Still insanely hungry on 1200 cals/day. Would appreciate advice.
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NannersBalletLegs
Posts: 207 Member
Hi, everyone.
I'm no stranger to MFP or weight loss and have been on (and off) this journey every since I hit my thirties and started having to actually pay attention to what I eat. I'm currently dealing with a new situation, though, and I'm hoping you all might have some helpful advice for me.
In the past, I've always been able to lose weight by restricting and tracking my calories on here, walking a little bit every day, and eating back my exercise calories. Honestly, most days I went a few hundred over the 1200 cal/day MFP recommendation (for my age, gender, and height...I'm 5' 3", female, and currently 35 yo), and every time I still lost weight. The hunger from restricting my calories all of those times was also mild and quickly subsided as I fell into the routine of my new lifestyle. I never quite made my goals those previous times due to some backsliding in my habits, but I never before had the kind of difficulties that I'm facing now.
This time around, I tried to do things the way I always had before: restricting to around, but not exactly, 1200 cals and engaging in mild exercise on a daily basis, etc. I even began picking up weights and lifting them daily, which is a big deal for me, since I really dislike strength training. This went on for a few weeks, and neither the scale nor my waist line budged. I hung in there, though, and now I'm stuck doing a lot of desk work and am not able to do much cardio anymore. As such, for the past four or five days, I've attempted to compensate for my temporarily sedentary lifestyle by religiously sticking to the 1200/day limit and weighing all my food at every meal. The scale finally started to budge—for about a day—and then it stopped again. Despite being discouraged by this setback, I've stuck with it up until this point.
But now I'm growing increasingly concerned about how sticking to 1200/day is affecting my health. I feel like I'm starving all day long, even fifteen minutes after I eat. I've never been this hungry in my life. I've been lightheaded, clumsy, forgetful, and dealing with all kinds of stomach discomfort (hunger pangs and heartburn...yay!) as a result of actually—for once—following the recommended daily calorie intake on here. I'm also not getting enough sleep, because I find it really hard to sleep when I'm hungry. (I'm also up all night peeing for some reason. I seriously wake up once an hour. It's crazy.) All of this stuff is happening even though I'm paying attention to and getting enough of things like protein and fiber in the hopes of being able to feel full for longer. Regardless of what I eat, though, I've been consistently hungry non-stop for about four days now...and the scale hasn't budged. What the heck???
I've got the willpower to hang in there and suffer through this bodily discomfort if I know it's only going to be temporary, but I'm starting to wonder if this is even healthy. Am I hurting myself by following MFP's calorie recommendations to lose 2 lbs a week? Have any of you felt this way sticking to 1200 cals/day? Is this actually normal, and will my body eventually adjust if I just stick with it?
I know these probably sound like dumb questions (especially since I'm not exactly a noob), and many of you will, no doubt, tell me that I need to eat more to get my metabolism up and that I can't lose weight without exercising. It's what I, myself, would have told someone up until now, and that advice did serve me very well for many years. Now, I just don't know. It seems like nothing I do gets results anymore, and upping the ante with further calorie restriction might just be making things worse. Any ideas you all might have would be greatly appreciated, since my own tried-and-true methods are no longer working.
I'm no stranger to MFP or weight loss and have been on (and off) this journey every since I hit my thirties and started having to actually pay attention to what I eat. I'm currently dealing with a new situation, though, and I'm hoping you all might have some helpful advice for me.
In the past, I've always been able to lose weight by restricting and tracking my calories on here, walking a little bit every day, and eating back my exercise calories. Honestly, most days I went a few hundred over the 1200 cal/day MFP recommendation (for my age, gender, and height...I'm 5' 3", female, and currently 35 yo), and every time I still lost weight. The hunger from restricting my calories all of those times was also mild and quickly subsided as I fell into the routine of my new lifestyle. I never quite made my goals those previous times due to some backsliding in my habits, but I never before had the kind of difficulties that I'm facing now.
This time around, I tried to do things the way I always had before: restricting to around, but not exactly, 1200 cals and engaging in mild exercise on a daily basis, etc. I even began picking up weights and lifting them daily, which is a big deal for me, since I really dislike strength training. This went on for a few weeks, and neither the scale nor my waist line budged. I hung in there, though, and now I'm stuck doing a lot of desk work and am not able to do much cardio anymore. As such, for the past four or five days, I've attempted to compensate for my temporarily sedentary lifestyle by religiously sticking to the 1200/day limit and weighing all my food at every meal. The scale finally started to budge—for about a day—and then it stopped again. Despite being discouraged by this setback, I've stuck with it up until this point.
