Help I have trouble eating under 2000 cals a day!

What a bunch of BS this is. So what does one have to do on here? Check everyone's previous posts, food and exercise diaries before taking the time to respond to a person that may need help or encouragement? And yeah, I DO keep my diaries private, I will admit that, but not because I want to "fool" anyone. I stumbled on here and found the food/calorie calculator, which was exactly what I was looking for. Didn't even check out "the community" for weeks. Saw no reason to open up my food intake for the world to dissect. But this is total ****, and the OP knows it. What's her name on here? I Want it Too? Something like that...whatever....but as Judge Judy always says "if it doesn't make sense, then it isn't true". Who the hell goes on a fitness site with a handy cal counter app, but rarely logs her food intake?. When she does do it she's logging that she eats doritos, cream filled chocolate cupcakes and candy bars for breakfast,? She claims she is pushing 250 lbs and appears to be a beginner at working out, yet logs that she is doing step aerobics on an 8"-10" step for 30 minutes and then is on an elliptical for 20??? Yeah, riiiight. I just started working out again after being a couch potato for years. I do 30-40 min on a treadmill, 10% incline at 3.2-3.5 mph and I am wiped. I would collapse in a heap doing what she claims to do as a workout and I am nowhere near 250 lbs and I certainly would not even think of cramming cupcakes, chips and candy bars down my throat if 'IWantedItToo".

Get a life. Seriously. Troll is right. How pathetic.

I can completely relate to OP - I stand and walk all day at work (hospital lab) and I used to think that was enough exercise, probably because I'm exhausted when I'm done working. I'm also a binge eater who can inhale thousands of calories in a blink of an eye and still be hungry all day long. I didn't pay one rats *kitten* to my eating until I was 240 lbs - shocking, I know.

Since I've been on MFP I've had to try and curb my appetite to get under 2000 calories a day, and I always feel hungry, too. I'm not really doing anything special in the way of carbs, protein, etc at the moment - I'm just trying not to stuff my face with 6,000 calories a day. Once I can get control, I can start figuring out how to get healthy.

When I first started here, I found myself gorging on chips and queso. I then measured and weighed out what I continued to eat, so I could log it. What an eye opener it was for me to see I had just ate 1000 calories in 15 minutes. Before dinner.

And no, I don't consider this "normal" and I don't think I'll ever be "normal" with food. That's just the way it is.

the line backer would eat the entire taco Bell menu... not two small soft tacos!


To the OP:
perhaps your problem is trying to have what we were brought up to believe were "balanced" meals.

I find the carbs kill me. I used to eat a homemade egg mcmuffin for breakfast every morning. Much healthier than Mc D's, but still close to 400 calories. and it's not really that much food, a small, easy to hold in the palm of your hand sandwich.
Now I eat crepes, or an omelette, scrambled, or whatever, but try not to do the eggs, the bread, the meat, and the cheese all together. Two out of four make a good meal, and way less calories.

the hamburger is fine, but the bun adds an extra 200 calories and very little nutritional value.
the taco stuff might be better served on a salad, especially if you want to eat the potato too.

I didn't read through the rest of the thread but I struggle with this too, OP. I had to start working out to support my eating habit. Now I can eat 2200+ though I still feel hungry. Willpower is key, though sometimes I have none.

This has been a funny read.
Good luck IWantToo. Remember: keep complaining, feeling sorry for yourself, eating tacos for breakfast and burning 8000 calories at work. The fat will just melt off.

^^^ *kitten* ALERT!

I feel your pain!! I struggle with trying to comsume between 1400-1500 calories a day. It has truly been a challenge and the only thing I have done that has helped me is to take what I would normally eat and figure out what piece of it I can change out. For instance, you mentioned a burger and fries...well if I went to McDonalds I would normally order the quarter pounder meal (fries and coke) which would come to 1,110 calories. When I get my McDonalds mood, I now order the double cheeseburger meal with medium fries and diet coke, that reduces my calorie intake to 760 that is a savings of 350 calories, which is huge when you are counting calories. That is my breakfast intake. Another good example of modifying the foods you like....I love bagels and cream cheese which would be 270 for a regular plain bagel with 70 calories for the regular cream cheese. I know buy the bagel thins 110 calories and the 1/3 less fat cream cheese at 45 calories. That is over 1/2 of the calories I am saving for later in the day. Hope this helps.

sometimes i can't keep it under 2000 cals too. Those days are usually days when i work long hours. It just helps to plan your day in advance, have food packed, etc. Buying crap at cafes is no bueno. I had a very unfilling single serve quiche for breakfast yesterday at a cafe...it ended up being almost 500 calories. WTF?!?!

