I eat, and then I eat again, and I am still eating!!!!!!

[imperfectly_lou]

I feel like I am constantly eating lately...... I am actually waking up starving at 3 in the morning and having to eat because I can't sleep.

I assume this is all good - increased muscle mass = increased metabolism?

I will easily hit 2,000cals per day...... and I have been working all day behind a desk...

Sick of being hungry!

[Emma-Leigh]

Hey Lou Hmmm... This could be increased muscle mass (Woo hoo ) but it could also be a signal of things that might be wrong in your body.

Waking up and eating is never a good sign, especially if you feel you are eating enough during the day. But start to hit at least 1800 cals during the day and make sure you are eating as much as you think you are eating. This would probably be enough food to stop the cravings and so you can then re-assess to see if it improves.

If that doesn't help other things that you might want to think about are -

Are you overly stressed? Cortisol can increase food cravings, especially late night food cravings when your blood sugar levels are low. Overtraining can also cause you to be chronically hungry.

Lowering your carb content in your diet while not getting enough energy from fats or not going low enough in carbs to go into keto can cause your body to crave energy and food.

Another reason could be low leptin levels due to chronic dieting or over-exercising... Low serotonin levels can do it...

Low iron levels could also cause you to be hungry as low iron = low blood oxygen = low energy and your body tries to fix via increasing your blood glucose. Some vitamin and mineral deficiencies can also lead you to crave foods (sometimes unusual foods - for example, cattle that are deficient in phosphorus eat bones!! This is because bone has phosphorus in it as a major component) and so you might continue 'searching' for food when you are not really 'hungry'...

More serious things could be something that has increased your thyroid hormone levels or some underlying illness that has increased your bodies need for energy.

[LadyStarlight]

I'm having similar problems, then I get scared of eating too much and cut back, but don't have enough energy to workout. I'm not sure what to do, but trying to figure it out.

[LadyStarlight]

I'm having similar problems, then I get scared of eating too much and cut back, but don't have enough energy to workout. I'm not sure what to do, but trying to figure it out.

[imperfectly_lou]

My body is doing very weird things lately.... this being just one of them..... I think I might see my doctor.

[BuffedWildCat]

Originally posted by LadyStarlight
...but don't have enough energy to workout...

Not having enough energy to workout is a sure sign of not eating enough. Heck, most of the women I run across aren't eating enough.

[BuffedWildCat]

Originally posted by imperfectly_lou
I feel like I am constantly eating lately...... I am actually waking up starving at 3 in the morning and having to eat because I can't sleep.

I assume this is all good - increased muscle mass = increased metabolism?

I will easily hit 2,000cals per day...... and I have been working all day behind a desk...

Sick of being hungry!

I do too sometimes. If I wake up for too long sometime in the morning even on the caloric intake I'm on right now I'll get hungry to the point of not being able to go back to sleep until I eat. And I'm bulking right now, taking in an average of 2850 calories a day! It seems to be quite normal for me, whether I'm cutting, maintaining, or bulking it happens. And even with my calories up there like they are, I STILL get hungry right at the 3 hour point so for me I'd have to say it's just a case of a very healthy metabolism, perhaps it's the same with you.

I mean even if it's 3 AM, think of this, what time did you last eat a meal? If it's been more than 3 hours then I would consider it normal that you may wake up hungry, it means your metabolism is stoked, that's my belief anyway. So it may be nothing to worry about at all.

[mdude85]

you are just like me!! I posted my first post in the Teen forum about how I am always hungry. I can't go 45 mins in the morning without eating or else I start feeling nauseus (sp?) and I feel like eating at every change I get. And I am not a big guy!

140 lbs
5'6" - 5'7"
age 18

what to do? sometimes I wake up hungry in the middle of the night but very rarely (maybe this has happened twice or three times).

OOPs, sorry, I didn't notice this was the female forum. as you can tell, I am new at this. :-)

[imperfectly_lou]

I'm just freaking out a little over this..... I mean, I am SURE it is all fine and normal. I guess I am paranoid of stacking on the weight!

[BuffedWildCat]

Originally posted by imperfectly_lou
I'm just freaking out a little over this..... I mean, I am SURE it is all fine and normal. I guess I am paranoid of stacking on the weight!

You're probably worrying over nothing. I always felt the same way until I started this bulk and PURPOSELY have been trying to gain weight and I've found that it's not as easy as I thought. I've been trying to gain weight for 6 weeks now and I've only gained 4-5 lbs and I know that at least 3 lbs of it is just water weight. I think the mind plays tricks and it really takes a lot more than you would think to gain especially if you are very active. Don't panic, it's okay.

[Thunder_Bunny]

2000 calories isn't all that much. Especially if you're working out and trying to build muscle.

Are you eating 5-6 meals a day?
Are you eating balanced meals with protein, good carbs and good fats?

You might not be eating enough. Although if this is not the case, you might be adjusting to your diet and this will probably go away after awhile.

[Lizzee]

If it's any consolation, I'm constantly eating as well, I'm a bottomless pitt too. So before I go to sleep at night, I usually have a whey shake with some flax oil and that usually holds me over 'till the morning, but as soon as I wake up, I have to run to the kitchen to eat because I'm usually ravenous!!!

[BuffedWildCat]

Here it is 1 AM and I just downed 2 scoops of a whey protein shake, some Udo's oil, and about 1/2 cup of steel cut oats with natty P.B. and sugar free syrup. And guess what I'm doing next? Yep, I'm going to bed. I do this all the time and it doesn't seem to affect me in any negative way whatsoever whether I'm cutting, bulking, or maintaining. And guess what else? Soon as I wake up in the morning (or afternoon in my case most times, heh) I'll be starving and will gobble down another big meal. And the moral of the story is, don't panic.

One of the reasons I decided to bulk was to see if I would get "fat" as easily as I thought I would (I kept thinking I can gain weight easily) and so far, after almost 7 weeks of stuffing my face, the answer is no. So sometimes I think you really gotta just go for it and find out once and for all how your body reacts to different things. I went from eating an average of 2100 calories to now my average is 2800 calories and amazingly, I haven't gotten fat yet! I'm just stuffing myself with clean food (but not 100% of the time mind you) and I've still got good muscle definition. I got the false impression that I was an easy gainer because when I very FIRST started lifting, I put on 8 lbs just like that. In retrospect, I now realize that those were simply BEGINNER gains and that I actually don't gain (or lose for that matter) weight easily at all. So anyway, just some more personal testimony to hopefully help ease your fears.

[bscrusher]

hi lou, there is nothing wrong with waking up in the middle of the night to eat. many bodybuiders and other athletes set an alarm to do this on purpose. if you are that hungry you should eat. are you getting stronger as well? or gaining muscle mass? if not, you are about to. congratulations.