Normal to feel like you went over your calories when you are at a defecit?

augustremulous

I've only been logging my food religiously for about ten days. Yesterday I felt like I ate a lot of food, but my promise to myself this time around is to record everything even if I binge. I carefully measured/weighed everything.

Yet I was 200 calories below my allotted calories, which is set for 2 pounds a week.

Is this normal? I still feel full from yesterday and decided to have only coffee for breakfast today. This is the first time I haven't woken up hungry since I started my calorie defecit.

seska422

Many people have a period toward the beginning of an eating change where they feel more full than expected. Totally normal.

Be sure you keep eating at least enough calories while you feel this way.

lynn_glenmont

I don't know what's normal to "feel," but I do know that it's very normal not to be able to accurately estimate the amount of food you're eating without logging it. That's why I weigh (when possible) and log everything.

Occasionally when I log what I thought was food with a massive amount of calories, it will turn out to be less than I thought--but usually it's more of a difference in how much I went over than between going way over and actually being well under.

If you really weren't hungry this morning, it seems reasonable to me to have a light breakfast (especially if your work/life schedule is such that you'll be able to take a break for a snack before lunch if you get hungry). But if you're not eating today because you feel guilty about the amount of calories you felt like you ate, even though logging tells you you're undereating, that suggests an unhealthy thought process.

augustremulous

Nope, I definitely don't feel guilt. I feel full, and super happy! I was expecting the beginning to be a lot harder. Actually I had scheduled today to be a cheat dinner so I could order the takeout dish I've been craving for a week, but I don't think I need it anymore. I think I'll just "save" my cheat day for when I need it lol.

Though I should add that I really feel that my ease in staying under my calorie budget this time around is attributed to the mantra I've been following: "eat before you get hungry, and go to bed before you feel tired." So I'll have a bit to eat now anyway. I think this is pretty helpful for late night eaters like me.

lynn_glenmont

augustremulous wrote: »

Nope, I definitely don't feel guilt. I feel full, and super happy! I was expecting the beginning to be a lot harder. Actually I had scheduled today to be a cheat dinner so I could order the takeout dish I've been craving for a week, but I don't think I need it anymore. I think I'll just "save" my cheat day for when I need it lol.

Though I should add that I really feel that my ease in staying under my calorie budget this time around is attributed to the mantra I've been following: "eat before you get hungry, and go to bed before you feel tired." So I'll have a bit to eat now anyway. I think this is pretty helpful for late night eaters like me.

Congratulations for finding something that works for you. Best of luck.

It is, as @seska422 said, common for people to find themselves fuller on less food when they switch from calorie-dense, nutrient-light foods to nutrient-dense, calorie-lighter foods. I was surprised at the beginning at how easy it was to feel full eating 500 to 1000 calories below maintenance, if I was eating lots of lean protein, fiber, and healthy fats.

I definitely found the MFP calorie-counting method easier and more successful than anything I did before. I counted calories in the pre-commercial-Internet days, and it was just too complicated and time consuming unless you ate the same thing day after day, and diets where you ate some pre-set list of restricted foods in set amounts were also boring and too inflexible for real life, at least for me.

Francl27

It happens to me, it just totally depends on my diet and hormones. Some days I feel I spent the day eating and I'm so full and still have 400 calories left, some days I still feel hungry after being 200 over...

augustremulous

yes! MFP is super easy now. Even when I tried MFP in 2014 it was a pain in the *kitten*. Practically nothing I ate was in the database, and I was always adding stuff manually. This was especially hard for certain ethnicities - mfp didn't have any of the traditional, common foods listed if you're Asian.

Now the database is huge. Almost everything is in there. Yes, there are a few weird bugs. But I can input a recipe now and know exactly how much each serving is, instead of adding each separate ingredient manually for food each time I eat. And the stuff I buy from the Korean grocery or the Mexican grocery or the Middle eastern grocery or the Indian grocery is all there.

Personally, I haven't been eating more nutrient dense food - I'm eating the same exact food - to be honest I've always been a clean eater who loves vegetables and salads and whole grains and healthy fats. But I started doing the math, and I realized my extreme weight gain/obesity comes down to me eating an average of 100-150 excess calories every single day for a few years. That's hardly anything at all. I don't need a drastic life change to address that.

The things I'm doing differently now: 1.) A very abundant supply of dry foods, and carefully planned out fresh foods. This way if I don't want to stick to the plan I have about 6 other healthy choices in my cupboards instead of 1 or 2. I literally went to three grocery stores in a week and filled up my kitchen. 2.) I planned my breakfasts and dinners for every day of the week ahead of time, and have already calculated the calories per serving. It's nice to come home on a Thursday and already be looking forward to that healthy meal you've been looking forward to the whole day instead of trying to figure out what's healthy and quick and comparing it to the delicious smelling falafel place right next to my apartment 3.) I am cooking for 6 instead of 1. That way I can freeze the leftovers in separate containers, and pull it out when I don't feel like cooking. That way I can have several homemade meals with only one cooking session. 4.) Really focusing on calorie intake over anything else. Not pairing it with a super hard exercise regime to "kick my metabolism into gear."

I know it's too early in the game to feel like I "get it," and I know that I will hit a plateau eventually and have to make bigger changes, but I've tried losing weight before and this is the first time I've felt this optimistic about it. In the past I've jumped in and had this precarious "oh *kitten* this is working but there is no way in hell I will be able to keep this up" sort of feeling. This is usually the case with marathon training and very long intense daily exercise sessions and such paired with eating healthier. But this time, so far, it's been so much better! I actually got stronger with NO additional exercise, just a diet change. It blows my mind that it's easier to run up my stairs now than it was two weeks ago, and all I've done is eat less.

Rocknut53

I've had days like that. My worst days are when I do intense cardio and then I'm just not hungry. I have to be creative to eat enough to meet my daily needs. The irony....4 months ago I would never have said this!

augustremulous

Awesome! Well I just ate some cut strawberries, six crackers, and some cut up cheddar so I could hit my calories even though I wasn't hungry. Pretty easy to get there when you have cheese on hand.

Rocknut53

augustremulous wrote: »

Awesome! Well I just ate some cut strawberries, six crackers, and some cut up cheddar so I could hit my calories even though I wasn't hungry. Pretty easy to get there when you have cheese on hand.

Cheese and peanut butter!