starving to death

classicalcrespin

i recently came back to mfp from a break. i cut my caloric goal to 1200 so that i could try to eat less and better but i would still be under maintenance if i went over for the day. for breakfast, i eat 2 eggs on a piece of toast with my daily coffee. this past week, lunch has been 2 cups of soup (like 400 cals). i have been snacking on cuties, apples, and bananas. sometimes almonds. dinner is anything from fish and veggies to taco type dinners to meat pies. i'm also drinking a fair amount of water, pretty close to my 64 oz each day. i'm not starving myself by any means, but i can't stop being hungry. any suggestions?

AlyssaJoJo

If you're always hungry try bumping up your calories for a bit. Then you don't have to worry about going over cause you get those calories back. And you never know, you might lose more weight that way. I've seen it a lot where people are doing the -2lbs and go to -1lbs and drop weight faster once their body adjusts.

Also - you can work out and eat back your calories. MFP is set up for you to eat your work out calories since they already are taking away the amount you need taken away to lose weight. I personally work out some days just to have those extra calories cause I'm having a really hungry day.

Hope you find something that works for you!

rachietuk

Eat more, if you are hungry 1200 calories is not enough.

literatelier

The soup would kill me. It's like 2 cups of water that costs you useless calories, and just not very filling imo (unless you're making homemade soup, which would be better than canned but still not great). I would suggest adding some filling veggies and lean proteins. You can have a can of tuna or four oz of chicken for only 120 calories, and two cups of broccoli for 60. Let me tell you, two cups of broccoli will keep you plenty full.

For breakfast you could try replacing one egg with a quarter cup of egg white, which will save you about 40 calories. I like to mix, because the yolk has healthy fats, so I don't want to cut it out completely. You can look for low calorie bread to try and get a little wiggle room for the day.

For snacks, I try to stick to one piece of fruit per day and I make sure to eat it with some protein. This should help balance out blood sugar and prevent a hunger spike later. An example would be an apple with a piece of low calorie string cheese. Greek yogurt or cottage cheese are also awesome.

Almonds are great but high calorie, so eating them on a 1200 calorie diet can be prohibitive. But really, most things can be prohibitive on a 1200 calorie diet, so anywhere you can substitute something for fewer calories would make a huge difference and allow you to eat a bit more.

wibutterflymagic

A couple things come to mind. If you have your weight loss set to 2lbs/week go down to 1lb to give you more calories. It gives you a buffer to play with. Second, try eating snacks that have protein vs. all the fruit. Personally, fruit doesn't last very long with me. And lastly if you are exercising eat back a good portion of those calories. The calorie goal that MFP gives you already has a deficit so if you are exercising you are giving yourself a larger one and your body needs fuel to exercise.

eggfooyumyum

I tried 1200 calories and was always hungry as well. Try these two things:

Bump your calories up to 1350

Skip Breakfast - it's not the end of the world like most people would have you believe. Jillian Michaels is an advocate for skipping breakfast. I find when I skip breakfast, my calories are always lower on that day. Breakfast makes me hungrier for the rest of the day.

Jenikki322

I am having sort of the same problem. I get to the end of the day (after dinner but before bed) and I feel soooo hungry! I think it may be bacause my meals contain wasted calories as well. Thanks for the thread it's helping me too!!

Great suggestions from everyone!

heykaraoke

Ditto on skipping breakfast. If I eat breakfast I am ravenous by lunchtime and more likely to go over cals. If I skip, I don't even start to feel hungry until lunchtime. Like today. I had a coffee this morning, but didn't eat anything. Coming up on noon and I'm just now starting to feel a little hungry.

stonel94

I would say give it a little more time to adjust, if you're still hungry, try upping it just to 1300 or something, so if you go over it'll still be okay, but that 100 calories can make a big difference.
also, at 1200 calories, make sure to eat all your exercise calories back. And if you're having soup every day, that's almost always very salty, so try drinking more water, 64 oz is kinda the minimum, I have a gallon of water each day pretty much. Also, make sure you're eating high fiber high protein, this sets your protein to 15% I would sugest higher than that, 20-30%

classicalcrespin

thanks for the advice! i'll give more calories and different foods a try!