But now I'm growing increasingly concerned about how sticking to 1200/day is affecting my health. I feel like I'm starving all day long, even fifteen minutes after I eat. I've never been this hungry in my life. I've been lightheaded, clumsy, forgetful, and dealing with all kinds of stomach discomfort (hunger pangs and heartburn...yay!) as a result of actually—for once—following the recommended daily calorie intake on here. I'm also not getting enough sleep, because I find it really hard to sleep when I'm hungry. (I'm also up all night peeing for some reason. I seriously wake up once an hour. It's crazy.) All of this stuff is happening even though I'm paying attention to and getting enough of things like protein and fiber in the hopes of being able to feel full for longer. Regardless of what I eat, though, I've been consistently hungry non-stop for about four days now...and the scale hasn't budged. What the heck???
I've got the willpower to hang in there and suffer through this bodily discomfort if I know it's only going to be temporary, but I'm starting to wonder if this is even healthy. Am I hurting myself by following MFP's calorie recommendations to lose 2 lbs a week? Have any of you felt this way sticking to 1200 cals/day? Is this actually normal, and will my body eventually adjust if I just stick with it?
I know these probably sound like dumb questions (especially since I'm not exactly a noob), and many of you will, no doubt, tell me that I need to eat more to get my metabolism up and that I can't lose weight without exercising. It's what I, myself, would have told someone up until now, and that advice did serve me very well for many years. Now, I just don't know. It seems like nothing I do gets results anymore, and upping the ante with further calorie restriction might just be making things worse. Any ideas you all might have would be greatly appreciated, since my own tried-and-true methods are no longer working.
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Replies
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How much weight are you trying to lose?0
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I am currently 180 (my max heaviest) and am hoping to someday get back down to 140 where I was always happiest and healthiest. Even getting down into 160/150 territory like I've done in the past, I noticed huge differences and could probably be happy enough there.2
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You could increase the calories and adjust the rate of weight loss. I'm set at 1810 calories per day and a target of 1 lb per week.1
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I'm older than you, slightly heavier, lightly active and losing on 1600 cals/day. You're hungry because you're not eating enough (i.e attempting a larger deficit than your body is comfortable with). Try 1500 cals/day?
Also, how long have you been lifting the weights? When you first start strength training, it is very common to gain about 5 pounds of temporary water weight as your muscles retain water in response to the new stress. (This is not the same thing as the common refrain of "I lost fat but gained muscle". This is real.) My memory is fuzzy, but I think it was 2-4 weeks after starting lifting that the water weight whooshed back out.
Real strength training also tends to boost your appetite, but it's good for the weight loss longterm as it helps to preserve muscle mass.7 -
I haven't been lifting long and kind of stopped doing it since I've been back on here in a more serious manner and have been restricting further than usual for the past 4 or 5 days. Since this new level of commitment/ self-punishment was kind of an experiment for me, I also didn't want to do damage by lifting on too much of a deficit. I also wasn't lifting much, like 20 lbs (10 in each hand). I have, like, no upper body strength, so I've got to start somewhere, I guess. lol.1
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I can't do 1200 calories either, i tried it once and lasted 4 days before giving up in disgust lol
As the others mentioned, reduce your deficit to lose 0.5 or 1lb per week. I would rather lose weight slower than suffer through every day on such low calories and the associated undesirable symptoms.
So many people fail and give up because they set their calories too low and just can't sustain it. The easier you make this the higher your chances are of succeeding.7 -
With less than 50 lbs to lose, 2 lbs/week is likely too aggressive of a goal for you. Here's my advice: Set your goal at 1 lb/week, eat primarily nutrient dense, satiating foods while still leaving room for treats you love. Weigh your foods using a food scale, log consistently, honestly, and accurately. Eat back some of your exercise calories. Keep up the strength training. Be patient...
For what it's worth I'm 5'2 and lost 30 odd lbs and am now maintaining. I too started at 1200 and found it to not be realistic for me. I started reading the good advice on these boards that most people can lose weight eating more than 1200 and its most appropriate for those who are truly sedentary. I raised my goal to 1400, then 1500, still losing and still eating back calories. I lost most of my weight eating b/w 1600-1900 cals and am now maintaining with a TDEE of 2200 according to my FitBit and my actual stats.
