Help I have trouble eating under 2000 cals a day!

mockchoc

OP do you realise you don't have to even eat below your TDEE to lose weight? If you eat at maintenance you will get to it eventually. It will take much longer to get to goal but less suffering along the way.

So lets try to work out what you can eat. If I calculate you with moderate exercise I get around 3000 so try eating that for a month or two and see what happens. Can't hurt right? Otherwise do it the harder way and make a deficit of whatever you are comfortable with say 15%?

I'm confused by this. Do you mean if she eats at her maintenance calories for her goal weight? If she eats at maintenance for her current weight with current activity, she'll stay at that weight.

Yes of course goal weight not current. OP doesn't want to diet which I can totally understand because dieting sux to be honest so this is the easiest way out from being overweight. Slowest but less painful.

sandylion

I eat 1700-2000 calories a day, and I would say I eat like a normal person. Not American, but I definitely buy my food from the grocery store. Its definitely possible to loose weight on that. I don't do hippy health food and I don't do starvation. It's not how I roll. I also don't eat processed stuff though, because it's crap. I definitely eat normal food from the grocery store though.

You say all posts are welcome yet you mock them.....most people who eat 900 calories for breakfast are fat.

The point of the post wasnt for you to harp on the 900 cals for breakfast it was posted for a reason, which you seem to fail to realize... it's to understand that it is hard for one to eat "normally" and eat under 2000 cals... 2 soft tacos with or without the potato seems like a normal meal to me.... the tacos would have been over 700 even without the potato.... thats a lot of cals for not a lot of food. Its normal to eat two tacos with ground beef, taco shells and cheese... mine where the edited version. I in fact wanted tacos again but had a hamburger instead because tacos are far too calorie dense. My question is, is there anyone who eats like an average American/person goes to the grocery store gets food, prepares meal, and eats and is at 2000 cals and is losing... apparently thats not you, so you can go on your way now... i know 900 cals is a lot for breakfast which is why i posted it, but it is normal and this thread is for people who eat normal food in this case from the grocery store and prepare it, i cant help the calories...which is the point of the post, apparently you missed that. You seem to think its about giving me your opinion on what is a lot and what isnt a lot and who is fat and who isnt fat and is that your current picture because if people who are fat eat 900 cals... then.. *no comment*:indifferent:

:flowerforyou: its late and im on tom there is a lot of good post in here minus they few:indifferent: Sorry for all the cranky post..please everyone, who actually lost eating 2000 cals and eats normally give your advice, story, and so on...

MsPudding

Sorry for all the cranky post..please everyone, who actually lost eating 2000 cals and eats normally give your advice, story, and so on...

I eat normally, but as I'm 5:2 fasting I don't eat 2,000 calories every day. My goal calories are 2110 calories a day for 5 days with exercise calories eaten on top of that. For 2 days a week it's 500 calories.

Anyway, here are a couple of my higher calorie menus and I eat normally - I go to the grocery store and I cook (there are no fast food places round here, I'm in the middle of the countryside). So Thursday was a day that I hit my 2110 goal and I ate 'normally' (I even had chocolate as I was driving to/from a meeting most of the day and was hungry in the car)

Breakfast:
2 x eggs scrambled
Slice of Leerdammer light
1/2 tablespoon butter to cook it in.
Lunch:
Homemade tuna sandwich eat whilst driving (2 x wholemeal bread slices, small tin of tuna, tablespoon of mayo and cucumber slices)
38g bag (i.e. normal size) Maltesers
Dinner:
Homemade red thai curry done with 300g skinless chicken breast, 1/2 tin coconut milk & veggies with 50g of wild/red/brown rice
1 x glass of red wine
Snack:
50g sweet & salted popcorn
TOTAL: 2141

Another average day:

Breakfast
50g organic whole oats
1 tablespoon milled organic flaxseed
100ml whole milk
tablespoon maple syrup
Lunch
Homemade chicken and vegetable soup
2 x rough oat Scottish oatcakes
50g mature cheddar
Dinner
250g venison steak pan-fried
8 x asparagus spears
150g 5% fat oven chips
tablespoon mayo
Snack
80g sweet & salted popcorn
TOTAL: 1926

I do also have days where I go over and eat like shtye - like this one for example:

Breakfast
None
Lunch
1 x small tin of tuna in mayo on a green salad
100g baked Pita bread chips
Dinner
2 x pints of real ale
1 x glass of red wine
Indian takeaway (Lamb Balti, mushroom pilau rice and a large garlic naan)
TOTAL: 2448
(I lost 2lbs that week so the day didn't throw me)

So there you go - normal person. I've been doing this 4 weeks and yesterday recorded a total of 12lbs weight loss. I started off heavier than you, I'm older than you and only 1 inch taller. I'm do a desk job; my exercise comes from dog walking and whilst I do buy organic/free-range food I'm not a 'pureist' who avoids all sweet stuff and alcohol....I just try to keep it to a minimum.

yourenotmine

It sounds like your definition of "normal" needs to change. 900 calories for one meal would be normal for, maybe, a linebacker. Or an unhealthy person. I think I eat like a "normal" person. I don't restrict anything, if I want it, I have it. And I am usually right where I need to be for calories. If I am going to eat more I exercise and "earn" some more calories. Check out my diary, it is open.

