Does anyone actually eat the 1200 calorie limit?

I would suggest with only 25lbs to lose to set your goal to lose no more than 1 lb/week, and net that amount. So if your MFP goal is 1400 and you burn 400, then eat 1800.

Are you actually eating 1500 Calories? From the looks of your diary for the past week you have not eaten over 1000? If you diary is accurate no wonder you are hungry.

morning oatmeal with pumpkin 350
snack yogurt nuts and fruit350
lunch chicken salad400
im hungriest here
dinner meat and sweet potato400

that's the usual

add more fat, its what works for me

morning oatmeal with pumpkin 350
snack yogurt nuts and fruit350
lunch chicken salad400
im hungriest here
dinner meat and sweet potato400

that's the usual

Um, WOW, I know everyone else is offering info on carbs & proteins & changes you can make, but I have to tell you this looks insanely healthy to me! Seriously, how many of us eat a balanced diet of whole grains, lean proteins, fruits, veg & nuts every day? I don't!

You're eating well, just not enough. I agree that you're trying to NET 1200 calories, not consume 1200 calories regardless of your exercise. Keep up the healthy choices and give your body the fuel it needs to be strong & healthy! You're doing wonderfully! :flowerforyou:

I'm totally with you on this. I am a frequent runner, weight-lifter, etc and find myself ravenous after about a week and a half of maintaining only 1200/day. Would love some advice. Maybe I need to be better about eating my exercise calories back? It's just hard to figure out what those numbers are if I do a Boot Camp or something like that. I usually just don't count it unless I can measure it. Bad idea?

Just a thought, if you find yourself craving a certain food, just eat a small amount of that food and wait a bit and you probably won't be hungry any more. If you try to eat something other than what you are craving, you will still want that "something" and overeat.

You shouldn't be feeling hungry, angry, tired and weak. That isn't good because it will be hard to stick with. I like your idea of alternating calorie days. You could try doing the oatmeal and a hard boiled egg or adding in some peanut butter to the oatmeal. You may even benefit from a small snack in the afternoon. I usually have plain Greek yogurt with berries. Or, you could think about adding Shakeology as a snack or having that in the morning as your breakfast. Shakeology helps me to feel less hungry throughout the day, helps to curb cravings and gives me a ton of energy!

I have been eating the limit, or a little less. I actually found it easier to eat the calories as 250ish for breakfast, 350ish for lunch and 450ish for dinner. That leaves me with around 150-200 for snacks. I love popcorn. An entire bag is only 120 calories for the light butter. I have been doing it for 3 weeks and am down 6lbs.

I think it's best to eat a big lunch and a small dinner, it helps with weight loss not to be too full when you go to sleep, and also keep you full during the afternoon when you need your energy the most.

As some people already suggested, eating too much carbs (which causes insulin spikes in your blood, which then lead to the feeling of hunger once the sugar level dips low soon after a meal) can make you feel more hungry. Your portion for each meal should be roughly 50% protein, then 25% veggies and 25% carbs (or more veggies and less carbs/grains, since there are a lot of carbs in veggies too, such as broccoli, so you don't really have to go out of your way to add carbs such as potatoes into your diet just so you get a "balanced" meal). Both my personal trainer and my doctor has told me to eat less carbs and more protein if I want to watch my weight.

On some days I'm just too hungry to stick to my caloric limit (which is set at 1300) so I don't, I snack on apples and let myself go over by a couple hundred calories. Keep in mind that even if you are not under the caloric limit, as long as you are not over your daily expenditure (which is about >1600 for sedentary lifestyle) then you are not going to gain. Losing weight slowly is perfectly fine as long as you don't yo-yo between high and low intake.

I generally eat a very protein heavy lunch (about 600calories) and have a salad+some proteins for dinner (about 300-400cal). My breakfast is cereal, around 300 cals. I general eat corn or broccoli etc. which has carbs but not super starchy, instead of starchy things like rice or pasta or potatoes to get my carbs.

At first I thought 1200 would leave me starving but surprisingly I can get through the day plus workouts without a problem. Guess it all depends on what you're eating and when.

I've been sticking to 1200 for a few days now. I burn off 100-300 through exercise, so really i'm eating 1300-1600 a day, which seems to be fine for me.

This is me as well, except there are days when I don't eat back what I burn. Some of it has to do with timing and chasing my 2 kids around. By the time I sit down after my evening workout it's almost 10pm and I'm spent! I found that I had a hard time at first only becuae of the kind of food I was eating. Now that I have adjusted to eating more fruits and veggies and lean protien I find it easy to stick within the 1200 calories, and I am satisfied.

I'm finding that it takes adjustments to what you are eating and when. I started with the 1200 calorie goal, but wasn't eating back the 400-500 calories I was burning with each workout. I was hungry all of the time, and a bit cranky. I've decided that a 2lb per week loss goal just isn't realistic and have adjusted my goals to one lb per week. It upped my calories to 1390, and even though it doesn't seem like much, I feel better. I'm also getting much better at eating back a portion of the burned calories, and eating a better breakfast. I'm 5'4" and 148.

Yeah...I've had to make some adjustments also.1200 wasn't quite enough.I recently changed my goal to 1 lb a week instead of 2.Much less grumpy,starving and binging.Good luck!You can friend me too if you like!