Concerned About Calories, Advice Needed Please.

SteffieMark

I'm not really sure how I can eat 1200 calories a day. I am struggling to even get close. I have always been a 'meal skipper', normally eating one meal a day, even when I was very thin. Since 2/24/12, I have been using Body by Vi shakes for meal replacements and eating a sensible dinner, along with a couple snacks. I lost 12 pounds in my first 14 days and am still losing. But, I feel full all the time. Do I really have to eat 1200 a day? Certainly, I shouldn't just eat to be eating, when I'm not hungry. Any advice?

Pebble321

My opinion on "eating when hungry, listen to your body" is that while this is a good theory, I think many of us are completely out of touch with what out body genuinely needs.
My experience: "eating when hungry" for 43 years made me obese. "Eating a moderate amount on a regular basis, hungry or not" has me 22kg (nearly 50 pounds) lighter, and I'm healthier and fitter than I have ever been.

I think that eating a low amount of calories over a long period of time is going to put you at risk of not getting in enough nutrition to stay healthy. I think this is a really intersting read, you might be able to relate:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

bcc112986

I agree with Rubybelle.

Not gettting enough calories after a long time will most likely have negative effects on your health and weight.

Food is the fuel for our bodies. We need it to operate.

You might try exercising more to create hunger or just walk everyday.

You don't have to eat a lot at one time to get in your calories and you can also have more than one meal replacement shake a day if that helps add to your intake.

Good luck

Brittany

theNurseNancy

My opinion and person experience is that if I wait till Im truly hungry to eat, I usually make worse decisions on what to eat. Your body's blood sugar levels need to be stable throughout the day to prevent yourself from feeling deprived, leading you to make terrible choices.

I used to be the same. I'd skip meals and eat only when I got hungry, which would lead me to eat HUGE (and most likely unhealthy) meals that took much longer to digest and made me feel HORRIBLE. Eating smaller meals throughout the day is what works for me.

susannamarie

Certainly, I shouldn't just eat to be eating, when I'm not hungry. Any advice?

Your body may not know whether it's hungry or not. I would recommend starting small and with something you actively like in a small portion, but I really would try to get in the habit of eating a bit more. 1200 is a good goal to start with.

I don't know what you like, but my ex also had serious arthritis, which made him depressed and not hungry. I would make him breakfast, and it started out as being a single scrambled egg on toast. Even then, he could only eat half of it (I would eat the other half), but it sort of got him going again.

Chester_1

I'm in a similar situation. I went from eating out all the time, getting fries with EVERYTHING, and drinking more Coke in a day than many people consume in a week to eating what I figured was "healthy." I'm vegetarian, so that cuts out a healthier foods that are filling, and I was literally eating celery and melba toast for three meals a day. I could stuff myself full of celery and cucumbers and not come anywhere NEAR my 1200 calories; I was getting closer to 600 or 700 a day. I also felt like butt.
I changed my foods around a little bit, embraced my love of pasta, and I'm getting closer to 1200; I hit 1000 on a normal day, before exercise. There's no way I'm going to be able to eat enough to hit 1200 AFTER exercise and still keep under in sugars and carbs and sodium
Eating for the sake of eating is what got me into this situation in the first place, so I'm in no rush to start eating just to hit the magical 1200 calorie mark.