Hunger Pains

karmabear06

Congrats for wanting to change! However this journey you have started has no end only a beginning and what you do with it is yours to decide. If you choose to limit your calories to ONLY 1200 per day to start with you will be hungry in the beginning because you are new to correct portion sizes and still have much to learn. There is no rule book that says you have to eat certain food at certain times of the day. If you wanted you could have dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner. I normally eat oatmeal with fruit or grits with eggs for breakfast at work but occasionally I do meal prep and have waffles or pancakes for breakfast and I have 2 Banquet turkey sausage links (YUM)! My biggest suggestion is to read the forums, make friends with people who have the same goals, and drink plenty of water. Sometimes when you think you are hungry you may actually be thirsty. I prefer not using Crystal Light or other things to flavor my water but if I want to add flavor add some fresh fruit to your water. Your first few weeks are going to be to learn what works for you. Good luck!

chaniluv

@brightsideofpink: Some people have said that 1200 calories may be too few, yes, but there are others who have said that I should take time to adjust. I have opted to do the latter. It is clear from all the suggestions I've received that 1200 should be plenty as long as I plan ahead and stock my cabinets appropriately. I'm sorry if I gave anyone the impression that I'm brushing off their ideas because I'm convinced I know more about this than they do. That was not my intention at all.

@skinnyinnotime: I mentioned that I had done something wrong (or MFP's listing for linked sausages were wrong, I don't know.) It ended up only being 360 calories which is definitely manageable now that I'm exercising. That breakfast does sound much yummier than mine, though!

@lilrose2020: I was only eating once a day because I assume my metabolism had slowed down from my prolonged lack of activity. That, and I was drinking 12+ sodas a day. I think that's probably a big part of why I'm hungrier now. My body's adjusting to not having tons of sugar and caffeine pumped into it continuously.

@thread: I'm doing a bit of a recap here for my own reference. Some things I've learned...
1. Double-check calories on the package or with Google
2. Try for a breakfast with protein and fiber so I'll stay fuller longer
3. Cut down on the cheese and bacon, but don't cut it out
4. Try turkey bacon and oatmeal
5. Plan ahead

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! It's nice to have it so I don't have room to make excuses for quitting further down the road.

SpikeTailTurtle

A little off topic but I'm going to toss this out there since it's bound to happen.
GOING OUT TO EAT. Whenever possible you want to know where you are going first so you can get onto their website and decide what you want to eat. For my local restraunts and some major chains I have fast food sets that I get all for less than 500 Calories so I can go out without having to fuss. Example: Burger King; Whopper Jr no mayo no cheese. Small fry and a Dasani sensations lime. My hubby and I eat out regularly so it's nice to know what you can eat where and still get enough to eat without the guilt of breaking your caloric bank

chaniluv

@SpikeTailTurtle: That is some good advice for a newbie. I had ruled out fast food completely before your post. We don't really have the funds for it right now anyway, but that'll certainly come in handy for when we do. Thanks!

NotShena

Eat more. And add more protein. Hunger pains are not cool.

ValGogo

:yawn:

maggiebee04

Re: eggs & cheese: You just need to learn how to cook differently and you'll be fine! Like, take the eggs & cheese thing. You don't need a whole cup of cheese. Try scrambling them with .24 tbsp butter or cooking spray, but do it the French way (gourmet scrambled eggs) and scramble them on low heat, really slowly. They naturally stay creamy that way. Put in salt and a ton of pepper, and then, just before they are done (it takes like 10 mins but it's worth it), add maybe 1 tbsp of shredded cheese.

Another really good, decadent egg recipe is baked eggs. You take an oven safe bowl (I have some little ramekins, but soup bowls work too) and put in a tiny sliver of butter, 1 tsp of milk, 1 tsp of cream, and broil that until it bubbles. Take it out, crack an egg into it (and here I always add raw coleslaw mix, because I love shredded cabbage, but you could put in any veggies you want, or not). Salt & pepper, and then less than 1 tbsp of parmesan cheese. Just enough to TASTE it. then a drizzle (seriously, like, 1 tsp) of cream on top of the yolk to protect it. Broil this for 2-3 minutes, until the egg white is set. It's the best thing ever. It comes out bubbly and creamy and it's filling and delicious. This is something I do when I feel a craving for heavy, creamy food, and it kills the craving every time.

365andstillalive

I saw the scooby calculator link farther up this thread, I'd really advice using it.

Figure out your BMR and TDEE and don't eat below your BMR. If you're eating below your BMR you'll negatively affect your metabolism over time so you'll have to eat less to maintain when you reach your goal. You also are at a higher risk of losing LBM (muscle) when you're eating below your BMR which means that you might reach your goal to find that your body fat percentage is still high and therefore you will still look "fat" and have all of the health complications that come with unhealthy body fat levels.

Unless you're very tiny, 1200 cals is likely too little for you. If you're actually getting hunger pain you need to eat. The rule of thumb for most people is that if you drink a glass of water and still feel like your stomach is gnawing at itself that you need to eat something. Just make healthy choices and work on portion control as others have mentioned.

Good luck.

ksy1969

Out of curiosity, were you drinking full sugared pop? If so that is the biggest problem. Back when I was your age, I drank full sugar Mt. Dew. Then when I met my future wife, she educated me and got me switched to diet pop. It wasn't easy, because I drank quite a few bottles during the day and after being used to having all those calories from sugar it took a week or two for me to get over that.

