Cutting Calories & Still Feeling Satisfied?
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I'm very similar to Mrsgoodwine. I'm also 54 years old and 5'1". (SW 5/1/15 -170; CW162; GW 130) My calories set for 1300. For the past two weeks I reduced my carbs to 45, but I usually end up a bit higher, but that is the target. I literally have beefed up my protein and fats. Limited to 3 meals and 1 snack any time of the day. I also recently purchased a digital scale for portion sizes. I always thought that was overrated, since I knew what a fist size was. Well, It's not! It's made a difference in pre-preparing meals for the day/week.
I used to be a breakfast skipper, opting for just coffee, thinking I would save my calories for later. It wasn't working for me. Now I start with 4-5oz of eggs & cheese bake with a little bit of sausage, & vegs. (mushrooms, tomato) What a huge difference this has made. I am no longer "hangry" and I feel satisfied and full of energy. It is incredible to me the amount of weight loss after being on a plateau for so long and the amount of "found" energy I have. Added 65oz of H20 as a minimum. Real water, not including teas and coffee as a 'liquid'. LOL.
I was resistant to adding calories, but adding protein and fat calories as opposed to carb calories makes a difference for me in terms of energy and feeling full and not crashing midmorning.
I too, am basically just walking for exercise -10,000 steps per day. If I miss my walk I stick in an exercise DVD for 30 mins. Started planking, I can't do pushups, but the planking and stretching make me feel great without being sore the next day. Try a week, log everything, including your mood energy levels, satiety. Weigh, measure, assess progress, adjust if necessary, repeat.
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Dragonwolf wrote: »itsjustdawn wrote: »The reason I even posted this is because there are arguments in this group for and against tracking calories.
Technically, there's a difference between tracking calories and counting calories. You can track without counting, and you can count without tracking (though that's arguably harder). Not tracking or counting is not suitable for everyone all the time. Even if it's suitable for you most of the time, if you're finding yourself running into problems, then tracking -- and possibly counting -- for a short period of time may be beneficial, to aid in troubleshooting and finding what gets you back on track.
You're experiencing problems, so it's a good idea to take notes for a while. Once you get back on the right track, you can re-evaluate whether you need to continue counting or tracking and go from there.
If you notice, though, most of us have attempted to address your hunger and haven't said that you need to count calories, necessarily.
1. You're getting hungry every two hours, because you're not eating enough at each meal. Eat until you're full at each meal and aim to eat only 3 meals. Your meals should eventually fall somewhere between the 300-400 that you're eating per meal now and the 600-800 that your two-meal total is currently.
2. Reduce your condiment intake. You shouldn't need a quarter cup of dressing on a 3-cup salad. Try different dressings to see if they work better, or reconsider why you feel the need to put that much dressing on a salad in the first place.
3. Track (don't artificially alter your caloric intake) for a couple of weeks with the above changes, so that you can see how they change your calorie intake, weight, etc.
4. Remember that weight loss isn't a race. Look at trends over a month or two, so that you get a view of your body's patterns over a full hormonal cycle, and so that you give your body enough time to adjust to your new way of eating.
Thank you. I guess I am thinking I need high fat foods, which equates to more calories in my head. I was already thinking I need to change the dressing to something else - I just don't care as much for salads without it. My biggest struggle is having food at work. I am trying to pack foods that will keep me full for 10 hours. I feel like there is a lot of fat in my meals, at least based on what my diary says. I do want to try making my own dressings. I am not really a fan of cooking, but I do make my work meals ahead of time. If I could get away with only 2 meals or whatever at work, that would be freaking fantastic. I did drop to one cup of coffee, and I love my HWC, so I'd like to keep that as well.0 -
slimzandra wrote: »I'm very similar to Mrsgoodwine. I'm also 54 years old and 5'1". (SW 5/1/15 -170; CW162; GW 130) My calories set for 1300. For the past two weeks I reduced my carbs to 45, but I usually end up a bit higher, but that is the target. I literally have beefed up my protein and fats. Limited to 3 meals and 1 snack any time of the day. I also recently purchased a digital scale for portion sizes. I always thought that was overrated, since I knew what a fist size was. Well, It's not! It's made a difference in pre-preparing meals for the day/week.