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Also, to give you folks an idea of what kind of food I eat while dieting, a typical day usually begins with either scrambled eggs with sautéed vegetables or oatmeal, depending on my mood. Lunch is usually light, a salad or a sandwich depending on my activity level hat day. Dinner is the largest variable since I occasionally eat out with my partner. It's typically a fairly even distribution of protein, starch, and veg, though, whatever we end up eating. I tend to snack on things like fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt, and pumpkin seeds throughout the day. I recently stopped consuming splurge items like pizza, chocolate and beer, and that change alone should have made some kind of a difference!2
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Guessing you're trying to lose 2lbs a week? Shoot for 1lbs a week.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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NannersBalletLegs wrote: »Also, to give you folks an idea of what kind of food I eat while dieting, a typical day usually begins with either scrambled eggs with sautéed vegetables or oatmeal, depending on my mood. Lunch is usually light, a salad or a sandwich depending on my activity level hat day. Dinner is the largest variable since I occasionally eat out with my partner. It's typically a fairly even distribution of protein, starch, and veg, though, whatever we end up eating. I tend to snack on things like fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt, and pumpkin seeds throughout the day. I recently stopped consuming splurge items like pizza, chocolate and beer, and that change alone should have made some kind of a difference!
I ate pizza, chocolate and drank beer (mostly wine) all while losing. It's more about how much you eat than what foods you eat for weight loss...
Not to say that nutrition doesn't matter, it does, but you don't have to completely give up those splurges in order to lose.10 -
I will never ever give up chocolate. I have, however, switched to small portions of really dark chocolate (at least 70%) to concentrate the "chocolateness" and make the smaller portion still satisfying.4
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WinoGelato wrote: »NannersBalletLegs wrote: »Also, to give you folks an idea of what kind of food I eat while dieting, a typical day usually begins with either scrambled eggs with sautéed vegetables or oatmeal, depending on my mood. Lunch is usually light, a salad or a sandwich depending on my activity level hat day. Dinner is the largest variable since I occasionally eat out with my partner. It's typically a fairly even distribution of protein, starch, and veg, though, whatever we end up eating. I tend to snack on things like fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt, and pumpkin seeds throughout the day. I recently stopped consuming splurge items like pizza, chocolate and beer, and that change alone should have made some kind of a difference!
I ate pizza, chocolate and drank beer (mostly wine) all while losing. It's more about how much you eat than what foods you eat for weight loss...
Not to say that nutrition doesn't matter, it does, but you don't have to completely give up those splurges in order to lose.
Although on 1200 calories there's probably not very much room for splurge foods while still getting adequate micro nutrients. With a more aggressive deficit and low overall calorie intake you need a higher percentage of whole foods IMO (for general health, energy and satiety).0 -
Oh, yeah. I totally get it. I'm all about counting calories when I'm back on the health wagon at least. It's just that I'm naturally more of a snacker than than a meal eater, so if I'm snacking on chocolate and sugary coffees during the day then having pizza and beer for dinner with the boyfriend (with a side of Netflix, haha), then that doesn't leave much room for real food when I actually start restricting calories. I might be able to squeeze those things into a reasonable range of calories, but I would probably feel pretty awful. I have no luck restricting if I don't also change what I'm eating, because of the way I eat, basically. The plight of the snacker, I suppose.0
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Guessing you're trying to lose 2lbs a week? Shoot for 1lbs a week.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I would love to lose two pounds a week, but at this point I'm happy to lose one. I used to lose over two pounds a week with a lot less effort only a few years ago. SMH0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »NannersBalletLegs wrote: »Also, to give you folks an idea of what kind of food I eat while dieting, a typical day usually begins with either scrambled eggs with sautéed vegetables or oatmeal, depending on my mood. Lunch is usually light, a salad or a sandwich depending on my activity level hat day. Dinner is the largest variable since I occasionally eat out with my partner. It's typically a fairly even distribution of protein, starch, and veg, though, whatever we end up eating. I tend to snack on things like fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt, and pumpkin seeds throughout the day. I recently stopped consuming splurge items like pizza, chocolate and beer, and that change alone should have made some kind of a difference!
I ate pizza, chocolate and drank beer (mostly wine) all while losing. It's more about how much you eat than what foods you eat for weight loss...
Not to say that nutrition doesn't matter, it does, but you don't have to completely give up those splurges in order to lose.
Although on 1200 calories there's probably not very much room for splurge foods while still getting adequate micro nutrients. With a more aggressive deficit and low overall calorie intake you need a higher percentage of whole foods IMO (for general health, energy and satiety).
Right, which is why my initial advice to her was to change her goal to 1 lb/week and eat back exercise calories, which is appropriate for her 40 lb total weight loss goal.
