and stay very well hydrated. My food intake has sustained me with an approachable and reasonable pace thus far and I've felt like I've been eating enough, but sometime in the last week - especially in the last few days, I'm HUNGRY! SO VERY HUNGRY! ALL THE TIME!

I've also been more tired - feeling like I need to sleep more, and more lethargic than usual. My workout was noticeably more difficult this morning, even though it wasn't out of the ordinary from my usual thing.

I've heard of people getting ravenous after exercising, but isn't that usually in the beginning? Why would I suddenly feel like I need/want to eat every 2 hours? Will this phase persist, or is it temporary? How can I push through this and still kick off my second 20lbs??

posted by raztaj to Health & Fitness (23 answers total)

The last few days? Not to be obvious, but is it possible you're sick? Don't overthink yourself into a a workout slump if you don't have to!
posted by ftm at 5:53 AM on June 24, 2013

Response by poster: Not sick. Or I have no symptoms of general sickness except tiredness and some crazy superhunger.
posted by raztaj at 5:55 AM on June 24, 2013

Raise your calories a little bit. If you've been steadily losing without a plateau, it may be that your calories are just a skosh too low.
posted by xingcat at 5:58 AM on June 24, 2013 [4 favorites]

Hunger is your body's way of telling you to eat something. Fruits, nuts, and veggies are all excellent snack foods.
posted by kavasa at 6:00 AM on June 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Up your protein and eat your largest meal right after your workout. Sounds like maybe you are skimping on the protein you need for healthy muscle gain. Try for at least 1 g per pound of bodyweight.
posted by mrfuga0 at 6:00 AM on June 24, 2013 [8 favorites]

This still happens to me after long bike rides.

The solution that works is a protein smoothie afterward. Some frozen fruit, a bit of milk and a scoop of whey protein go into the magic bullet. Nut butter of some kind on Ezekiel Bread is another go-to snack. One or two hard-boiled eggs also fits the bill. The protein powder is something we pick up at Sams, and the vanilla flavor seems to blend best with other things. Some people hate the stuff no matter what. I don't mind it if it's there with fruit and other things.
posted by jquinby at 6:09 AM on June 24, 2013

Try upping your protein intake for the rest of the week and see how that feels.

Also if you have been doing pretty much the same workout for the entire time you might want to mix it up a little bit.
posted by elizardbits at 6:11 AM on June 24, 2013

Are you getting enough iron? If you're only eating fish for protein, try taking iron supplements or eating a steak. It might be that you have some nutritional deficiency that's only now becoming noticeable.
posted by permiechickie at 6:11 AM on June 24, 2013 [3 favorites]

This happened to me too, almost exactly as you described it. I increased the amount of protein I was consuming (I started drinking a protein shake on weight training days) and I noticed that the constant hunger went away. As I adjust my workout routine and diet, the hungry-all-the-time comes and goes, and it signals that I need to re-adjust things. Keep an eye on your protein consumption. Taking a 3-5 day break from the gym should help with the fatigue. Good luck!
posted by gursky at 6:20 AM on June 24, 2013

In addition to looking at the protein and iron in your diet, make sure you're hydrated. If I don't drink enough water, I wake up with what would be considered a hangover had I been drinking the night before.
posted by notsnot at 6:27 AM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

I meant to add: thirst sometimes manifests itself as hunger.
posted by notsnot at 6:27 AM on June 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm on a similar path and have run into the same problem. What I've found helps is to take a day off from exercise but still do some walking and to eat an egg with every meal that day. I'm sure another protein dense food would work as a substitute but I'm a vegetarian. In addition, I've started taking a daily multivitamin and omega-3 supplement and I think that they help keep hunger at bay as well. Although, I have no idea why. After the egg day, I typically cut back to trying to eat protein in smaller doses at every meal. Once I started adding more protein, my weight loss slowed down a bit, but I also stopped wanting to devour everything in sight.

Best of luck on your weight loss/fitness journey!
posted by JuliaKM at 6:50 AM on June 24, 2013

My guesses are basically what other people have said

- dehydration can sometimes look like hunger
- switching to something with slightly lower protein could have done this, try a handful of nuts, or the other suggestions
- maybe you are eating something that is starchier/sugarier and are having a blood sugar crash?
- I get this way when I am getting my period (possibly somewhat anemia, possibly just time of the month related)
- pay special attention to after-workout food to make sure you're not bonking - you want more fats/sugars than you might otherwise be eating. People say go for chocolate milk, I like greek yogurt with some maple syrup in it
- allergies? sometimes when I am stuffed up I don't breathe as well when I exercise

Congrats on the steady weight loss. Best of luck figuring this out.
posted by jessamyn at 6:56 AM on June 24, 2013

The body will undergo a number of hormonal adaptations to an extended calorie deficit in an attempt to preserve homeostasis, aka "set point." This is known as the adaptive component of metabolic rate, and is the reason that metabolic rate will sometimes decrease in a dieting person more than would be expected purely based on the decrease in body size (and on the flip side, it can increase in someone who is overfeeding). Deficit-induced changes in hormone levels, like thyroid hormone, ghrelin, and leptin, can also leave you feeling tired and hungry.