Are you serious? A line backer eats 2 soft tacos and a baked potato.. LMAOOOOOooo um okay.. im not sure what kind of linebacker you're accustom to, but definitely not a normal one!

how easy it is to have a 900 cal breakfast.

2 small flour tortilla shells 100 cals each, 90% lean beef @ 400, 1 oz cheese 110, 1/4 cup beans 60 cals, medium potato 150... yea because a linebacker eats just enough meat to fill the small tortilla shells, 1 0z of cheese between two tacos and a quarter of a cup of beans and 1 potato ::eyeroll::

Anyway I watch all the people at work eat garbage everyday this typical day for one of my coworkers is taco bell or fries and a dbl cheeseburger... another one she had a bag of marshmellos eating them like candy and a big bag of bbq potato chips and sour cream to dip them in and a bag of twizzlers.... i jut watch these people and im like wtf am I in bizarro world they all eat normal meaning just whatever nothing extra special or even healthy and are skinny to average body type.... i know i have to lose the weight in order to be able to eat "normal" but it would be nice to be able to eat what is considered a "normal or whats considered average amount of daily cals which is 2000 and lose" probably wont happen.. if anyone has done it let me know!

I, too, think you need to adjust your idea of "normal". 900 calories *is* a lot for one meal for the average woman. Even at 2000 calories, each meal should average less than that, unless you only eat a couple of times a day. Also, your diary is full of quick added calories, which is missing part of the point of using this site. It's very, very helpful to track your protein/fat/carbs so that you know which mix works best for you in terms of satiating hunger and still allowing you to lose weight. It's also helpful to make note of whether you're meeting your nutritional needs in terms of vitamins and minerals as well.

Yes, it is easy to eat a 900 calorie breakfast. And THAT is why it's generally easier to gain weight than to lose it, and likely why you're here in the first place. I know that it's harder to re-evaluate your eating habits and do something different. But if you're not ready to do that, then maybe you're not ready to try losing weight. If you're completely unwilling to change your diet, you're going to have to exercise like crazy, and that may or may not work, as far as actual loss goes.

I'm sorry that you didn't like the responses you got. That doesn't mean they aren't right.

sPaRkLiNgLYFE

lol, wow I just came back to this thread, and I see she's now insinuating that people posting on here are fat?

She hasn't responded to a single post of mine, and I'll admit I have a bit of an attitude-but only because she's being pretty childish about her responses.

Clearly she was only here to get answers she liked and not educational ones that give her the ugly truth.

Actually shes trolling

AmericanExpat

i dont follow tdee i dont calculate the cals i lose from my job, one night i wore my hrm and it said i burned over 8,000 cals in a 10 hour shift... even if i cut that in half and say i burn 4000 plus the exercise i do, plus i walk from work most days which i also dont factor in.... the only days i see loss is when i eat under 2000 cals days like today when i ate 2300 i'll get on the scale and see nothing....

I know you two dont understand...

If you are really burning that much at your job you may not be eating enough.

cew01

If you want to loose wight, you can't eat " normally " it is a commitment. You can eat anything you want to so long as you stay with in
Your calorie limits. Kind if a joke considering my calorie limit of 1200 a day can be gone with one normal restaurant meal.
Try for high fiber low calorie items. Fiber can help you feel full longer. I pretty much stay hungry, but I am loosing weight

PhearlessPhreaks

It sounds like your definition of "normal" needs to change. 900 calories for one meal would be normal for, maybe, a linebacker. Or an unhealthy person. I think I eat like a "normal" person. I don't restrict anything, if I want it, I have it. And I am usually right where I need to be for calories. If I am going to eat more I exercise and "earn" some more calories. Check out my diary, it is open.

Are you serious? A line backer eats 2 soft tacos and a baked potato.. LMAOOOOOooo um okay.. im not sure what kind of linebacker you're accustom to, but definitely not a normal one!

how easy it is to have a 900 cal breakfast.

