New & Struggling

Coffeeandcookies

Hi I'm new to MFP 🙂

My daily allowance is 1,200 kcal and it seems very little? I'm struggling to keep within the allowance because I am hungry.

I'm hoping for a sustainable and healthy method of losing weight.

I'm wondering what are your tips/tricks?
😄

kommodevaran

I hate it when you have to start with a trick. MFP is great, but setup has a horrible flaw, so most people need to be made aware of this. The trick is to get an appropriate calorie target. Set your weekly weightloss goal to less than 1% of your bodyweight. This will give you a calorie target that is possible to stick to.

Bahamaria

Water water water oh and i drink green tea. I make sure my breakfast is filing that or my lunch would be a good amount of calories then i save for my snacks like seaweed chips, or great bear nuts and grains snacks, also getting your proteins in can have you feeling full longer.

Erinloveable

I am doing keto and I don't want to eat at all. Today I ate a keto chocolate mug cake hoping to wake up my appetite but instead it filled me up for going on 7 hours now. There is only 2 ways I can swing 1200 cals, keto or eating mostly produce. And I can't eat three meals a day because I am a big eater when I do eat.

When I did mostly produce I'd eat a huge fruit meal. Pee 700 times and be starving for dinner, where I'd eat something like a huge salad with some chicken in it or lean meat and veg.
One of my favorites was 3 large potatoes with 1 tbs of butter, 2 tbs of parm and a cup of mixed veggies, stirred up into a mash.

1200 cals can close in fast, I couldn't drink calories and don't recommend it.
120 cals is a fad shake that doesn't fill you, or a chicken leg.. choose wisely Lol

Coffeeandcookies

Bahamaria wrote: »

Water water water oh and i drink green tea. I make sure my breakfast is filing that or my lunch would be a good amount of calories then i save for my snacks like seaweed chips, or great bear nuts and grains snacks, also getting your proteins in can have you feeling full longer.

Thanks bahamaria, you reminded me water!
I think my problem is insufficient water. I'll fill the 'gaps' in my diet with water today 😃

Coffeeandcookies

Erinloveable wrote: »

I am doing keto and I don't want to eat at all. Today I ate a keto chocolate mug cake hoping to wake up my appetite but instead it filled me up for going on 7 hours now. There is only 2 ways I can swing 1200 cals, keto or eating mostly produce. And I can't eat three meals a day because I am a big eater when I do eat.

When I did mostly produce I'd eat a huge fruit meal. Pee 700 times and be starving for dinner, where I'd eat something like a huge salad with some chicken in it or lean meat and veg.
One of my favorites was 3 large potatoes with 1 tbs of butter, 2 tbs of parm and a cup of mixed veggies, stirred up into a mash.

1200 cals can close in fast, I couldn't drink calories and don't recommend it.
120 cals is a fad shake that doesn't fill you, or a chicken leg.. choose wisely Lol

Hi Erin, thanks for your tips. I'm willing to try different diets and keto is one that I've yet to try.
'Choose wisely' is what I'm constantly doing 😂 an apple or a small bag of crisps

Erinloveable

Water and protein doesn't work for me personally. I think some people are just built for a different diet.
Water goes right through me and makes me hungrier, I feel better and it's great to be hydrated but it doesn't make me eat less. And I tried protein because this site is huge on massive amounts of protein but I found myself always still hungry and over my calories.

What works for me is low carb, it shuts off those terrible cravings. And high fat, it keeps me so satisfied that I am kinda nauseous lol. You have to find which macros are your magic numbers. TONS of people swear by high protein and TONS swear by high fat. And even some people are extremely high carb from fruit and not much else. There is no one size fits all.

When I did that style of diet, I'd eat 3 apples with cinnamon until the chip demons left my body lol.

johnw83

hello and welcome what are u eating and drinking

Coffeeandcookies

Erinloveable wrote: »

Water and protein doesn't work for me personally. I think some people are just built for a different diet.
Water goes right through me and makes me hungrier, I feel better and it's great to be hydrated but it doesn't make me eat less. And I tried protein because this site is huge on massive amounts of protein but I found myself always still hungry and over my calories.

What works for me is low carb, it shuts off those terrible cravings. And high fat, it keeps me so satisfied that I am kinda nauseous lol. You have to find which macros are your magic numbers. TONS of people swear by high protein and TONS swear by high fat. And even some people are extremely high carb from fruit and not much else. There is no one size fits all.

