New to This - Advice Wanted

seanjuan04
seanjuan04 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 14 in Getting Started
I am new to counting calories and I could use some advice. I am trying to stay around 2000 calories a day but find myself pretty hungry. Does someone new to this go through a normal rough patch when you start counting calories? Does it get easier? Also, I would love some advice on my food diary. Am I eating OK, any suggestions?

Replies

  • seanjuan04
    seanjuan04 Posts: 3 Member
    I wanted to provide an update on this. It has gotten a bit easier but I do find myself grouchy and hungry when I try to stay at 2000 calories. I am wondering if it is just a shock to the body after years of eating poorly.

    What I am looking for is; can you look at my diary and suggest any changes to my food that would help me feel more full and provide me the nutrients that I need?
  • scrapbookingtm
    scrapbookingtm Posts: 1,916 Member
    I didn't look at a lot of days from you diary but to me it looks like you need to add more veggies, a lot more veggies. Very low in calories. Fruits too. Drink water with your meals and in between. Eat slower. Food from restaurants are usually higher in calories than homemade because they want you to eat more and come back often. These are the things that work for me. Good luck.
  • jmbusch
    jmbusch Posts: 1
    It was a rough adjustment for me as well. Started in October of last year at 310 pounds and am now down to 234. Probably was eating 3,000 calories per day and then dropped to about 1,800. The first few weeks were an adjustment in getting use to eating less. Here are a few things I did that helped:

    * Eat more fruits and vegetables. As the poster above said, highly filling and usually low in calories.
    * Eat MUCH more slowly than I had in the past - being mindful of how fast you're eating makes you feel full earlier than previously.
    * Lots of water throughout the day - I don't enjoy plain water, so I purchased some zero calorie Propel to make the water have some flavor to it. A lot of the time what I thought was hunger was actually thirst.
    * Fiber. Seriously. I bought a generic container of Metamucil (orange flavor) and would drink that at least once per day. It was only like 25 or 50 calories, and it filled me up pretty easily.
    * I was also much more successful if I broke up my meals into targeted calorie ranges. I usually tried to eat around 400 calories at breakfast, 450-500 at lunch, a 150 calorie snack and then the remainder at dinner (usually about 800). That would put me at 1,800 calories per day.
    * Lastly, exercising and "earning" additional calories was a great way to go. I started walking, then running - now I'm swimming as well. I LOVED seeing the +400 calories on my equation each time I did something active. Plus, I didn't feel like I was hungrier on the days I exercised vs. the days I didn't. So it was a double bonus.

    Anyway, those are just a few things that I tried. Good luck to you!
  • November_Fire
    November_Fire Posts: 165 Member
    When I get hungry it's because I calculated something wrong. Eat protein (aim for around 0.8g per lb of your current bodyweight) and fat to stave off hunger. Carbs for fuel. I just do NOT do hungry!

    A bit of nutty yoghurt, a salad with a smattering of cheese/turkey and a slice of peanut buttered bread will not sustain an active human.

    I have a little rule; if it's not got 20g+ of protein, it's not a meal :) I don't follow it religiously or anything but eating high-protein has changed my life, especially in terms of energy levels, attention span and satiety. I don't get hungry between meals. I don't want to snack. I can easily turn down foods I once craved because I'm full. I've recently made more of an effort to eat higher fat, too, and that has been great. Mood is high and cravings are down.

    See your body as something to nourish. Imagine your calories as a financial budget - if you 'spend' 300-500 of them on wine or sweets or takeout food, you can't 'afford' something nourishing and you'll be hungry. Try and avoid empty calories, or before you know it you've spent them all and you're hungry because you didn't eat nourishing things. I can see a number of food items which seem quite high-calorie for what they are - are they processed or takeout? Consider making your own - same meal, more protein most likely, fewer cals. And yes to vegetables. You'll fill yourself up with them and the fibre is good.
  • seanjuan04
    seanjuan04 Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks all for the replies. Now that I am into this for just over a week, I am much more comfortable with it. I really hope I can keep it up but MFP has made it so much easier.

    For those that said to eat veggies, this is something I have struggled with my entire life. I am at least making sure that I add lettuce, tomato and onion to all my sandwiches, which I never used to do. Also, I have been substituting sliced carrots (the ones cut with ridges like Ruffles potato chips) for chips and it is a great substitute.

    I lost 4 pounds my first week, which seems like a lot but did give me some encouragement.
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