AmyRhubarb

I would agree that you need to eat more. The MFP standard seems to be 1200 cals - your BMR is likely higher than that, the amount a doctor would give you daily if you were in a coma.

I tried eating 1200 for awhile, lost a little, but was hungry, anxious about staying within the goal every day, tired, and had little energy for my workouts. Then I found this topic: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

With the tools linked there, I calculated my BMR and my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, or the calories I burn all day long based on my activity level with exercise). BMR is the bare minimum I need, TDEE is the maximum I could eat and still lose a little or at least maintain my current weight. So I aim to eat in between those two numbers. I took my TDEE and subtracted 20% from that, giving me my daily goal. I always make sure I'm at least netting my BMR. So for the past 9 months or so, I've been eating 1800 calories a day, am near my goal weight, and am losing fat and inches (dropped a pants size too!).

The best part is NOT being hungry, having plenty of energy for my workouts and my daily life, and it's a plan I can live with for the rest of my life. Check out the topic - it walks you through the whole thing. Find your numbers, eat well, exercise, and watch your body burn the fat rather than holding onto it because it's hungry all the time. :bigsmile:

classicalcrespin

i might be... can you tell me a little more about it?

classicalcrespin

hey - I had the same problem with being hungry all the time and I started taking stuff called Shakeology about a year ago.... it's a one shake a day all natural thing. Cut my cravings and hunger right down and still allowed me to keep my calories down. Is this something you'd be interested in?

i might be.. can you tell me more about it?

marieautumn

i usually eat 1200 net calories and i'm not hungry at the end of the day. I've been eating 1200 since february 2012 when i joined the site. Granted I usually get on the ellitpical for at least 30 mins a night to meet the 1200 net calories, but i dont feel hungry at the end of the day.
i'd say eat things that will actually fill you up. it doesnt seem like you are putting your 1200 calories to good use. Soup isnt really something that will keep you full, especially if you had a small breakfast.
My breakfast is usually 1 can of pineapple chunks (140 calories), 1 packet of instant oatmeal about 1 hour later (130 cals) and a cutie. (40 cals)
Lunch is usually about 500 calories. A sandwhich, or chicken breast and sides, something like that.
Dinner i usually go light and have only steak (180 cals) or chicken (around the same), and no sides or a salad. I'm usually not that hungry at dinner time.
Then of course i eat ice cream with my six year old every night i will not be giving that up. ever.

keeponkickin

Eat a little more. Skip breakfast. I will drink a high protein smoothie as a late breakfast / early lunch start. It's less than 300 calories and nearly 40 grams of protein. Tastes like a milkshake it's so good! With the high protein I'm full for a while and not hungry the rest of the day and able to eat more in the afternoon / evening like I like.

So eat a little more and up your protein.

friesen29

I am on a 1,200 calorie and I eat Oatmeal and one piece of toast for breakfast or just two pieces of toast, sometimes add a cup of coffee ir just stick to water. Lunch I eat like 1 or 2 hard boiled eggs and toast or broccoli and cheese, and then eat supper and measure out my portions for supper and eat like 1 piecce grilled chicken with One boiled egg and cup of cottage cheese and 1 cup of vegetables and I am fine and don't have to have a snack just depending on my intake for the three meals I will have a light snack if still hungry and I drink 8 oz of water with my meals. Worth a try if want to stay on 1200 calorie but up to you. You don't want to be starving all the time.

cslusser125

Do not skip breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day. Get a good bowl of oatmeal in you with some protein powder to help sustain you all morning (this is about ~250 calories if you're making your own, I like to make mine in the crockpot [using steel cut oats] the night before and have leftovers for the whole week!). BTW, Jillian Michaels does not recommend skipping breakfast... Especially in her "Master your Metabolism Book". 'Eat like a queen in the morning, a princess in the afternoon, and a pauper at night.'

cwolfman13

What worked best for me:

1.) increasing my calories...I'm still at a deficit (1 Lb per week)...obviously slower weight loss, but I'm much happier day to day...not miserable and certainly don't feel like I'm staving pretty much ever.

