HELP I AM HUNGRY

SapphicDiurnal

It's my first day! And I'm trying really hard!
I had a large, calorie-filled breakfast and a coffee... I just had a HUGE salad for lunch but I'm starving! If I keep eating snacks, I'm going to go over my daily calories! And when it comes to sugars and fat, I'm almost at my limit! Aaaaahhhhhh!
It's okay if I go over my limit today, but I don't want to make a habit out of this. I also don't want to feel super hungry all the time. Tips?????

MiniMansell1964

How long ago was your breakfast? and what was it?

TavistockToad

How many calories? How much fat and protein?

SapphicDiurnal

TavistockToad wrote: »

How many calories? How much fat and protein?

So I had breakfast about 5 hours ago. It was a peanut butter sandwich, a mini muffin, herbal tea, and a coffee. I ate it over the course of an hour. It was 570 calories... 16g of fat, 11g of protein. Holy smokes, and 51g of carbs!

jopalis

Avoid simple carbs. Eat enough protein, a bit of fat and low glycemic carbs...veggies, some fruit. Drink a lot of water.

tcunbeliever

Obviously what you are eating is not keeping you satiated - maybe try less carbs and either more protein or more fat to see if one of those keeps you feeling better longer?

For me, it's always more fat that does the trick, but that's not the case for everyone.

TavistockToad

I would expect to be hungry 5 hours after eating 500 calories...

jopalis

SapphicDiurnal wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

How many calories? How much fat and protein?

So I had breakfast about 5 hours ago. It was a peanut butter sandwich, a mini muffin, herbal tea, and a coffee. I ate it over the course of an hour. It was 570 calories... 16g of fat, 11g of protein. Holy smokes, and 51g of carbs!

cut out the muffin, eat a leaner protein than peanut butter, cut the bread.... Too many simple carbs. You can balance carbs, protein, etc. Bread and mini muffin is not the way. Fill up on fiber from veggies...lean protein, etc. Simple carbs set off cravings in some people, I am one of them. The more of them I eat the more my blood sugar rises and falls and I am hungry again. You will be surprised if you cut them way back you will feel better..more energy, less hunger... and drink your water!!!

JaydedMiss

TavistockToad wrote: »

I would expect to be hungry 5 hours after eating 500 calories...

SapphicDiurnal

Thanks everyone!! I am still super clueless about nutrition so I really appreciate hearing that it's not about the amount I eat but what I eat!!

cerise_noir

Can you open your diary for us?

Aaron_K123

"I'm starving!"

Then eat some real food, not a salad. You can lose weight while eating things that aren't salad. If you are truly hitting your calorie limit while "starving" then you need to up your calorie limit. You want a deficit that you can sustain long term for successful weightloss. If you are "starving" with your current deficit then what you have set for yourself isn't realistic.

Personally when I want to lose weight I set a deficit where I'm not even hungry, let alone starving.

Intentional_Me

Some people find that if they eat breakfast they are a lot hungrier. If you are not naturally hungry for breakfast I would consider skipping it. If I eat breakfast I am starving all day. Each person is different. Play around with what keeps you from becoming hungry quickly. No reason to be worried about cutting out or limiting macros unless you prefer it.

CattOfTheGarage

More protein, more whole grains, and hang in there - it takes time to adjust from overeating down to smaller portions. It takes me about 2 weeks before the hunger settles down. As others have said, there is no need to eat salads or other "diet foods" if they are not satisfying to you.

Here's a plan: to start with, just eat your usual food in smaller portions. Then if you are still hungry, you can do things like:

- increasing protein (you can decrease carbs a little to get the calories to add protein - no need to avoid carbs, just adjust the balance)
- increase fruit and veg (we all know the health benefits but the bulk also helps to control hunger)
- swap in whole grains (wholemeal bread for white, brown pasta and rice - try them out, not everyone likes every one but they're a lot more filling)
- experiment with meal timing (some people find two or three big meals more filling, others do better with lots of small meals)
- try out reducing high calorie snacks and drinks, making them a treat rather than a go-to snack. Try diet versions of favourite drinks - some people hate them but others can't tell the difference.

You'll get there! These forums are full of lots of helpful tips.

shadowfax_c11

The first couple of weeks are really hard. You WILL be hungry. You have to accept that you will feel hungry and remind yourself that being hungry ,for you, is not the danger signal that your body thinks it is. You are not going to die from being hungry. It is just uncomfortable. It sucks. But it isn't going to hurt you to be hungry.

