Need help staying at or under 1260 calories a day!!

rheddmobile

Your current breakfast and lunch are all quick digesting carbs. No wonder you feel starving by dinner!

Try a breakfast including protein and slow digesting carbs such as legumes and whole grains. Eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and grilled chicken are all low calorie proteins.

My usual breakfast is a Buddha bowl made with quinoa, some type of legume such as edamame or black beans, a protein, and some vegetables, plus a small amount of healthy fat. One example might be a taco bowl with black beans, ground turkey, salsa, avocado, and sour cream. Another would be an Asian bowl with chicken, edamame, and vegetables with ginger / soy dressing. But if you like more traditional breakfasts you could start with steel cut oats and add fruit and nuts. What are your favorite foods? That would help people make recipe suggestions.

tomteboda

Thanks for replying to my questions! @middlehaitch gave excellent advice that corresponded to what I suspected.

You are trying to lose weight too quickly, which sets you up for severe hunger, nutrient deficiencies, muscle loss and malaise. Drop your goal for weight loss to no more than 1 lb/week. This should give you effectively a whole extra meal, and you will be far, far less miserable. To be accurate, make sure you're weighing your food, not eyeballing or measuring it with cups, and then you can be confident you will meet your goals.

Also, log and eat back calories for your activity. You are creating a situation where you're just asking a lot of your body, and it's going to fight back with hunger, injuries and weakness. Make your body your partner instead of an enemy.

BurgerLovinBulker

My diary is open, and if you scroll back a few weeks, you will see several months of 1100 cal days.

(EDIT: At least I think it is, I have no idea how to tell if it is or is not. If you can't see it, I'll muck around in settings)

middlehaitch

BurgerLovinBulker wrote: »

My diary is open, and if you scroll back a few weeks, you will see several months of 1100 cal days.

Why?

hesn92

Personally I wouldn't do smoothies. I find drinking my calories does not help me stay full. Also you may try skipping breakfast and only eating lunch and dinner, no snacks. That would allow you to eat two 600 calorie meals, or one 500 and one 700... It may help you feel full. I find that even if I'm hungry in the earlier part of the day as long as I'm not hungry at night before bed I'm happy.

The most filling meals of mine are just a lean protein (chicken breast usually) a starch (potato for example) and a big portion of a veggie.

Also you can move more, exercise or go for walks, etc. And then you can eat more.

BurgerLovinBulker

middlehaitch wrote: »

BurgerLovinBulker wrote: »

My diary is open, and if you scroll back a few weeks, you will see several months of 1100 cal days.

Why?

I needed to drop weight rapidly.

natashab61

I would suggest replacing the fruits with steamed veggies or with eggs basically something more filling. The frit smoothies are not filling

kavahni

That is a pretty low caloric intake. But, to press on, you can have a one (real!) egg omelet, overstuffed with 2 cups of cooked kale and a cup of mushrooms for the same calories as those grapes and bananas. Way more filling and you knock out some protein, superfood, and fiber all in one tasty, enormous meal.

WinoGelato

middlehaitch wrote: »

Eat your exercise calories. (MFP gives you your base calories without exercise)

You are doing yourself no favours eating at such a low calorie goal. You will in time become lethargic and underperform when exercising. Your hair will become brittle and you will start losing muscle strength. And that is just a start to the problems you may get.

Set your goal to 1 lbs a week and eat back at least 50% of your exercise- adjust the amount that you eat back so that you are on track with your goal.

Cheers, h.

A wise rabbit once said words to this effect 'those that eat the most and still lose, win'
I will add -those that eat the least and still lose usually end up sick or binging.

I miss that wise rabbit...

I agree with everything here. Often when someone makes up their mind to lose weight, the idea of going as fast as possible seems great, but the negative consequences are real, and often just lead to a poster giving up because they are being too restrictive.

OP you already said you were hungry all the time. It's no wonder. In addition to considering if the types of foods you're eating are satiating, you just need to eat more total calories.