Nutritionist suggested 1300 cal leaves me feeling starved

A simple solution would be to enter your information into this site, and pick the .5 or 1 pound per week weight loss. That should give you more calories and you can still lose weight and not be hungry. This weight loss tool does work, if you work it.

Hope that helps and welcome to MFP

i spend over 2500 calories to maintain my weight every day and with a 1385 calorie diet every day that myfitnesspal suggests me, i sometimes do go hungry to bed. but surely there is an upside to that.

Pick the .5 or 1 lb/week weight loss option like I said above, instead of the 2 lb/week option. Much more manageable. If you are expending 2500+ cals a day, you could eat as much as 2000-2200 cals and still lose weight. Sounds like you picked the 2 lb. per week option and set yourself to sedentary. If you are set at 2 lbs/ week and sedentary you should definitely "eat exercise calories back" or change your lifestyle to moderately active and not sedentary. That is how this site is designed.

Also keep in mind that what you eat is also an important factor. Try substituting a meal or snack that is high in fats with one that is more nutritionally balanced. It's never easy losing weight no matter you're situation, age, or how much you want to lose. That's why it's great we have a place like this so we can all help each other out not matter what. Hang in there, it'll get easier.

Did you bring up your concerns to the nutritionist and did s/he give you a meal plan or say for how long to stick to 1300? I have had success with the settings on this site and really like it. But if you fully explained your situation to the nutritionist (whom I am assuming is a registered dietician) then I would personally try it out for a little while.

Yes, I did let her know that I don't just sit at home eating potato chips, and that at given moments I am required to lift, push, and pull 100+ lbs, and that I work a few days in a nursing home so not only am I walking, and lifting, and bending...I'm also standing the majority of the time. She gave me a meal plan, that was high fiber almost 35 grams daily, but I let her know that due to my gastric issues my GI suggested a 10-20 gram fiber diet. She didn't have one that caters to different health problems. The other issue with the menu is that it doesn't give me a way to substitute foods that I don't tolerate well, or even like. So, I have been looking for something online where I can exclude the dairy, because of lactose intolerance and sub it for something, and just sub the cereal and bread because I just don't like the texture or taste and have not eaten that stuff since I was very young. I'm working on it though, and thanks for your support.

Sounds like it may be time for you to scrub the net and find foods that will fit your medical needs. It won't be easy, trust me, but doable. Start with what you actually like to eat and find subs if they don't meet what your nutritionist suggested. Having medical issues is a PITA. With all the work you do I bet you have quite a bit of muscle!

1300 net. So add in all the time you spend cleaning and working under your cardio. Those are all calories that you can eat back. If you burn 800 calories working and cleaning, then you are allowed 2100 calories.

Also keep in mind that what you eat is also an important factor. Try substituting a meal or snack that is high in fats with one that is more nutritionally balanced. It's never easy losing weight no matter you're situation, age, or how much you want to lose. That's why it's great we have a place like this so we can all help each other out not matter what. Hang in there, it'll get easier.

Yes what one eats is important, but promoting lowering fat is BAD advice, unless you meant canola, soy, trans fats. Our bodies NEED fat (far more than 30%) and fat promotes satiety. And yes, losing weight can be easy, speaking from experience (I said "easy" not "fast"). If anything should be lowered it would likely be sugars and processed grains-assuming the OP is following a "balanced" Standard American Diet.

OP: You definitely need to eat more since you are very active, and even if you weren't. Unfortunately most nutritionists are following the status quo of "calories in, calories out" and have very little understanding of metabolism. The body is far more complex than that and under-eating is detrimental to health. Even if you lose weight in the short term it would likely not be sustainable. Yo yoing is more damaging than just staying a bit over-weight.

Are you seeing a nutritionist for a medical need or because you wanted to get off on the right foot for a lifestyle change with eating? If it's the latter, then I recommend just looking for some great advice here and with your actual physician. If it's the former, then talk to your physician, because obviously you got a nutritionist that wasn't good for your specific medical eating needs.

MFP may put you at 1200 or 1300 calories, but you also eat back exercise calories. I'm guessing the nutritionist didn't take that into account (once again calling into question for me the validity of this particular provider you saw). Do be aware that MFP's calories burned calculator can drastically overestimate calories burned. What I do for items that I need MFP to calculate how much I burned is to keep it lower -- did I walk at a moderate pace for 20 minutes? Then I pick walking at a slow pace for 20 minutes to help compensate for the overestimation. If I walked at a slow place for 20 minutes, I might put down that I walked for 20 to account for it. Then I make a note using the 'edit/save note' feature with my exercise to put in what I did so I remember that.

If you are feeling starved, you're not going to be successful long-term typically. Being hungry isn't the end of the world, but weight loss can be a mental game too, and trust me, there are ways to beat it! Finding ways to substitute high calorie foods that aren't filling for foods with fewer calories and more 'fill factor' is critical. I like to leave a lot of my calories for dinner so I can bend and flex with what the family decides, even if it's pizza. So I have a packet of oatmeal for breakfast, which always fills me up, and I have lots of small snacks the rest of the work day of vegetables and fruits. Then for dinner, it's whatever. I still try to keep it healthier, because this is a major lifestyle overhaul for me, and I feel way better putting better fuel in my body then the typical fast food crap I used to. However, I still have that crap sometimes as long as it is within my calories.

Don't forget healthy fats. Your body does need them. Avocados, healthier oils, etc. Don't eschew fats because of the unhealthy popular health claims of 'low-cal/low-fat = only way to go." It's unsustainable and isn't balanced!

I found this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12 very helpful. MFP put me at 1360 + eating my exercise calories back, then dropped me to 1200 + eating them back. I reset it manually to 1360 + eating my calories back, but I also went and did these steps in the post, and it was very helpful. My calculation came up to roughly 1700 per day and that was close to 1360+exercise calories. So now, I just do a blend of the 2 -- if I fall somewhere at or near them, I'm fine.

Oh, and in the beginning, you may feel like you have more hunger than you do because you're just mentally used to eating more and unhealthier. Find other ways to fill your gut and tell your brain to shut up. Water, tea, carrots, grapes, etc. Once your body has adjusted to the new you, if you're still feeling starving and you are still using their 1300 only, definitely look at at the very least eating exercise calories back.

Try checking out the recipes at hungrygirl.com - she has some that taste good and you can eat a bunch - this might help till your ready to control portion size better. God Bless You for the work you do as a CNA, it is difficult physically and emotionally!
Feel free to add me as a friend.

If you can spring for it you should check out fitbits. I have one and love that it measures calories burnt & syncs with MFP so you know exactly how much to eat It has really helped me!