Does anyone actually eat the 1200 calorie limit?

TitaniaEcks

so i should change my oatmeal to something else?

Try a protein shake in the morning or some eggs. It really helps you balance out the whole day.

Tomorrow ill swap oatmeal for eggs and a shake and see how I do

I suggest doing it for a few days before judging. Sugar-burners need a few days to adjust to a controlled-carb diet, and for the first couple of days their blood sugar will be very angry, but then it magically stabilizes and uncontrolled hunger becomes a distant memory :-)

Jockimom

morning oatmeal with pumpkin 350
snack yogurt nuts and fruit350
lunch chicken salad400
im hungriest here
dinner meat and sweet potato400

that's the usual

Um, WOW, I know everyone else is offering info on carbs & proteins & changes you can make, but I have to tell you this looks insanely healthy to me! Seriously, how many of us eat a balanced diet of whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, veg & nuts every day? I don't!

You're eating well, just not enough. I agree that you're trying to NET 1200 calories, not consume 1200 calories regardless of your exercise. Keep up the healthy choices and give your body the fuel it needs to be strong & healthy! You're doing wonderfully! :flowerforyou:

cmriverside

morning oatmeal with pumpkin 350
snack yogurt nuts and fruit350
lunch chicken salad400
im hungriest here
dinner meat and sweet potato400

that's the usual

add more fat, its what works for me

THIS^^

Your food plan has very little fat. You need fats. I've been at maintenance forever and really need my fats or I start feeling hungry and my hair, nails, and skin get dry, cracked and break.

blue_byrd

I'm totally with you on this. I am a frequent runner, weight-lifter, etc and find myself ravenous after about a week and a half of maintaining only 1200/day. Would love some advice. Maybe I need to be better about eating my exercise calories back? It's just hard to figure out what those numbers are if I do a Boot Camp or something like that. I usually just don't count it unless I can measure it. Bad idea?

xrahelx

I struggle with that too. or eating way too much after a 12 hr shift. I have added Luna Bars to help. Or if I don't have too many calories left and I am starving- I will drink muscle milk ( 100 cal).
Also depends what yogurt you are eating - some like chobani have a crap load of sugar /carbs.

Some days I am really under- some days way over. I just try not to beat myself up about it, I make sure I log anything. ( so i can track weight gain from it) and then I make sure I exercise the next day and really try to be on or under my calorie goal. I have found that pre-logging and pre planning helps me stay in line for the day.
Kimd2090 is also right - combining protein with carb helps the carbs metabolize slower and doesn't create as much of a spike in blood sugar.
I have also been taking supplements that aid with stabilizing blood sugar.
* eat more fiber to stay full- eg. carrots or apples with peanutbutter or almond butter, tossed babyspinach with olives and hardboiled egg./ avacaco on top.
romain lettuce with chicken breast roll ups. & raisins.
Hope this helps!

TitaniaEcks

morning oatmeal with pumpkin 350
snack yogurt nuts and fruit350
lunch chicken salad400
im hungriest here
dinner meat and sweet potato400

that's the usual

add more fat, its what works for me

THIS^^

Your food plan has very little fat. You need fats. I've been at maintenance forever and really need my fats or I start feeling hungry and my hair, nails, and skin get dry, cracked and break.

Totally agreed... fat doesn't make you fat, too many calories (from fat or anything else) makes you fat. Fat is essential for a healthy body and is the best at keeping you feeling full longer. Low-fat diets are a discredited fallacy from decades ago... avoiding "bad" fats and watching calorie intake is what counts.

Patzycakes

I try to stick to 1200 calories. Somedays I eat a little more, sometimes a little less. I'm not a small person either. I'm 5'8 and 190 lbs. I do yoga a few times a week. Nothing major.

I usually get hungry when its time for my next meal. I'm hungriest between 5:00-6:00, but then it's dinner time and I figure that's the way it's suppose to be. You get hungry when it's time to eat, then you eat.

jrhm

Just a thought, if you find yourself craving a certain food, just eat a small amount of that food and wait a bit and you probably won't be hungry any more. If you try to eat something other than what you are craving, you will still want that "something" and overeat.

nikkiclaire123

i more or less stick to it, sometimes im at 1300 sometimes im 1000and i dont eat back calories burned. i know, im naughty

jz0608

You shouldn't be feeling hungry, angry, tired and weak. That isn't good because it will be hard to stick with. I like your idea of alternating calorie days. You could try doing the oatmeal and a hard boiled egg or adding in some peanut butter to the oatmeal. You may even benefit from a small snack in the afternoon. I usually have plain Greek yogurt with berries. Or, you could think about adding Shakeology as a snack or having that in the morning as your breakfast. Shakeology helps me to feel less hungry throughout the day, helps to curb cravings and gives me a ton of energy!

