Question

niamhdean97

Is it too personal too ask you all how much calories you eat on a daily basis? I'm intrigued as I feel like I'm never full

kshama2001

While it is not too personal, the answers you get will not likely be meaningful to you as this answer is going to depend on a person's height, weight, gender, activity level, and whether they are wanting to gain, maintain, or lose weight.

I've often seen woman looking to lose weight be very surprised at the amount of calories an active man in maintenance can eat.

You may not be full because you are undereating, or you may not be eating macros and micros that fill you up. Important to me for satiety is protein and fiber - what are your goals for those and are you meeting them?

Understanding satiety: feeling full after a meal

...Tips on how to feel fuller

So how can we best try to enhance these feelings of fullness to help us control how much we eat? Here are some top tips for helping you feel fuller:

1. Foods high in protein seem to make us feel fuller than foods high in fat or carbohydrate, so including some protein at every meal should help keep you satisfied. Foods high in protein include meats such as chicken, ham or beef, fish, eggs, beans and pulses.
2. If you are watching your weight, opt for lower fat versions, using leaner cuts of meat, cutting off visible fat and avoiding the skin on poultry as this will help reduce the energy density of the diet, which can help to enhance satiety (see below).
3. Foods that are high in fibre may also enhance feelings of fullness so try to include plenty of high-fibre foods in the diet such as wholegrain bread and cereals, beans and pulses and fruit and vegetables.
4. Alcohol seems to stimulate appetite in the short-term and therefore drinking alcohol is likely to encourage us to eat more. Alcoholic beverages can make you forget about your intentions to eat healthily by making you lose your inhibitions. Alcoholic drinks are also calorific, so you should cut down on alcohol consumption if you are trying to control your weight.
5. The ‘energy density’ of food has a strong influence on feelings of fullness or satiety. Energy density is the amount of energy (or calories) per gram of food. Lower energy density foods provide less energy per gram of food so you can eat more of them without consuming too many calories. Low energy density foods include fruit and vegetables, foods with lots of water added when cooking such as soups and stews, and lower fat foods. Click here for more information on energy density.

Read more: http://www.nutrition.org.uk/healthyliving/fuller/understanding-satiety-feeling-full-after-a-meal.html

anubis609

On average I eat around 1800kcal. Some days lower, some days higher.

If you are a volume eater, more nutrient dense food (various sources of protein, fibrous vegetables and fruit) can be eaten for less calories. If you are a palate eater, meaning things that are tasty make you feel full, then make your lower calorie foods taste like a gourmet meal. If you're a textural eater, food must have a certain mouthfeel to create fullness, then find recipes that allow you to be creative with lower calorie foods.

There are a variety of ways to create satiety as long as you know yourself and your preferences.

I don't have a preference for food since I only care about the nutrients I get, so I'll throw a bunch of protein and carb crap in a pan, saute it in some type of cooking fat, season it, and eat it. Rinse and repeat. Great for bachelors. Sadness for families.

hesn92

you can't really compare person to person. We all have different calorie needs... I would be hungry eating X amount while the petite woman next to me would be more than satisfied with the same amount... I personally eat about 2300/day, trying to lose about .5lb a week. But, I'm tall, and I'm breastfeeding.

cwolfman13

2800-3000 to maintain...2300-2500 to lose weight.

apullum

You can certainly ask, and people will likely tell you, but @kshama2001 explained nicely why their answers won’t do much to help you. The only thing I would add is to make sure your deficit, if you are trying to lose weight, is reasonable for your stats and that you are eating exercise calories back appropriately. An overly aggressive deficit often leads to feeling hungry.

noel2fit

Pregnant and supposed to be getting 2300 to gain +1lbs/week. Actually eat around 2000 daily because that's how much I can manage. When I want to lose weight MFP frequently puts me at 1600-1800 before exercise... It varies widely with your age, height, activity level, and some medical oddities like pregnancy and nursing.

For me cals in vs cals out eating leaves me hungry. Eating things that are nutrient dense but low in calories works better like 300cals of steamed broccoli is a lot more quantity of food than 300cals of potato chips. The lower I have to get my calories, the more low calorie, nutrient dense things I eat like lettuce, carrots, roasted cauliflower, etc. The more calories I have to get in the more I try to eat calorie dense food like almonds, avocados, peanut butter, bread, etc. Maybe take a look at the bang for your buck of what you're eating.

gallicinvasion

I am female, 5’4”, 29 years old, lightly-to-moderately active. I lost weight 2lbs-2.5lbs a week at the beginning on 1400 calories, which slowly reduced to 1280 as my body mass reduced and my calorie goal recalculated on MFP. At some point, I moved my goal to lose 1 lb a week, which put me at about 1600-1800 calories a day. Now that I’m at my goal weight of 125-130, I maintain in around 2200-2300 calories a day.

sardelsa

I eat a lot I don't track my calories I just keep eating and hope for the best, haha. Based on previous data, I'd say around 3000 cals to lose 0.5lbs or so. I am breastfeeding, lifting 4x per week, fairly active.