1210 calories and always hungry!

perkymommy

hazzaram wrote: »

Any tips? I feel like this isn't a lot of calories and I hate feeling so frustrated

Try eating 4-6 small meals per day and adding in some fruit in between meals to fill you up.

raphpx

Hi Hazzaram!

First congratulation on your resolutions!

I am a man and also on diet for 7months now and I went 240lb to 211lb, it's not the most impressive but I also did a lot of sports and waited to gain muscles and cardio. Starting from absolute zero, I would be exhausted just tying my shoes.. now I can run 15km.

Food did a lot in the process, because I had a sweet teeth and a love for coke that was very strong. It was really hard a the beginning, vegetables were not my thing, I was more into biscuits..

What really helped me to succeed was monitoring, I use a garmin scale so i just have to step on it when I wake up, everything is then on my phone. It helped me to stay on track and to avoid binging.
When you want to binge, you know you will see it the next day on the scale, then you know you are borrowing happiness over the big picture, that your goal is coming one day later than expected because of your attitude.

Sports are a good way to cheat on the 1210 cal. (which must be really hard!!) If you have something you like as a game (badminton or other it's the best). With an activity tracker, you will know how much you can add on your diet.
For example: run 30mn = 250cal = a bounty. Yes, sweet things are very unexpensive in money but expensive on cals.

What I did:
first week: walk every day 45minute as intense as I can (I could not run more than 5mn straight so I gave up running the first week)
second week: 8mn walk + 8mn run 3X
third week: 8mn walk + 10mn run 3X
...
Now i can run 1.5hours and even compete for triathlons, Spartans races etc. I never thought it was possible for me. it's a new life and I feel much more confident and just overall better.

The second good point of sport lays in the fact that you know what a box of chocolate represents in terms of calories and what you have to "suffer" to have it. This allowed me to eat a lot of different stuff the days I ran, and not impact too much the results of my diet. And also appreciate more vegetable because they become a lazier option. There are a lot of recipe on the internet, I rediscovered many things I hated as a kid.

Some people will say that when you do sports, you don't lose weight because you gain muscle, in a way it's true, the results on the "normal" scale will not move as fast as starving yourself, but on the body fat scale you will see it quickly. And at the end of the day, what really matters is not the lbs weight but feeling good and enjoy our own bodyshape transformation. Nobody cares how much you weight exactly to 1lbs precise, people care that you look good or not and if you are full of life or lazy...

Last thing, sport or not, I would advice to have a big breakfast and a big lunch and a very light dinner, simply because at night your body works less and much more is stocked. Proof is that you can even wait until lunch without being hungry because you did not burn it during the night and still have it on you.

The path is long, and today you have to "reimburse" all the cookies happiness you borrowed before and often it took long to put it on so it also takes long to remove it. But its definitely worth the pain. I hope you gonna make it and that my experience allows you to gain some time on your schedule.

Remember: we have to give up what we are to become what we want to be!

SusanMFindlay

hazzaram wrote: »

SusanMFindlay wrote: »

hazzaram wrote: »

When I first started MFP, I was allotted 1500-1600 calories. I can't quite remember but I had no problem staying in it and staying full. As I've lost 25 pounds, MFP changed my calories to 1240 and now 1210. I've been struggling to stay within my 1210 budget. I am always hungry now and I feel frustrated because of it. I've cheated a lot lately and I feel guilty over it.

I don't eat that many veggies (I don't like them), so I can't load my meals up with them. I'm also not working out, I'm just trying to get a handle on my food first. Once it warms up (I live in Ontario, Canada - brr!), I'm going to start long walks.

Any tips? I feel like this isn't a lot of calories and I hate feeling so frustrated

My stats:

Female, 28
5'3"
Currently 235 pounds
Activity level is sedentary (I work as a cashier, 8 hours of standing but not much movement)

How long did it take you to lose the 25 pounds? I ask because if you're standing for 8 hours/day, you're not sedentary. Even if you're standing in one spot, standing burns more calories than sitting. I wouldn't go any higher than "lightly active" until you start getting those walks in, but I'm betting you lost weight faster than expected (based on actual intake - not goal intake) if you're going with the "sedentary" setting. That also explains why you're so hungry.

It took a month for me to lose the 25. I figured it was mostly water weight. Things have really slowed down now but I'm not worried about that as long as it's still coming off.

So I should change my activity level? I work 32 hours a week, standing 8 hours but on my days off I really don't do anything. That's why I left it at sedentary. At my job I only manage like 4-6k steps a day depending on what's going on. I thought maybe that cancelled it out lol

25 pounds in a month is really really fast - but you say that it's slowed down, so that's good (and means that a good chunk of it was water weight). Keep watching your rate of weight loss. If you continue to lose at faster than 2 pounds/week (and 25 pounds/month is *way* faster than 2 pounds/week) then you're undereating and need to eat more. That's probably why you're feeling so hungry.

Yes, standing up for 32 hours/week makes you "lightly active". MFP will probably give you 250-300ish more calories/day at that activity level. Look at it this way: you may not be moving around a *lot*, but you're burning more calories standing up for 32 hours than people who sit for that same 32 hours (and spend the remaining hours the same way you do).

At the end of the day, the scale gives the ultimate verdict on how big your deficit is - and whether you need to eat more or less. Calculators are great for finding a starting place, but if you want to lose 1 pound/week, you tinker with the numbers until you're actually losing 1 pound/week (recognizing that weight loss isn't linear, so you need about a month's worth of data).

cwagar123

Oh my... I can RELATE! I was 235 lbs 5'3... And really struggled with wanting to lose super fast... And it made me HANGRY and it was not sustainable. I changed to 1 lb per week and it has been worth it. Got down to 190 and then stress came and I stopped mfp but by then eating reasonably felt normal and I have stayed around 190 for a year. Back now and ready to tackle these last 50 lbs but only at 0.5-1 lb per week cuz that works for me.
All the best to you... I am so happy that you have adjusted your goal. It will make the journey more enjoyable and the outcome just as achievable

cbelc2

Go back to 1500 calories. It felt good and you weren't always hungry. And give veggies another chance!

eeveewinter

You will feel hungry at 1200. Even at 1500. I was/(still am) anorectic and that is how much I eat. That will starve and emaciate you. You need to eat at least 1600-1800. Less than that is pure starvation (long-term).

eeveewinter

Or calorie restrict and ON TOP of that amount ADD hot milky coffee (no sugar). Hot milk keeps you full.