Still hungry on 1200 calories

runner_girl83

I try and drink 6+ cups of water a day and have been trying to eat healthy meals and snacks - I'm fairly happy with how it's all going, though I am finding that I am feeling quite hungry on 1200 calories and wondered if anyone had bumped this up to a few more 100 calories for themselves? I would like to lose a few kg's (baby weight) and tone up. Before joining MFP I was pretty much skipping breakfast and having one gigantic snack on crappy food during the day, though dinners were pretty healthy and large.
Though now that I am eating healthier and exercising I feel famished!

How much is okay to increase? I am around 57kg and would like to lose at least 5kg, not very much I know though enough to feel better and tone up.

I try and exercise for at least 30-40 mins a day, which is usually a walk or doing some strength exercises.

lindapeterson42

Hi there If you add in your exercise onto the app, it will add calories for you (ie 274 calories earned through exercise). Even weight training will burn calories if you log it under cardio too, based on your weight. On days I exercise heavier, I do eat more than the 1200, because Ive earned it. I'm still losing weight too. Good luck

AmyRhubarb

Absolutely - 1200 is too low for most people, and likely lower than your BMR.

Did you put your weekly loss goal at 2lbs a week when you entered your info at MFP? If so, change it to 1/2 lb a week (or whatever the lower amount is for kg) - this will give you more calories.

Also, if you are exercising, make sure you log it, and you can eat those calories back. Your daily goal already has a deficit built in, meaning you could eat to goal daily with no exercise and you'll lose weight. So if you exercise, eat those cals back, and bring your daily NET cal at or near goal.

Good luck!

QuietBloom

I try and drink 6+ cups of water a day and have been trying to eat healthy meals and snacks - I'm fairly happy with how it's all going, though I am finding that I am feeling quite hungry on 1200 calories and wondered if anyone had bumped this up to a few more 100 calories for themselves? I would like to lose a few kg's (baby weight) and tone up. Before joining MFP I was pretty much skipping breakfast and having one gigantic snack on crappy food during the day, though dinners were pretty healthy and large.
Though now that I am eating healthier and exercising I feel famished!

How much is okay to increase? I am around 57kg and would like to lose at least 5kg, not very much I know though enough to feel better and tone up.

I try and exercise for at least 30-40 mins a day, which is usually a walk or doing some strength exercises.

Are you eating back your exercise calories? How tall are you?

neanderthin

You sound like you live an active lifestyle and I think with such little weight you want to lose, that a slower more sustainable calorie goal would relieve not only your hunger but increase your non athletic activity and well being.

runner_girl83

Absolutely - 1200 is too low for most people, and likely lower than your BMR.

Did you put your weekly loss goal at 2lbs a week when you entered your info at MFP? If so, change it to 1/2 lb a week (or whatever the lower amount is for kg) - this will give you more calories.

Also, if you are exercising, make sure you log it, and you can eat those calories back. Your daily goal already has a deficit built in, meaning you could eat to goal daily with no exercise and you'll lose weight. So if you exercise, eat those cals back, and bring your daily NET cal at or near goal.

Good luck!

Okay, first of all, I have just had that light bulb moment where you realise something except now I am completely embarassed lol I am so relieved though very red-faced I should have realised sooner that I could eat my exercise cals back but honestly I was told that it kind of defeats the purpose - Needless to say I am going right now and finding an awesome meal to have!!

Sorry .. Really feeling pretty silly for not realising this and listening to misguided info!
Thankyou!!!!!

TribeHokie

Not able to see your diary but I would ask what are you eating? I tend to stick to 1200 plus some percentage of exercise calories and I never feel deprived. This is due to a lack of appetite in the morning so I can get away with 200 calories for breakfast, then a 300 calorie lunch that is heavy in watery veggies for bulk, a 100 calorie snack in the afternoon (usually fruit like an apple), and then 600 calories of dinner (again veggie heavy for bulk) or a 400ish calorie dinner and a 200 calorie smoothie a couple hours later.

My point is, I tend to fill out my calories with a lot of veggies, some fruit, about 3 ~100 calorie servings of whole grain and the rest protein and fats and I've never felt that 1200 was too low for me (5'3, currently 195, working out moderately 5x per week)

So my suggestion would be to take a look at what you're eating and if you see the opportunity to sub 50 calories of cheese or butter for 50 calories of broccoli (which is half a frozen bag btw) then you might want to consider doing so.

AmyRhubarb

Absolutely - 1200 is too low for most people, and likely lower than your BMR.

Did you put your weekly loss goal at 2lbs a week when you entered your info at MFP? If so, change it to 1/2 lb a week (or whatever the lower amount is for kg) - this will give you more calories.

Also, if you are exercising, make sure you log it, and you can eat those calories back. Your daily goal already has a deficit built in, meaning you could eat to goal daily with no exercise and you'll lose weight. So if you exercise, eat those cals back, and bring your daily NET cal at or near goal.

Good luck!

Okay, first of all, I have just had that light bulb moment where you realise something except now I am completely embarassed lol I am so relieved though very red-faced I should have realised sooner that I could eat my exercise cals back but honestly I was told that it kind of defeats the purpose - Needless to say I am going right now and finding an awesome meal to have!!

Sorry .. Really feeling pretty silly for not realising this and listening to misguided info!
Thankyou!!!!!

No worries - it's a common mistake and we see it a lot here at MFP - too many don't realize that the daily goal already has that deficit, and they figure why eat back what they just burned off? Sounds realistic until you realize that by doing so you're creating a HUGE deficit, which can backfire on ya before long.

