2000 calories a day and still hungry?

sixpackgoal
sixpackgoal Posts: 146
edited September 23 in Health and Weight Loss
This site has been a real opener for me. Although I have been eating fairly clean for a couple years...I must have really been close to 3000 calories a day. No wonder I stayed close to the same weight for a long time while running quite a bit.
Now I cannot wait til my stomach shrinks and 2000 cals fill me up most of the day.
How long until the stomach adjusts to less calories. Any tips will be appreciated. Feel free to friend me as I need all the support I can get while counting calories. I have been eating about half my exercise calories.
Thanks everyone in advance for any help.

Replies

  • sabrads
    sabrads Posts: 152
    Hi,

    If you dont mind - open up your food diary so we can see what you are eating - I would suggest more protien in a diet as it reduces hunger. But with out seeing what you are eating then I cant offer much more than that.

    Steve
  • wiggleroom
    wiggleroom Posts: 322 Member
    Something that has helped me is to look for the lowest calorie foods I can so that I can eat lots of volume! Apples, carrots, oranges, cucumbers (those are filling for some reason -- maybe the high water content), popcorn (no oil or butter), etc. Also, lots and lots and lots of water. And hot tea, if you like it.

    And, when all else fails, I chew gum and leave the house to get away from the food!
  • Ben2118
    Ben2118 Posts: 571 Member
    Ive found eating every 3 hours has worked for me, I struggle to get to my 2140 daily goal now, around 1600 seems to keep me full most of the day, I like having a buffer as sometimes we go out for meals etc and it helps balance it out.

    It will happen though, I am in my 5th week now, had a jacket potato with chilli the other day and left half of it!! which for me is weird as I never left anything before!! lol

    Lot of water is key too!! :smile:

    Good Luck,

    Ben.
  • sixpackgoal
    sixpackgoal Posts: 146
    Thanks Steve. I just made my food diary public. Please feel free to offer suggestions. I am a bit high on complex carbs. That is my energy source to run and P90X workouts since I do not drink coffee or pop while on ninety day P90X program.
  • KokomoJoe
    KokomoJoe Posts: 435
    During the week at work I am so busy, even tho I try to eat every 2 to 3 hours it can be a struggle to eat as many calories as I am supposed to. But given how busy I am I don't even notice I"m hungry. When I notice it the most is on the weekend. But it may also be I can stop at any given time and "snack". I try to keep to the regimen at work but it is definitely harder especially when your at home and the fridge is so close. My original hunger pangs were from when I stopped drinking as I find my body is asking for those empty calories. I am sure it will all work out for you.
  • catcrazy
    catcrazy Posts: 1,740 Member
    Sometimes its better to bite the bullet and just go for it. If you trust yourself to go thru it and not binge because you have hunger pangs then make your last meal as early as you can and your next breakfast as late as you can so your stomach has about 16 hours to do its shrinking. It will have shrunk after that but it doesnt mean you wont ever feel hungry, especially if you are having 3 meals a day so break them up into 6 smaller meals so your stomach just doesnt get stretched. The other solution is eat more very low cal foods...a huge plate full of veg will fill you up but very few calories. Personally I think letting it shrink would be better as when hunger pangs strike speed foods (crisps chocolate etc) often win over standing there preparing and cooking veg
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    I looked at your diary and here are my suggestions. You are not getting enough protein -- you were under your protein goal every day for the past week. At the same time, you were over on your other goals. I see a lot of bread and pasta in your diary -- perhaps you could replace those carb-filled items with protein-filled items. A can of tuna, a hard-boiled egg for a snack, lentils, beans, etc. I used to eat a crazy amount of food, but since coming here and tracking I can feel full on half the calories just because I stopped eating so much bread and pasta and I've put the focus on protein. That should help at least somewhat.
  • mariapuhl
    mariapuhl Posts: 529 Member
    I looked at your diary and here are my suggestions. You are not getting enough protein -- you were under your protein goal every day for the past week. At the same time, you were over on your other goals. I see a lot of bread and pasta in your diary -- perhaps you could replace those carb-filled items with protein-filled items. A can of tuna, a hard-boiled egg for a snack, lentils, beans, etc. I used to eat a crazy amount of food, but since coming here and tracking I can feel full on half the calories just because I stopped eating so much bread and pasta and I've put the focus on protein. That should help at least somewhat.

    Are we looking at the same persons diary? LOL. I see him as being over his protein goal every day...

    So my suggestion, based on what I saw is that I do not see enough veggies in there! Veggies are great to fill you up because you can eat a TON of them for very few calories.
  • plagirl227
    plagirl227 Posts: 134
    I looked at your diary and here are my suggestions. You are not getting enough protein -- you were under your protein goal every day for the past week. At the same time, you were over on your other goals. I see a lot of bread and pasta in your diary -- perhaps you could replace those carb-filled items with protein-filled items. A can of tuna, a hard-boiled egg for a snack, lentils, beans, etc. I used to eat a crazy amount of food, but since coming here and tracking I can feel full on half the calories just because I stopped eating so much bread and pasta and I've put the focus on protein. That should help at least somewhat.

    And I don't see any vegetables. Unless you are not clicking it, you do not drink enough water. What are you drinking all day? All of these things will help fill you up. I suggest you add more vegetables and salads to your diet.
  • sixpackgoal
    sixpackgoal Posts: 146
    Thanks. I will swap some pasta for tuna and bread for protein shake and see how it feels for a week.
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
    Try and cutting down on your sugar... Sugar (and artificial sweetners) increase your appetite.
    This was something I figured out for myself even before I'd had the science explained to me by biochemists, nutritionist and diabetics (I keep forgetting the actual science, so I keep asking to have it explained to me)

    Turns out that many things I thought of as "real" foods turn out to have a ton of sugar in them.
    Personally I'd rather have my real food be REAL FOOD and save the sugar to enjoy a TREAT now and again.

    I had a lean cuisine meal the other day that 18g of sugars in it. Holy Mackeral!!! that's twice as much sugar as my favorite cookies (9g for 15 cookies). Sure, the lean cuisine only had 320 cal, but I was starving all evening and that leave me with 2 choices... SUFFER or EAT MORE. I gotta suffering all the time is the express route to giving up all together.

    I have also found that if I have a diet (yes, diet) soda there is no way I ever have the willpower to stay in my calorie range.
    When you eat so that your are satisfied you don't need to rely on willpower so much.

    Good Luck.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    HA! You're right, I was misreading. I am teh stupid. I haven't finished my coffee yet. ;)

    I'd still get rid of the breads and pastas and try to fill up on something else. Someone suggested veggies, and that's a great option. Fruits as well. If you start your day with good protein, you might find that you stay fuller longer than if you start off with oatmeal. Everyone is different with that though -- some people stay full all day on oats, some don't.
  • laurnol
    laurnol Posts: 23
    know what you mean some days I'm just starving at 2000 calories, other days I feel pretty good with 1400.
  • lizlevasa
    lizlevasa Posts: 3
    I've already eaten 2000 calories today and only burned 260 during my workout and I'm unable to do much else for regular daily activity. I have tried calculating it and my workout included in only burning a total of about 1700 calories a day. What could I do to get fuller on less but still feel satisfied??
  • bokaba
    bokaba Posts: 171 Member
    If you used to eat a 3000 calories a day and have reduced by 1/3, you will probably take at least a few days to get used to it. Follow the healthy eating suggestions others have given, but unfortunately suffering some hunger pains is a part of the process. You can also try getting your mind off eating by doing something you enjoy that doesn't involve food.
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