Should I be feeling hungry if I want to lose fat?

Imposter

This might sound like a stupid question (and it probably is) but should I be feeling hungry if I want to lose fat?

I am currently working out doing a combination of 2*weights, 1*soccer and 1 or 2 cardio sessions per week. I am feeling much fitter, better etc and my waist is definitely getting smaller but I am now eating more than when I started and I think this might be slowing down the fat loss. Should I just somehow 'handle' the hunger pangs (for example by drinking even more water!) or should I just eat a little more? My diet is quite good and is definitely on the right track but there are occasional lapses. I've been concentrating on eating good foods rather that portion control up to now so maybe that's something I can work on. The should I be hungry question would still be relevant then I assume!

Vegeta

What's your diet like from day to day?

That's the only true way to answer this. Are you eating 5-6 similar sized meals evenly spaced throughout the day??

mack1

Generally I would say no - you shouldnt be feeling hungry if you are eating the right foods at regular intervals.

One possibility is that you are eating the wrong foods, high GI foods such as white rice/bread/pasta etc will leave you feeling hungry shortly afterwards - low GI foods are slower to metabolise (is that even a word?) and will keep you full for longer - so make sure you are eating the right foods - post up a typical day if you want some feedback, and read the stickies.

The other possibility is that you are running too much of a kcal deficit, dont worry about eating less volume than you were before - if you are eating better foods now and are more active its all good - work out you kcal reqs (there is a formula in the stickies) and aim for about a 10% drop on that, that will give you slow steady weight loss without staving yourself.

Imposter

Vegata wrote:

Are you eating 5-6 similar sized meals evenly spaced throughout the day??

Yep pretty much. A typical day:

8am:
Porridge with some raisins, sunflower seeds and 1/2 tablespoon of honey.
About 80ml OJ.
1 Cod liver oil 1000mg capsule and 1 multivitimin capsule.
Sometimes a coffee with 1 1/2 sugars and the smallest splash of milk.

9:30am:
Usually a coffee as above

11am:
2 slices of wholewheat bread usually with smoked salmon and feta (about 15-20g feta in total).

1:30pm:
Salad: Usually rocket with a few cocktail tomatoes, 15-20g feta, turkey steak (about the same size as a chicken breast), small amount of raw onion - dressed in about 1 teaspoon of pumpskin seed oil, 1 teaspoon of pesto and some black pepper.

3pm: usually a green tea with 1 teaspoon of sugar

4pm:
usually a fruit salad with 2-3 fruits (so 1 banana + 1 apple OR 1 banana, 1 kiwi + 1 satsuma) with 1/2 a carton (75ml I think) of natural joghurt.
or else:
100g of mixed nuts and raisins - 500kcal approx (according to the packet)!

between 5:30-8 I usually train - this can vary though.

8pm:
an omelette with 2 eggs, usually deli ham, cheese (cheddar or emmenthaler - about 20g, onion and maybe some peppers. Cooked in some peanut oil (about a teaspoon). Usually 1 or 2 slices of wholewheat bread there too, usually lightly buttered.

9-11pm:
late evening I will usually snack on nuts - again about 100g. Or sometimes just have fruit or sometimes a fruit salad. it depends what i've eaten so far that day.

AS well as that I would drink about 2l of water between 10am and 6pm and another .5 - 1l (often with lemon/lime mixed through it) after 8. Usually at least .5l while exercising too.

Weekends I will usually cook some 'proper' meals but portions would be smaller than if I was eating 3 meals a day. Weekends I generally drink too much on 1 night as well (sometimes 2 nights).

Jumpy

Personally I lost 2 stone and I was forcing myself to eat.
To get food in the correct percentages and amounts it adds up to way more than you think.
You will be very surprised when you switch from crap food to good food that you actually eat quite a lot.

Imposter

Anyone?

Am I eating too little/wrong etc.. Obviously there are some things that are still not optimal with my diet but I don't think I should be hungry! I usually feel hunger around 3pm. My diet has been like that for almost 2 months now so it's not like it's my body getting used to it (i think).

g'em

Well what size are you? If you're 6'10" no, you're probably not eating enough. If you're scraping 5' and 8 stone then you're fine.

Look in the Diet and Nutrition sticky. In that there's a post to help you figure out what your daily calorie requirements are (just use it as a rough guide). Then go to fitday.com or another on-line calorie counter, input a sample day, and you can compare what you are getting with what you should be getting.

I don't like concentrating on numbers like that, but it's a place to start figuring out whether or not you're eating enough.

Imposter

g'em wrote: »

Well what size are you? If you're 6'10" no, you're probably not eating enough. If you're scraping 5' and 8 stone then you're fine.

Look in the Diet and Nutrition sticky. In that there's a post to help you figure out what your daily calorie requirements are (just use it as a rough guide). Then go to fitday.com or another on-line calorie counter, input a sample day, and you can compare what you are getting with what you should be getting.

I don't like concentrating on numbers like that, but it's a place to start figuring out whether or not you're eating enough.

I've read the sticky but was hoping I wouldn't need to go through all the calorie counting as I've tried using fitday and I find it a pain in the arse with all those american names and measurements.

I'm 1.65m and about 67kg.

As a general question though assuming someone is eating less than they should in an attempt to lose weight, shouldn't they be hungry? Are hunger pangs not caused by not eating enough or what are they caused by?