Alright people who supposedly get full on 1200, how do you do it?

My thought is if someone is truly full on 1200 calories/day they are not very active, elderly, or have not been doing it for very long. I noticed some people on this thread who have responded that they do feel full on 1200 calories/day have days where it is much higher or have skipped days of logging. I prefer to pick a sustainable number and not jump around too much.

I'm in maintenance but when I was losing weight, I ate about 1200-1300 calories per day and was rarely hungry. I did it by cutting down on high calorie desserts like apple pie which I used to eat quite often and I stopped drinking my calories. I also had foods like oatmeal, soups (usually the non-cream based ones), chilies, and lean proteins. These are all food that I enjoy and fill me up.

Not too long ago I made a dinner of a chicken thigh, 5 oz of broccoli, and 5 oz of mushrooms (since that's what I had in the house). All cooked in butter (not a ton of butter, like 21g if I recall). I ate and ate and only kept eating because I needed to meet my calorie goals (since I knew I'd be hungry the next day if I didn't eat enough). It wasn't even 500 calories, if I recall. I said to myself at the time "self, next time add some G.D. rice or potatoes." The problem with this meal was it was too much volume vs. the mouth satisfaction I received (though I knew long-term the calories, protein and fat would last me for a long time).

There's food you'll find more filling and satisfying. I enjoy experimenting and trying out new things and "hacking" my meals, so I achieve whatever goals I've set recently. Make your diary public, and ask us! Doing something like adding 1T of chia seed to your yogurt (just as a for instance) can drastically increase how long that yogurt keeps you full. But little "tips" like that for being satisfied on fewer calories can vary from person to person and there's lots of personal experience and experiments you'd have to do. But hey, you eat every day, right? Every day is a new chance to experiment if you stick to the basics of CI<CO for weight loss.

I eat more than 1200 calories on average. But there are days where I can't do it unless I eat chocolate, peanut butter, cheese and other high-fat things.

[YES, I'm a nerd:] For me, each food has a mental rating of (1) how much volume is it in my stomach (2) how tasty do I find it (3) how long will I be sustained on the calories physically (4) how long will the feeling of satisfaction last (5) how many calories/nutrients does it have and (6) how much does it cost (numeric ratings are on a scale of 0-10)

8oz of tap water would rate 3-0-:00-:30-0-$0
8oz of whole milk would rate 3-1-1:30-:45-150(+nutrients)-$0.65
8oz of diet dr. pepper would rate 3-5-:00-:30-0-$0.20

Which one I choose depends on my goals.

For me it was impossible to do at 1st because significantly cutting my Caloric intake, felt like I was "Crash Dieting". So that I don't yo yo & give up, only to try again after gaining back, what I lost & an additional 10 Pounds, I just decreased my Caloric intake by about 100, every week; until I reached 1200.

ceoverturf wrote: »

I suspect it's a combination of a few things:

1. They've just recently started, and it's still a mental game convincing themselves they're "full" - their hunger will catch up after a week or two.
I have lost 45lbs and got another 55lbs to go, so way past the mental "convinced I am full game"

2. They're not accurately measuring calories, and they're actually eating much more than that
I weigh everything I eat

3. They're eating a crap ton of lettuce, broccoli, and other cruciferous vegetables, which while seemingly 'healthy', will eventually leave them short of necessary fats and proteins.
I eat salad with proteins for lunch and vegetable with my dinner.

4. Or, they actually are quite old, short and close to their goal weight, so that 1200 calories is actually a reasonable goal (probably ~1% of those actually eating 1200 calories)
I am not old or close to goal

Typical day:
Breakfast quark with fresh berries 200kcals (10g proteins), can be a bit less or more depends on how much and type of berries I add

Lunch chicken or tuna salad 250kcals depending on what I put in my salad, I generally use a full chicken breast
Sometimes I replace the chicken/tuna with smoked mackerel

Snack 100-150kcals my current favorite is quiche cupcakes http://www.slenderkitchen.com/quiche-cupcakes/
http://www.willcookforfriends.com/2014/04/crustless-mini-quiche-single-serving-breakfast-muffins.html

I am now left with an average of 600Kcals for dinner or dinner and a treat. My dinner varies greatly, from a home made curry to spaghetti and meatballs. Burger on a potato waffle with a fried egg or bacon, with mushrooms and salad on the side. Fish/White meat and steamed veg, stir fries w/rice noodles, steak with fried mushrooms (I love mushrooms) and steamed veg, if I have left over calories to spend, I'll add a potato waffle or have dessert. I use full fat butter (not margarine) and olive oils.

