new diet, constantly "hangry", no energy or patience

[Anonymous]

Husband and I decided that we needed to overhaul our diet. We were eating well: lots of fresh food, not a lot of processed food...but were eating and snacking a lot. Probably 500-700 more calories than we needed.

We decided to count calories and My Fitness Pal has us at 1700, which seems totally reasonable. However, I am STARVING all day long. I suppose it's my body adjusting...? I also cut out sugar, so that is probably playing into it. I eat a snack when I feel really hungry and am drinking 100 ounces of water. But the gnawing hunger won't go away.

I stay at home with my kids and have no energy and worse, no patience.

What to do?!?

[Anonymous]

How long have you been on this reduced calorie diet? How much were you eating before?

It's taken me a week or two to adjust to a dramatic calorie reduction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long have you been on this reduced calorie diet? How much were you eating before?

It's taken me a week or two to adjust to a dramatic calorie reduction.

It has been one week. I would guess I was eating almost 600 more calories a day. LOTS of constant snacking. LOTS of sugar.

[Anonymous]

What are you filling those 1700 calories with? It's likely you need more protein and fat to stay satiated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are you filling those 1700 calories with? It's likely you need more protein and fat to stay satiated.

+1

[Anonymous]

Drink more water to help. Partly it's psychological and partly your body needs to get used to it.

[Anonymous]

Drink more water, I found that when I cut calories for a week after the week was over I was less hangry. Give it time, focus on healthier foods, which will allow you more food for less calories. It is also hard to get off of sugar, which is super addictive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you filling those 1700 calories with? It's likely you need more protein and fat to stay satiated.

+1

This, plus a week isn't very long to adjust, especially if you're always thinking about it. Front load your day with protein and healthy fat at breakfast, smaller lunch, even smaller dinner. If you snack, do it at a consistent time, because if you sometimes snack mid morning, your brain will expect that. If you sometimes snack mid afternoon, your brain will expect that also. If you only snack at one time or the other, you'll eventually only expect one snack.

Take smaller bites so your meal lasts longer. Chew your food well. My nutritionist told me that and it was the easiest and most important change I made to my eating habits and made the biggest impact. How you eat can be as important as what you eat. If you're eating smaller portions as part of your calorie reduction, your brain might not recognize that you're full and trick you into wanting to eat more. But if you're slow and purposeful about your meal, it can feel more filling than eating quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Drink more water to help. Partly it's psychological and partly your body needs to get used to it.

OP already said she's drinking 100 ounces a day?!?

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm a registered dietitian. Are you doing this under some sort of medical recommendation? 1700 calories is barely enough for anyone. Try bumping up to 2,000, adding in more fiber, protein and healthy fats.

[Anonymous]

You could read my mumbo jumbo post about finally losing 5lbs.... basically I said that I tried the same and was miserable and now I eat every three hours, but veggies and protein mostly and losing weight and not hungry.

[Anonymous]

Read The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung.

Try doing an intermittent fast of 24-36 hours once per week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung.

Try doing an intermittent fast of 24-36 hours once per week.

Dr. Fung probably has helped a lot of people. But his main experience is with uncontrolled diabetics with kidney failure.

If you're insulin resistant, then increasing insulin sensitivity is good. If you're already insulin sensitive, then skipping meals is just skipping meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are you filling those 1700 calories with? It's likely you need more protein and fat to stay satiated.

+1

Also when you feel hungry, eat raw veggies or low glycemic fruit. I cut up peppers and cucumbers every day to snack on. I drink even more water too. Small meals every 3 hours, try to never be full and eventually not feel too hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung.

Try doing an intermittent fast of 24-36 hours once per week.

Dr. Fung probably has helped a lot of people. But his main experience is with uncontrolled diabetics with kidney failure.

If you're insulin resistant, then increasing insulin sensitivity is good. If you're already insulin sensitive, then skipping meals is just skipping meals.

Yes, that is his main experience. But you're dead wrong about IF not helping regular people lose weight.

I've never had diabetes, pre-diabetes, or anything else...but IF helped me lose 30 lbs. I've kept it off for 5 years.

I'd be starving and hanged if I tried to do a steady 1700 calories per day, every day. However, I have no trouble fasting for a couple of days (no hanger!) followed by higher and lower calorie days all mixed up.

Insulin resistance is a spectrum. Pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes is when insulin resistance reaches a certain level of clinical significance.