I used to be a breakfast skipper, opting for just coffee, thinking I would save my calories for later. It wasn't working for me. Now I start with 4-5oz of eggs & cheese bake with a little bit of sausage, & vegs. (mushrooms, tomato) What a huge difference this has made. I am no longer "hangry" and I feel satisfied and full of energy. It is incredible to me the amount of weight loss after being on a plateau for so long and the amount of "found" energy I have. Added 65oz of H20 as a minimum. Real water, not including teas and coffee as a 'liquid'. LOL.
I was resistant to adding calories, but adding protein and fat calories as opposed to carb calories makes a difference for me in terms of energy and feeling full and not crashing midmorning.
I too, am basically just walking for exercise -10,000 steps per day. If I miss my walk I stick in an exercise DVD for 30 mins. Started planking, I can't do pushups, but the planking and stretching make me feel great without being sore the next day. Try a week, log everything, including your mood energy levels, satiety. Weigh, measure, assess progress, adjust if necessary, repeat.
Thank you
I love my omelet at breakfast. I am usually pretty hungry in the morning so skipping breakfast is usually a no for me.0 -
itsjustdawn wrote: »OK, so I have been doing this for almost 3 weeks and the scale is barely moving. If you check my diary, you will see I am set at 2000 calories, but find myself going over more than not. Even though not every day in my diary is filled in, I have stuck to less than 30g carbs, except for 1 day, which was logged. I actually just realized I haven't eaten out since I started LCHF. I was eating out at least once a week prior to starting. Go me I guess.
So the point of my post - if I drop down 200 calories to 1800, I am afraid I won't feel as satisfied in between meals. I am horrible at explaining myself, sorry. I am actually only eating like 5 times a day, but it's the butter, oil, HWC that are jacking up the cals. I'm just afraid that setting myself at 2000 is why I am not losing...
I have tried to cut back on the processed meat (this will be blasphemy, but I cut out the bacon), and also cut a little back on the cheese. Maybe there is an oil-based tasty dressing I can make to replace the Ranch with? I am totally down with hitting up Pinterest for ideas. Just don't make me cut out my Feta *tear*
Also, telling me to ignore the scale is not going to help. The number is what motivates me. Inches will take a lot longer to lose, which will only discourage me even more. I am sure I am not alone in that.
Thanks for the suggestions!
itsjustdawn with your CICO mindset LCHF may just be wrong for your mindset.
Keep in mind I accidentally wound up LCHF just trying to manage my pain that I have had in a major way for 40 years due to Ankylosing Spondylitis and to try and prevent cancer risks.
I left carbs (eating <50 grams daily) 1 Oct 2014 but it was 60 days before the scales started moving down but I was losing inches without realizing it because I thought losing fat was about one's weight decreasing. After I learned how I had accidently stumbled into Very Low Carb Very High Fat eating lifestyle and did some reading on sites like MFP I learned weight loss and fat loss was not directly tied together.
If you are looking for a crash diet to make the scales move down weekly LCHF may disappoint you. If you are looking to cut your risk of stroke, diabetes, cancer, heart attack, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, etc, etc I would encourage you to do a ton of reading on LCHF over the rest of 2015.
Now LCHF can lead to weight loss that is so fast from time to time that it may scare you. In my case I expect after abusing carbs for 40+ years my organs were fat and damaged and needed to recover some before they were able to start burning my body fat.
If one has gained 150 pounds over the past 20 years of example they should not expect to loss it over the next 20 weeks or even the next 20 months perhaps.
Give this eating lifestyle 6 months just to help your body systems recover then work on getting your scales to start giving lower readings. The need to see the scales read lower is a mental thing not directly related to food intake perhaps?
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GaleHawkins wrote: »
Give this eating lifestyle 6 months just to help your body systems recover then work on getting your scales to start giving lower readings. The need to see the scales read lower is a mental thing not directly related to food intake perhaps?
You are 100% correct - it IS a mental thing. And it sucks. I have barely any stomach issues when I cut carbs so I love that. I am NOT looking for a crash diet. I guess by reading others' posts, I thought I would see something initially, hell, even water weight!
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Try not to compare your weight loss to that of others. We all lose at different rates. It can be depressing if you do.0
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itjust dawn I think you are actually doing quite well. I was hit and miss the first two months then when off carbs cold turkey to prove I could cut my pain levels before my Dr. appointing that was coming up in thirty days. I too wanted the scales to show weight loss but it did not for about 6 weeks then I dropped 10 pounds the last 2 weeks of Nov last year.
