Who here is eating 1200 calories after ...

You only have 28 pounds to lose, your goal is likely too aggressive.

You should set it to lose .5-1lb a week (my guess is that you're at 2).

Eat more

These are my really general tips for hunger:

1. Make sure that your calorie goals are actually set appropriately. Don't skip this step. A lot of people set goals that are too aggressive and then wonder why they're having a hard time. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

2. Look for foods higher in protein, fat, and fiber. These help us stay full and more satisfied longer. If you're using MFP's default settings, try to consider protein, fat, and fiber as minimums to reach every day rather than maximums to stay below.

3. Drink plenty of fluids. Some people really do confuse thirst and hunger.

4. Get plenty of rest. This includes sleeping enough and taking rest days from the exercise. Sometimes our bodies look for food when they're exhausted.

5. Play around with your meal timings. Some people do really well on 5-6 small meals a day and others feel like they want to gnaw their own arm off eating like that. Skipping breakfast, eating breakfast, 16:8 fasting, 6 small meals, 3 larger meals, snacks, no snacks, meal timing won't make a big difference to your weight loss, but it may help your hunger levels, mood, concentration, gym performance, etc. throughout the day. Don't be afraid to try a different way and see if it helps.

6. Wait it out. If you know you're eating enough and the other steps above aren't helping, you may just have to wait it out. Our bodies send out hunger signals partially out of habit. If you eat at a certain time every day your body will start to get hungry at that time. The good news is that these signals can be retrained to stop telling you to be hungry all the time. The bad news is that you may just have to be hungry for a little bit while that happens.

7. I also think it's important to remember that there's a habitual component to hunger. This goes along with point #6, but if you eat because you're bored or you're used to eating in front of the TV or in the car or whatever it is, then you can replace those habits with others that are better for you. Things like keeping water on hand to sip instead of snacking or picking up hobbies that keep your hands busy or that get you out of the house more can help out a little while you're retraining your hunger cues. You might need to pay attention to why you're eating/hungry or what you're feeling when you eat and try to replace food with other things, but it can be really beneficial over time.

1200 is fine for me. I don't get hungry. Some days, I eat less. Some days I eat more.

I averaged 1147 last month. It wasn't hard.

It's really easy to stay full if you eat a lot of fruits and veggies.

I stick to 1200 only on sedentary days. If I work out I have to eat up to 1400 at least or I feel famished. (I'm 5'4)

This all kind of depends on your current height and weight, though. If you're of average height or above, 1200 might just not be enough for you.

I guess it depends on what you're used to? I have a hard time getting to 1,200. I lost 5lbs and it raised me to 1,230. Then I go walking and mfp gives me another 400 calories or so. It's hard to eat more!

I exercise so I have 400 or so additional calories to play with.

pandapotlovebug wrote: »

...not counting calories for a long time and gaining weight. 1200 is tough! (Isn't it?)im hungry! any tips on how to eat so little? How many of you are successful at this allowance?

I can only speak about myself and because I do well on 1200 calories a day, does not mean the same is true for you. I am going on 70 and am under 5 feet tall. I gained a lot of weight ( after being in my normal weight range all my life ) after being diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer. I figured that without thyroid I would gain and started to eat ( mostly rice, pasta and bread in exaggerated portions in addition to other healthy foods) out of self pity and gained a lot of weight.
When I started MFP in April 2013 I ate first 1400, then 1300 calories and only after I went down to 1200 calories after not losing anything for six month, did I start to lose the planned .5 pounds a week. I have since lost 65pounds.
I now eat more than I ever did, because I also stopped eating breakfast. I had forced myself to do so all my life, because I was made to believe that it was the most important meal of the day. I am a volume eater and now eat two largish meals between 2-9pm. This is a way of eating that works for me and might not work for many others.
Eating almost 100% natural foods and not snacking ( which is easy for me, because I don't like sweet stuff ) has made a big difference.
This is what I get to eat today, including half a pound of potatoes, half a pound of fresh strawberries with cream.

Home Brewed Coffee - Black Coffee No Sugar or Sweetener, 12 oz 4 0 0 0 0 0

1st Meal ( After 2pm)
Homemade - Hiyashi Chuka Cold Japanese Noodles, 1.5 cups 289 38 6 19 2,149 32
radishes - veg, 50 grams 30 1 0 0 0 0
Generic - Fresh Sliced Cucumbers, 314 g 38 5 0 4 8 0
Marcum - Coarse Ground Black Pepper, 1/8 tsp 3 1 0 0 0 0
Fresh - Lime Juice, 2 tbsp 8 3 0 0 1 0
Red Onion - Chopped, 0.12 Cup 6 1 0 0 0 0
Tetley - Earl Grey Tea, 2 cup 0 0 0 0 20 0
Fresh Herbs - Cilantro, 2 tbsp 4 0 0 0 0 0
Fresh - Serrano Pepper, 2 pepper 4 0 0 0 2 0
Tomato - Tomato Slices, 6 slice 30 0 0 0 0 0
Total: 412 calories

