The Leaner You Podcast with Daniel Rosenthal and Santo Chiappetta
Oct 5, 2026 · 56 min · 9 segments
Two weeks into a calorie deficit and exercise, and you're exhausted and starving all the time. Common? Yes. Sustainable? No. We break down the usual causes of fatigue and constant hunger in a…
I just started eating in a calorie deficit and exercising two weeks ago, and I've been tired and hungry ever since I started.
Well, by normal, is it common? Yeah, it's common because people don't do this in a sustainable way.
So, It's normal in that it's common, but this is not a sustainable approach.
So there is, at the same time, there's a certain degree of hunger the first few days in a calorie deficit while your body adapts.
How about you, Coach? Whenever you drop into a calorie deficit and you have that normal hunger, do you still get it? And if so, how long does it typically last for you?
I think whenever I'm in a calorie deficit, like you mentioned, the first couple of days are generally a bit more challenging.
At the same time, even when I'm not in a calorie deficit, I'm not going so far out of my calorie deficit that if I were to revisit it, that it's painful to use that word specifically.
Yeah, even so, that's going to fluctuate between things like sleep, water intake, stress, all that kind of stuff.
But all else being equal, no, it's maybe a bit hungry, but it's not to the point where I'm feeling tired and hungry ever since I started it.
One of the things that I found interesting was how many of them said, I can't believe how much I have to eat.
And that's typically from the clients who I notice on our discovery calls that were almost always hungry.
either under eating during the day and then overeating at nighttime or too much of their diet was excessively processed food.
I just started eating in a calorie deficit and exercising two weeks ago, and I've been tired and hungry ever since I started.
Well, by normal, is it common? Yeah, it's common because people don't do this in a sustainable way.
So, It's normal in that it's common, but this is not a sustainable approach.
So there is, at the same time, there's a certain degree of hunger the first few days in a calorie deficit while your body adapts.
How about you, Coach? Whenever you drop into a calorie deficit and you have that normal hunger, do you still get it? And if so, how long does it typically last for you?
I think whenever I'm in a calorie deficit, like you mentioned, the first couple of days are generally a bit more challenging.
At the same time, even when I'm not in a calorie deficit, I'm not going so far out of my calorie deficit that if I were to revisit it, that it's painful to use that word specifically.
Yeah, even so, that's going to fluctuate between things like sleep, water intake, stress, all that kind of stuff.
But all else being equal, no, it's maybe a bit hungry, but it's not to the point where I'm feeling tired and hungry ever since I started it.
One of the things that I found interesting was how many of them said, I can't believe how much I have to eat.
And that's typically from the clients who I notice on our discovery calls that were almost always hungry.
either under eating during the day and then overeating at nighttime or too much of their diet was excessively processed food.
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