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WinoGelato wrote: »NannersBalletLegs wrote: »Also, to give you folks an idea of what kind of food I eat while dieting, a typical day usually begins with either scrambled eggs with sautéed vegetables or oatmeal, depending on my mood. Lunch is usually light, a salad or a sandwich depending on my activity level hat day. Dinner is the largest variable since I occasionally eat out with my partner. It's typically a fairly even distribution of protein, starch, and veg, though, whatever we end up eating. I tend to snack on things like fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt, and pumpkin seeds throughout the day. I recently stopped consuming splurge items like pizza, chocolate and beer, and that change alone should have made some kind of a difference!
I ate pizza, chocolate and drank beer (mostly wine) all while losing. It's more about how much you eat than what foods you eat for weight loss...
Not to say that nutrition doesn't matter, it does, but you don't have to completely give up those splurges in order to lose.
Although on 1200 calories there's probably not very much room for splurge foods while still getting adequate micro nutrients. With a more aggressive deficit and low overall calorie intake you need a higher percentage of whole foods IMO (for general health, energy and satiety).
Yeah, exactly. I really envy the menfolk and the less vertically-challenged than me who are on his journey. I'd love to be able to still drop weight eating 1800 cals/day without having to do some punishing workout routine to make up for the excess cals. I'd be in heaven! And to think, needing less food to survive would have given me special survival powers before modern times. Instead, it's just this thing that I have to deal with and adjust to and occasionally be sad about. When I was more on the ball with things, I used to be really careful to only eat about 1/3 of what my partner was eating since our default is to share everything equally and I can gain weight just by dividing meals down the middle with him. Meanwhile, he stays exactly the same, effortlessly, no matter what. Sigh.0 -
NannersBalletLegs wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »NannersBalletLegs wrote: »Also, to give you folks an idea of what kind of food I eat while dieting, a typical day usually begins with either scrambled eggs with sautéed vegetables or oatmeal, depending on my mood. Lunch is usually light, a salad or a sandwich depending on my activity level hat day. Dinner is the largest variable since I occasionally eat out with my partner. It's typically a fairly even distribution of protein, starch, and veg, though, whatever we end up eating. I tend to snack on things like fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt, and pumpkin seeds throughout the day. I recently stopped consuming splurge items like pizza, chocolate and beer, and that change alone should have made some kind of a difference!
I ate pizza, chocolate and drank beer (mostly wine) all while losing. It's more about how much you eat than what foods you eat for weight loss...
Not to say that nutrition doesn't matter, it does, but you don't have to completely give up those splurges in order to lose.
Although on 1200 calories there's probably not very much room for splurge foods while still getting adequate micro nutrients. With a more aggressive deficit and low overall calorie intake you need a higher percentage of whole foods IMO (for general health, energy and satiety).
Yeah, exactly. I really envy the menfolk and the less vertically-challenged than me who are on his journey. I'd love to be able to still drop weight eating 1800 cals/day without having to do some punishing workout routine to make up for the excess cals. I'd be in heaven! And to think, needing less food to survive would have given me special survival powers before modern times. Instead, it's just this thing that I have to deal with and adjust to and occasionally be sad about. When I was more on the ball with things, I used to be really careful to only eat about 1/3 of what my partner was eating since our default is to share everything equally and I can gain weight just by dividing meals down the middle with him. Meanwhile, he stays exactly the same, effortlessly, no matter what. Sigh.
Did you read my post that I am an inch shorter than you and lost weight eating between 1600-1900 cals? I would hardly call my exercise punishing... I walk and do light dumbbell circuit training.2 -
I would say maybe go up to 1400-1600 calories a day and make sure you are getting a lot of protein and healthy fats.0
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My stats are nearly identical to you... 5'3-5'4" (depending on my shoes!), 35 and started last summer at 180#.
I'm down to 144# currently and still trying to lose.
I ranged from 1400-1800 calories; somedays were lower, some were higher. I increase my calories every month during TOM; also on vacations I eat even more, up to 1800-200 calories. But I've still lost weight.
I eat & drink EVERYTHING. Pizza, wine, pasta, steak, hamburgers, beer, chocolate...
My typical daily goal is around 1400-1500 though, and I try to eat some of my exercise calories.
I vary between exercise, mostly now is running, hiking, cardio, outdoor activities; at times I've done more weights & resistance training.
It's been sloooow going with losing, but honestly, I've accepted my varying calories & not adhering to my food plan really messes with consistent weight loss. Some months I can lose 3-4 pounds, other months I lose 1 pound....
Basically, up your calories to 1300-1500; even light exercise will help "earn" you more calories. Eat most of those calories back
You DON'T need to be painfully famished & making yourself sick to lose weight. Everyone is different, but given our similar starting points, I hope this helps. Eat more, move more, be patient and kind with yourself. Good luck!2 -
Eat more...I am eating 1800 and losing 2/3lbs per week? For maintenance I am about 22000
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