Discouraged and it is only day 2 - HELP!!!

You should start planning your diary a day ahead, that way you can have each meal figured out and not have to worry about going over. I'm on a 1200 calorie a day diet and it's very doable. Besides planning my day ahead, I try to work out a plan where I know how many calories I can have at each meal. For example: Breakfast 200 calories, Mid-morning snack 100 calories, Lunch 300 calories, Afternoon snack 100 calories, Dinner 500 calories.

It's going to take some trial and error, but you'll figure out what works for you.

Hey there..its amazing how many calories we do eat once we start journaling our food. Ive been at it for a while myself..i just started logging in and journaling my food and the key to not getting overwhelmed I have found is to simplyfy your meals..I myself try to stay away from the meals with tons of ingredients and go more for the grilled or baked meats, steamed veggies or lightly sauteed veggies and something as a baked or sweet potato in the micro..i also eat lots of veggies and greens with are all so low in cals. when I do go for a more complicated dish I try to find a similar recipe to what im about to cook with all of the ingredients I would use and use the already figured out nutritional info..its just an idea..this way you are not spending all of your time aggravated trying to disect all of the ingredients and how many calories etc...

Its a learning game..you will get the hang of it and you will see how easy it will become..the begining is always tough..I have about 20 to lose also so im with you on this one..keep me posted and I hope all goes well for you.

Okay, first of all, I promise you that it does get better. My first two weeks were utter hell, but now, I am so happy to eat the way I do. I eat roughly 1300-1500 calories per day and usually, it's pretty easy.

Here's a sample food log of mine for the day:

Breakfast:
Fage 2% with strawberry
1 pkg. Trader Joe's steel-cut oatmeal

Lunch:
Egg salad sandwich (2 slices wheat bread, 1.5 eggs, 1 tbsp. light mayo, 1/4 tsp. dijon mustard, 1/2 stalk celery)
3/4 cup homemade applesauce

Dinner:
Taco salad (3 cups lettuce, 4 oz. ground turkey w/ seasoning, 1/4 cup light cheese, 2 tbsp. light sour cream, salsa)
10 oz. skim milk

Snacks:
2 clementine oranges
1 cup seedless grapes
1 pkg. diet hot chocolate

Totals: 1341 calories, 31g fat, 77g protein.

Hang in there!

Try incorporating more fruit and vegetables into your meals. Roasted veggies are wonderful and very healthy AND filling.

Remember too that food is meant to fuel to the body, not the soul. Find pleasure in something other than food and making those healthy choices for YOU will seem much easier.

try to burn those extra ones off. I usually do my workouts later in the day so i often know how much i have to burn to stay under

Don't discouraged!!! I have my calorie count set at 1300 and I am eating 6 meals a day. Its all about choosing foods that give you the most bang for your buck i.e. lower calories but more filling! I have taken some time off from logging food and pretty much was eating anything I wanted, but I started again yesterday and I'm more determined than ever.

In case youd didn't realize when this site gives you your caloric needs it is already building in a defecit for you based on the number of pounds you said you wanted to lose per week. So when you excercise you are creating a bigger deficit so by eating the number of calories you expended during excercise you are still at the original deficit set by the site. If you don't eat back the calories you expended during excercise you risk slowing down your progress. Not saying if once or twice a week you don't eat teh calories back this will happen but consistently over weeks and months it could.

So I say don't stress if you go over the 1200 calorie mark a little every day as long as you're working out you should be fine.

Where did you come up with the 1200 calories a day? Is that what was recommended on here when you put in your goals? Maybe try to bump yourself to loosing 1lb a week instead of 2... at least to start with.

You know its really really hard to make a lifestyle change...and this is what you have set out to accomplish! You CAN do it!!
I understand that the initial shock is really hard to handle. I have seen this with me. However, you just have to keep in the front of your head your goal. For me I have cut out pictures from my Oxygen magazine of what my dream body would look like and put 4 pictures on my fridge so when I go to get something to eat that is the first thing I see. It helped me.
I would also surround myself with only positive people and those that will support me in my quest to be a healthier person (this is also the ultimate goal here!) Negative people or those that offer their criticism can really bring you down.

Also try finding some new healthy versions of your receipes...try Clean Eating magazine. they have fantastic meals and ideas. I have found that I have become more creative over the years when it comes to cooking and eating. Exercise is super doper key though. For me this has become easier. I have become friends with people that share the same interest as me and it all started at work several years ago by just talking about activities outside of work! Now I have a great group of guys and one or two gals that I mountain bike and road bike with and while exercising I'm having fun doing it!!

Keep the faith and remember you are a super star!! This is one of my favorite quotes that may help you:
"If you don't have confidence, you'll always find a way not to win" -unknown

Good luck!