I found that it helped me a lot to have some snacks planned into my day so that I never went more than a few hours without eating something. Since I get up very early and work hard physically I have to eat breakfast. Increasing protein by using whole milk, yogurt and ,for a time, a hard boiled egg as a mid morning snack really helped.

Forcing yourself to stick to your goal, especially for the first few months, will make you start thinking differently about your meals. You will start making better choices like increasing veggies as you discover how to have your larger meals and still eat less calories. Not at all to say you should give up calorie dense food. You just have to have less of those things and balance it with lower calorie choices.

And once in a while there is nothing wrong with having pizza, chocolate, cake, pie, ice cream or anything you really like. You can and will learn how to make those treats fit your new eating habits.

Be strong. You can totally do this.

SapphicDiurnal

I'm feeling much better about this now. I'm not worried anymore. Thank you for all of your encouragement, so much! It means more than you know. I was under my calorie goal for today! I made it! I think I really can do this. You're all angels for helping me.

Psychgrrl

It takes a while to figure out what meal macros and timing work best for you. Log tightly so you have the information to make adjustments. And be patient! Don't make huge changes daily. Give yourself at least a week to see how things are working. My days vary greatly at work and with exercise, if I made change based on each day my diet would be madly rotating like a top. After a week, then tweak and track carefully again.

I settled at 35% protein, 35% carb and 30% fat. I don't hit that every day, but that does work for me. It took a lot of trial and error to get there. You'll get there, too. It's only your first day. You have many more days to get everything figured out.

SueSueDio

SapphicDiurnal wrote: »

It's my first day! And I'm trying really hard!

Welcome! You've made a great decision by coming here.

I had a large, calorie-filled breakfast and a coffee... I just had a HUGE salad for lunch but I'm starving! If I keep eating snacks, I'm going to go over my daily calories! And when it comes to sugars and fat, I'm almost at my limit! Aaaaahhhhhh!
It's okay if I go over my limit today, but I don't want to make a habit out of this. I also don't want to feel super hungry all the time. Tips?????

Hmm. A package of spinach and three celery stalks is a huge salad??

Firstly, don't worry too much about the individual macros for now... you can get a handle on that later, start by just getting used to smaller portions and keeping to your calorie goal. As others have said, eating more protein or more fat might help you to feel more full for longer, so don't be afraid to play around with that and see what works for you even if it puts you "over the limit" for that macro. MFP gives you defaults, you don't have to stick to them.

Secondly, I see you have your calories set at 1200. If you've been overeating a lot recently, it's going to be hard to stick to that limit without feeling hungry at first. How tall are you, how much do you weigh now, and how much do you want to lose? Being eager to lose the weight and get fit is great, but don't go all out right at the start and burn out through hunger or boredom. If you've set your goal at 2lbs per week but don't have a large amount to lose (your idea of "a lot of weight" might be coloured by what you're used to seeing in the mirror and might not actually be "a lot" ), then you'd do better to set a goal of 1lb or even 0.5lb instead so that you can eat more.

Start slowly and get the feel of the process. It takes time, and there will be plenty of days when you make less-than-optimal choices - that's okay! Don't try to be perfect, you won't be. None of us are. (Oh, and your weight will fluctuate and won't always go down - don't panic! It's normal.)

Check out some of the stickied threads in the forums (e.g. this lot) for help and advice, and try not to worry too much. We're here to help!

Good luck - you can do it, one step at a time!

mlinci

I have lost 37 pounds in the last year. I don't there was a single day I ate only 1,200 calories. Some people can stick to such a low calorie limit over a long period of time, some can't. I definitely can't. I knew I'd just crash and burn if I tried to go as low as that. I had to do it slowly, by eating 1,500-1,600 in the first half year and 1,600-1,800 since then. Over a really long time, consistently.

So going low in calories and losing quickly is great if you have the willpower to sustain it, but do listen to your body and eat a bit more if you are, like so many people, at risk of giving up or binging.

I don't know your stats - if you are very short, 1,200 may well be the amount you need to eat to lose weight, but you'd need to accept a slower rate of loss.

duddysdad

You need a more filling breakfast. I have a turkey sausage and cheese wrap. I use Ole Xtreme Wellness wraps, 50 calories. Two Johnsonville turkey sausages, 110 calories, and a slice of Velveeta Original cheese, 40 calories. The entire wrap has 200 calories, 19 protein, 11 fiber, 10 fat, and 22 carbs (11 net). It's filling and keeps me full longer than a muffin and a peanut butter sandwich would.