How to conquer hunger pains

1200 calories isn't for everyone. Try to adjust your calories a little or save some extra calories to eat a bigger dinner to help hold you over?

Good luck!

I feel hungry but I don't think I would ever call it pain. Pain is for when you break an arm or have a migraine.

Maybe have more protein and fat in your diet.

Drink water, apparently you can confuse thirst for hunger.

I don't ever manage to eat my full 1200 but I never have hunger pains. Take a look at what your eating to see what's wrong. Proteins and fiber take longer to digest so you feel full longer than carbs which immediately begin to digest.

Did you set your goal to 2 lbs per week? That is very aggressive. Change your goal to 1 lb per week, you will get more calories to eat and will still lose weight! Also, if you aren't doing so already, eat back some of your exercise calories. Being a little hungry every once in awhile is no big deal, but you don't have to struggle and be miserable to lose the weight. :drinker:

1200 is for shorter, small-boned, dwarf sized females like myself.

So up your calories if you are not fun-sized.

Otherwise, base your meals around protein or fat, or both. And drink a lot of water.

Oh and also, eat back exercise calories. I eat 1450 and burn 250 a day. It feels better to burn it off than to just not eat it at all.

Curious...what does bone size have to do with calorie intake?

I'm under 5 feet tall but have a large frame (as measured by a medical person).

ashleyjmcgee wrote: »

1200 calories a day isn't much. How do you all get by? I feel like I'm being punished.

Couple of things:

1) 1200 calories is really low...about as low as most people should ever go. You look like a young woman, so it is very likely that you could lose weight on a more generous calorie budget. If you "punish" yourself everyday, you may eventually quit and that will really be a shame because losing weight is very much doable without starving and being miserable.

2) Just because MFP gave you 1200 calories based on the goals you put in, doesn't mean you have to eat that little to lose any weight. It may just be that the weight loss goal you entered is just too ambitious. If you put in a slower rate of loss, you may get a calorie estimate that is more realistic for you.

3) All that said, I limit myself to 1200 calories plus exercise, but I'm a sedentary 60 year old woman. The way I manage it is by doing the 16:8 type of intermittend fasting. In case you're not familiar, I eat all my calories within an 8 hour window of time. During that short eating time, I never feel hungry because my meals and snacks are fairly close together in time.

4) Mild hunger pangs are just a reminder that it may be your customary time to eat something. Unless you have a medical condition that requires otherwise, it will not harm you to ignore them for a time. I think we are conditioned to respond instantly to hunger signals, but we can condition ourselves otherwise.

That's all I got. Sorry for the book.

I'm doing 1200 calories (I'm 5'1") and the first week was really hard. I was used to just eating however much of whatever I wanted. The second week my appetite completely changed and 1200 calories feels right, and sometimes even too much if I'm eating a lot of veggies that are really low calorie.

Eat more protein and fiber during your 1200 calorie allotment. It will dip your blood sugar less than if you just ate a carb filled snack (i.e. doughnut, bread, pasta, etc.).