let's be real, here

You know, I was talking about this fairly recently with a work partner. The more mindful I become of my own nutritional needs, the more I realize how deeply problematic our eating habits really are.

I think that the main reason that people feel so full when they're eating a low-calorie diet of ~1200 calories is because they're being conscious of what they're putting into their bodies. Its easy to graze throughout the day and over-eat the wrong foods because you're not thinking about it, but much harder to concentrate and actively consume things that are healthy and nutritious.

For a lot of people, eating healthfully is a totally new and probably daunting task and reconfiguring your eating habits obviously isn't easy. The fact that 1200 calories is toted as being the a sustainable and healthy route is pretty messed up, too. I think the problem is less that folks feel like they're "too full" to eat 1200 calories per day, but that they have a mental block due to a lifetime of misinformation regarding what their bodies actually need to be at their best. I'm really liking the forums and blogs here because having access to so much educational material has totally changed the way that I look at eating.

Totally agree This site makes you evaluate WHAT you are eating more so than a DIET i lost a far bit before joining but just stopped losing and accicentally came across this site when playing with my new blackberry.

I was that person that didn't eat much at all and did not know why i couldn't loose. Hell i would loose loads when eating healthy and excerising but would hike it back on when i stopped.

When i first joined this site i put in the things i used to eat in a day, things like cereal, crisp, toast, chicken, veg, fruit, etc the odd jaffa cake (box lol). You realise that that bowl of cereal you had was actually a damn sight more than 40g and those apples and banannas and bag of nuts which are good for you ALL ADD UP to a lot of calories. This site makes you evaluate what you are eating and yes you can eat 2000 calories easy on 3 bowls of cereal a cheese sandwich and a bag of crisps (chips for the americans) BUT eating veggies buy the bucket full does NOT use up your calories.

MFP is a journey of discovery and adjustment with the added bonus of a blinking good guide on calories and some lovely people to answer your questions Stupid or not we are all learning EVERY DAY EVERYBODY.

We, You, I WILL get there IF we want it, and we will learn loads as we go even what to ignore lol

I think you are so correct. I just replied to a topic about this but I was thinking more of myself than someone at 1200 or 1400 calories. I am I am a big guy. I am not embarrassed to tell you that I am currently abut 380lbs but I do feel shy to say that I am expected to eat about 3200 calories a day based on my exercise, an hour long walk.

So when I sympathize with someone saying it is hard it is because I am thinking from my own shoes. And hell, to be honest it isn't even hard for me to go well beyond that 3200 if I wanted. All it takes it the right/wrong food choices which just happens to be why I am here.

Same here...I have higher calorie limit too. All those veggies I eat fill me up and their calorie count is so low. Sometimes I'm at the end of my day with 450 calories left to use...it sure came in handy for chocolate birthday cake yesterday!

MFP has REALLY opened my eyes!! Good luck to you.......I have a 100+ to lose myself! I think you will be surprised how fast it will come off.......darn you men and your fast weight loss!! Take care!

I said who are we to judge if someone is full... I'm against force feeding but if you wanna quote me plz do so properly.. Go back and read my posts AGAIN!!!

'Who are we to judge if someone is full' follows to the next thought, which is 'so how can we advise them to keep eating?' Perhaps you don't think things through to their logical conclusion. We cannot judge if someone is full.

We can judge the bare minimum of what a human needs to eat - hungry or not.

I said who are we to judge if someone is full... I'm against force feeding but if you wanna quote me plz do so properly.. Go back and read my posts AGAIN!!!

'Who are we to judge if someone is full' follows to the next thought, which is 'so how can we advise them to keep eating?' Perhaps you don't think things through to their logical conclusion. We cannot judge if someone is full.

We can judge the bare minimum of what a human needs to eat - hungry or not.

Perhaps you should remember that what follows to your nxt thought actually was YOUR thought not MINE :O

The issue for me is 1200 is not enough for most people for a sustainable long term weight loss that will keep working without damaging ones metabolic processes.

Yes if you are 5', don't move all day and thats your life you won't need more.

But most of us do move around more and do need more calories to exist without your bodies own hormonal systems kicking in to look after you (hence the threads on weight no longer budging).

We also have people saying they cannot eat any more. Don't fool yourself, if you are overweight, you over ate. Changing your entire diet to make it only 'clean' foods and then under eating because you cannot fit more in, IS unhealthy, just as over eating is.

wow folks,

couldnt think of anything motivating to say so why not poke fun at others and start a b*tch fest!

awesome work!!!

Where's the "Like" button? :drinker:

I'm 5'2 and 130. My goal is 1350 and lately I'm struggling to meet that. I take prescription medications that cause me to have no appetite and am also on a salt restricted diet. Eating well and not feeling hungry at all it is hard to fill my diary some days.

I think some people eat a lot of empty calorie foods. I know when I have a big work out and eat up my calories, I need to eat something more then fruit and vegetables. I need FOOD.. Even if you're not on a "diet", the daily calories for the majority of people is between 1800 and 2000. To many people are starving themselves.

1). switching to eating healthy doesn't mean you can't eat enough. i eat healthy and i eat a lot. i feel like a lot of 1200 calorie people on here defending their VLCD try to make it seem like the reason they're so low is because they're making all the right choices while the rest of us just eat junk.

2). i eat 2300 calories a day. on the day of my 4 hour bike ride i eat 3000+. it can take me an hour to figure out how to eat that many calories without blowing one of my macros, even when i am eating healthy. so don't tell me about how hard it is to meet 1200, cause i'm not buying it.

Ok i'm going to put myself out there... Come what may!

I have set a 1350 calorie goal for myself and today I have eaten:

Breakfast- a bowl of special k red berries cereal with semi skimmed milk (30g)

Lunch- tuna, tomatoe, olive oil and cracked black pepper on 2 wholemeal slices

Dinner- sweet potato, celery, carrot, pepper and lentil soup (homemade)

Snack 1- small banana

Snack 2- fruit & nut (raisins, almonds and cranberries)

I'm not hungry now.. I have diabetes (type 2) and hypothyroidism.. So my body takes longer to burn off food!!
Feel free to comment and get back to me on this.