2nd Meal ( Before 9 Pm )
Homemade - Tzatziki, 1 cup 136 16 4 12 144 16
Haddock - Haddock (Baked), 4.9 oz 178 0 1 39 139 118
Generic - Fresh Sliced Cucumbers, 400 g 48 7 0 5 10 0
Potato - Small Steamed, 225 g 173 38 0 5 14 0
Total 535 calories

Other Foods (1pm - 10 Pm)
Nespresso - Café Con Leche, 200 ml 52 4 3 3 0 0
Strawberries - Raw Strawberries (Fresh), 250 g 80 19 1 2 3 0
Lala Light - Crema Acida, 3 tbsp 80 3 7 2 41 0
Total: 212 calories

Totals 1,163 136 22 89 2,528 165
Your Daily Goal 1,200 150 40 60 2,300 300
Remaining 37 14 17 -29 -228 134

Total: 1136 calories
Btw: I have never had a cheat meal or cheat day, don't force myself to eat anything I don't like and had no problems on holidays.....I just ate at maintenance. Sustainability is not a problem.

I don't know how you could go so low especially after putting on weight. I was more successful when my goal were more realistic. Better to eat more, I started out a 1800 and lost 25 lbs very slowly. I am now on 1590 to reach my goal and I am getting there. It's not easy but it would be more difficult to do being hungry all the time. Now I am unable to overeat as I did before because I trained myself by sticking to the designated amount. I feel I was successful because I was not hungry. Take it slow, that works best. Also don't forget that exercising allows you to eat a little more.

MFP suggested 1200 for me, but I manually adjusted it to 1250. Not much, but those extra 50 cal just gave me some extra flexibility.

Plus exercise sure helps!

I don't eat all my exercise calories back, but if I walk for an hour, for example, which burns 200 cal, I might eat 100 cal of that, and all of a sudden I'm up to 1350 cal.

And on a Saturday, I might cycle 40 km which burns about 800 cal. I might eat about 400 cal of that ... 1250 + 400 = 1650.

My net average is 1228 for this past week, so I believe this applies to me.
For me, my hunger differs a lot, so I let myself bounce around the 800-1500 net cals per day range, and end up with an average of ~1200. My diary is open, so feel free to take a look!

Try to keep a structured meal schedule; find what works for you. Also, for me, being hungry really gets me excited about food, and I find I feel fuller and enjoy it more.

Something that everybody says, but I've found very true, is to fill up on veggies! I'm not saying fill up on raw, plain stuff; just try to incorporate them into your meals and snacks. For instance, I love sugar snap peas raw; I usually throw my meat/vegetable cooking on a bed of lettuce...

Also, make sure you're meeting the fiber and protein goals! High protein foods early in the day are essential for me to not gnaw my arm off before lunch.

I am also set to 1200 cals (51 years old, 5'9"). Because I am a very slow loser. My days usually come in closer to 1300 or even 1350, which is fine. I need to not be starving and if it takes a little longer but is more comfortable then it is worth it. For me the key is preparing my own food and eating lots (really lots) of veggies. I eat a big salad (really big, lots of different greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, grated carrots, 1 tsp olive oil, fresh lemon, salt) with 2 soft boiled eggs or steamed or canned fish for breakfast , or a big smoothie (water, many veggies, some frozen berries, 1/4 avocado, flax and chia seeds) these choices really keep me going until about 1pm. Lunch is a combination of lean protein and veggies (sometimes lentils and steamed veggies, sometimes a big salad with quinoa and beans or lentils, sometimes some chicken and some veg form). Dinner varies, but again, 3 cups of raw greens (spinach, arugula, mixed lettuces) with 1 tsp olive oil, fresh lemon, garlic, and some lean protein, another veggie variety (cauliflower, cabbage, beets, whatever I have) and depending on what I ate earlier in the day a serving of grain. I usually have some fruit for dessert or fruit in the blender with some flax or chia seeds, soy or almond milk (lower in calories than regular milk and doesn't gas up my stomach). Though I sometimes want to eat something else I can honestly say I feel really great eating this way. My energy levels are pretty even and my hunger comes on much more gradually then it did when I was eating more refined carbs and treats. For snack I have some almonds or other nuts, or some avocado on a rice cracker, or 1 or 2 oz of chicken breast wrapped in a lettuce leaf with tomatoes.

ManiacalLaugh wrote: »

I stick to 1200 only on sedentary days. If I work out I have to eat up to 1400 at least or I feel famished. (I'm 5'4)

This all kind of depends on your current height and weight, though. If you're of average height or above, 1200 might just not be enough for you.

Do you mean you eat 200 extra calories regardless of the amount of exercise you did? Say you burnt 300 or so.. Do you eat 1400 net calories on those days? or just total calories?