How are you sticking to calorie limit?

This is a typical day for me on 1200 calories, even squeezed in a chocolate bar. As you can see I used most of my exercise calories but I only log half of what exercise I do so if I do a hour walk I log 30 minutes.

malibu927 wrote: »

What did you choose as your loss per week? You can lower that by half a pound and get an additional 250 calories.

^^ this

OP are you eating back any exercise calories you earn? What is your rate of loss set at?

Choosing a goal that is achievable and sustainable is an important part of being successful here. If the calorie goal is too low and results in you giving up and binging, then something needs to change.

clafairy1984 wrote: »

Since losing weight, mfp has reduced my calories down to 1300 per day. I'm honestly struggling to stay within this limit, even eating healthily. As as result I got discouraged and gave up for a while, and binged, but think that enough is enough, and time to get back to it. I would appreciate some examples of what other people with similar calorie allowance are eating to manage to stay within it. I eat more on the days I exercise, but even then often don't feel satisfied and tempted to snack.

How much was your calorie goal lowered? What number do you feel comfortable at?
You can manually change your calorie goal or can change the amount you are set to lose per week. You can change the kind of food you eat- more protein, more vegetables. You can eat some of the calories earned from exercise.

I started MFP with 1340 calories to lose 1 lb per week. I didn't find that very difficult with prelogging and getting enough protein. When MFP first lowered my goal to 1200 I didn't feel I could do that so I changed it to 1270 and then 1250 for awhile. After a few months of that I did lower it to 1200 again. It isn't as easy to stick to 1200 calories. It is easier to exercise and eat a bit more than that.

clafairy1984 wrote: »

Since losing weight, mfp has reduced my calories down to 1300 per day. I'm honestly struggling to stay within this limit, even eating healthily. As as result I got discouraged and gave up for a while, and binged, but think that enough is enough, and time to get back to it. I would appreciate some examples of what other people with similar calorie allowance are eating to manage to stay within it. I eat more on the days I exercise, but even then often don't feel satisfied and tempted to snack.

If you're finding it difficult to stay within a low calorie limit, it never hurts to reduce your lbs/week goal to allow yourself a bit more wiggle room.

What, exactly, do you find difficult? The temptation to snack or eat, or feeling hungry?

If it's a mental struggle, distract yourself. Find a hobby that has nothing to do with food to enjoy - even better if it's exercise. Try to divorce food from your current hobbies. For example, I very often would watch Netflix or play video games while snacking - which could easily net me hundreds of calories! Try to make a point, if you are going to eat something, of setting aside a set amount and not going past it. Forgo the snacks and form a new habit, such as a bottle of water to work on instead of a bowl of (if you're like me) Cheez-its. Often I find myself drinking so much water that I'm too full to even CONSIDER snacking lol

If it's hunger, try aiming for foods that are high in volume but not so much in calories. Make sure you're drinking enough fluids throughout the day AND during your meals. Sometimes hunger is thirst in disguise, and you'd be surprised how much easier it is to eat slowly and mindfully when you're also ensuring that you're drinking throughout the meal. Automatic portion control!

You should probably consider replacing all your snacks with vegetables like carrots, celery, tomatoes, etc. They keep you full and contain fewer calories. Try to eat more protein as well, like greek yogurt, eggs, cheese, etc. Hope this helps

I eat roughly +/- 200 from my daily calories...sometimes I can go way over ...but I log everything honestly. Worked for me.

Well the first thing is... you're supposed to eat back some exercise calories. I would NEVER have stuck to it if I had to eat 1300 calories. Just nope. I lost 80 pounds and never ate less than 1650 calories (I was 34 when I lost most of the weight, and I'm 5'5"). For me exercising was key to give me more calories because I have a big appetite and I love eating.

So what worked for me was exercising to eat more calories, never have more than a 'lose 1 pound a week' deficit, eat 30% of my calories of protein and 30% of fat... then allow 100-200 calorie treats once I reached that (I don't count flavored Greek yogurt as treats though). And cut pretty much all drink calories.

Bottom line is that it has to be sustainable, or you just won't stick to it, as you've noticed... so decrease your deficit, and eat more protein and fat, and if you really want something, make it fit in your calories.

I stick to mine by accepting that the loss is going to be slower because I like to eat. So I workout and earn my keep while getting fit.

I refuse to be hungry and deprived. Yeah I want the weight off, but I need to learn how to eat like the 50lb lighter person I'm attempting to be.

I guarantee you if we woke up tomorrow morning and the weight was gone, most would gain it all back( because you didn't learn how to maintain your new body).

That learned maintenance comes with time.