Requiring no Rx meds for pain management keeps me faithful to LCHF. 0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »itjust dawn I think you are actually doing quite well. I was hit and miss the first two months then when off carbs cold turkey to prove I could cut my pain levels before my Dr. appointing that was coming up in thirty days. I too wanted the scales to show weight loss but it did not for about 6 weeks then I dropped 10 pounds the last 2 weeks of Nov last year.
Requiring no Rx meds for pain management keeps me faithful to LCHF.
Thank you 0 -
@GaleHawkins! The lack of need for pain control is keeping me compliant with LCHF also!!0
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Just saw the doctor and she backs my going off the insulin and onto LCHF! Wanted me to stay on it strictly for 2 months then test me again! BG was 120 this morning. Win!!!0
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mrsgoodwine wrote: »I am 54 years old and I am 5'2". I have my calories set for 1370. I am active so I eat more than the typical 1200 calories that MFP gives. My carb macros are set at 171 but I usually get about 150. I am also averaging about 50-55 grams of fat per day (I eat cheese, yogurt bars, nuts, bacon, but I am not into the cakes, cookies, chips etc. - I feel like garbage when I eat what we commonly refer to as "junk foods." My macros for protein is 69 and I usually come close to that. I have lost about 11 pounds in 5 weeks. I am basically just walking for exercise (I have a fitbit and strive to get my 10,000 steps per day). I also do some planking to build my core, but aside from that I also move around a lot when I get home. I don't know if any of this is helpful. They say it's all calories in and calories. Not sure what MFP suggest for you but I would look at that first.
This is not low carb?
45% carbs, 20% protein, 35% fat is more like a HIGH carb diet. You're losing weight because you're eating low calorie and you are fairly active, that's all.
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mrsgoodwine wrote: »I am 54 years old and I am 5'2". I have my calories set for 1370. I am active so I eat more than the typical 1200 calories that MFP gives. My carb macros are set at 171 but I usually get about 150. I am also averaging about 50-55 grams of fat per day (I eat cheese, yogurt bars, nuts, bacon, but I am not into the cakes, cookies, chips etc. - I feel like garbage when I eat what we commonly refer to as "junk foods." My macros for protein is 69 and I usually come close to that. I have lost about 11 pounds in 5 weeks. I am basically just walking for exercise (I have a fitbit and strive to get my 10,000 steps per day). I also do some planking to build my core, but aside from that I also move around a lot when I get home. I don't know if any of this is helpful. They say it's all calories in and calories. Not sure what MFP suggest for you but I would look at that first.
This is not low carb?
45% carbs, 20% protein, 35% fat is more like a HIGH carb diet. You're losing weight because you're eating low calorie and you are fairly active, that's all.
Low carb is pretty loosely defined in this group is below SAD amounts. When putting a number on it, we generally go with 150g being the upper limit.
Her ratio is higher due to her low calorie level. We generally go by absolute gram values because of this.0 -
Yes! @Keliandra! So glad you are receiving validation from your MD. On this woe! Believe me, two months of this woe, you will be SOLD! It's amazing to be able to "Laugh" at carbs, like you've never been able to before! It does happen! I'm living proof of the changes/improvements that can happen with the LCHF woe!!0
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itsjustdawn wrote: »Dragonwolf wrote: »itsjustdawn wrote: »The reason I even posted this is because there are arguments in this group for and against tracking calories.
Technically, there's a difference between tracking calories and counting calories. You can track without counting, and you can count without tracking (though that's arguably harder). Not tracking or counting is not suitable for everyone all the time. Even if it's suitable for you most of the time, if you're finding yourself running into problems, then tracking -- and possibly counting -- for a short period of time may be beneficial, to aid in troubleshooting and finding what gets you back on track.
You're experiencing problems, so it's a good idea to take notes for a while. Once you get back on the right track, you can re-evaluate whether you need to continue counting or tracking and go from there.
If you notice, though, most of us have attempted to address your hunger and haven't said that you need to count calories, necessarily.
