how did u adjust to lower calorie diet?

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linalovekitty
linalovekitty Posts: 187
in Health and Weight Loss
Initially, it was physically impossible for me to diet. Id cut my calories from 2500/day to tdee-20% and Id be dizzy, starving, literally dying. So I would give up and continue to gain. I could not understand how people on MFP were eating so low cal and not only surviving but thriving. It never occured to me that my body may need time to adjust to less food.

Recently I found that certain foods and methods really enable me to eat less. for the last week ive actually been able to eat between 1300-1800 cals/day and although Im a little tired, I feel pretty ok. Im just wondering, will this get easier and easier? DOes it really take your body some time to adjust? did you have a hard time in the begining like me cutting cals, or was it no problem right off the bat?

Some key foods that have helped me are as follows:
1. full fat greek yogurt. 170 cals and keeps me full for HOURS. nothing 170cals ever touched my appetite let alone kept me FULL. Im still getting used to the active cultures though/

2. whole grain pasta (9g protein per serving!) w low cal vegan tomato sauce. A 450 cal serving, basically a meal, also keeps me full for hours and gives me energy

3. whole wheat pita and a TBSP of hummus (185cals) is another great snack. its tasty and is a great evening snack when I get the munchies.

4. red meal is more satiating than white meat for me, even in equal cals.

Replies

  • Emisole
    Emisole Posts: 65
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    It definitely took me time to adjust. I had to find out which foods filled me up for the fewest calories, and I had to learn that I wasn't a bottomless pit to throw an entire bag of chips into, and that it was okay to just eat one serving and put them away. I was pretty grumpy for a couple months, to be honest. I ended up upping my calories and losing more, thankfully!
  • frankizoy
    frankizoy Posts: 83 Member
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    it's not that hard for me and i restarted not to long ago, i actually let my self go over my calories as long as it's not enough to make me gain weight, but i try to keep as close to my calories as possible. I have noticed that i have been getting used to eating the lower calories now so i'm not going over as much when i do go over :)
  • skinnydreams19
    skinnydreams19 Posts: 282 Member
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    I can't function on under 1800 calories and it's really hard for me to eat under 2000 without feeling sick and grumpy and awful. I'm definitely bumping this post!
  • Nicoleace22
    Nicoleace22 Posts: 32 Member
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    In order to say under I have to eat all the time.

    That means 3 meals 250-350 (750-1050) cals and 3 snacks 50-150 ( 150-450)cals. My goal is 1300. I also eat my exercise cals.
  • stardancer7
    stardancer7 Posts: 276 Member
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    For me, it was about getting four or five servings of veggies for breakfast--for three or four months, my breakfast for about five of seven days a week was a two egg fritatta made with an onion, one or two cloves of garlic, a tomato, mushrooms, bell peppers, zuchinni, kale or spinach, fresh basil leaves, feta cheese etc. Filling, delicious, and nutritious. As long as I built my day around getting veggies, I felt full.

    I still have days when I go over on calories, but I'm pretty sure that I used to eat 3000 to 5000 a day because I ate so much take out and junk food. I have tried to find high volume foods that satisfy me the way the junk food used to.. for example, having a whole wheat dill pickle sandwich with a tablespoon of full fat mayo provides me with the same gratification that eating a two hundred gram bag of salt and vinegar chips and 500 mls of sour cream used to....
  • KAYRRIE
    KAYRRIE Posts: 201 Member
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    Initially, it was physically impossible for me to diet. Id cut my calories from 2500/day to tdee-20% and Id be dizzy, starving, literally dying. So I would give up and continue to gain. I could not understand how people on MFP were eating so low cal and not only surviving but thriving. It never occured to me that my body may need time to adjust to less food.

    Recently I found that certain foods and methods really enable me to eat less. for the last week ive actually been able to eat between 1300-1800 cals/day and although Im a little tired, I feel pretty ok. Im just wondering, will this get easier and easier? DOes it really take your body some time to adjust? did you have a hard time in the begining like me cutting cals, or was it no problem right off the bat?

    Some key foods that have helped me are as follows:
    1. full fat greek yogurt. 170 cals and keeps me full for HOURS. nothing 170cals ever touched my appetite let alone kept me FULL. Im still getting used to the active cultures though/

    2. whole grain pasta (9g protein per serving!) w low cal vegan tomato sauce. A 450 cal serving, basically a meal, also keeps me full for hours and gives me energy

    3. whole wheat pita and a TBSP of hummus (185cals) is another great snack. its tasty and is a great evening snack when I get the munchies.

    4. red meal is more satiating than white meat for me, even in equal cals.

    What brand yogurt you get because I actually have trouble finding full fat yogurts. Everything says low or non-fat and I actually want the full fat ones.
  • Runhard13
    Runhard13 Posts: 138 Member
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    Find options that trick your body into feeling full even in small portions
  • squiggyflop
    squiggyflop Posts: 148 Member
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    Um, I just ate 250 calories every 3 hours.
    I learned that I needed to eat meat in order to not be a vicious nasty creature who attacks everyone I love.

    Eventually I learned to portion food to cook at home. Which added back the comforting sense of normalcy I needed desperately.

    I never felt very weak or dizzy, but I became very short tempered at first. I mean, crazy screaming lady yelling at a dog for licking his paws too loudly kind of short tempered.

    And 1200-1600 calories (I eat in a range depending on how hungry I am) is definitely enough for my physically demanding job. And when I say its enough, I mean it really is enough to not just keep me up and moving, but I have been getting progressively stronger too. When I started (at the first week of my weight loss journey), I could barely lift 25lbs. Now I can carry a 40lb patio set in my arms across the store, stack the 45lb bags of fertilizer (though after 20 bags it gets a little too hard), load mulch into cars, pull 400lbs of grills on a pallet jack, and I can handle 25lbs so easily that I hardly notice when im carrying the stuff across the store.
  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
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    I did it slowly. I had been averaging 1800-1900 a day. So I just cut back to 1600-1700 a day for a while. Then after about a month I cut down to 1500-1600 a day. Now I've been at 1400-1500 for many months and this is where I'm staying for the rest of my weightloss time.
  • philleah
    philleah Posts: 34 Member
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    It's hard at first, but I am motivated my results. Skipping the ranch that I ate with everything :( I kept losing and it motivated me to stay out of the fridge late at night. I also did not buy trigger foods like potato chips.
  • ShortInSeattle
    ShortInSeattle Posts: 44
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    For me what is helping is:

    1) Bigger breakfast.
    2) Fewer simple carbs, but more fats.
    3). Being realistic - going for a sustainable calorie deficit instead of trying to lose too fast.

    SIS
  • sewingdiscontent
    sewingdiscontent Posts: 112
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    Real food has a lot less calories than processed crap. For example, today I ate a big ole plate of turnip fries and tilapia. It was 200 calories. You have to find the low cal/high taste foods that are good to you. I eat mini meals like that every couple hours, and I never feel hungry.

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