I still don't get it

Then, I look over at my friends' diaries and they're adding in 900-calorie workouts and STILL end up eating an even 1200 day after day after day. How do they do it? Why can't I do it? Especially when they're doing these extra long and strenuous workouts, how do they manage on only 1200 without passing out or eating a bus when I have a tough time maintaining my sensible 1370?

not healthy. don't follow your friends. follow YOUR gut. no one knows your body better than you. eat :flowerforyou:

Doesn't sound healthy to me. Your body needs fuel just to maintain basic functions let alone adding exercise into the mix. I eat over 2000 calories a day and am still losing weight.

My whole approach is eat when you're hungry. I currently do about 1200/day give or take. I'm not feeling hungry though...if I were I would eat. Everyone's body is different so it could just be you are hungry. But your not really eating many more calories than me. I find if I do a hard workout I'm less hungry than if I don't work out...yup sounds crazy to me as well but again everyone is different. Do what feels good for you and what's healthy.

When I first started weightlifting, I would get so hungry, I would eat my lunch at work by about 10AM. Then I'd go to a teriyaki place and eat a big plate of chicken or steak, and I'd feel hungry again by 2 or 3 PM. Eventually it got better...but I still get hungrier on the days I lift weights.

Do their diaries have a lot of protein or fiber? I'm not sure. Maybe they have jobs where it's hard to eat when you really want to (I can't eat when I need to, so I wind up almost not eating all day except at noon).

Either way, do what works for you. If you're hungry, I say eat! Just make it something healthy that will fill you up and curb your hunger.

No idea. I don't think.any of my friends eat below 1,500. And I'm almost positive none of them eat at 1,200., especially after working out.

Check their protein and fiber intakes. Thoses two things keep you fuller for longer. You could try upping your protein intake, but do what works for you.

After a few weeks of being hungry but cleaning up my diet my blood sugar leveled out and the hunger greatly reduced. Just stick with it you will feel better.

I feel the same way.

I've been logging my food on MFP for 5 months. I have maybe 4 or 5 total days at 1200 calories, and those have all been by pure accident. I remember falling asleep early a couple of days and feeling sick to stomach on another occasion. My appetite has always been strong.

I also have a friend who constrict her calories so much on a regular basis, that after a while she loses control and binge eats. That's scary because it borderlines on disordered eating. I know there are emotional reasons why people binge too, but don't you think that constantly underfeeding your body would make it more likely to happen?

Food choices make a difference. 1370 is not necessarily more sensible than 1200 if the difference comes in the form of an ice cream bar. (I'm not knocking ice cream bars or the people who eat them. I'm not knowing people who eat more than 1200 calories.) The amount of actual food eaten between those two numbers can be very similar. I can eat a whole lot of ice cream bars if I let myself and still feel hungry soon after.

I've decided most people overestimate calories burnt and underestimate or forget food eaten (I'm sure I do the latter since I'm not losing fast enough.

I was on a very accurate 1200 a day program at one time, and its not easy, and I was not exercising.

The longer I'm on MFP, the less hungry I feel. I guess my stomach has shrunk.

I usually eat around 1200 or less a day, and do pretty intense workouts of 5km on the treadmill combined with weight training. I think the reason I can eat so few calories has to do with what I eat and when I eat it.

Breakfast: I don't eat breakfast; I have a BIG coffee in the morning with whole milk and sweetner. Then i speed walk 30 minutes to work (usually because i'm late). On days when I wake up hungry I'll hv a 80 cal piece of gluten free toast with an egg white on it (96 cals).

Lunch: I usually have a salad under 500 calories high in protien with just balsamic vinegar and a little oil/salt/spices. I usually eat this at my desk but I eat extremely slowly so the salad takes me around 1.5 hours to eat. The protein fills me up and i'm completely satisfied for the rest of the workday.

Snack: While I'm at work I usually either have a sugarfree energy drink or another coffee to get me through the day.

WORKOUT! I don't like eating before my workouts so after I walk home from work I get right into my gymclothes and walk to the gym. I'm usually still amped up from my energy drink still so I'm not that hungry. I do cardio, weights etc then walk home and get in at around 7:30 - 8. I can't do as good of a workout after I eat because when I eat I just want to go to sleep.

Dinner: Then I have dinner; I usually have another salad high in protien and if i'm still hungry snack on rice cakes and almond butter.

I try to chug a bunch of water before I go to bed; i find i wake up less hungry when i'm fully hydrated. I used to eat a lot of almonds and nuts before I joined MFP but realized that they really cost you a lot of calories. I agree with the other posters; it really depends on your body and how you feel; I think I have a pretty slow metabolism so what makes me feel full may not satisfy you. I also follow a fairly gluten free diet, and notice that I don't get cravings/sugar rushes that were usually due to my unstable insulin levels.

Hope this gave you some insight!

Exercise seems to have very little effect on my weight loss. If I want to loose weight it mostly has to be done by my eating habits. It really sucks, I have a pretty slow metabolism and generally only see weight loss results when I consume around 1000 calories. If I ate anything over 1600 - 1800 I'd gain weight. What makes it worse is having a twin sister at 106 lbs.