The common way to combat this effect and continue with your diet is to incorporate a short-term refeed. Refeeds are periodically necessary on a long diet, with increasing frequency as you get leaner. A typical method of refeeding is to spend a day (preferably beginning after a hard workout, to direct the nutrients towards muscle) eating at maintenance calories or slightly above (as opposed to your normal deficit), with a focus on carbohydrates in the form of starches, as leptin levels respond to total calorie intake and carb intake but not to fructose (so fruits and added sugars are not as helpful for refeeding). You can expect to see an immediate weight gain of several pounds following your refeed day, but it's just water and glycogen (carbohydrate stored in your muscles and liver), and will dissipate over the next several days as you return to your normal diet intake.

You can read more about this topic towards the bottom of this article, or in various articles on Lyle McDonald's site or in his books "Rapid Fat Loss" or "Ultimate Diet 2.0."
posted by ludwig_van at 7:08 AM on June 24, 2013 [4 favorites]

Left field, but in similar circumstances, when I started experiencing the same symptoms, I turned out to be pregnant. YMMV :).
posted by yogalemon at 7:33 AM on June 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

My first thought was pregnant too.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 7:57 AM on June 24, 2013

Since you aren't counting calories, it will be harder to increase what you are eating while knowing that you are still eating at a deficiet. However, eating more calories, especially protein would be the first thing I would try.
posted by inertia at 8:41 AM on June 24, 2013

You have hormones that help you build muscle - the anabolic processes where you build muscle and heal. The opposite of that is catabolism - that's where you're at when you're in the middle of a workout, tearing up muscle fibers and generally breaking down the body to fuel your exercise.

If you're not eating or resting enough for your workouts, you tend to stay more catabolic instead of getting the benefits of the anabolic rebuilding. Symptoms: tired, cranky, hungry (although at its worst you can stop being hungry, too). So I agree with others - you could use a little more protein, fat and/or rest.

Also, always be sure to get a post-workout snack if you're not eating a meal within 20 minutes. It helps shift your body out of that catabolic mode, and it can be as simple as a banana, a little trail mix, or chocolate milk (you want some carbs and protein). Congrats on your progress!
posted by ldthomps at 8:52 AM on June 24, 2013

Two things: eat your biggest meal in the middle of the day, and no carbs after 3 p.m. Absolutely and completely only anecdotal.
posted by thinkpiece at 9:32 AM on June 24, 2013

Response by poster: Definitely no zygotes up in this uterus! :-)

Thanks for the suggestions, all. I'll give upping the protein a try. Even though I'm pretty good about cooking, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to breakfast and after-workout eating. Sometimes it's a smoothie (frozen berries, greek yogurt, and a handfull of chopped spinach), or oatmeal 1-2x a week. But usually it's just plain fruit, which is probably not sustainable.

Would something like muscle milk be a good morning/after workout drink? I hate cleaning my smoothie cup with a vengeance, and would rather have something ready to drink. Or any recommendations for other protein-heavy ready-to-consume drinks?
posted by raztaj at 10:16 AM on June 24, 2013

Well, protein is generally good for satiety, so increasing your protein intake may be helpful. It's hard to say without knowing any of your current stats.

But the fatigue along with the hunger after dieting for months indicates hormonal adaptations to dieting, IMO, which increased protein won't have much of an effect on; you'd want to do a carb refeed to try and bring those back to baseline. A short diet break also has psychological benefits.

With any pre-mixed protein shake, you're paying extra for the convenience. I'd just go with protein powder (e.g. Optimum Nutrition Whey) and mix it yourself. There's nothing special about Muscle Milk, and the idea that you need to get X amount of protein within a 20 minute window of your workout or some such is a myth unless you're going into your workout after having fasted (citation).
posted by ludwig_van at 12:37 PM on June 24, 2013

You can also look for store brand Ensure. Some of it is a little chalky, but it's not bad if it's on ice.
posted by disconnect at 5:07 PM on June 24, 2013

Maybe try drinking some kefir? Pretty much lactose-free, you can get low or nonfat and plain or assorted flavors like coconut chai, mango, raspberry, etc. About the same amount of calories and protein per oz (give or take a few) as Muscle Milk, plus lots of good probiotics.
posted by HonoriaGlossop at 6:05 PM on June 24, 2013