Hunger

anything high in protein for me keeps me full for awhile, or raw veggies (jut because they are so low cal for their weight not necessarily keeping you full)

Maybe you could start with a lesser goal? I see that your ticker says 65 lb to lose, so I'd imagine (although I may be wrong!) for you to have such a low goal as a young person, you're quite short AND/OR have the goal of 2 lb loss per week.

I lost about 75 lb at 1.5 per week and didn't feel too hungry, it VERY SLOWLY cut back my calories from a starting point of around 1600 down to 1270..adjustments after every 10 lb of loss. If you're just starting this and your body is used to more calories you probably will be very hungry/cranky at 1200-1300 right off the bat.

After losing 75 lb I readjusted to 1 lb per week and now I am eating around 1400-1450 daily and it seems like a lot of food!

If you play around with your goals and see your calorie total at 0.5, 1, or even 1.5 lb per week you may be amazed at the higher number of calories you could be eating and still have a steady loss.

Good luck!

Protein! And lots of water and green tea will help curb your appetite somewhat

I would be extremely cranky running after a 20 month old on only 1290 calories a day. Reassess your goal and slow it down a bit. there are some great mommy and me exercises that use your toddler as a weight on the internet. Make him part of your exercise. I made obstacle courses with chairs and blankets and we would crawl thru exploring the tunnels. It was a great exercise for me and the kids loved the adventure. Sometimes I would hide a stuffy in one of the caves.

Did you put yourself down as sedentary? With a 20-month old I'm sure you're not sedentary. A higher activity level should give you more calories to work with. As should the exercise (I don't know that I'd plan on an hour a day 7 days a week just yet though - I second the 3 days a week suggestion).

As to what I do - protein and a little fat seem to help. Fiber too, if mixed with protein and some fat. For me (lately anyway) that's homemade vegetarian seitan sausages but you'll have to find what works for you.

I also try to not eat carbs without protein. Nothing wrong with carbs, I love them, but they don't fill me up on their own and I wind up hungry again really quickly.

veggies, lots and lots of veggies.

I would definitely recommend that you exercise, because then you can eat more calories and won't be so hungry. My calorie goal on MFP starts off at 1200 as well, but if I exercise for 40 or 50 minutes and burn 400 calories, then I am able to eat 1600 calories a day if I want to and the result is still the same.

Dear Soshi, everyone above has posted very good advice. I am currently at 1250 cal/day and started out higher, about 1500. You want to reduce your intake gradually while learning to fuel your body better. Nobody wants to be hungry or cranky but if you plan your meals to balance carbs with fiber, protein and some fat you feel fuller, longer. Eating plenty of salad, veggies, whole grains and healthy fats like avocado or almonds instead of low nutrient processed carbs will fill you up without the calories. It will also keep your blood sugar from plunging and triggering the hunger again. Lean protein is a must, so make sure your meals have some meat, beans or low fat dairy, too.

I stopped eating high sugar foods and stopped craving them almost immediately. Also, stay hydrated and plan for a few nutritious snacks to keep you from running on empty. I teach swimming and water exercise so I am in and out of the pool several times a day. I eat regularly during the day ( yogurt or low fat string cheese, almonds or whole grain crackers too) and while I am hungry when it is time to eat, I never feel HUNGRY. I was surprised how quickly my body adjusted to the healthier eating and smaller portions.

Don't forget that when you exercise you should plan to eat to fuel your body. On workout days I generally burn an extra 500/800 cals so I can eat more on those days and still maintain about 1000 calorie deficit each day.

Good luck!

Yeah definitely next level up (lightly active?). I literally sit at a desk all day, that's sedentary, and that's why I'm at 1250 calories. I don't even walk to meetings or fetch files - it's all electronic. I imagine there's a lot of chasing kiddo and fetching and carrying things/kiddo during your day, even around your own house. Just so much more movement, even if it's not purposeful exercise.

You can always lower calories if it doesn't work for you but I suspect it will.

I was thinking of that, too... I just really want to see results soon, and the best way to do that is to go all out.