I think I lost 5 or 10 lbs just from switching to diet pop. I still ate like a horse, but removing those pop calories was enough to drop my calorie intake to lose some weight.

Also, back to the 1200 calorie thing. At your age, you really need to re-evaluate your caloric intake. There are so many woman on here that eat way more than that and are still losing weight. I think so many woman just assume they need to eat so little because they do not understand how many calories they were actually consuming to put the weight on. Yes, there are a lot that seem to think 1200 is functional and some that really can only eat 1200. In those cases there are medical reasons. However, why restrict yourself so much when you may not have to?

Edited to correct my mad typing skills

brightsideofpink

@brightsideofpink: Some people have said that 1200 calories may be too few, yes, but there are others who have said that I should take time to adjust. I have opted to do the latter. It is clear from all the suggestions I've received that 1200 should be plenty as long as I plan ahead and stock my cabinets appropriately. I'm sorry if I gave anyone the impression that I'm brushing off their ideas because I'm convinced I know more about this than they do. That was not my intention at all.

Where is it clear that 1200 calories is enough? Sure, everything takes adjustments. I can't argue with that, whether it is 1200 or 1800. I am sorry to keep harping on this, but I just don't see the wisdom of 1200 calories, especially for somebody new to lifestyle changes. I have read hundreds of success stories here, and I can't say more than 1 or 2 ever said they did it on 1200 calories a day. I really don't say this to sound like a know-it-all, as I am far from it. I don't say it to insult you or belittle you and I apologize in advance if it ever comes out that way. I really only say it because I don't want you to be hungry. I don't want you to fail. I don't want you to have unrealistic expectations or feel that you are deprived. I want you to be happy and I want you to be successful. Truly. Its a long journey, and you may as well feel satisfied and happy along the way.

Check this thread out. Its really a great read.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

If after reading that, you still wish to pursue 1200 calories, I'd encourage you to at least start in the shallow end of the pool. Acclimate slower. You will still lose weight on 1500. I promise you.

zhou8759

Try drinking a large glass of water! sometimes thirst can seem like hunger.

chaniluv

I hate to come off as stubborn, but I made a commitment and so long as that commitment is realistic I would like to stick to it. My hunger pains were not because of the 1200-calorie limit but because I didn't plan ahead and do more research. Even eating that unhealthy sausage breakfast did not prevent me from being able to eat my other meals comfortably. I still have 535 calories left for supper and that's after having an ice cream bar as a snack! I really can do this with all the help everyone here has provided.

I promise I won't starve myself, guys! If I find that I'm still having hunger pains after I've gave this my all by creating meal plans and cutting down on the cheese I will raise my calorie limit. My hunger pains today were caused by own ignorance and newbishness, not by the limit itself. I'm checking out recipes online now and making a grocery list. Thanks for your legitimate concern, though! It warms my heart to see how eager everyone is to help a complete stranger battle a self-inflicted life problem.

Re: Water - I've been drinking nothing but water these past couple days, until I can get to town and buy some Crystal Light stuff. I know soda was probably the biggest contributor to my obesity--I was drinking 12+ cans of Coke a day--so hopefully drinking water will help me out considerably with losing weight. We'll see!

And thank you again to everyone for being so helpful!

20yearsyounger

Just the way you took notes and summarized the key points makes me believe you can do it. You cut through the fat - literally Feel free to add me as a friend if you need more encouragement.

sallybaine

Bump! Are hunger pains normal/just to be accepted when trying to lose weight? I'm exercising and eating healthy to try and get into calorie deficit and I am ravenous ALL the time, 24/7. For 80% of the day I have hunger pains in my stomach. If I cave in and eat they go away. It feels like if I don't experience the hunger pains and ride through them, I'm not losing weight.

What are hunger pains? I've heard someone say it's when you're stomach's eating the fat away, so that's a good thing right? Should I learn to embrace the gut wrenching feeling of hunger pains as just part of the weight loss journey? And do they get less the more you experience them?

jkterrell

Two things:

1) You can do 1200 calories but it is hard to do for a long period of time. I have started at 1200 calories numerous times and I do lose weight faster but every, single time I burn out after about 5 to 6 weeks from eating so strictly and then put it right back on. Based on all the numerous comments from MFP friends who have actually had long-term success, I upped my goal to 1500 and think I can actually do that for a longer period of time - i.e. make it an actual lifestyle instead of short-term diet. Just something to consider. Weight loss really does depend on your body so I have no doubt you will figure it out what works for you :-)

2) That Scooby Workshop calculator that some of you posted earlier is awesome - thank you for that!!!

enterdanger

@20yearsyounger: A cup of shredded cheddar cheese is apparently 300 calories. That's an entire meal. I haven't ever tried turkey bacon, but I suppose I could give it a shot.

Measure out 1/4 a cup. That's only 75 calories and is a decent amount to go on eggs

jkterrell

@sallybaine: Just my two cents but it seems like there are times to ignore and times to not. My trainer has said that while you are adjusting to eating less, you should expect some hunger pains especially at night. However, if you are ravenous all the time, then you are probably not eating enough (especially perhaps protein) and/or drinking enough water given the amount you are exercising. I lost 40 pounds about 2 years ago (still have another 30 to go) and at night for the first two months, I would literally bite a spoon so as not to eat. Lol. Then, I started drinking water when I felt that way and it just got better over time. I knew I was eating the right amount of calories so it was just my body adjusting to me stopping the late-night snacks. I need to go back to doing that!

64martina

You need to eat breakfast. Have you tried turkey bacon with eggs?