Help! It feels like I'm starving right now!

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  • codapea
    codapea Posts: 182 Member
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    My first week I felt so hungry all the time, too. So I added a ton of veggies to each meal- steamed, sauteed, grilled, and fresh to literally fill up on. It does get easier as you body gets used to 1200, but I also found that I have to avoid the junky carbs completely. White bread, sugar, pasta, processed crap all made me hungrier than I was right before I ate them. It's like a negative meal (for me)!

    Edited to add: Also, exercise more and you can eat more! It's totally awesome!
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
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    I don't agree with only eating 1200 cals per day, esp if you exercise. Did your doctor tell you to do this? If you got the idea just from MFP or friends or whatever then maybe you should get some professional advice. This is supposed to be something you can stick with and the beginning of a lifestyle change. I took off 70lbs over 20 years ago and kept it off! And today I ate 1800 cals..and I'm 40!

    I didn't talk to my doc about it, but am going off of where I have been most comfortable with my weight and not wanting to have to buy all new clothes because my normal ones won't button. I talked to one of the trainers at my gym who said the magic number is 1200 cals and lower intensity cardio for me. I was keeping my heart rate high for too long instead of in the fat burning area. Sounds good to me! GREAT JOB on losing 70lbs and keeping it off for so many years! That's success right there!

    What did MFP calculate for you? At both 1 lbs and 2 lbs a week? Don't go by anything that subscribes to a magic number. One size does not fit all.
  • matafleur
    matafleur Posts: 5
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    it absolutely does get easier! The beginning was definitely the hardest part for me. What worked for me was the following:

    cutting out any processed foods: they don't fill you and just make your hungrier shortly afterwards

    eat carrots. I munched on them all day the first couple weeks.

    apples are a great snack food if you're hungry between meals. they are incredibly filling and when refrigerated crisp and refreshing!

    drink water. lots of cold refreshing water. ice cold water. yum.

    if you really are hungry, don't ignore your body's request for food! what you should ignore, though, is your body's 'request' for certain foods (i.e. potato chips, processed food, salty foods, treats, etc). Hunger is not the problem. The problem is what you eat in response to the hunger!

    You can do it! Just realize it will take a few weeks for your weightloss goals and your body's needs to sync with each other.
  • SprinklesNSparkles
    SprinklesNSparkles Posts: 11
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    Yes, give your body time. You can try some tricks to help ease the process such as munching on low calorie vegetables (baby carrots, celery, sugar snap peas) or drinking tea or even broth. It is really what I call head hunger versus stomach hunger in that my body wants to eat just to eat.

    I agree with all this. It took me about 4 months to learn the difference between TRUE hunger and the cravings/boredom hunger/stress hunger that was in my head and NOT my stomach. A lot of times thirst can feel like hunger. I would try a BIG glass of water first.

    If you feel that desperate I would go ahead and have some baby carrots, almonds, or celery.
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
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    Your net calories for today are 500. (after eating the yogurt and cottage cheese you mentioned). No wonder you feel like you're starving!

    That is not enough to sustain a toddler.

    Why do people feel the need to starve themselves to lose weight?

    I've managed to lose nearly 40 pounds and lots and lots of inches by eating smarter, exercising a bit of portion control, and exercising. And I managed to do it by eating 1500-1800 NET calories per day.

    If you really plan to follow the 1200 calorie a day thing, if you look at how MFP works, the goal is 1200 NET (after exercise).

    I hope you find something that works for you and that you feel like you can sustain without starving yourself!
  • dlbinin
    dlbinin Posts: 66 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Check out this link to find out if you really should be restricting to 1200 calories a day - probably not!

    This ^
  • jbootman
    jbootman Posts: 145 Member
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    YES IT DOES GET EASIER

    drink something calorie free, promise to check with yourself in one hour, tell your fat starving self that you will talk to her later, take a bath, long and bubbly,

    then after your next meal, when you are not starving look very hard at the list of vegetables that you like,

    when I really saw that I could eat plates full of tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans it made this all very much easier,

    I am a volume eater, I have a huge appetite and if this was going to work I had to make different choices,

    it took me 6 months to really be fine with smaller portions, but it did happen,

    very important cut out entirely sugar and wheat, also reduce sodium and fat,

    make better choices
  • vonsay
    vonsay Posts: 31
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    What has trully helped me is protein shakes. I try to drink one every morning or get some kind of extra protein troughout the day. It helps a lot with cravings for some reason (other then pms when all bets are off!). If I eat oatmeal or a lot of carbs early in the day then I'm going to feel starved all day. So try to up your protein. Hope this helps!
  • jen350z
    jen350z Posts: 48
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    Hey girl. How you used to eat does affect this. If your body was used to one thing and you change it suddenly to something else the body will try to go back to how you used to be and ask for more food making you feel hungry. It might take some time to adjust but you can do it gradually.

