Is it normal to be hungry all the time?

[Mayandwest]

I’m 34 (F) and fairly active. I run around 20-25km per week, lift weights at the gym 2-3 times per week and aim for 10,000 steps a day. I am STARVING constantly. I try and prioritise eating protein rich foods to try and keep my fuller for longer but it doesn’t really work. An example would be; I usually have for breakfast overnight oats mixed with greek yoghurt and a scoop of protein powder. Slow release carbs which should keep me full till lunch. Wrong - I’m starving 2 hours later. To the point where I feel light headed if I don’t eat. Is this normal? It seems really extreme and I feel slightly self conscious particularly because I work in an office I feel like I am always eating. I aim for 2 litres of water per day which I must admit I struggle to reach, could this be why? would I stay fuller if I drank more?

You are taking a lot of exercise in my view. So you prob need to eat much more !

Are you gaining or losing weight? Are you currently over or underweight? What is your calorie intake per day? I average 24,000 steps a day (a mix of running 40 miles a week and school runs etc.) and always need a mid morning and mid afternoon snack.

I run more than 25 km a week and do weights and lots of steps

I'm 60+ .....perhaps your hunger is an age thing? If I were you I'd get checked out by a medic

It doesn’t sound like you’re eating enough? You’re doing a fair bit of exercise there.

This probably isn’t helpful but I don’t track my calories because in the past I’ve become really obsessed with it, so I try and roughly guess which is maybe where I am going wrong. But I know I’m probably eating more than 2000 in a day. I’m 5ft 4 and weigh 66kg which puts my BMI slightly overweight, my weight seems to be staying roughly the same though so im not gaining or losing weight.

I feel like I am eating too much! I had 2x chicken salad wraps for my tea at 5pm, then polished off a bowl of cereal at 7.30 as I was still hungry!

OP I am similiar height and weight as you and im the same! Always hungry :/

I'm starving all the time!!! Sedentary or active, doesn't matter. I just love food.

I find that it helps to eat loads in the morning. If you're still a bit hungry in the evening, bring tired makes it feel ravenous. So good breakfast, reasonable snack, and good lunch, then try to tail off with the eating. You'll hopefully sleep better like that too, which should make you feel less hungry. I put on so much weight marathon training, it was really frustrating! The only time I've not felt starving is bizarrely while breast feeding, but I'm doing less sport now

Maybe you could try taking some ketones? These switch off hunger for a couple of hours if I do.

I would recommend trying to track your calories, just to gauge if you are eating enough - and enough of the right things. For the exercise you do, you need to make sure you eat enough carbs to fuel and protein. I also find making sure I eat enough fibre makes a real difference to feeling full.

I’m thinking I probably should start tracking again. And I’m probably not eating enough fibre either actually - good point!!

Are you undereating ?

I’m not quite as active as you, but I walk about 15k steps a day and do a weights + metcon/HIIT workout 3-4 times a week. I’m taller, but my TDEE gives me maintenance calories of 2300 per day.

i try to front load my eating: so I have eggs and loads of tomatoes and spinach at breakfast around 7:30 am and eat a huge lunch of a lot of vegetables plus chicken breast or tuna at around 1pm, then yoghurt and protein powder at around 4pm, then I try to stop eating. I’m far less likely to feel hungry in the evening.

But I suffer from quite intense “food noise” all the time, even when I’m not actually hungry. That’s what’s really annoying and needs discipline for me.

Thing is, if you’re doing that much physical activity, you WILL be hungry. I used to go personal training and I was starving afterwards but I was trying to lose weight, so you have to be careful you don’t eat more than what you’ve worked off so to speak