How to conquer hunger pains

626Ashley

1200 calories a day isn't much. How do you all get by? I feel like I'm being punished.

HaleysHeartfeltJourney

1200 calories isn't for everyone. Try to adjust your calories a little or save some extra calories to eat a bigger dinner to help hold you over?

Good luck!

HaleysHeartfeltJourney

Also, some people that really want to do the 1200 calories just tough out the hunger pains until their body adjusts. It takes a few weeks.

Merkavar

I feel hungry but I don't think I would ever call it pain. Pain is for when you break an arm or have a migraine.

Maybe have more protein and fat in your diet.

Drink water, apparently you can confuse thirst for hunger.

626Ashley

Thanks guys!

megandhight

I don't ever manage to eat my full 1200 but I never have hunger pains. Take a look at what your eating to see what's wrong. Proteins and fiber take longer to digest so you feel full longer than carbs which immediately begin to digest.

cityruss

Up your calories.

Pain and feelings of punishment will only end in failure.

kimny72

Did you set your goal to 2 lbs per week? That is very aggressive. Change your goal to 1 lb per week, you will get more calories to eat and will still lose weight! Also, if you aren't doing so already, eat back some of your exercise calories. Being a little hungry every once in awhile is no big deal, but you don't have to struggle and be miserable to lose the weight. :drinker:

Christine_72

I severely struggled doing 1200 calories. So I changed them to my goal weight maintenance calories, which bumped me up to 1690. The weight loss will be slower but will make my life so much easier, plus I will no longer be tempted to binge. I've only got 7lbs left to lose so not in an urgent rush.

Leana088

1200 is for shorter, small-boned, dwarf sized females like myself.

So up your calories if you are not fun-sized.

Otherwise, base your meals around protein or fat, or both. And drink a lot of water.

Oh and also, eat back exercise calories. I eat 1450 and burn 250 a day. It feels better to burn it off than to just not eat it at all.

47Jacqueline

You're probably not eating enough. I'm 5'3" and was eating 1450 calories per day to lose 1/2 to 1lb per week

minties82

Curious...what does bone size have to do with calorie intake?

I'm under 5 feet tall but have a large frame (as measured by a medical person).

Merkavar

minties82 wrote: »

Curious...what does bone size have to do with calorie intake?

I'm under 5 feet tall but have a large frame (as measured by a medical person).

Well my understanding is if you 5ft and have a light frame you need less energy than someone with a larger frame.

lthames0810

ashleyjmcgee wrote: »

1200 calories a day isn't much. How do you all get by? I feel like I'm being punished.

Couple of things:

1) 1200 calories is really low...about as low as most people should ever go. You look like a young woman, so it is very likely that you could lose weight on a more generous calorie budget. If you "punish" yourself everyday, you may eventually quit and that will really be a shame because losing weight is very much doable without starving and being miserable.

2) Just because MFP gave you 1200 calories based on the goals you put in, doesn't mean you have to eat that little to lose any weight. It may just be that the weight loss goal you entered is just too ambitious. If you put in a slower rate of loss, you may get a calorie estimate that is more realistic for you.

3) All that said, I limit myself to 1200 calories plus exercise, but I'm a sedentary 60 year old woman. The way I manage it is by doing the 16:8 type of intermittend fasting. In case you're not familiar, I eat all my calories within an 8 hour window of time. During that short eating time, I never feel hungry because my meals and snacks are fairly close together in time.

4) Mild hunger pangs are just a reminder that it may be your customary time to eat something. Unless you have a medical condition that requires otherwise, it will not harm you to ignore them for a time. I think we are conditioned to respond instantly to hunger signals, but we can condition ourselves otherwise.

That's all I got. Sorry for the book.

Shellee38

Do your 1200 but if still hunger go for a handful of raw nuts and seeds(almonds pumpkin Brazilian ) and fresh veggies to curve the pains or a salad...I give myself a calorie range 1200-1400 a day and I'm still losing and drink water to curb the hunger.

littled1986

I'm doing 1200 calories (I'm 5'1") and the first week was really hard. I was used to just eating however much of whatever I wanted. The second week my appetite completely changed and 1200 calories feels right, and sometimes even too much if I'm eating a lot of veggies that are really low calorie.

kandell

If you want to stick to 1200, try drinking tea when you get hungry. Or chew gum (some people just get hungrier with gum, but it helps me).

ana3067

Lower your weekly weight loss goal and eat more calories.

Liftng4Lis

1200 is a base and you will be earning more through exercise. This isn't a race, so lower the aggressiveness of your goal, to raise your base number.

wkwebby

Eat more protein and fiber during your 1200 calorie allotment. It will dip your blood sugar less than if you just ate a carb filled snack (i.e. doughnut, bread, pasta, etc.).

