Finding it extremely hard

boobee32

to stick to the 1200 calories a day, without starving all day long.....even when adding in the calories from my exercise I am going over calories I am supposed to be eating. Maybe I just need to buckle down and exercise more, I dont know..but I am just getting back into this..and didnt want to overload myself and then give up before i even got started.

rozarotti

It is very hard! But I started reading nutrition labels for EVERYTHING! I bought a scale and measure EVERYTHING. If you start finding foods in low calorie, you will be able to eat more and stay satisfied. You are more than welcome to look at my diary for any ideas.
Good luck to you

heatherhart

I know how you feel. I am at the 1200 limit too & what makes it even worse is my husband eats whatever he wants and never gains a pound lol. Good Luck!

DanOhh

Ease back then. Go to 1500 cal. a day if you're struggling and work your way into 1200 a day. You can always adjust. This isn't a dash it's a marathon.

lorijupiter3

I've just started to and I've started on a 1500 cal/day. I'm not finding it too hard and it is a far cry from what I used to have! . Maybe you should up your intake by more calories. Once it starts feeling like a chore and horrible because you're hungry I think that's when you want to give up. Try something a bit more manageable first I would say and you'll still start to see the results.

defygravity531

your instincts are exactly right: don't overload yourself. I'm supposed to be sticking to 1340 calories a day. I've gone over that every day this week except one and I've still lost 3 pounds since Monday. (I haven't exercised at all because I'm working two jobs right now, but normally I would exercise). Shoot for 1200 calories every day but don't make yourself crazy! You're still going to lose. When you see that new number on the scale at the end of the week you'll see that you can make progress without starving.

traceysturn

Find foods that are high fiber & high protein. These are the things that will make you full, longer - I start the day w/ low sugar maple brown sugar oatmeal w/ a tbsp of p/butter mixed in. Keeps me going til lunch.
Hard boiled eggs, apple & oranges. High fiber toast w/ p/butter & glass of skim milk.
Hang in there - you'll get it. Just have to play around w/ it to find what works for you!

kaitimae

I would echo what everyone else is saying, for the most part. You probably have your goals set so you will lose 2 pounds a week... if so, I would change it to 1 pound a week. I get 1700+ calories a day and this week I lost 4 pounds. (Granted, it was my first week back on the wagon, haha.)

Don't torture yourself, or you will never want to stick with this! This is a life change, it's okay, and probably better, to ease yourself in!

sallyLunn

I would echo what everyone else is saying, for the most part. You probably have your goals set so you will lose 2 pounds a week... if so, I would change it to 1 pound a week. I get 1700+ calories a day and this week I lost 4 pounds. (Granted, it was my first week back on the wagon, haha.)

Don't torture yourself, or you will never want to stick with this! This is a life change, it's okay, and probably better, to ease yourself in!

What she said.

Tomlette

I had trouble with it at first, too, and I'm only at 1380. But I started reading the labels on food, and paying attention to my eating habits. Now I'm having trouble making 1200 calories because I eat so much low-cal food, I'm just not hungry enough. *lol*

I've found starting with a breakfast bigger than what you're used to helps me through out the day. My boss says a high-protein breakfast helps him, and I've found it helps me, too.

Feel free to check my diary. My eating habits still aren't very good -- I take in WAY too much sodium and sugar -- but my appetite is satisfied, and I'm losing weight.

Schuky01

Are you trying to loose 2lbs a week, maybe you should change to the 1 lb per week. You want to make sure that this is a journey that you are going to be able to keep on. Perhaps the 1200 a day is just too few calories and you need to up it to 1500. Good luck to you.

kacylaine

What is your weight loss goal set at? If it's at 2 pounds/week, I suggest taking it down to 1 pound per week. I did that for the first month or two and had 1550 calories per day. Those extra 300 calories make a huge difference, and you will definitely still lose weight. Plus any exercise you do earns you even more calories.

RMinVA

So a little bit about where I am coming from: I have successfully maintained a 50# weight loss for over 2 years now. I was down 70# @ one point. I wanted to lose another 20 or so, but instead I watched the scale go backwards in 2010. I got away from the basics and what helped me lose all that weight in the first place.

When you are watching your calories EVERYTHING has to count, there just isn't a lot of room for nutritionally void food, or you WILL fail. You will constantly be lethargic, hungry etc. You feel like you are starving and you are, because your body is not getting the nutrients that it needs.

You have to eat a diet of REAL food: that means lots of fresh fruits and veggies, lean meats, low fat dairy, and whole grains. That just doesn't leave a lot of room for other things! The less ingredients on a package the better! The biggest favor you can do for your waistline is ditch as much processed food as possible. There are TONS of healthy, simple food ideas out there that do not take a lot of time. I'm not saying you can't have a treat, but @ least think about it before you chow down.

As for 2011, on Monday I stopped eating my exercise calories (lots of debate about that on this website, but I come down on the side of do not eat them unless you are engaging in intense cardio activity of an hour or more), ditched refined sugar + carbs (mostly pasta and bread - even though it was whole wheat) and started making sure I was getting in 8+ glasses of water a day. I have lost 4# this week. Granted, it's probably mostly water weight, but the scale is moving in the right direction again. THAT's a great feeling!

boobee32

OK...I reset my goals for 1 lb a week....and it ONLY gave me 60 extra calories a day.....hahahahaha.

mapinkerton

I peeked at your food diary. You need to make some healthier food choices. You need more fruits and veggies and less processed food.