2 small flour tortilla shells 100 cals each, 90% lean beef @ 400, 1 oz cheese 110, 1/4 cup beans 60 cals, medium potato 150... yea because a linebacker eats just enough meat to fill the small tortilla shells, 1 0z of cheese between two tacos and a quarter of a cup of beans and 1 potato ::eyeroll::

Anyway I watch all the people at work eat garbage everyday this typical day for one of my coworkers is taco bell or fries and a dbl cheeseburger... another one she had a bag of marshmellos eating them like candy and a big bag of bbq potato chips and sour cream to dip them in and a bag of twizzlers.... i jut watch these people and im like wtf am I in bizarro world they all eat normal meaning just whatever nothing extra special or even healthy and are skinny to average body type.... i know i have to lose the weight in order to be able to eat "normal" but it would be nice to be able to eat what is considered a "normal or whats considered average amount of daily cals which is 2000 and lose" probably wont happen.. if anyone has done it let me know!

I think what they meant was the amount of calories in one meal is equivalent of what a "linebacker" would eat, not the makeup of the calories. I'm a pregnant, so my cals are set to 2360, but my breakfasts usually are somewhere around 600 cals or so. As an example: breakfast this morning was 2 large scrambled eggs in a nonstick pan with a little pepper, 2 multigrain frozen waffles, 2 pats of butter (one for each waffle) a tbsp of syrup for each waffle, and 6oz of V8 V-fusion juice, plus my obligatory cup of coffee 1st thing, with cream and sugar. This morning was a little more than usual, because of the juice, but my cals were about 700. That's quite a bit of food for the amount of calories. You could easily have a turkey sausage patty and a couple eggs with a slice of whole grain toast (I LOVE freihofers hearty 12 grain bread), or some toast with peanut butter… Or a breakfast sandwich with an egg, a slice of cheese, a turkey sausage patty and whole grain toast.

There are so many options, you just have to figure out what works for you. I am sometimes amazed at how many calories are in a meal, while other times also amazed and how *low* the calories are… I recently made a red clam sauce with linguine which was under 400 calories… the other night I made chicken & vegetables with a thai-style peanut sauce (with rice) which was under 500 calories…

I agree with those who said that perhaps you need to redefine what "normal" is. To me, how your coworkers eat doesn't sound normal to me, it sounds like a sh*tload of junk. While "normal" is a somewhat relative and subjective term, maybe you need to reshape what it means to you? Some people like the IIFYM (if it fits your macros) and I am one of them- if I have a craving for soemthing, I indulge it, but I don't overdo it and I try to keep it within my caloric goals. Perhaps that can work for you, perhaps not. You just have to play around with things and see what works for you.

One last tip- increase your protein and your fiber, if you haven't already. Those two things will help you feel more full and satisfied longer.

Best of Luck.

sunnyskys2013

When i could still eat wheat (i'm gluten Free now) but at wal-mart i use to get these low carb, high fiber wraps. they were really good and filling too.
I also buy fruit and freeze it or buy frozen fruit throw a cup in he blended with a cup of milk and a little steva its really good and refreshing.
Flax seed or chia seeds are a great way to add fiber. You can grind the in a coffee grinder and throw them in anything and they really don't make much of a taste difference. They will help you stay full longer.

sunnyskys2013

I also buy plain Greek yogurt add steva, fresh fruit and ground flax seed its a really good snack.

WendyTerry420

I had 890 calories at lunch today. Tomorrow I'll be putting on my linebacker uniform.

mockchoc

I had 890 calories at lunch today. Tomorrow I'll be putting on my linebacker uniform.

Think my lunch might be closer to 1000 but no way to know for sure, might be more since I'm going to a nice restaurant.

Sjenny5891

OP do you realise you don't have to even eat below your TDEE to lose weight? If you eat at maintenance you will get to it eventually. It will take much longer to get to goal but less suffering along the way.

So lets try to work out what you can eat. If I calculate you with moderate exercise I get around 3000 so try eating that for a month or two and see what happens. Can't hurt right? Otherwise do it the harder way and make a deficit of whatever you are comfortable with say 15%?

I'm confused by this. Do you mean if she eats at her maintenance calories for her goal weight? If she eats at maintenance for her current weight with current activity, she'll stay at that weight.

If she eats back her exercise, yes

Okapi42

Wow, this thread is confirming all my stereotypes about Americans. How can that be considered a "normal" diet by anyone? Sure, I have treats, but my goal isn't to exist entirely on snack foods.

garden429

It's can be very confusing and frustrating when trying to stay under a certain amount of calories per day. It makes sense that eating less and exercising more would equal more weight loss. However, our bodies are programmed to protect itself from famine. (Thousands of years of evolution with do that!)
Our bodies need a basic amount of calories per day in order to function; some more, some less. According to your post, you have a extremely active lifestyle between work, exercise and living. If you don't take in the amount of calories to meet your basic needs, your body will actually shut itself down trying to store fat thinking it's in a time of famine. (This is where the evolution thing kicks in)

The first thing I am suggesting is to be a little easier on yourself. The weight didn't get there overnight and it isn't going to go away overnight.