    My MFB recommends me to eat 1390. I used to eat twice a day and now I am spreading my calories to eat 5 times a day. I normally eat 1000-1200 and I feel fine. Its all about what you eat within those calories. I suggest breaking meals up. This way every time you get hungry you have a little food and thats enough to kill that hungry feeling till again it comes back and you eat a little more. I also go work out all week and take the weekends off to let the body rest. I don't ever eat my calories back because then it defeats the purpose in my head. I have lost 8 pounds from Friday 8/10 to yesterday. I have decided to weight myself every Sunday now and I'm hoping to continue down this path.
  • sushiforbrains
    sushiforbrains Posts: 60
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    Make sure you are getting lots of protein and fiber! Everyone is different, but I have found that if I eat nothing but carby stuff for breakfast I will be super hungry 2 hours later, but if I have a protein shake and some fruit, or eggs and rice as my first meal of the day I am good for much longer.

    If you really are hungry, eat something! but not just anything, almonds are great for getting rid of the munchy feelings, I also keep a tin of Planter's Nut-rition Omega Mix on my desk that keeps the munchy sweet tooth away.

    Good luck!
  • toysbigkid
    toysbigkid Posts: 545 Member
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    I haven't read everyone's reply but I would add a 100 calories at a time, till you get a bit satisfied but still watching what you eat, more veggies to get you fuller and fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth if you have one. Keep the carbs down and proteins up. Take a short walk too if you've already ate and are still hungry, things like that. hope this helps, good luck...I look forward to seeing your success story on here down the road!!!!
  • chicadejmu
    chicadejmu Posts: 171 Member
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    I don't think you should be eating just 1200 calories. Check your TDEE. MFP says I should be eating just 1460 calories but once I checked my TDEE I found I should actually be eating 2100 per day to lose about 3 pounds a month. I have also started exercising a lot more (got a fitbit and am meeting the daily goals).

    I saw someone else posted a link, not sure if it was this one but you should check this out:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr it completely explains how to figure out how many calories you should actually be eating.

    Hope this helps!
  • jroselive2012
    jroselive2012 Posts: 129
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    I don't think you should be eating just 1200 calories. Check your TDEE. MFP says I should be eating just 1460 calories but once I checked my TDEE I found I should actually be eating 2100 per day to lose about 3 pounds a month. I have also started exercising a lot more (got a fitbit and am meeting the daily goals).

    I saw someone else posted a link, not sure if it was this one but you should check this out:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr it completely explains how to figure out how many calories you should actually be eating.

    Hope this helps!

    TY for that link! According to that site my TDEE is 2335... I can't imagine trying to eat that many calories in healthy food! 12 hundred cal when eating completely healthy foods turned out to be hard today. I think what I'll do is track my daily intake of food for a bit and just see what I typically eat for now. The structure of the website makes it really easy to see what our weaknessess are and what our strengths are.
  • fififox
    fififox Posts: 394 Member
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    Yes, it gets easier. I found when I started it took a while to know what foods were a better spend - better value in that they filled me more. I also tried to use less calories in the earlier part of the day so that if I really had to have something later in the day I was more likely to have calories remaining (I did have enough though for breakfast and lunch and dinner but left room for an evening snack). Be careful eating all your calories back - I think mfp can be over generous. I use a HRM instead. Also I think a lot of people don't eat back the full amount.
  • paulaviki
    paulaviki Posts: 678 Member
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    I was always hungry on 1200 so changed my goal to lose 1lb a week and now eat 1400 - 1600 and have lost 13lbs in 11 weeks. If you are hungry you need to eat!
  • Shimmerockstarify
    Shimmerockstarify Posts: 2
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    Dont worry it'll take sometime for your body to get used 2 it... if u still feel hungry try eating fruits especially watermelon will help cause u feel full after eatin those watery fruits :) gud luck!
  • susanfrancis40
    susanfrancis40 Posts: 55 Member
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    My calorie intake is set at 1220 per day. Sometimes that is fine but sometimes I want to eat more. If I want more then I exercise to earn extra calories. I always eat them back and have lost every week since starting in July (except holiday week when I stayed the same).
    So if you want more food - earn more calories and eat, eat, eat!
  • jroselive2012
    jroselive2012 Posts: 129
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    Good advice ty!

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