First day, struggling

Try for things that fill you up quicker on less calories. Swap the cheerios for a bowl of plain oatmeal or toss a ton of vegetables into your chili to beef up the portion sizes for fewer calories. Get smaller plates - satisfaction is often psychological, so you'll feel fuller after eating a full 6" plate than a not-as-full 8" plate even if they're the exact same portion sizes.

If you are legitimately feeling very hungry and trying to conserve calories, have a quarter- or half-portion of something filling (I like celery, oatmeal, popcorn, jerky, spaghetti squash) and a glass of water. It'll fill you up for at least an hour.

Learn to cook healthy, satisfying meals with as few premade ingredients as possible. Make all your own meals from basic ingredients until you have a handle on your hunger. Make it a pain in the *kitten* to eat. It will help you decide if you're actually hungry or if you just want to eat out of habit. Once you have that aspect of managing your hunger down, you can go back to more convenient foods. But you probably won't want to, because the food you cook will taste better!

Look for ways to cut out calories where you won't really miss them. Have your sandwich open-face on one piece of bread, or swap out the bread entirely for lettuce. Toast half a pita in the oven and cut it into wedges to have with your chili instead of a roll. Opt for berries instead of bananas or pineapples, they're lower in sugar and higher in good stuff. Try using Greek yogurt or cottage cheese where you'd use sour cream - I promise it's not that far off. Read labels at the grocery store and be open-minded about trying new things - I've seen two of the exact same thing vary by over 100 calories a serving depending on brand, flavor, etc.

Keep notes about how a certain food makes you feel after eating it. From my experience, saturated fat and sodium give me chest pains, sugar makes me feel lethargic, starch gives me headaches, and simple carbs in general don't satisfy me no matter how many calories I waste on them - identify patterns in what you eat and how you feel and you'll slowly stop wanting the things that make you feel bad, no matter how much you thought you liked them.

I started this weight loss deal when I was 294 lbs and 5'3" before I hit 21 - I'm now in my 140s and going down! You can add me if you need any support; I know what you've been through.

I didn't read every response but I will make a suggestion of what worked for me. After experiencing the same problems you are finding for the first few days I decided to divide my daily calorie allowance into 4 groups so that I know how many calories I have available for each meal. So I had a certain number of cals available for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. And by limiting my calories at each meal I knew I would always have a certain number left for dinner and a snack in the evening. Also look at what you eat. Proteins and fibers will prove to be more filling and last longer. Many veggies are very low cal and will hold you until bedtime if you need a low cal snack during the evening. Good luck. It will get easier just don't give up.

i too work with a registered dietician ... work with her/him ... mine was willing to adjust her daily food plan for me at the start if i was feeling hungry and change it as we went ... i just need to make sure i keep my hands busy esp at night when i would normally munch away .... she also gave me a list of balanced snacks for the times i need them. The point is to keep from being really hungry and keeping your blood sugar balanced. dont give up ... it does get easier!!!!!!!!!

Try drinking tea throughout the day...especially green tea. It's good for you and helps boost metabolism. Also it keeps you full. I have a snacking problem and it's helping. I drink a dessert style tea at night to cut those sweet cravings too. Also get rid of the crap if it's in your house. If it's mine I will eat it.

Everyone has great ideas. The first thing is being able to measure your food. You'll need measuring cups and I really didn't do well until I bought a decent digital scale. I bought the cheaper spring scale first and I was never really sure it was correct. Being able to measure out your servings keeps you accountable.

I really do best when I plan my meals. I take meat out of the freezer the night before and I decide what a portion size will be. I go through the pantry and add a carb to it. Figure out the portions on that. I check to make sure that I have veggies to round out an evening meal. After dinner, I portion out any leftovers. That will give you real food for breakfast or lunch. I can make a whole plateful of food for the calories in a lean cuisine.

You or anyone else is welcome to add me or look at my food diary. It's open. Find people with food diaries. I get the best ideas for meals, new low calorie products and recipes from fitness blogs and food diaries. They keep me interested in finding better ways of making foods that I love, which keeps me motivated.