Second, try playing with your calorie intake. Instead of aiming for a two pound a week weight loss, try half a pound a week instead. Giving yourself this little break might set things in motion.

Third, here is a website with a list of food exchanges used by people who are diabetic. It's very informative as to the portion sizes. Monitoring portion sizes can help tremendously. it can also show you how different vegetables can be counted as carbs rather than vegetables. (potatoes, for instance) http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/fd_exch.htm
Make a chart

Fourth, instead of wearing the hm tracker (should only be worn for short periods) , invest in a good calorie counter. I would suggest a Fitbit. (No, I don't work for the company or own stock in it) It syncs with your MFP account and monitors your steps, calories burned, etc. It can be fun to go over your charts and try to beat your activities from day to day.

Fifth, since you work long hours, make yourself a goodie bag. Fill it with good snacks like raisins, almonds (very good for you), and non-perishable items healthy snacks (yes, I used the "H" word!) I find a cup of strawberries with a packet of Equal sprinkled on it to be just the thing for my sweet tooth. (and quick to get ready before work).

Finally, (yes, I'm almost finished) Healthy eating can be contagious. My husband has a great many employees who had very unhealthy eating habits. He started bringing in extra veggies and fruit and offering them some at lunchtime. Over time, the guys started bringing in things too. Now It's not uncommon for the guys to share lunches they have brought in and send out for a salad to share with it.

Sometimes it just takes one person to change things and make them into the new 'normal'!

Take care and good luck!

CactusF1ower

Bump

FitnessLondon2013

Okay, so basically I need SOME ADVICE from people who have had trouble eating under 2000 cals a day...

I know all the simplistic answers make healthy choices, pack your lunch, stay away from junk etc... but i work long hours on my feet all day and at work i grab the nearest thing around, ive been good these last couple of days about not eating a crazy amount of cals but still i ate way over 1500 and felt like was darn starving myself.. how do you do it? Seriously my stomach grumbles and im having hunger pains.. i dont see how people sustain themselves off salad and a few chunks of chicken breast or fruit and water.. i feel like i ate nothing.. plus who wants to eat two hard boiled eggs for a meal wtf.. you know how it(2 boiled eggs) is on the menu in every restaurant:huh: :indifferent: ... i want to eat like normal.

like for breakfast i had 2 homemade soft tacos and a baked potato and it came out to @ 900 cals for two small tacos and a baked potato...

for lunch a homemade hamburger and fries almost 600 cals.. and it not like im using fatty meat... 90% lean ground beef is 200 for a quarter pound, bread is 100 cals, cheese 100, condiments about 50, potato and ketchup @ 150 cals...

you get my point... is anyone eating like a normal person and losing? I mean at work im gonna grab something convenient if i missed breakfast and am starving and the only thing in my vending machines are junk! chips and cupcakes etc... im not going to be hungry... this seems way more difficult than it should be.. Eat Less Cals, Exercise = Lose Weight.. but Doesnt seem like it works like that for me.. seems like im going to have to be in pain and starve and eat carrots and grass...

This more exercise you include, the more calories ‘foods’ you can consume. i.e. TDE = 2kcals - cardio burn 500. TDE = 2.5kcals. Eat foods in moderation. You may benefit from higher fat or higher carbs. Whatever satisfies you and your hunger issues. Moderation is key. Increase fibre to 30-40 grams per day. You’ll notice a difference. Lose weight = remain under 200 cals+


Hope this helps..

jkremer1979

I usually have a big coffee and a banana in the morning... that sustains me pretty well until lunch. Never bee a big breakfast person.

lately I have been having a bowl of cereal with fruit for lunch and that is really filling for me. Dinner I usually go bigger on the calories though.

I think one thing that should really help you keep the calories down is to increase your water intake. instead of 8 cups per day... do 10. stay as far away from any soda's as possible. If that is too hard, then try flavoring tonic water, or do bubbly water. Most of your hunger pains will actually be your body telling you that you are thirsty for water.

dgljones

If this is just trolling some mod should just lock it stop the people wasting time because they genuinely want to help someone. There are more than enough real people desperate for some help to get started, so why continue feeding oxygen to this fire...

FlaxMilk

If she eats back her exercise, yes

Yes, I could see it working if she didn't eat back exercise calories but otherwise ate at maintenance. The person who posted that calculated with moderate exercise included. But she clarified that she meant goal weight maintenance, not current weight maintenance, so that cleared up my confusion.