Question for people around my size

AshleyTaylor2017

I am about 5'5", 153lbs and am looking to lose about 25lbs. I currently have my calories set at 1200 a day, and I am finding I do really good until dinner time, and then I am starving and wanting to eat anything in sight. Then once I'm done binging I feel like crap, both because my stomach hurts and because I can't believe all that I ate!! Do you think 1200 calories is just too low and my body is going into starvation mode? What do you think is a good range for me to eat? I just know if I continue to feel like this I will never stick with it. It's 3:30 right now and I'm already starving. It's going to be a long night!

nolachick

have low cal healthy snacks like fruits, veggies, baby carrots, broccoli. the most important meal to prevent you from binging at night is of course breakfast so don't be afraid to eat eggs, toast, oj, and maybe some turkey sausage or some kind of protein. also if u are at 1200 cals and you are working out pls pls pls eat your exercise cals. if you workout and burn 200 calories, then you have earned yourself 200 calories extra to put towards your meals, and no its not counterproductive, as long as you use those calories for healthy foods and not junk foods you'll do great!

maurierose

I'm not quite your size/shape, but my answer is universal.... I'm a little taller/heavier, but can stick to 1200 if I make sure that what I'm eating is GOOD QUALITY; i.e. whole grains, lean protein, etc.
Protein is the main thing that keeps me from being starving all day, lean chicken breast has low calories, low fat, low sodium (if you don't add much or any when you prepare it), and loads of protein..... I rely very heavily on boneless/skinless chicken breasts, and on tuna (looooove the pouches, will open the top and eat it with a fork. :laugh:

If you're HUNGRY, eat more protein. If you're MUNCHY, grab some raw veggies like carrots, celery, etc..... sweet tooth? eat an apple, dipped in yogurt or a tablespoon of peanutbutter, if you need to. You can do this! :flowerforyou:

Jazzy_Jayme

Also, make sure you're drinking plenty of water. I find that keeps me feeling fuller throughout the day.

jennylynn84

I'm a lot taller than you so I'm not sure if our size is comparable. I have about 25 pounds to go and I too am at 1200 calories according to MFP.

Do you snack during the day? I try to break up my calories into about 400-500 for dinner and spend the rest on a light breakfast and lunch with both a morning and afternoon snack. That way I'm not famished at dinner (or I'll just snack while I cook). When I first started out I didn't snack at all, cuz in my head it just seemed like a bad idea for dieting, but snacking instead of long breaks between meals also helps keep you metabolism from slowing down as much between meals, so its generally good advice anyway.

Good luck!

2723obriens

Hey,
I'm about the same size as you. Are you eating enough fiber, protein and fat? These things fill you up a lot better than carbs. I could eat cookes all day and get in my calories, but I would be starving! If I eat a good breakfast, peanut butter, toast, an orange and a good fiber filled lunch, all I need is nice large saladfor dinner and I can easily stay under my calories. Try it out. It looks like we both would like to get down to about the same weight too. Let me know how it goes!

Ang8178

I'm 5'4" and started out at 147, my goal is 120. I just upped my calories from 1200 to 1400 yesterday. I can check back with you in a few weeks and let you know if its working out I really think the 1200 was too low for me. Today is my first day eatting 1400 you are welcome to look at my food diary if you want. OOO don't look at yesterday... LOL :laugh: It was bad bad bad!!!

Phoenix_Rising

I am about 5'5", 153lbs and am looking to lose about 25lbs. I currently have my calories set at 1200 a day, and I am finding I do really good until dinner time, and then I am starving and wanting to eat anything in sight. Then once I'm done binging I feel like crap, both because my stomach hurts and because I can't believe all that I ate!! Do you think 1200 calories is just too low and my body is going into starvation mode? What do you think is a good range for me to eat? I just know if I continue to feel like this I will never stick with it. It's 3:30 right now and I'm already starving. It's going to be a long night!

Hi Long Lost Twin!!!

Me = 5'4'', 157 (today, 150 a couple weeks ago), goal weight of 135, I am starving by dinner too.

I did manually change my calories to 1400, afraid 1200 was too low. I was seeing results with 1400 cals daily.... till I had binging episodes the other week. Working on getting that under control.

Are you exercising? If so, make sure you are eating back those calories. Try eating more protein too, will keep you fuller longer.

But girl, I feel you.... I am STARVING.

runner915

I'm trying to lose around 20-25 pounds also and I try to take in about 1400 calories a day. Plus on the days that I work out I will eat about 200 to 300 more calories because otherwise I feel hungry all the time and don't have any energy, and I'm burning at least 400 calories in my workouts so it is still a deficit. I would think that it would be better to raise your daily calorie limit a little bit. It will take a little bit longer to lose the weight than if you were eating 1200 calories a day, but its more likely that you will actually end up losing the weight because it will be easier to stick to the plan. But if you really want to stick to the 1200 calories a day I would suggest trying to break up the calories as evenly as possible between 3 meals and 2 snacks. If you spend half your calories on one meal, then you won't have a lot for the rest of the day. So maybe 3 300 calorie meals and 2 150 calorie snacks? Not sure how big of a meal you can have with only 300 calories though...
Good luck with everything!

Vallandingham

I am experiencing the same things you are. I am on 1500 calories a day. This last week has been a little better because I have changed when I eat and the frenquency.

I am making up 4 smaller meals. Higher in protein and fiber and about 375 calories each.

I eat the first about 7am. Second at 10am. Third at Noon. Last meal about 2:30. I get up about 4:30 am and go to bed about 8pm, so you might adjust to your schedule. I try to keep busy in the evening. The first few days were rough, but now it is getting easier. The secret for me is not to eat after I get home.

jlewis2896

I have started eating bigger meals in the morning, and added a 3pm snack to tide me over until dinner, then I don't overeat. But I'm still STARRRRVING!!! Good luck.

