If I'm hungry, does it mean I'm not eating enough?

[nefertiti]

So I've plugged my "clean" diet into fitday....my calories are generally around 1600-1700, my macros are right where I want them (protein around 40%, 30 and 30 for fat and carbs). I weigh 120 currently and I'm 5'6". Not trying to lose weight or drop fat, just maintain. I'm in the gym about four days a week, but I'm shitty about having a regular routine right now...it sort of ends up being what I feel like doing that day. But i am usually working out with moderate or high intensity for about 45-1hr while I'm there.

Given that information, when I really keep to a clean diet with those percentages and that activity level, I find that i am ALWAYS hungry. Is this normal? Does it go away? Or should I assume I am not eating enough for my BMR+calories burned? I've always had kind of a brain block on what my particular intake should be and I usually end up short changing it I think. I want to get my gym routine more regular (and once I change jobs that should be possible), but if I do that, I want to make sure I am feeding my body the right way.

 

[musclemom]

So I've plugged my "clean" diet into fitday....my calories are generally around 1600-1700, my macros are right where I want them (protein around 40%, 30 and 30 for fat and carbs). I weigh 120 currently and I'm 5'6". Not trying to lose weight or drop fat, just maintain. I'm in the gym about four days a week, but I'm shitty about having a regular routine right now...it sort of ends up being what I feel like doing that day. But i am usually working out with moderate or high intensity for about 45-1hr while I'm there.

Given that information, when I really keep to a clean diet with those percentages and that activity level, I find that i am ALWAYS hungry. Is this normal? Does it go away? Or should I assume I am not eating enough for my BMR+calories burned? I've always had kind of a brain block on what my particular intake should be and I usually end up short changing it I think. I want to get my gym routine more regular (and once I change jobs that should be possible), but if I do that, I want to make sure I am feeding my body the right way.

I don't know how old you are so I took a poke at it giving you age 30. I got a BMR of 1346. The average person should be able to eat 500 calories over their BMR and expect to lose weight.

Just taking a guess here, but I think you're under eating just enough to keep yourself in a slight starvation mode (ergo, the constant hunger). If you're reasonably active AND going to the gym, depending on how much time you're spending in the gym, you should probably be eating anywhere from 1800 to 2100 calories (maybe more).

 

[nefertiti]

MM....28

But yeah...I think what I've been going by is numbers that don't factor in what I'm burning at the gym. I'm gonna try and bump it up to around 1900-2000 once I get my gym stuff regular and see how that goes.

 

[musclemom]

MM....28

But yeah...I think what I've been going by is numbers that don't factor in what I'm burning at the gym. I'm gonna try and bump it up to around 1900-2000 once I get my gym stuff regular and see how that goes.

28 gives you a BMR of 1355.

This calorie estimator needs your bodyweight, it allows you to put in multiple things, so if you're going to the gym and lifting weights and doing some cardio you could rough out what you're probably burning:

The Most Accurate Calories Burned Estimator

 

[trex74]

28 gives you a BMR of 1355.

This calorie estimator needs your bodyweight, it allows you to put in multiple things, so if you're going to the gym and lifting weights and doing some cardio you could rough out what you're probably burning:

The Most Accurate Calories Burned Estimator

Wow this IS cool, Thanks MM

 

[Scotsman]

28 gives you a BMR of 1355.

This calorie estimator needs your bodyweight, it allows you to put in multiple things, so if you're going to the gym and lifting weights and doing some cardio you could rough out what you're probably burning:

The Most Accurate Calories Burned Estimator

Awesome tool MM.

No wonder I'm losing weight according to that I'm burning 6,033 calories a day right now. Damn I need to eat more! Thanks for posting this.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[musclemom]

Awesome tool MM.

No wonder I'm losing weight according to that I'm burning 6,033 calories a day right now. Damn I need to eat more! Thanks for posting this.

Cheers,
Scotsman

Great goddess, man, that's a wagonload of food!!! No wonder it's hard for you to eat enough, especially if you're eating clean. And it's really not good to eat outrageously heavy meals, that's stressful to your system. We're talking six meals three hours apart at 1,000+ calories each just to break even! Friggin' A! How do you do it?!

 

[Scotsman]

Great goddess, man, that's a wagonload of food!!! No wonder it's hard for you to eat enough, especially if you're eating clean. And it's really not good to eat outrageously heavy meals, that's stressful to your system. We're talking six meals three hours apart at 1,000+ calories each just to break even! Friggin' A! How do you do it?!

I don't eat particularly cleanly as I'm not terribly interested in being super lean. I eat a lot of red meat and try and get in a good deal of healthy fats like peanutbutter and I switched up from 1% to 2% milk just for the calories(can't stand whole milk so not an option). My BMR is about 4,400 calories per day right now. My goal is to regain all the weight I lost from being sick plus some so all in all about 35lbs. I'll probably get my cals up to 10-12,000 per day in the bulking phase. So basically eating becomes a fulltime job.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[musclemom]

I don't eat particularly cleanly as I'm not terribly interested in being super lean. I eat a lot of red meat and try and get in a good deal of healthy fats like peanutbutter and I switched up from 1% to 2% milk just for the calories(can't stand whole milk so not an option). My BMR is about 4,400 calories per day right now. My goal is to regain all the weight I lost from being sick plus some so all in all about 35lbs. I'll probably get my cals up to 10-12,000 per day in the bulking phase. So basically eating becomes a fulltime job.

Cheers,
Scotsman

Wow, just wow. A week's worth of food for the average sized person, per day. Man I can't imagine the cooking you do! And your GROCERY BILL!!!

 

[trex74]

My bf is 6'4", 260, and bulking-since we moved in together I have had to majorly revamp our food budget. It's ridiculous.