Capt_Apollo

i'm on 2000 calories a day, which is pretty restricting to me. i find that being on MFP, talking about food, stressing about making my goals, staring at the clock thinking "oh, it's only 10am?? i have to wait at least two hours to eat lunch!!" makes me think about food a lot.

so i try and stay occupied, get work done, and not think about food. also, coffee and water help curb the appetite.

stevesample76

I hate that so many people think that 1200 calories is some sort of magic number. If you are hungry your body is telling you it needs more fuel. When your car is running out of gas and it starts sputtering and the low fuel light comes on you don't expect it to just keep on going. Fuel your body properly and it will pay off.

Kim55555

kimny72 wrote: »

Did you set your goal to 2 lbs per week? That is very aggressive. Change your goal to 1 lb per week, you will get more calories to eat and will still lose weight! Also, if you aren't doing so already, eat back some of your exercise calories. Being a little hungry every once in awhile is no big deal, but you don't have to struggle and be miserable to lose the weight. :drinker:

This!

I'm getting closer to my gw. I dont ever go hungry. I'm 5 foot 2, 42 year old female and lost 1 %bf in the last 3 & 1/2 weeks eating a gross weekly average of 2200 calories!! I exercise vigorously 3 times a week & lift 2 days a week. 2 rest days a week. You don't have to go hungry!! Or kill youself with exercise/activity to be able to achieve it.

Also as I lose more and the scale goes down, i keep upping my calories and continue to lose!

626Ashley

To answer some questions:

I am young, 27, and I am 5'2. Apparently I'm supposed to weigh 115 pounds or something. I'm a long way off from that so I put in a 2 lbs per week weight loss goal in order to make some progress. This is week 2 and I have a hard time meeting my 1200 goal. I was wondering how anyone manages with so few calories. My problem is that I LOVE food and I like feeling full all the time.

ana3067

ashleyjmcgee wrote: »

To answer some questions:

I am young, 27, and I am 5'2. Apparently I'm supposed to weigh 115 pounds or something. I'm a long way off from that so I put in a 2 lbs per week weight loss goal in order to make some progress. This is week 2 and I have a hard time meeting my 1200 goal. I was wondering how anyone manages with so few calories. My problem is that I LOVE food and I like feeling full all the time.

Set your goal to 1lb/week and eat more calories.

krissyreminisce

I got around the initial hunger pains by drinking a lot of water and hot tea. Good luck and adjust if you need to!

I also go to the gym and earn a boat load of exercise calories.

JenMaselli

ashleyjmcgee wrote: »

To answer some questions:

I am young, 27, and I am 5'2. Apparently I'm supposed to weigh 115 pounds or something. I'm a long way off from that so I put in a 2 lbs per week weight loss goal in order to make some progress. This is week 2 and I have a hard time meeting my 1200 goal. I was wondering how anyone manages with so few calories. My problem is that I LOVE food and I like feeling full all the time.

I lost 30 pounds on 1200 per day and I'm 5'3". It can be done - it does take a couple of weeks for your body to adjust to eating only 1200. You can power through and get past it. Eventually you won't feel as hungry all the time. THAT BEING SAID - I don't recommend doing 1200. I gained back about 10 pounds last year and I'm now taking it back off at 1450 per day, I work out almost every day and I usually eat back most of my exercise calories. I would say to up your caloric intake like other people have recommended, at least at first. Try 1500, then drop down little bit each week. YOU WILL STILL LOSE THE WEIGHT, just not as quickly. The way I managed 1200 is by eating a small breakfast (oatmeal or cereal, or boiled egg and turkey bacon, or an eggo and a boiled egg), lunch around 300 calories (a lot of lean cuisine), a couple of snacks around 100 each, and dinner was usually a salad and grilled chicken or a lettuce wrapped burger with fruit or soup, maybe pasta and veggies. The difference at 1450 vs 1200 is I have a bun on my burger, or bit of a larger lunch or an extra snack. It helps keep me feeling satisfied. Working out to eat helps also. Good luck, you can do it!

Blueseraphchaos

Sugar free jello is 40 calories for the entire box.

Pickles are pretty low-calorie too. Just some suggestions that can give you bigger quantities of food for low calories.

I find it too restrictive to do 1200 calories, though, so i went for a higher calorie limit with lower weight loss per week. Good luck, do what suits you best and what you can stick with.

mokaiba

ashleyjmcgee wrote: »

1200 calories a day isn't much. How do you all get by? I feel like I'm being punished.

eat some more calories in protein. Protein keeps you full for a long time.

25g protein = 100 calories.

Christine_72

I did 1200 calories for quite a while and I never got used to it. It was a continuous struggle.
I'm 5"8 and 140lbs, so I don't know how much of a difference that made, as I see most women here who do fine on 1200 are much shorter than me.

626Ashley

Blueseraphchaos wrote: »

Sugar free jello is 40 calories for the entire box.

Pickles are pretty low-calorie too. Just some suggestions that can give you bigger quantities of food for low calories.

I find it too restrictive to do 1200 calories, though, so i went for a higher calorie limit with lower weight loss per week. Good luck, do what suits you best and what you can stick with.

I will be buying jello!