People who eat less than 2000 cals...in need of support

I eat 1850 a day plus exercise cals and I am losing over a pound a week.

If you are a super high car or high sodium diet or are just plain eating crap, you will lose very slowly

Well my mom is not a very good grocery shopper. She thinks she is but she likes to shop from three different stores. She'll buy all the junk, easy-cook foods one weekend and then the next weekend she'll buy the produce and meat, usually not even ending up going the next week but two weeks later from her first shop. So we end up only having produce for up to two weeks and I don't like the fruits she buys. I just don't have a lot of resources when it comes to having the right foods. I mean, she buys the high calorie foods because we eat them(by the way I live with two of my siblings, my dad, my mom, and her mom's bf, everything is kind of ****ed up right now), but at the same time we eat them because she buys them. If she shopped mostly produce and therefore getting a greater variety of produce I would eat more produce. I can't just make my mom buy a bunch of stuff that she usually doesnt get.. i'm not the type of person to be bossy or confrontational or outspoken or whichever would that would fit better there.

Losing weight is about eating at a calorie deficit, so don't sweat the rest of it so much for now, especially when you have no control over the groceries. You can eat what's in the house and still be successful. Once you calculate how many calories you should be having to reach your goals, start weighing everything, use portion control and log faithfully. Obviously healthier foods are a better choice and will make you feel fuller and give you more energy, but when there are only less healthy choices, you can still do fine.

Go shopping with her if you can and explain what you are trying to achieve. Tinned fruit in juice can be better than no fruit. Adding lots of veg, whether it's fresh or frozen to your diet will make you feel more full. As will foods like porridge. Try to cut out as much added sugar as possible and pick foods naturally low in fat, or less processed. Good luck with it. It's not easy going from what you used to eat to what you need to eat to lose weight - but once you've cracked it it does get a lot easier - promise!


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I'm a 5 11 man with exercise I eat between 1800 and 2000 daily. If I don't exercise I eat just over 1600' How do I do it? I plan my meals pick meals that fill me up and make sure I have enough calories for the posts snack. I never feel hungry. As others have said without seeing your diary it's impossible to give specific advice. If you want to see my diary add me as a friend

I had a brief look at your food diary and you do seem to be eating a lot of high calorie foods. For example one one day you had 4 TBSP of Peanut Butter twice in a day at over 400 calories each.

Bags of grains and pulses, such as puy lentils and quinoa are cheap to buy, easy to cook and are filling. You can add vegetables or salad to this and even a chicken breast, plain grilled or roasted (without skin) and you won't be taking in many more calories than you are showing for that peanut butter but you will probably be a lot fuller.

I add a snack of fruit in between meals if I need them and starting the day with 2 egg scrambled egg sets you up for the day

The one benefit is that what I am eating now is actually saving me money over what I used to eat

Well my mom is not a very good grocery shopper. She thinks she is but she likes to shop from three different stores. She'll buy all the junk, easy-cook foods one weekend and then the next weekend she'll buy the produce and meat, usually not even ending up going the next week but two weeks later from her first shop. So we end up only having produce for up to two weeks and I don't like the fruits she buys. I just don't have a lot of resources when it comes to having the right foods. I mean, she buys the high calorie foods because we eat them(by the way I live with two of my siblings, my dad, my mom, and her mom's bf, everything is kind of ****ed up right now), but at the same time we eat them because she buys them. If she shopped mostly produce and therefore getting a greater variety of produce I would eat more produce. I can't just make my mom buy a bunch of stuff that she usually doesnt get.. i'm not the type of person to be bossy or confrontational or outspoken or whichever would that would fit better there.

If you are 18 years old, surely you can buy some of your own produce? buy your own bananas/oranges at least. Then use portion control if you absolutely must eat what your mother feeds you.

Well, I am working on getting a job still. It's possible I can apply for unemployment to get checks kind of like if I was disabled.

No, you can't.

And, 2500 is a lot of calories. That's more than most adults should eat on a regular diet.