1. You're getting hungry every two hours, because you're not eating enough at each meal. Eat until you're full at each meal and aim to eat only 3 meals. Your meals should eventually fall somewhere between the 300-400 that you're eating per meal now and the 600-800 that your two-meal total is currently.
2. Reduce your condiment intake. You shouldn't need a quarter cup of dressing on a 3-cup salad. Try different dressings to see if they work better, or reconsider why you feel the need to put that much dressing on a salad in the first place.
3. Track (don't artificially alter your caloric intake) for a couple of weeks with the above changes, so that you can see how they change your calorie intake, weight, etc.
4. Remember that weight loss isn't a race. Look at trends over a month or two, so that you get a view of your body's patterns over a full hormonal cycle, and so that you give your body enough time to adjust to your new way of eating.
Thank you. I guess I am thinking I need high fat foods, which equates to more calories in my head. I was already thinking I need to change the dressing to something else - I just don't care as much for salads without it. My biggest struggle is having food at work. I am trying to pack foods that will keep me full for 10 hours. I feel like there is a lot of fat in my meals, at least based on what my diary says. I do want to try making my own dressings. I am not really a fan of cooking, but I do make my work meals ahead of time. If I could get away with only 2 meals or whatever at work, that would be freaking fantastic. I did drop to one cup of coffee, and I love my HWC, so I'd like to keep that as well.
I eat twice/day with 3-4 cups of coffee per day (usually 2 in am, 1 midday and then maybe 1 in late afternoon/early evening). My coffees run me 150-200 cals, leaving me 1150-1200 cals to split between my two meals.
Samples of meals include butter-fried or scrambled eggs with plenty of bacon, medium-boiled eggs with butter, hamburger patties either alone or with bacon and cheese, steak (7-9oz, ribeye or buttered ny strip), smoked brisket (6oz cooked), skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks, prosciutto egg cups, roasted boston butt, quality deli meats like boar's head beef franks, hard and genoa salami and kielbasa.
Today I had 4 cups of coffee with hwc, 3 eggs fried in butter, a mess of bacon and beef brisket. Delicious and oh so satiating.
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OK so I dropped my goal down to 1800. I am over today, but it's 1897. Carbs are a little higher than they should be. I made mashed cauliflower without checking the carbs. Ooops. But I made my own dressing with EVOO and red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, and basil. I am trying to make one of my meals larger so that I am down to 2 during work hours. My diary is open, so you can check today (Tuesday) to see what I've done.
I'd like to fit in coconut oil, but I am not sure where. And I don't have coffee until I am at work, so I can't even blend it into my coffee.0 -
itsjustdawn wrote: »
Thank you. I guess I am thinking I need high fat foods, which equates to more calories in my head.
Well you are trading out fat for the carbs. 500 calories of fat is going to hold you a lot longer than 1,000 calories of carbs. And so you are eating lower calorie just by changing what you eat. I have found that I am eating a lot less calories doing LCHF.OK so I dropped my goal down to 1800. I am over today, but it's 1897. Carbs are a little higher than they should be. I made mashed cauliflower without checking the carbs.
Are you looking at Net Carbs, subtracting the fiber amount from the total carbs? 1 cup of cauliflower is 5 grams carbs, but has 2 grams from fiber, so there is only 3 grams net carbs.
Editing to add: I just looked at your diary and it shows you had 34 total carbs, but 15 was from fiber, so your net carbs was only 19.
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O'MY So THIS >>>"500 calories of fat is going to hold you a lot longer than 1,000 calories of carbs"
Thanks!
And I second that too>> I have found that I am eating a lot less calories doing LCHF.
Thanks for the confirmation. 0 -
itsjustdawn wrote: »OK so I dropped my goal down to 1800. I am over today, but it's 1897. Carbs are a little higher than they should be. I made mashed cauliflower without checking the carbs. Ooops. But I made my own dressing with EVOO and red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, and basil. I am trying to make one of my meals larger so that I am down to 2 during work hours. My diary is open, so you can check today (Tuesday) to see what I've done.
I'd like to fit in coconut oil, but I am not sure where. And I don't have coffee until I am at work, so I can't even blend it into my coffee.