AshleyTaylor2017

I try to eat well during the day...granted I've had my days. Today for breakfast I ate a grapefruit and a fiber one granola bar oats and peanut butter. For lunch I had a lean pocket chicken, cheddar, and broccoli and a grape fruit, and I just got done eating 6 saltine crackers because I'm starving and thats all I could find at work, besides a third grapefruit thats sitting in front of me, but my stomach is really acidic right now, so I don't want to eat that. I am just starting to exercise. I just signed up for a 5k in october, so I started the couch to 5k yesterday. I ate almost 400 calories over my limit yesterday so I did not eat back my exercise calories because I had already went over. I think I may try to bump up to 1400 calories and see if that makes a difference.

irismoon

I'm 5'2 and 172lbs (used to be 180lbs). So I'm close enough to your size. Anyways....

The best advice is to plan your meals ahead of time along with some exercise. I use the 1200 calories a day goal too, but since I workout at least 30 minutes a day that gives me around an extra 200 calories to munch on. So that would make my total 1400 calories to eat. Don't forget housework, shopping, and many other activies can be counted for exercise. That can give you an extra 200 calories easily. I don't always eat all my exercise calories because I've learned ways to keep myself from over eating. They are as follows:

1. Drink lots of water. Even if you don't think you are thirsty. Most people mistake thirst for hunger. Drink plenty of water with each meal. Try to get in at least 8oz of water with each meal and snack.

2. Eat a good breakfast. Do not ever skip this meal. If you do you will most likely eat more during lunch and dinner.

3. Eat snacks between meals. Go for about 100 calorie snacks if possible. I used to eat too much for dinner, but now I don't because every day around 3:00 pm I eat a snack. I also have a snack around 10:00am to help with over eating at lunch. I also try to stay away from sugary snacks and go more for fruits, fiber one muffins, protien bars, and etc. Even a small sandwich is a good idea. After 3:00pm I try to stay away from large amounts of sugar that my body won't burn off by the end of the day.

4. Never skip a meal. It makes you feel too hungry and you will over eat. This is for all meals and snacks.

5. Try to eat mostly whole-grains. Whole-grains seem to make you feelling full longer. Not sure why, but they do. Most likely the fiber and the fact they are complex carbs.

6. Fiber. Get lots of it. Try for 20 grams a day. It keeps you feeing full. When I get more fiber in my diet, I get hungry less. Plus people who didn't get enough fiber and changed their diets to get the recommended amount lost 10lbs in a year just because of the fiber intake. It does more than you think.

7. If you still feel hungry after a meal wait 20 minutes before picking up more food. It takes a while for the body to realize it is full. Also sit down to eat. Your body realizes it is full quicker when sitting than standing.

8. If you feel a craving comeing on. Distract yourself. Try to exercise for a while instead. Go on a walk, read a book, or whatever you enjoy. Something to take your mind off of food.

9. Is it hunger you are feeling or something else? Is it the desire to eat instead of actual hunger? Try to figure out if what you are feeling is really hunger or just a craving, desire to eat, thirst, or whatever. I thought this was silly at first, but it works. If everything else above fails this could be the problem. I know that when I started paying attention to if I was hunger or just wanted to munch on cookies, I began to realize that I wasn't as hungery as I thought.

Well I wish you luck on this problem. Remember to take it one step at a time and believe in yourself. You can do it if you put your mind to it!

mromnek

Your BMR is 1446. If you are lightly active, your daily calorie expenditure is 1988 calories. If you are only eating 1200 calories, you are starving yourself. That means that your BMR may actually be reduced to as low as 1012 calories, meaning your 1200 calories is now a surplus, not a deficit.

Drop your goal from 2 lbs per week down to 1 lb per week. That will put your calories up to 1488 or so, and you will start losing weight like crazy.

nolachick

great tips iris moon!

drvvork

I just looked at your food diary... you might want to give up the carbs in the AM and go with a protein start for your day and more proteins for lunch. I eat more proteins at least attempt to balance the proteins and carbs for my meals to take care of the feeling hungry - and about every hour I'm ether drinking water or coffee... this works for me. :flowerforyou:

AshleyTaylor2017

Thanks for all the good advice! I am changing my goal to lose 1lb a week to up the calorie intake and see if that helps. I will also pay more attention to what kinds of foods I am eating!!

itsmenatalie

I am 5'4" and started September 1, 09 at 156 with an original goal of 135 (I'm now 10 lbs below that). I lost my weight with a daily calorie goal of 1476. 1200 was just too low for me. I also ate most, if not all of my exercise calories. I've done great and been very happy with my results.

aerome

I'm around your size (5'6" and 154 lbs) and I know that 1200 calories is too low for me. My blood sugar gets too low and I get the shakes, and I don't normally have blood sugar problems. I'm currently eating around 1500 calories and I do just fine. (It's amazing how much of a difference 300 calories can make!)

Personally, I would up your calories. It's better to plan to eat an extra 300 calories (you'll still lose weight!) than to binge every night (or go to bed hungry).

RedMcCord

I'm about in your range too. 5'4 and right now 156 (eeeeek!). I am constantly starving! Seems like no matter what I eat I'm still hungry. I drink a ton of water, There are times I'm hungry though and just too lazy to eat, or I end up grabbing something quick that's full of carbs and/or calories.

I have found that eating a salad about an hour before dinner helps me to "tide over" and not overeat so much and keeps the munchies down.

coronalime

I am 5'5 159 goal is 135. MFP has me on 1480 calories which I have been following. I do not eat all my work out calories but I will eat some depending on what I did. I dont wear a heart monitor so my burned calories are an educated guess. 1200 is just way to low for me