Also, are you measuring/weighing your foods? It's blows my mind to even imagine five tablespoons of peanut butter on one sandwich! Is that really how much you use? If so, I'd highly recommend cutting about three to four of those out.

I also had a peek at your diary. i think you may be entering things wrong - there is no way you could put 5 Tbsps of PB on a piece of bread. And 10 oz of chicken - that is a lot. Use measuring spoons and a scale, if you have one, for at least a few weeks to start seeing what portions look like. And you can make some simple changes, ask your mom if you can go shopping with her and pick out a few healthier items like a low calorie fruit spread instead of high sugar jelly. Try milk in your coffee instead of flavored, sweetened creamers. These simple things add up and you will notice your calories dropping.

You're eating high calorie but not very filling food. Stop eating so much junk like peanut butter & jelly sandwiches on a regular basis (they don't keep you feeling full for long enough) and start eating loads of veg and things like lean meat or fish. You seem to have very few vegetables! Pre-exercise I'm eating around 1300 cals a day and some days am so full I'm struggling to actually make sure that I'm eating that. My exercise calories are generally my treats (treat size chocolate, Haribo and alcohol at a weekend). I make sure my meals are filling - an average evening meal will be something like a chicken breast with cajun seasoning, carrots, leeks, broccoli, green beans and courgette (zucchini if you're in the US) ie a huge plate fully of low cal, filling veg. If I have the calories spare I'll have a small baked potato or a few boiled potatoes (weighed and logged). Your diet is fully of processed stuff and you may want to think not just about losing weight but about keeping it off. Use this as an opportunity to change your eating habits for the better. That doesn't mean not having processed stuff sometimes, its about having things in moderation. Good luck

well, I took a look at your diary for the last 4 days or so and you are definitely eating quite large portions. 5 tbls peanut butter as a serving?? thats almost 500 calories.. that could be an entire meal. You should probably not be having 1000+ just for lunch alone. Sorry if this is harsh but its probably why you are not losing. What I would do if I was you would take the average calories you eat for the last week, and subtract 500 calories from that and start there. When you get used to that, subtract more. But you are not going to lose any weight if you are eating 2000-3000 calories a day....

How do you do it?

I always go up to at least 1800 and at most 2500 or more. I hear a lot of people having success from eating only 1200 or 1500 or something and I don't get how they do it. I always end up hungry if I manage to eat around 1800 or barely 2000 gross and getting exercise that day, and on a day when I eat what I consider normal, I probably eat 2500 cals. Do I simply eat a little too much at dinner and have snacks that are too high in calories? We don't always have fruit at home so sometimes there is not much I can do but eat high carb foods. Could it be because I am heavier so my body needs more calories to sustain my whole body and therefore I crave more food?

I am feeling very discouraged with continuing to work on losing weight because... well I feel like I just can't do it. Either I eat too much, or I exercise too little. I feel like I need to starve myself or work myself to death to get results.

I seriously am not, nor do I let myself get, hungry on my approx. 1300/daily intake. I took a look at your diary for yesterday and I basically ate similar to you except I didn't have a PB&J sandwich as snack ~ to give you an idea how I "do it" (you're welcome to look at my open diary).

For *me* I came to discover my previously super high-carb diet was actually making me hungry. I'd eat an entire box of mac & cheese, made with too much butter, and I'd feel even more starving! And so than I'd have buttered toast or PB&J ~ again and again all day in an effort to satiate my hunger. At dinnertime I assumed potatoes or pasta would fill me up, so I'd load up on that with a few dinner rolls. And yet I'd still feel famished. So while I cleaned up the kitchen I'd stuff another dinner roll ++ in my mouth. I'd go to bed so hungry, daydreaming about waking and making a box of mac & cheese for breakfast and starting the cycle all over again.

So for *me* a key to my success these past 6 months has been to lower my carb intake and up my protein. That is what helped me curb my previously un-curbable appetite.