On days I work out I eat more than 1200Kcals (up to 1400) and will add avocado or cottage cheese to my lunch time salad and a sprinkling of seeds.

Today for dinner I am having spicy/ovenbaked cauliflowerhead with cod, green beans and pesto and fruitsalad for dessert, so I am hardly feeling deprived and at weekends, my Sunday breakfast is normally a bacon buttie in a gluten free roll, or a GF roll with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon.

IF I want a glass of wine with my dinner I will of course have to forgo some of my food and I might feel a bit hungry depending on my food choices, but I generally try to plan ahead and stock up on protein as I find for ME high proteins keeps my hunger at bay.

Low calorie, high volume food. Lots of water and liquids.

I do 1200 three times a week (non-exercise days) so I can eat more on the weekends. I basically plan every meal around a protein, then add veggies. Carbs and fats can be fit in, just in small amounts. While I do get hungry if a meal is delayed, that's true of higher calories days, too. I'm certainly not starving.

Adding some vanilla protein powder to nonfat plain yogurt with fresh berries is a filling breakfast. A lunch of 2 eggs and 3 tbsp egg whites scrambled with 50 gm mixed greens is a staple and keeps me full until dinner. Sometimes I'll add a piece of fruit.

For dinner, I usually do some variation of salad. A mixed green salad with 3 oz of protein, 2 oz of potato or 1/4-1/2 cup multigrain rice, and 2 tbsp Italian dressing makes me feel full and satisfied. A salad of this sort makes the tiny protein and carb servings seem like much more, and it takes longer to eat. Other family members just eat regular servings of protein and carb, and have a side salad. No special cooking on my part, just combining the food differently.

Sometimes I'll have a larger protein serving, skip the carb and just eat an extra veggie.

I'm eating 1200 calories today, and have managed to work in a dinner and glass of wine at Outback restaurant. It's certainly doable, it just requires planning.

purplishblue wrote: »

This isn't a thread bashing you, it's me asking how do you manage it?? I get super hungry on that little a day, however I'm wanting to try it again. What are your typical meals? Do you ever feel famished?

For me I was always a tiny kid and relatives would tease me and say I ate like a bird so I thought I was bad for not eating more so I ate until I felt sick, got use to it and ate like that even if I didn't mean to. It wasn't a problem until college and my metabolism slowed. Gained weight and now trying to get it off. Now I'm limiting calories and it's tough but easier as time goes on maybe because that was what I was originally use to doing. I think it's just something your body needs to adjust to. Take it slow because you don't want to do a drastic overnight change and leave yourself feeling dizzy. Someone once explained it to me like this that just as regular arm muscle can shrink and grow so can your stomach muscles- therefore your appetite can fluctuate as well. It just takes time.

Okay, first of all, I also find it odd (and insulting) that so many people think it's impossible to be satisfied on 1200 calories. Of course, if you're 5'10 and active, then you'll be hungry on 1200 calories! But, as a 5'2" female, close to goal weight with a desk job I can absolutely feel full on 1100-1200 calories (and yes, that's with weighing in grams!) and that does not leave me with a huge weight loss, on average .5-.8 lbs/week. The first, and most important thing is for you to identify what makes sense FOR YOU. Don't pick 1200 calories because that seems like the fastest, most extreme way to lose and don't pick a higher calorie goal because people say that 1200 is crazy low.

With that said, to answer the OP's question, I did used to be starving on 1200 calories until I found the food combination and eating style that worked for me. Like WBB55 said, experiment and find what works for you because it is different for everyone. For me, whole foods that are full fat and high protein work best to fill me up, along with high volume foods. I discovered this when I played with going "Paleoish" for a month, following some of the principles of Paleo but not all and still measuring and tracking calories. I'm not a Paleo follower and I don't have any off limits foods now, but that month really helped me understand how filling avocado, chicken thighs and steak are, rather than chicken breast (which doesn't taste as good to me) but I used to eat because I grew up in the "low fat" crazy days. I learned that fat and protein help me feel full and refined carbohydrates do not (again, contrary to what I learned 20 years ago). Previously, when I was trying to "diet" to 1200 calories, I would eat a lot of 100 calorie packs of crackers, bread thins, and other "low fat" and those things would just make me hungrier.