When I did that style of diet, I'd eat 3 apples with cinnamon until the chip demons left my body lol.

My grand plan for now is to eat only food in its natural form eg fruits, eggs, sweet potatos, seafood.
If I dont see results, I am going to try keto and monitor to find out what fits me.

Hahaha! I wanted ice cream so much yesterday that I couldnt do anything else but think about it all day. I had to go to bed early so that the ice cream demon can stop harassing me.

Coffeeandcookies

johnw83 wrote: »

hello and welcome what are u eating and drinking

Hi John, thanks.
I eat eggs (boiled), avocadoes, nectarins, roast chicken, potato gnocchi, sweet potatoes, tuna & corn salads etc...
I am trying to ignore hunger because I want to keep within 1,200 kcal..

Erinloveable

When I wanted ice cream I would get get 1 ice cream (an ice cream sandwich is 166 calories). But then I found later I wish I had those calories back so I didn't do that stuff hardly ever anymore. Sometimes to learn you have to have the ice cream lol. Maybe try making your own 0 calorie popsicles (with the flavored water squirt things in every store) and when your body whines tell it to suck it up because that's all it's getting xD

I didn't mention but that produce diet with a few life lessons like the one above, I lost 56 lbs, tough pounds too since I started at only 200 lbs. Then pregnancy, pizza and yolo happened, and I let it all come back. Not the food's fault at all. Now I have been doing keto for 3 weeks and have lose 12 lbs (204-192).. So I am not completely talking out my rear end Lol

Coffeeandcookies

Erinloveable wrote: »

When I wanted ice cream I would get get 1 ice cream (an ice cream sandwich is 166 calories). But then I found later I wish I had those calories back so I didn't do that stuff hardly ever anymore. Sometimes to learn you have to have the ice cream lol. Maybe try making your own 0 calorie popsicles (with the flavored water squirt things in every store) and when your body whines tell it to suck it up because that's all it's getting xD

I didn't mention but that produce diet with a few life lessons like the one above, I lost 56 lbs, tough pounds too since I started at only 200 lbs. Then pregnancy, pizza and yolo happened, and I let it all come back. Not the food's fault at all. Now I have been doing keto for 3 weeks and have lose 12 lbs (204-192).. So I am not completely talking out my rear end Lol

Erin, how does Keto makes you feel?
Do you feel tired or cranky or anything different?
And also physically?

And well done for the weight lost! 😀

Erinloveable

It makes me very sad that you are hungry. How do I feel? Not hungry, that' for sure. And even when I get hungry it's not the same as you feel. It is a few split seconds of nagging, minutes apart that disappear the second I eat anything, sometimes before I am done eating I don't want to swallow my food. I am just over it lol.

It is bad at first if you don't take care of yourself. Day three I felt terrible, weak and groggy. But then I read it's because I didn't have electrolytes. I peed out all my inflammation so I became unbalanced.
So day 3 I drank some salty bouillon, salted my foot, ate some pork rinds (they are freaking salt bombs) and salty homemade tomato soup as my main meal.. I didn't have 0 sugar energy drinks or anything fancy.
Day 4 I felt 75% better so I didn't do the salt thing so day 5 I felt like dog turds again lol. After that I was pretty much fine.

At first I was really tired and hungry but I kept napping and eating a lot of fat. Pecans, brie, cheese strings, pork rinds, coconut oil treats, and too much butter. Now I am not hungry and need way less sleep. I like sleep though.

Also if you try it, buy magnesium, potassium and plenty of lettuce, spinach and avocado or you'll never poop again Lol. I made the mistake of thinking fiber was fiber, but my veggies only gave the hard, dry fiber, that other stuff makes things more soft and pushed along.

williamwj2017

Try and experiment in the kitchen with foods. Dont be scared of certain foods if you find those filling but more often than not something like ice cream isnt filling so just remember that. Give yourself a day out of the week to go over your calories honestly and treat yourself to ice cream or whatever you fancy. Find foods you can see yourself eating and fill you up and when those get boring, experiment even more to change it up.

Also if that's you in the photo, you look great figure wise but I want to ask a question, what are your goals overall even after losing weight?

