starting to get hunger pains, does this mean more calories?

[abc 1]

i started getting hunger pains this week, diet hasn't changed at all. wondering if this means i need more calories on a daily basis. i am cutting and am very close to the end. been dieting for going on 18 months and this is the first time i've had hunger pains. i actually had to take extra udo's oil to curb the hunger.

anyone with any knowledge or experience, why is this happening and what is my next move. i am eating maintenance calories next week.

thanks for any help.

 

[Vageta]

You're getting hunger pangs because you're hungry. Your body is telling you that you've been dieting too long and it's starting to fight back against you. Not sure how you went 18 months without this happening before but at any rate take a week off and let your hormones and metabolism have a break. If you managed to put a bunch of muscle mass on during this time then perhaps you need more calories, otherwise it's just your body's attempt to get you to eat more.

 

[abc 1]

i'll do the week at maintenance. thanks for the help. i have put on a good amount of muscle in the past year and a half eating in this fashion, maybe my metabolic rate has switched and i simply need more calories. how simple. never would have thought of that.
thanks alot.

 

[Burning_Inside]

I asked Ulter about this one ime..Or was it Macrophage...Anywya, whoever it was said that hunger pains have no relevance to the possiblity that your body is "needing" food.

 

[Vageta]

I asked Ulter about this one ime..Or was it Macrophage...Anywya, whoever it was said that hunger pains have no relevance to the possiblity that your body is "needing" food.

Sure just because you're body feels "hungry" doesn't necessarily mean you need food as we all have cravings and our body loves to trick us into eating when we don't really need to. However that blanket statement is a little too generalized. There is also a well known theory that most of the time we feel "hunger", we are actually thirsty and craving water. Remember also that hunger and cravings are two very different things. Cravings are when you are dying for something specific like a hot fudge sundae, pizza, cheeseburger, etc.. These can occur while dieting, bulking or at any time and these can be fought off with will power easily. Hunger is when you feel week(borderline hypoglycemic), get actual hunger pangs in your stomach, nausiousness, etc... and just about anything sounds good. This is what happens to me after dieting for awhile, I just am not getting enough calories in general and even a flax oil/protein concoction sounds good.

It's well known that when leptin levels drop the bodies feedback mechanism triggers a hunger signal, and while we may not need to eat to survive persay it is still a way of informing us that our body is fighting back. Refeeds restore some of those leptin levels and get us back into the fed state and stop the hunger/cravings for awhile. Which means the hunger pangs are definately an indication of needing food

Short answer is hunger pangs don't mean you are actually starving, burning muscle, in a catabolic state, etc... Therefore they are not a sign that you <b>must</b> eat or risk harm to your health or anything that rediculous. However I'm sticking by my recommendation for someone who has dieted for 18 straight months and never had hunger pangs before now; I think your body is trying to tell you something. Take a break for a week. Or ignore the hunger, cut calories further and watch what happens.

 

[abc 1]

i'm not cutting calories any further, i'm taking the advice given and going to maintenance for 1 week. we'll see what happens. i was not having cravings for crap or sugar, just hunger pains. like i said, alittle udo's helped, it just came out of nowhere. i am very meticulous with my diet and have not lost any muscle, actually gained alot of dense muscle, and got concerned. i'll go to maintenance like was recommended.
thanks again.

 

[kentucky]

I have also read that hunger pangs, and thirst - are very hard to distinguish.