brdnw

i think im usually around 1200 and i used to eat like a pig n now i eat large salads, oatmeal, large healthy soups n protein shakes n im stuffed on 1200

jessfco

I have been eating the limit, or a little less. I actually found it easier to eat the calories as 250ish for breakfast, 350ish for lunch and 450ish for dinner. That leaves me with around 150-200 for snacks. I love popcorn. An entire bag is only 120 calories for the light butter. I have been doing it for 3 weeks and am down 6lbs.

aetzkorn14

Im eating 1500 and at the end of the day I feel horrible and angry and weak.
Is it just part of it will it go away?
I weigh 170 5'7 work out about 400 off a day.
Should I wait it out or add an extra hundred or two?
last night I felt starving so I downed three bowls of cereal and an egg burrito(which is a ridiculous amount of food for me usually after a bowl of oatmeal im stuffed, im surprised I kept it down) and I immediately felt better.
hellllppp

I would eat more. I tried the 1200 and it made me weak, have constant headaches, and I just felt horrible over all. I was doing 1500 and wouldn't eat all my calories back and it worked for a while but the weight did stop coming off and now I have increased it to 1800. I may net closer to 1600 after my workouts but I never feel tired and I am still loosing, just a little slower than I was.

KuraKaze

I think it's best to eat a big lunch and a small dinner, it helps with weight loss not to be too full when you go to sleep, and also keep you full during the afternoon when you need your energy the most.

As some people already suggested, eating too much carbs (which causes insulin spikes in your blood, which then lead to the feeling of hunger once the sugar level dips low soon after a meal) can make you feel more hungry. Your portion for each meal should be roughly 50% protein, then 25% veggies and 25% carbs (or more veggies and less carbs/grains, since there are a lot of carbs in veggies too, such as broccoli, so you don't really have to go out of your way to add carbs such as potatoes into your diet just so you get a "balanced" meal). Both my personal trainer and my doctor has told me to eat less carbs and more protein if I want to watch my weight.

On some days I'm just too hungry to stick to my caloric limit (which is set at 1300) so I don't, I snack on apples and let myself go over by a couple hundred calories. Keep in mind that even if you are not under the caloric limit, as long as you are not over your daily expenditure (which is about >1600 for sedentary lifestyle) then you are not going to gain. Losing weight slowly is perfectly fine as long as you don't yo-yo between high and low intake.

I generally eat a very protein heavy lunch (about 600calories) and have a salad+some proteins for dinner (about 300-400cal). My breakfast is cereal, around 300 cals. I general eat corn or broccoli etc. which has carbs but not super starchy, instead of starchy things like rice or pasta or potatoes to get my carbs.

themommie

I usuwlly stick to 1200 cals most of the time it is fine, I am actually stuffed.lately I have been constantly hungry.not sure why I have been eating like yhis for 3 yrs, you are welcome to look at my diary for ideas.but if you are constantlymhungry try eating a little more otherwise you wont stick to it

andrewj87

At first I thought 1200 would leave me starving but surprisingly I can get through the day plus workouts without a problem. Guess it all depends on what you're eating and when.

kowajenn

For the first six months of my diet, I did, and I didn't eat back calories. It was ok, until it wasn't, and I was getting to the point where I knew that I'd quit if I didn't start feeling more satisfied. Now I'm eating 1400 and eating back half of of the calories I burn through exercise. The loss is slower, but I feel much better and can sustain this effort.

WeepingAngel81

I've been sticking to 1200 for a few days now. I burn off 100-300 through exercise, so really i'm eating 1300-1600 a day, which seems to be fine for me.

This is me as well, except there are days when I don't eat back what I burn. Some of it has to do with timing and chasing my 2 kids around. By the time I sit down after my evening workout it's almost 10pm and I'm spent! I found that I had a hard time at first only becuae of the kind of food I was eating. Now that I have adjusted to eating more fruits and veggies and lean protien I find it easy to stick within the 1200 calories, and I am satisfied.

pajouey79

I was actually just thinking if you added a 100 calorie snack between lunch and dinner?

Coraddy

I'm finding that it takes adjustments to what you are eating and when. I started with the 1200 calorie goal, but wasn't eating back the 400-500 calories I was burning with each workout. I was hungry all of the time, and a bit cranky. I've decided that a 2lb per week loss goal just isn't realistic and have adjusted my goals to one lb per week. It upped my calories to 1390, and even though it doesn't seem like much, I feel better. I'm also getting much better at eating back a portion of the burned calories, and eating a better breakfast. I'm 5'4" and 148.

Yeah...I've had to make some adjustments also.1200 wasn't quite enough.I recently changed my goal to 1 lb a week instead of 2.Much less grumpy,starving and binging.Good luck!You can friend me too if you like!