2.) Macro adjustment. You can manually adjust your macros...40c/30p/30hf is working best for me. When I was at MFP defaults, I was hungry a lot (even though I routinely went over on protein) due to the default setting is pretty carb heavy. With the 40/30/30 I'm getting a ton more protein (I avg at least 20g protein at every meal and every snack) and have substantially lowered my carb intake. Most of my carbs come from fruit, veg, and whole grains.

3.) Adjust fruit/veg ratio. When I started out I was eating a lot of fruit and some veg...while fruit is a far cry better for you than a soda or piece of cake, it is high in calories and is also metabolized pretty quickly by the body...ergo, you don't feel full for long. Adjusting my fruit/veg ratio has made a world of difference. My servings of each come out to 1.5-2 f: to 4 veg per day. The veggies are lower calories and lower sugar, and generally higher in fiber which leaves you more satiated at a lower calorie intake.

4.) Eat throughout the day. I pretty much eat something every 2-3 hours from breakfast until bed time. To that end, if I'm having a carb, I also make sure I'm having protein with it. I don't know the science behind it so I won't go there, but I can tell you from my experience that it keeps me feeling satiated and also keeps my blood sugar levels more consistent.

EmilyOfTheSun

Eat more. being at 1200 is miserable. Change your settings to lose one pound per week.

keeponkickin

Do not skip breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day. Get a good bowl of oatmeal in you with some protein powder to help sustain you all morning (this is about ~250 calories if you're making your own, I like to make mine in the crockpot [using steel cut oats] the night before and have leftovers for the whole week!). BTW, Jillian Michaels does not recommend skipping breakfast... Especially in her "Master your Metabolism Book". 'Eat like a queen in the morning, a princess in the afternoon, and a pauper at night.'

There is honestly no proof that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It seems this slogan was brought on by breakfast cereal makers years ago. IF works very well. There is no proof that timing of meals is effective. Calories in, calories out and fine tuning your macros. My weight loss is proof it works.

melinda200208

Do not skip breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day. Get a good bowl of oatmeal in you with some protein powder to help sustain you all morning (this is about ~250 calories if you're making your own, I like to make mine in the crockpot [using steel cut oats] the night before and have leftovers for the whole week!). BTW, Jillian Michaels does not recommend skipping breakfast... Especially in her "Master your Metabolism Book". 'Eat like a queen in the morning, a princess in the afternoon, and a pauper at night.'

Agreed. I wouldnt skip breakfast. I dont think you should skip any meals. Start with uping your calories slightly and go from there.

eyeshuh

hey - I had the same problem with being hungry all the time and I started taking stuff called Shakeology about a year ago.... it's a one shake a day all natural thing. Cut my cravings and hunger right down and still allowed me to keep my calories down. Is this something you'd be interested in?

i might be.. can you tell me more about it?

Please do not let that guy sell you Shakeology.

Try this first: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

kay_norton

you could simply just be hungry all the time because your metabolism is getting faster. instead of planning out 3 meals per day, plan 6 and make them all the same size. not quite as big as your already-planned-out meals, but not as small as your snacks you have throughout the day. make sure that your snacks/meals (whatever you want to call them) are relatively high in protein and have a decent amount of carbs and fiber. that will keep you full longer. as far as water goes, you should try to drink a little more. the minimum you should be drinking per day is 64 oz, which is what you've been drinking, you said. by drinking a little more you should also be full longer, with the frequency that you're eating.
hope this helped

cwolfman13

Do not skip breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day. Get a good bowl of oatmeal in you with some protein powder to help sustain you all morning (this is about ~250 calories if you're making your own, I like to make mine in the crockpot [using steel cut oats] the night before and have leftovers for the whole week!). BTW, Jillian Michaels does not recommend skipping breakfast... Especially in her "Master your Metabolism Book". 'Eat like a queen in the morning, a princess in the afternoon, and a pauper at night.'