I love MFP - it's a great system.

runner_girl83

Seriously excited since realizing that I can actually do this lol I can now squeeze so much more yummyness into my day

Cheers for all your help!

AccioFitness

Look up your BMR and TDEE. If you eat below your BMR you will likely have a harder time losing weight. If you stay at a low caloric level (and 1200 is low) be sure to eat back your burned calories so you're NETTING 1200.

I'll use myself as an example: My BMR is about 1600 and I'm netting just above that most days. My TDEE is about 2100 so I am getting a deficit of ~400-500 calories daily, which is more than enough to lose a pound or so a week. I also exercise ~3 days a week for 45-60 mins plus stretching before and after. I had originally set my intake goal at 1390, thinking I was eating a lot because I was above 1200 calories. But I was STARVING. I was grumpy and tired and while I did lose weight I didn't feel better. I had no idea how BMR or TDEE worked at first and made a lot of mistakes. Adjusting my intake made a HUGE difference.

bbontheb

Please help.....what is BMR and TDEE?? lol.

I didn't even think about the deficit built in already...no wonder I'm hungry haha

mockchoc

Please help.....what is BMR and TDEE?? lol.

I didn't even think about the deficit built in already...no wonder I'm hungry haha

Read this. It should explain a lot to you. I'm pretty short and older and my doctor said 1200 wasn't enough for me. I eat around 1700 including my exercise calories to lose.

runner_girl83

Please help.....what is BMR and TDEE?? lol.

I didn't even think about the deficit built in already...no wonder I'm hungry haha

Hi, are you being sarcastic? I'm sorry if my post seemed silly.. A friend who uses this program told me not to eat my exercise calories back that's why I didn't know if I should up my calories or not.. I thought it was strange though they have been using the program for a while now so took it that they were telling me the right way to do things.

Thanks to everyone who was being helpful!!

Ophidion

This should help somewhat...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1069278-acronyms-and-terms-for-new-mfp-members-v-6

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

ikearch

The 1200 calorie range for where you are and where you want to go is pretty good. Since you're not feeling full, you should try changing a few things, which I think will help a lot. First, try exercising immediately after waking up and stretching properly. This will help boost your metabolism throughout the day and can make you feel less hungry. You'll need to do higher-rate cardio for this, so dog walking can come later and help loosen up your legs from the morning's cardio. I recommend jumping rope or HIIT with an elliptical. Keep hydrated and stretched. If you snack, try fruits or vegetables (grapes, bananas, oranges, sweet potatoes, apples, carrots, broccoli or califlower). You'll want to maintain high fiber (goal around 20-25 grams/day) but ease into it.
Plan your meals and stick to the plan. Don't eat a lot for one meal and little for another, you won't be as satisfied with smaller portions in this case.

Summary:
Wake up, stretch and jump rope 1 min, rest 1 min (for 20 min)
Small snack, lots of water.
Meals: high fiber, similar portions to other meals. Stay around 1200 cal.

Seems basic but I swear by it.

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

Please help.....what is BMR and TDEE?? lol.

I didn't even think about the deficit built in already...no wonder I'm hungry haha

Hi, are you being sarcastic? I'm sorry if my post seemed silly.. A friend who uses this program told me not to eat my exercise calories back that's why I didn't know if I should up my calories or not.. I thought it was strange though they have been using the program for a while now so took it that they were telling me the right way to do things.

Thanks to everyone who was being helpful!!

Well, they aren't actually using the program correctly, or they are using a different method to determine what to eat. If you are using MFP with a goal of .5 to 2lbs/week, then your deficit is built in and you eat your exercise calories back, you are on the right track now. Just remember that sometimes MFP overestimates calories burnt, so if you arent losing weight after a week, eat say 80% back and then see how it goes, if you lose fast enough the next week keep it there, if not eat only 60% back, etc, its an adjustable formula. Just 1200 calories not NET is too low for most people unless you are pretty short. It seems like most women come on here with the number 1200 calories passed on from someone else or some fad diet, and then gradually realize they can eat more AND lose weight with exercise, usually after finding 1200 doesnt work well (again unless they are short)

Is there some new fad diet out there promoting 1200 calories? Its really odd, every day there is a new "1200 calorie" thread, you dont see any other random numbers out there, just 1200 calories.

TavistockToad

if you only have about 10lbs to lose, you should set MFP to lose 0.5lb per week, that way you get more calories.

runner_girl83

The 1200 calorie range for where you are and where you want to go is pretty good. Since you're not feeling full, you should try changing a few things, which I think will help a lot. First, try exercising immediately after waking up and stretching properly. This will help boost your metabolism throughout the day and can make you feel less hungry. You'll need to do higher-rate cardio for this, so dog walking can come later and help loosen up your legs from the morning's cardio. I recommend jumping rope or HIIT with an elliptical. Keep hydrated and stretched. If you snack, try fruits or vegetables (grapes, bananas, oranges, sweet potatoes, apples, carrots, broccoli or califlower). You'll want to maintain high fiber (goal around 20-25 grams/day) but ease into it.
Plan your meals and stick to the plan. Don't eat a lot for one meal and little for another, you won't be as satisfied with smaller portions in this case.

Summary:
Wake up, stretch and jump rope 1 min, rest 1 min (for 20 min)
Small snack, lots of water.
Meals: high fiber, similar portions to other meals. Stay around 1200 cal.

Seems basic but I swear by it.

Thanks! Did this this morning!! And feel much better already eating back exercise calories! Thanks!