Today I had a 160 calorie yogurt that kept me satiated untl noon.

It helps to be prepared.

ETA: also, protein is your friend.

If you're working on your feet all day, you probably DO need to eat more. The biggest thing is to just prepare. Pack yourself a days worth of meals and snacks. That way when you get hungry at work, you have your own, better choices, rather than whatever is laying around or in the vending machines. It doesn't have to be salad and a few chunks of chicken. There are lots of healthy foods out there that are very filling.

This thread is ridiculous, full of good and BAD advice.

If someone wants to have a 900 calorie breakfast, and it fits in their calories, so what. I sometimes eat meals that are 1000 calories and other meals that are 200 calories. The total of calories in one meal means nothing if you meet your calorie goal. I could easily eat a 900 calories breakfast, a 500 calorie lunch and 600 calorie dinner and meet my daily goal.

OP, feel free to look at my diary. I eat between 2000 and 2300 calories a day, based on my TDEE and 30-60 minutes of cardio and lifting a day. I eat a combo of healthy and junk food. Usually, if I have one bad meal in a day, I just try to make sure the others are healthy and nutritious.

I keep 100 calorie snacks, fruit cups, yogurt...I try to just do single serving snacks. Me counting out crackers form a big box is ridiculous. I cook an entire bag of frozen or fresh chicken breast. However, I cut it up in cubes, spice it up and cook with a little olive oil. I just keep this in the frig for quick meals with pasta or wraps. I drink herbal teas. I haven't changed my eating style much, I do more portion control if anything. I drink a lot water during the day. But having 900 cal for breakfast is a lot of calories, especially if you're not doing anything to burn those off. I try to have 300-400 cal for breakfast, snack at 10, lunch at noon, snack at 3 then dinner by 7 and then sometimes a snack before bedtime. I amped up m work out to 45 minutes in the morning and then another 30-45 minutes in the evening, so I'm burning close to 1,400 when I do this.

You truly need to just "see" what you are eating and bring in your own snacks. You can get full off of chicken salad, especially if you add veges to it. I keep sauteed onions, peppers, garlic in my fridge too. Plus I add red pepper flakes for an extra zing. It did take me a few months to get on board with my calories and sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't but I don't beat myself up about. I just start fresh the next day. But if you want to truly keep 2000 a day, you have to work hard at it. Try to plan your meals for a few weeks and before doing so, look to see how many calories are in the food you want to prepare. Or make a lot of it but then portion control it in containers, that way you just have to take a container instead. Once you get the hang of it, it will get better and better. Try not to look at this as a diet but getting to a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes just adding rice and more vegetables to your meal does wonders.

One way to stay full is to eat fat at meals. Each meal NEEDS to have fat, protein, and fiber. That's one reason why a steak keeps you fuller than the same amount of calories in a hamburger or a boneless skinless tasteless chicken breast. Also, your body expects to get fat from things like meat and dairy, because humans evolved with only full-fat products. If you eat something that is artificially low or no fat, your body sets itself up to digest full fat, then you feel hungry when your body doesn't get what it expects (there are similar problems with no calorie sweeteners).

Soup is also awesome, it fills you up more than food and water separately.

Also, avoid any processed food- it's designed to make you want more! Sugars (even from too much fruit), white flour is the same way. It raises your blood sugar and than causes it to drop quickly, making you super hungry about 30 mins after eating.

For some people, snacking also increases hunger. Have you ever been not very hungry, then become ravenous as soon as you took a bite of something? That's because your body suppresses hunger signals after an hour or so (so that people weren't bothered by those signals while they were trying to hunt and such). Then, when you eat that first bite, your hunger signals flare up to tell you to keep eating and your stomach prepares to digest a meal. When you don't eat a full meal, your body is left with disappointed expectations and you get hungry again as soon as the tiny snack you ate is digested.

When you DO eat (during meals), try to do so rather slowly, and pay attention to the taste. This allows your body to know what you are eating and when you have had enough. Once your nutritional needs are met, you will notice that the taste changes slightly (you'll only notice if you're paying attention). The second that your meal doesn't taste as awesome as it did before, you know that your body is sending a signal that it has all it needs and that you should stop eating. If you never get full, eat more variety.