So, what I eat now to feel full: soups (bone broth is awesome--high protein and low calorie) and salads for volume, meats, vegetables, fruits, greek yogurt, oatmeal, avocados, eggs, almonds, kashi bars (be careful with bars, look for high protein and high fiber), etc.

Food timing also makes a difference for me and this is another area to experiment since different people have very different timing needs. I tend to be hungry at night so I save calories for the evening. I usually have a kashi bar and black coffee for breakfast in the mid-morning (about 140 calories), lunch for around 300-400 calories (frozen meal, salad, leftovers, etc.), and a late-afternoon snack (about 200 calories) of greek yogurt and/or almonds and/or fruit and/or low fat cheese (in this case, low fat helps by upping the protein to calorie ratio). This leaves me with about 500 calories for the evening. I usually use this for a 400 calorie dinner (meat, veggies and a starch) and then a 100 calorie treat (either ice cream or chips, since I love both!).

One quick caveat, I was very successful with this plan and even managed to fit eating out into it (by skipping snacks and having a lower calorie lunch on days when I had dinner plans). However, now that I've added in more exercise to my day by getting a standing desk, running and weight lifting, I typically eat more than 1200 calories per day, especially on workout days. Listen to your body and understand what will work for you with how you're living right now.

Good luck with finding the eating plan that works best for you!

Bonny132 wrote: »

ceoverturf wrote: »

I suspect it's a combination of a few things:

1. They've just recently started, and it's still a mental game convincing themselves they're "full" - their hunger will catch up after a week or two.
I have lost 45lbs and got another 55lbs to go, so way past the mental "convinced I am full game"

2. They're not accurately measuring calories, and they're actually eating much more than that
I weigh everything I eat

3. They're eating a crap ton of lettuce, broccoli, and other cruciferous vegetables, which while seemingly 'healthy', will eventually leave them short of necessary fats and proteins.
I eat salad with proteins for lunch and vegetable with my dinner.

4. Or, they actually are quite old, short and close to their goal weight, so that 1200 calories is actually a reasonable goal (probably ~1% of those actually eating 1200 calories)
I am not old or close to goal

Typical day:
Breakfast quark with fresh berries 200kcals (10g proteins), can be a bit less or more depends on how much and type of berries I add

Lunch chicken or tuna salad 250kcals depending on what I put in my salad, I generally use a full chicken breast
Sometimes I replace the chicken/tuna with smoked mackerel

Snack 100-150kcals my current favorite is quiche cupcakes http://www.slenderkitchen.com/quiche-cupcakes/
http://www.willcookforfriends.com/2014/04/crustless-mini-quiche-single-serving-breakfast-muffins.html

I am now left with an average of 600Kcals for dinner or dinner and a treat. My dinner varies greatly, from a home made curry to spaghetti and meatballs. Burger on a potato waffle with a fried egg or bacon, with mushrooms and salad on the side. Fish/White meat and steamed veg, stir fries w/rice noodles, steak with fried mushrooms (I love mushrooms) and steamed veg, if I have left over calories to spend, I'll add a potato waffle or have dessert. I use full fat butter (not margarine) and olive oils.

On days I work out I eat more than 1200Kcals (up to 1400) and will add avocado or cottage cheese to my lunch time salad and a sprinkling of seeds.

Today for dinner I am having spicy/ovenbaked cauliflowerhead with cod, green beans and pesto and fruitsalad for dessert, so I am hardly feeling deprived and at weekends, my Sunday breakfast is normally a bacon buttie in a gluten free roll, or a GF roll with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon.

IF I want a glass of wine with my dinner I will of course have to forgo some of my food and I might feel a bit hungry depending on my food choices, but I generally try to plan ahead and stock up on protein as I find for ME high proteins keeps my hunger at bay.

You food sounds delicious.....especially your dinners