It may seem that way, but it's actually extremely counterproductive to make the deficit too small. For start, you have to cope with being hungry all the time.... the number 1 trigger of overeating is hunger. Overeating is actually a survival response to eating too little, because your body evolved to survive food shortages and not accidentally starve to death. The main reason why diets fail is they're not sustainable, people can't stick to them long term, they fall off the wagon, because they're hungry and sick of eating such a restrictive diet. And even if you pick yourself up after falling off the wagon.... well, if you're constantly cheating on your diet because you're so hungry all the time then that's going to slow your weight loss down.... and also, people get stuck in a yo-yo diet pattern, losing and gaining the same weight over and over.... that's because they're too strict when losing, can't sustain it, so gain it all back again when they fall off the wagon, then they resolve to try harder this time, lose weight, regain weight... and it cycles again and again...

The alternative approach is to eat more calories, have a ***small*** calorie deficit, lose weight slowly.... yes it takes longer, yes it requires patience, but as the process is much less arduous, you get to enjoy eating all the same foods as before (albeit in smaller portion sizes), you don't feel hungry all the time, you don't have the constant temptation to fall off the wagon, you don't have to deal with food cravings, you're much less likely to do rebound overeating. Because of this, you have a much better chance of sticking with it in the long term, and succeeding in the long term.

You're young, you're 23... you have your whole life ahead of you... what's the big deal about taking 6 months longer to get there, if it means you have a much better chance of staying fit and lean for the rest of your life.... I mean, you're 23 and the rest of your life is a very long time.... do you want to be in a yo-yo diet cycle, or do you want to reach your goal weight *and stay there*.... to stay at your goal weight, you need to keep doing all the things you did to lose the weight..... if you revert back to your old ways you'll get fat again... i.e. back in the cycle of yo-yo dieting......... you can save yourself that by taking the fat loss slowly now, through small but sustainable changes and through calorie counting with a higher goal that's easier to stick to and isn't going to result in you being constantly hungry.

I am younger, 23, and short 5 years ago I was much smaller... After I met my husband, I picked up his eating habits. When I was younger, we didn't have much money or food around, so after I had more food around, I ate like I was starving. I also ate to comfort my depression... It didn't take long (5 years) for me to gain a large amount of weight. I've been hating myself for a long time, because going from small to large is hard... It's not like I was big my whole life, so I know what I used to look like and I disgust myself the way I am now... So it makes me impatient. I want to get smaller again asap! But I know if I set unrealistic goals I will fail

then don't set unrealistic goals. Set realistic ones and **be patient**

and learn to love yourself now... you can love and respect yourself even if you don't like the fact that you're carrying too much weight... don't beat yourself up about it, people make mistakes, forgive yourself and move on... don't be disgusted with yourself, instead tell yourself that you're a great person who deserves to be healthy and not have to carry around all the extra weight... it's better for your mental health to view it that way, and it also puts you in a frame of mind for success, because people who love themselves and strive to improve themselves because they know they deserve it are generally a lot more successful than people who beat themselves up and try to improve themselves because they hate and are disgusted with themselves.... a healthy mindset really increases your chance of success. And be patient, take it the slow, steady and sustainable way, with a realistic calorie goal that you can stick to without getting hungry, and where you can enjoy the foods you want to eat (albeit in smaller portions... you can eat the more slowly, that way they last just as long as a larger portion)..... it doesn't matter if it takes you longer to get there.... what matters is that you stick with a healthy lifestyle for life.

My biggest problem isn't so much the amount of food I eat, so much as eating the wrong foods. I tend to eat cheap, processed foods because we are low income. We live off of ramen sometimes. There are some days where all I eat is 3-4 cups of ramen a day (I always dump the broth)... That's only about 900-1200 calories a day, but it's not the right kind of calories. I know I got bigger by overeating, but since we've been on our own our income bracket has changed, and now overeating isn't even an option. My main problem is finding cheap/affordable healthy foods that last in the fridge or freezer.

I don't drink much soda, sometimes 0-1 can a day if I need caffiene. The rest of the day I drink water only. I don't drink juice or milk. When I snack it's usually on dry whole grain cereal like Kix or Rice Chex, or baked crackers. I don't eat many sweets, and I don't eat much bread...

I don't really overeat, just eat the wrong things. So that is why I am looking for the right things to eat, that are affordable, filling, and last a good amount of time in the refrigerator.

Rolled oats
Dried beans
Frozen fruits and vegetables
Milk
Turkey
Grains: Rice, bulgar, quinoa
Tuna

2/3c oatmeal and about half a tablespoon of peanut butter together in the morning always last me about 3 - 4 hours. together it gives me about 12g of protein for one meal, and the oatmeal takes up a good amount of space in the stomach, as well as has complex carbs, so i think those factors combined really help me feel fuller for longer.