I'm sorry you've been struggling, believe me, I go through the same thing. Granted, I don't have a job where I'm able to be on my feet (I know it sounds crazy, but consider yourself lucky), I sit at a desk all day long, surrounded by people who are constantly bringing in sweet treats (seriously, I had to give up sweets for Lent to save myself from them) and snacking all day long.
I do my best, but I havent been losing lately, and it comes down to one thing. Will Power.

My guess is that you are hitting the same issues...you can know all the rules, and want to change for all the right reasons, but when push comes to shove, and you are still eating the way you used to, nothing is going to change. You have to want it for you. Forget what other people get to eat...work on you, and what works for your body...if the person next to you is scarfing McDonalds, and you find yourself jealous because they're not fat...you should remind yourself that they'll be ****ting all of that out in about 45 minutes anyway, so who cares.

If you want to fix it, don't come whining and asking for a quick fix, you will never find it, and these people will never give it to you. Bottom line...stop eating junk, and stay under your calorie goal...if you want to reach your goal, that's it, end of discussion.

Good Luck.

I like when people assume that they're different. I see all these people eat X and when I eat X I get fat and they don't. Yea, but for example what if that's there only primary meal for the day. I had a 1000 breakfast today and still hit my goals just fine. You need to learn to separate mental hunger over real physical hunger if you can. The best way is to cut simple carbs / sugars and make sure you hit your fiber and daily water consumption.

Frank Yang and Michael Phelps eat 5,000-10,000 calories because they expend that much energy. The average person doesn't. The real answer is. If you can't find anything that works food wise to get you a caloric deficit you have to burn it off through exercise.

That wasnt the point of the post. The point of the post was, I could never eat like that. even if i consumed what they consumed just on their lunch break if that was my meal for the whole day I would not lose, i would likely maintain and I would have to be way under the average daily intake of 2,000 even with exercising everyday and having a physical job.. im just saying that sucks for me!

FYI at nearly 300 pounds with a physical job and exercising I am always in a deficit.... yet i lose no weight eating 2000 cals, which means i cant eat 2000 cals. SImple as that it sucks and NO. I DONT EAT CALORIES BACK IF I CANT LOSE AT A DEFICIT HOW CAN I LOSE AT A SURPLUS SMH..

I understand what you are saying. I also understand your frustration. I found out early on that I simply could not eat as much as other people and stay slim. I have never 'accidentally' lost weight like some people I know. I compared my diet to men around me and thought I was eating so much less than I was.

The only time I could eat 2500 and maintain, was when I worked as a baggage handler for a major airline and lifted heavy in the gym 3 days a week, plus 45 minutes of cardio. I was 30 at the time and 5'6", 150-155 pounds.

When I had a disabling injury that put me in a wheelchair for a couple of years, I gained a lot of weight, and am now working on getting it off at 49. It IS hard. It SUCKS that I can't eat like 'normal' people. But considering that 2/3 of the US population is overweight, and 1/3 is Obese, then 'normal' is definitely not healthy.

I fought it for years. I would 'diet' for a week or so, lose a couple of pounds, then the scale would stop moving and I would get frustrated and quit, and go back to eating 1800 cals a day. Yeah, I maintained on between 1600-1800 cals a day. Being extremely sedentary will do that.

Six months ago, after losing my mom to diabetes, and turning 49, I joined MFP and made the commitment to lose the weight. WHATEVER it took. I knew that if I didn't, I would be unhealthy, immobile, and end up with Diabetes very soon. And not be there for my kids and grandkids for all the important events in their lives. My mom died 3 weeks before my first grandchild was born.

When you finally get sick and tired of being sick and tired, and reach the point that you are willing to do WHATEVER it takes to lose the weight and get healthy. THEN you will succeed.

It sucks. It is not fair. But not much in life is fair. I had to finally put on my big girl panties. Accept my reality. And just do it. And the next day get up and do it again. And again. And here I am 6 months later, much slimmer, much stronger, much healthier, and much HAPPIER!

Yeah, some days I'd love a Big Mac and fries. But it just isn't worth it anymore. My priorities have changed drastically. My biggest regret is that I didn't figure all this out when I was 30.

Will I ever be able to eat like 'normal' people again? Not the definition of the average person's 'normal', no. But I have a 'new normal' and it is SO worth it.

If losing weight was easy, there would be no fat people in the world. It takes commitment, patience, planning, hard work, and often times telling yourself "no".

When you are ready, you can do it.