The tip about spacing out your calories is perfect. Now that I log everything, I also space out my carbs, proteins and fat. It really helps me feel better during the day.

Throw out the junk food. I know that you paid for it and it feels wrong to throw out food but it's better than eating it:)

Yeah, it's hard to adjust. Instead of having my body tell me that I'm full and to stop eating, I have to stop eating on my own. Thanks

It is very hard to do but you have made a step in the right direction. I did really well for 5 months and then summer hit and everything went out the window. Now I am day 4 of being back on track and its taking a lot to not go back to old ways.

The stop eating on your own takes a while but once you train you self to do it there will be very few days of feeling like your stomach is going to explode. You know that christmas dinner feeling? I rarely get that anymore. Ive trained my self to stop after my aloted food and I love that I dont get that gross feeling that everyone else gets.

Throw in a walk as you can gain a few extra calories for a healthy snack like grapes, an apple, cauliflower etc.

Good luck Keep your head up!!!

Hi,
Lots of good advice being given her and I concur...it does get easier but you have to push through some of those tough times, especially when you're just beginning to make the change. Seems your body will fight you but remember your WHY! Some things that help me:

1) Reach for water OR Green Tea (no sugar)

2) go for a walk

3) lots of fruits & veggies

I absolutely love logging in all my veggies/fruits and see they don't cost me the calories of what I used to eat!

Just take it one day at a time!

Oh...and don't be shocked as I was to see the calories you'd normally consume! This website is great in that it reveals to us where we need to make the adjustments. AND, there are many good folks in the same boat that are so behind you! Just remember, YOU DESERVE TO HAVE AN AWESOME, HEALTHY, LONG LIFE! My best to ya!

I have found high quality protein foods have been curbing my hunger. Greek yogurt is very filling, Protein smoothies are fantastic! I will have a scoop of protein powder blended with some baby spinach, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries and a little almond milk or water. For approx 120 to 150 calories you have a very filling snack. Good Luck!!!

Hi - Welcome I haven't been here long - two weeks on MFP app ( my doctor recommended it) and about a week online as well but I know it's hard. Raw veggies are your friend - I know you said you don't like them but they are so much better for you than cooking them. I love Greek yogurt - it is my go to snack and only 120 calories - I like vanilla not plain and apple slices.

Instead of throwing the junk away - donate it to a shelter, I'm sure the people who rely on them would appreciate something different and then you haven't "wasted" it.

Believe in yourself because you CAN do this. It is about baby steps both in eating and exercise.
Good luck !!!

I've been in your shoes. I'm about 160 lbs off my scale high.

A true 1800calorie /day diet (food measured and weighed) is pretty tough for a big guy, but will likely result in rapid weight loss. It is more important to stay the course, even if it means eating a couple hundred extra calorie per day. This will have to be a new way of life for you, and your old eating habits will have to change. The good news is that once you reach your goal weight you can eat quite a bit of food to maintain.

Experiment a bit and figure out what foods satisfy you the most for the fewest calories. Microwave popcorn, apples, high fiber cereals all worked well with me.


You mentioned eating ice. Try adding crystal lite to ice and water and blend into a shaved ice type concoction. It's pretty good.

You'll probably be hungry sometime during the day. Get used to the feeling and figure out when you're most vulnerable to temptation. I tend to eat at night. I figured out that if I ate very little during the day it wasn't too bad because I was busy. It gave me more calories for later. I ate over half of my daily allotment of calories between 6pm and bedtime. It made it easier for me to sleep when my stomach had something on it.

You can eat a salad the size of your head every day at lunch as long as you stick with the low cal veggies: lettuce, spinach, squash, onions, mushrooms, peppers, etc. Top with a few ounces of grilled chicken and lo cal dressing and it's still less than 500 calories.

Shave a few calories here and there where you can. For example- strawberries instead of pineapple. Over the course of a day it may add up to a bag of popcorn at night.

Staying away from a lot of carbs help control my appetite

Get plenty of protein and do at least some weight training to help preserve muscle mass. If you don't have access to weights, bodyweight exercises will suffice.