I’m hungry !

[DustyLee123]

After going to the gym I’m starving. I have a protein shake or pud in preparation, but it doesn’t help. I come home and eat my tea, then I’m still starving so end up having two pieces of toast.
And this morning I’ve got up hungry, so I had a shake and an apple at 7am, walked the dog and by 8am I’m hungry again. I can’t stomach eggs in the morning. What can I do ?

Eat more carbs. They won't hurt you.

Are you drinking enough water? Sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger.

Is this everyday? I tend to eat similar things every day and am rarely hungry but some days it feels like there's no filling me. I just listen to my body and eat loads on those days but obviously that's not ideal if the hunger is everyday.

I also don't find protein shakes particularly filling. I have 1 or 2 a day to boost my protein but not to curb hunger. I also don't find fruit very filling and often feel hungrier after some fruit.

Eat more to fuel your body. I agree with the PP protein shakes are good to up protein intake but aren't filling. I eat breakfast, mid morning snack (sometimes more than one), lunch, sometimes afternoon snack, tea and if I'm training the next day or I have had a heavy session supper before bed. I keep fuelling throughout the day so I don't get hungry hungry

When I first started lifting I was starving. I also found eating more helped massively with DOMS.

On a gym day my routine would look like

• overnight oats before workout including scoop of protein and grated fruit/yoghurt
• post workout bagel with scrambled eggs and cottage cheese
• mid morning snack, maybe apple and peanut butter, and half a protein smoothie if hungry
• salad of some kind of beans/lentils and chicken/salmon for lunch
• afternoon snack of protein powder with added banana made into smoothie plus peanut butter
• dinner, meat/fish/veg/carb variation, yoghurt and raspberries dessert

Basically eating every 2 - 2.5 hours.

Also think about combining carb, fat and protein together in a meal - carbs alone will metabolise very quickly and spike glucose so you will be hungry sooner and more intensely. Fat and protein lower the glucose spike.

Thanks all. I’m trying to lose weight, but just end up eating crap as I’m very hungry. Fruit doesn’t fill me up, and there’s only so much fruit I can eat before it makes me feel sick thinking about it !

I also don't find protein massively filling (but I hit my daily protein goal religiously!). For me if I am endlessly hungry it's usually because I need a bit more fat.

Also you might need to eat more - if you are training hard and are generally active you might need more calories than you think. I am currently in a calorie deficit at 2000 calories a day! You may be aiming too low.

If it's not filling you up don't eat it or at k ast don't eat loads of it in the hope that it will fil you. Eat something more filling.

I agree with the PP, if you're consistently hungry (eg not just a once a month pms thing) then you're not eating enough.

Look at your meals and see if you can add more - it's common for people to over optimistically plan very low calorie meals, then eat a meal or twos worth of calories in snack form because of hunger.

Make sure your meal includes a decent portion of protein, AND some fibre, carbs and fat. You need a combination to feel full.

Also not sure what you mean a protein shake in preparation for the gym. Protein shakes can help you get your overall protein in a day, but they do not fuel a workout. They're usually low sugar, which means low calorie and low energy. If you're short of time before gym, a banana or a cereal bar or something would be a better bet - not something you'd eat all the time, but they would give you some energy! Better if you can just fuel with meals where you can though.

When I was exercising I found protein in the form of actual food much more helpful than protein shakes plus needed to add some carbs. I was basically just drinking an extra few hundred calories of protein shake but still needing more actual food. I would make sure your meal post gym is a big one with a substantial amount of protein in it (I always found 35g + helpful to curb hunger).

I had a week or so of not eating my usual breakfast, and having a protein shake and apple instead, which was fine with a mid morning banana. I thought it was great, getting protein in and cutting calories, but my body has had enough of that and I was hungry so had to go back to breakfast. But breakfast and the shake is more calories !

I find that I am less hungry if I group my calories together, like @MistyLee says. If I am eating I try to have a minimum of 300 calories otherwise I am constantly slightly hungry or slightly full but never actually full. More like 4-6 meals (depending on my calorie goal) rather than 3 meals plus snacks.

Even when i was eating a good calorie surplus earlier in the year I found that a stream of 100-150 calorie snacks left me constantly slightly hungry.

Your protein shake and apple might only be 150 calories, which is why it's not keeping you going for long!

Do you count your macros? Download a free macros counter and record everything you eat. Make sure you are getting a good amount of calories, protein, fat and carbs. The app will tell you the correct amounts for your age/weight/gender/goals etc. When I started doing it I found I wasn’t eating anywhere near enough protein or carbs. And since I hit the balance right I never feel hungry.
A great post work out snack is slices of deli meats, if you don’t like eggs. Chicken and turkey are high protein, low fat and really fill me up. Or high protein yoghurts.

@DustyLee123 if you're up early, going to the gym and walking the dog - you need some fuel! I understand you're trying to lose weight but if you cut calories too much your body will crave food. Cutting too hard and fast will make you feel like crap and isn't sustainable.

I can't stomach eggs in the morning, but if I'm training early then breakfast would usually be a high protein yogurt + berries + banana + flaked almonds, or porridge with toppings. Yes it's more calories than a protein shake but it's calories that I need. I'd usually be having a mid morning snack too (babybels are a current favourite)