There is honestly no proof that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It seems this slogan was brought on by breakfast cereal makers years ago. IF works very well. There is no proof that timing of meals is effective. Calories in, calories out and fine tuning your macros. My weight loss is proof it works.

While I do agree with this, I would be miserable if I skipped breakfast and would probably pork out by lunch time because I would be utterly famished. I know skipping breakfast works for some, but I'd definitely be starving if I did it and my blood sugar levels would be completely jacked.

TR0berts

hey - I had the same problem with being hungry all the time and I started taking stuff called Shakeology about a year ago.... it's a one shake a day all natural thing. Cut my cravings and hunger right down and still allowed me to keep my calories down. Is this something you'd be interested in?

i might be.. can you tell me more about it?

Please do not let that guy sell you Shakeology.

Try this first: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Especially since it's against forum rules for him to be trying to sell it to you.

kcritter77

400 calories of soup? Do you know how many veggies you could eat and not reach 400 calories? :-) Eat a large spinach salad with cucumber, carrot, green pepper, tomato, green onion and hard boiled egg or avocado. (NO CHEESE)! Use light salad dressing (measure it out) or make your own low calorie dressing. You'll open up more calories for later AND it will fill you up a lot better than soup will.

dpurzer

The base calorie level leaves me hungry as well. However, by increasing the burned calories it automatically gives you more net calories. This helped me on multiple levels: I don't think about eating while working out, I exercise more, it curves my "big meal" appetite (i.e. I notice that I consume smaller portions on workout days), and end up below the limit.

4theking

Do not skip breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day. Get a good bowl of oatmeal in you with some protein powder to help sustain you all morning (this is about ~250 calories if you're making your own, I like to make mine in the crockpot [using steel cut oats] the night before and have leftovers for the whole week!). BTW, Jillian Michaels does not recommend skipping breakfast... Especially in her "Master your Metabolism Book". 'Eat like a queen in the morning, a princess in the afternoon, and a pauper at night.'

There is honestly no proof that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It seems this slogan was brought on by breakfast cereal makers years ago. IF works very well. There is no proof that timing of meals is effective. Calories in, calories out and fine tuning your macros. My weight loss is proof it works.

This exactly. There is no most important meal of the day. More fiber and more protein will help also. Sometimes hunger is just a part of losing weight. It's not comfortable but neither is the alternative, having more fat than you want. If you want it, you will achieve it.

LoraF83

hey - I had the same problem with being hungry all the time and I started taking stuff called Shakeology about a year ago.... it's a one shake a day all natural thing. Cut my cravings and hunger right down and still allowed me to keep my calories down. Is this something you'd be interested in?

Obvious coach is obvious.

kay_norton

400 calories of soup? Do you know how many veggies you could eat and not reach 400 calories? :-) Eat a large spinach salad with cucumber, carrot, green pepper, tomato, green onion and hard boiled egg or avocado. (NO CHEESE)! Use light salad dressing (measure it out) or make your own low calorie dressing. You'll open up more calories for later AND it will fill you up a lot better than soup will.

exactly!!

wibutterflymagic

Don't listen to anyone that tells you to skip meals! Unless you want to put your metabolism into the toilet you need to start the day with something. You're body doesn't kick start until you add fuel. It doesn't have to be a lot but something....protein would be the best as that will help sustain you better until lunch. If people say they are starving by lunch after having breakfast then they aren't eating the right breakfast. For me, oatmeal doesn't sustain, for others it does. You'll have to play around to see what works and what doesn't for you.