All you need to blend coconut oil in is some sort of shaker (there are some insulated mugs that seal this way, or someone suggested a mason jar to me with a protein ball - looks like a round whisk thing - to help with agitation). I personally use a water bottle, which leeches some of the chemicals, I'm sure, but there is no clean up, just toss it after. I don't have my hot beverage until at work either... There are also little "frothers" that are battery operated or rechargeable that you can have at work for just this reason....0 -
itsjustdawn wrote: »
Thank you. I guess I am thinking I need high fat foods, which equates to more calories in my head.
Well you are trading out fat for the carbs. 500 calories of fat is going to hold you a lot longer than 1,000 calories of carbs. And so you are eating lower calorie just by changing what you eat. I have found that I am eating a lot less calories doing LCHF.OK so I dropped my goal down to 1800. I am over today, but it's 1897. Carbs are a little higher than they should be. I made mashed cauliflower without checking the carbs.
Are you looking at Net Carbs, subtracting the fiber amount from the total carbs? 1 cup of cauliflower is 5 grams carbs, but has 2 grams from fiber, so there is only 3 grams net carbs.
Editing to add: I just looked at your diary and it shows you had 34 total carbs, but 15 was from fiber, so your net carbs was only 19.
I wasn't sure if people did net carbs while doing LCHF... In that case, YAY! And this stuff is yummy, wow!0 -
nicsflyingcircus wrote: »itsjustdawn wrote: »Dragonwolf wrote: »itsjustdawn wrote: »The reason I even posted this is because there are arguments in this group for and against tracking calories.
Technically, there's a difference between tracking calories and counting calories. You can track without counting, and you can count without tracking (though that's arguably harder). Not tracking or counting is not suitable for everyone all the time. Even if it's suitable for you most of the time, if you're finding yourself running into problems, then tracking -- and possibly counting -- for a short period of time may be beneficial, to aid in troubleshooting and finding what gets you back on track.
You're experiencing problems, so it's a good idea to take notes for a while. Once you get back on the right track, you can re-evaluate whether you need to continue counting or tracking and go from there.
If you notice, though, most of us have attempted to address your hunger and haven't said that you need to count calories, necessarily.
1. You're getting hungry every two hours, because you're not eating enough at each meal. Eat until you're full at each meal and aim to eat only 3 meals. Your meals should eventually fall somewhere between the 300-400 that you're eating per meal now and the 600-800 that your two-meal total is currently.
2. Reduce your condiment intake. You shouldn't need a quarter cup of dressing on a 3-cup salad. Try different dressings to see if they work better, or reconsider why you feel the need to put that much dressing on a salad in the first place.
3. Track (don't artificially alter your caloric intake) for a couple of weeks with the above changes, so that you can see how they change your calorie intake, weight, etc.
4. Remember that weight loss isn't a race. Look at trends over a month or two, so that you get a view of your body's patterns over a full hormonal cycle, and so that you give your body enough time to adjust to your new way of eating.
Thank you. I guess I am thinking I need high fat foods, which equates to more calories in my head. I was already thinking I need to change the dressing to something else - I just don't care as much for salads without it. My biggest struggle is having food at work. I am trying to pack foods that will keep me full for 10 hours. I feel like there is a lot of fat in my meals, at least based on what my diary says. I do want to try making my own dressings. I am not really a fan of cooking, but I do make my work meals ahead of time. If I could get away with only 2 meals or whatever at work, that would be freaking fantastic. I did drop to one cup of coffee, and I love my HWC, so I'd like to keep that as well.
I eat twice/day with 3-4 cups of coffee per day (usually 2 in am, 1 midday and then maybe 1 in late afternoon/early evening). My coffees run me 150-200 cals, leaving me 1150-1200 cals to split between my two meals.
Samples of meals include butter-fried or scrambled eggs with plenty of bacon, medium-boiled eggs with butter, hamburger patties either alone or with bacon and cheese, steak (7-9oz, ribeye or buttered ny strip), smoked brisket (6oz cooked), skin on chicken thighs and drumsticks, prosciutto egg cups, roasted boston butt, quality deli meats like boar's head beef franks, hard and genoa salami and kielbasa.
Today I had 4 cups of coffee with hwc, 3 eggs fried in butter, a mess of bacon and beef brisket. Delicious and oh so satiating.
I drink about 12oz of coffee (in one mug), and add 2 TBSP HWC. Otherwise I'd be consuming a lot more calories cuz I love my HWC in my coffee.0