ACanadian22

Don't dive in.
Make slow and steady changes.
Don't start exercise and food changes all together. Do one and then the other 30 days in.
When doing food, slowly change things like changing your full milk to 2% or instead of fries fried, bake them.
For the 1st week, just log and see how many calories your are eating and what you need with that and what you don't.
Best of luck

Coffeeandcookies

williamwj2017 wrote: »

Try and experiment in the kitchen with foods. Dont be scared of certain foods if you find those filling but more often than not something like ice cream isnt filling so just remember that. Give yourself a day out of the week to go over your calories honestly and treat yourself to ice cream or whatever you fancy. Find foods you can see yourself eating and fill you up and when those get boring, experiment even more to change it up.

Also if that's you in the photo, you look great figure wise but I want to ask a question, what are your goals overall even after losing weight?

Hi William, thanks for the advice. That weekly ice cream treat sounds good.
Been 4 days into MFP and I found 1,200 hard to adhere to, maybe like what you advised, I should keep exploring different foods that would fill me longer.
Thats me.
I've started treatment for hyperthyroidism for about 2 months and I've gained some weight.
My goal is to lose what I've gained and to later maintain it.

Coffeeandcookies

ACanadian22 wrote: »

Don't dive in.
Make slow and steady changes.
Don't start exercise and food changes all together. Do one and then the other 30 days in.
When doing food, slowly change things like changing your full milk to 2% or instead of fries fried, bake them.
For the 1st week, just log and see how many calories your are eating and what you need with that and what you don't.
Best of luck

Hi Canadian22, thanks for your advice.
You are right, I should give myself time to adjust to the calorie deficit.

💪🏼

williamwj2017

Coffeeandcookies wrote: »

williamwj2017 wrote: »

Try and experiment in the kitchen with foods. Dont be scared of certain foods if you find those filling but more often than not something like ice cream isnt filling so just remember that. Give yourself a day out of the week to go over your calories honestly and treat yourself to ice cream or whatever you fancy. Find foods you can see yourself eating and fill you up and when those get boring, experiment even more to change it up.

Also if that's you in the photo, you look great figure wise but I want to ask a question, what are your goals overall even after losing weight?

Hi William, thanks for the advice. That weekly ice cream treat sounds good.
Been 4 days into MFP and I found 1,200 hard to adhere to, maybe like what you advised, I should keep exploring different foods that would fill me longer.
Thats me.
I've started treatment for hyperthyroidism for about 2 months and I've gained some weight.
My goal is to lose what I've gained and to later maintain it.

Ah hope everything is well for you now. You'll be fine just find what keeps you full and dont beat yourself up over the number on the scale. Look at your body in the mirror and have patience.

Good luck

manginac

I second keto. I thought it was a fad diet and too restrictive but I tried it and it works amazingly well.

My goal is 1200 calories per day, same as you and sometimes I actually have trouble eating UP to that amount because the protein and high fat basis of the diet keeps you satiated. Ive lost 8.4kg so far (in 3 months).

Cutting out carbs means you don’t get insulin spikes and crashes (which will be contributing to why you feel so hungry at the moment).

Once you’re happy with your weight you can switch to maintenance level calories which won’t be as restrictive and you can reintroduce some carbs back into your diet.

I’ve found keto has been great at getting me back into cooking and appreciating natural, real food. Its also had a profound effect on my overall feeling of wellbeing and mental clarity. It’s worth a try!

Coffeeandcookies

manginac wrote: »

I second keto. I thought it was a fad diet and too restrictive but I tried it and it works amazingly well.

My goal is 1200 calories per day, same as you and sometimes I actually have trouble eating UP to that amount because the protein and high fat basis of the diet keeps you satiated. Ive lost 8.4kg in 3 months.

Cutting out carbs means you don’t get insulin spikes and crashes (which will be contributing to why you feel so hungry at the moment). Keto has also had a profound effect on my overall feeling of wellbeing and mental clarity. It’s worth a try!

Hi Manginac, do you mind to share with me what do you eat on an average day?

trivedipurva95

Hey. Totally relatable. I have started to count calories and exercise recently. Its all about persistence, trial and error nd keep on going

Coffeeandcookies

trivedipurva95 wrote: »

Hey. Totally relatable. I have started to count calories and exercise recently. Its all about persistence, trial and error nd keep on going

Hi Trivedipurva, thanks