I've been eating 1200 cals a day for 11 months now. You have to get used to it and find a way. The first few days, I suggest eating what you normally do and logging it (and every bit of it) just to see how bad your diet was before. Then you can start the changes.

The biggest things are portion control (really, weigh/measure everything) and substitutions. What can you use instead of butter to cook with? Cooking spray, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray. Eat whole grain pasta and bread instead of white because it fills you up longer. Use less oil in cooking. Get the light mayo and use less of it- substitute with something else, like mustard, if you can. Eat more lean meats- like chicken; get the 93/7 ground beef. Skim milk instead of any other milk; but don't drink too much other than water- empty calories. Add vegetables- they are low in calories and you can eat a LOT of them. I've had massive salads for dinner and they have something crazy small like 200 calories! Don't use dressing though- that will kill you. Make your own with vinegar and herbs or find some low calorie ones. Buy the light cheese instead of regular cheese (Laughing Cow wedges are a GREAT substitution; I also like the Precious light string cheese). I don't eat sandwiches that often anymore- I bring my 2oz of ham in a baggie to work with a string cheese and a snack (100 cal pack usually) and that's my lunch. You save a ton without the condiments and bread- and I find that you can't even really taste the cheese IN the sandwich, so why not enjoy it separately!

There are ways to do it, and plenty of people have. But it IS going to be hard work. It isn't going to be easy, and you are going to have to think about everything you put into your mouth, look for better options, and plan out your day.

Planning out your day is a big thing. I do this all the time. I know what I am going to eat from the night before all day long, and then I just do it.

You don't have to give up anything either. You just have to make sacrifices. If there is something that you really want, a treat, then you CAN eat it, in moderation of course, if you plan for it and realize it means that you can eat less later.

And make sure to eat back some of your exercise calories. There is a lot of good stuff to read on this in the stickies and such in the forums. I typically don't eat back all of them to account for some error (unless you have a HRM), so I stick to about half.

I agree with Aislynne - you should start small. And if you're used to something way above 1200 calories per day, you might want to gradually work your way down to that. Your body will eventually learn to be satisfied with smaller food portions.

Have you ever logged your food before, so that you have an idea of what a 'normal' day used to be?

Take these first several days and TRY to eat less than you usually do, but don't get caught up on the calorie count just yet. Figure out what's realistic for you and then try to gradually work your way down. Do this the healthy way - don't starve yourself! And even if it's difficult, try to log every single detail. This will help you go back and see what you can try to cut out as you decrease your calorie intake. (For example, log that BBQ sauce and see what it's got... then the next time you're at the grocery store, see if you can find some with less calories, sugar, etc).

It's difficult to be realistic with yourself, especially since we live in a fast-food culture where we want everything immediately. The small goals will help with that. You WILL be proud of yourself when you accomplish even a small goal. My "suggestion" to you (take it or leave it) would be to be conscious of what you eat, but log everything. THEN figure out where you can start cutting back and make realistic goals for yourself. Maybe after logging a few days if you find you are taking in around 2000 calories, try taking in 1900 instead, then 1800, etc.

Don't give up and don't get discouraged. This is a lifestyle that you will grow into

Hang in there. I just started myself back in September. I am also doing 1200 calories. It took about 2 weeks to get the hang of it. I eat the same meals as my family, but I follow the serving size on everything. I also always allow for fun days. If we are going to a restaurant over the weekend, I don't feel guilty for eating my favorite meal. Do you have WII fit? I try to play on that for about an hour a day and burn 100-200 calories. It is hard to get used to, but don't give up. You will be surprised how easily it will become to choose better options to control the calories. Keep trying! YOu can do it!

Don't know much about your situation, but I'll give my two cents: I know you've probably heard this, but you should consider cutting out most of your bread servings, especially if you're eating products made with white flour (even "enriched"). Replace your white bread with wheat or whole grain bread. A couple slices a day won't hurt you. Try to limit your dairy products, as they are high in fat and calories and virtually have no real nutritional value that you can't find in a healthier source like vegetables. Even if your'e not into becoming vegan, you should look up stats on the vegan diet to get a good idea of what kinds of great vegetables you could be eating in large amounts to get proper nutrition. You can blend those concepts with your meat recipes and your meals should come out pretty awesome. You'll feel a lot fuller too, with no guilt.

The first few weeks is a learning experience. At least it was for me. Learning about portions, calories (among other things) and how to fit the foods into meals to add up to the amount I needed for that day.
Don't let it discourage you. Once you learn more about the calories in/calories out system it gets a lot easier.
Hang in there, keep journaling and working off those calories and you will start seeing results before you know it.

Instead of setting your calories very low. Why not set them at something a little easier like 1500 or 1800 and then set a goal to yourself to work out and burn at least 300-600 a day so that it burns down to 1200 net instead? Or eat normal for a week and just log everything anyway to get a "feel" for the calories involved in some of your most common foods.