1500 cal a day and starving

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Replies

  • JobasIsaacs
    JobasIsaacs Posts: 26 Member
    You talked about focusing on drinking more water. This was key for me! It took a while for me, when I first started, to adjust to satiating my THIRST which I mistook for hunger (as I had obviously been getting a lot of water from over indulging in food).
  • mrsksepulveda
    mrsksepulveda Posts: 15 Member
    Hi, dont feel bad. We all deny our bodies at dome point. I am trying to get back on the wagon.
  • CurvyPrincess66
    CurvyPrincess66 Posts: 84 Member
    Im the same weight with a 2lb a week goal and i get 1700 wonder why yours is lower. I went threw the starving thing to tho it took about a week to feel like i was satisfied. Im afraid i don't have much advice I sort of just fought threw it. I found things to keep my mind off of it and eventually realized i was hungry because eating had become a habit i was sort of a walking example of the saying eat to live not live to eat.. and i didn't even think it was that bad until MFP
  • runawaysockppt
    runawaysockppt Posts: 4 Member
    A few things that might also be contributing: something specific in your diet is making your blood sugar fluctuate (those feelings like you are ravenously hungry an hour or two after you eat are usually blood sugar related), you aren't drinking enough water, or you aren't sleeping enough. If it's still happening after you limit sugar and high GI carbs it could be a specific food that's triggering it. I went on a very low carb diet for a while, and while it wasn't really sustainable for me, it was great for figuring out which foods made my blood sugar freak out and which didn't.
  • SeikoMonster
    SeikoMonster Posts: 105 Member
    Going to scheduled meal times really helped me with hunger.
    I'm doing the 16/8 fasting daily, so setting 11am for breakfast, 2-3pm for lunch and 6-7 for dinner. Knowing that its x amount of time till a meal helped reset my thinking.

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I can understand that your motivation for exercise is low. Start with nutrition - you need to feel somewhat energetic and not hungry. Your TDEE seems to be around 2900; a 1000 calorie deficit to lose 2 pounds per week leaves you with 1900 calories to eat. Just upping your calories to that level, will probably make you feel a lot better.

    Then you can look into the overall quality of your diet. This means that you have to look at your diet as a whole. Forget about superfoods! Almost all foods can be part of a healthy and balanced diet, and that's what you're really looking for. Different foods contribute with different amounts of different nutrients, and variety is important to get all you need - when you feel starving, you are either short on calories, or certain nutrients, or both - and not get bored. You want all the nutrients you need each day, to allow your body to work as it's supposed to, and at the same time food you want to eat because you like to eat them. This can be done with a bit of reading and planning and some trial and error. Because there are some general guidelines, and a lot of individual differences, and important to know what's what.

    Can you cook? Have you heard about food groups? Compose meals to consist of foods from several food groups, and get in some from every group every day. Eat different foods for each meal, and from day to day, week to week. Then portion out amounts so that you hit your calorie goal every day. If you do it right, you will lose weight.

    You will have to reduce your calorie intake later to continue to lose, but that's a story for a later day.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    Concurring with those who say to up your calories. Even to 1.5lbs per week, it gives you another 250 calories a day which make all the difference.

    As to food choices, experiment. Most people make a primary focus on protein, then fat, then the rest can be carbs. This is how I manage any hunger. I do need starchy carbs with my feels to feel satisfied physically and psychologically but I only need a little, the rest can be lower calorie veg along with my protein.

    Some people do better eating higher carb and find that keeps them full.

    Then there's meal timing. It makes absolutely no difference to weight loss, calories take care of that, but it can be make or break for you getting through the day. For me personally, I sort of intermittent fast when not exercising. So I don't eat until late lunch, that will just be something light. I then save the bulk of my calories for an early dinner and have a large, satisfying meal. And I'll still have calories for a good snack later in the evening. Other people prefer their biggest meal to be breakfast, or lunch, others prefer the several small meals a day. it all comes down to finding what works to make this manageable and sustainable for you.

    Once you're committed you'll realise you have a lot of time to experiment with foods and meal timing, potentially finding some physical activity you enjoy, working out how to manage holidays and social events. It's all a massive learning experience. But you basically have a lifetime to perfect it, taking time at the start to get into a groove to find what is sustainable in the long term for you can only be of benefit to your long term success.
  • razzapool
    razzapool Posts: 89 Member
    i put it at 2lb a week to begin with but the calories just werent enough to work with for me so i lowered it to 1lb and it has been great i easily keep to my macros and i have enough energy to keep working as hard as i can at gym
  • Hello_its_Dan
    Hello_its_Dan Posts: 406 Member
    Your body will fight you to maintain weight by increasing ghrelin.
    My question is, hungry? Or bored?
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    You need to consider different strategies for "feeling full". Different people find different things satiating, so you'll know based on your history what to try.
    • A lot of people will say "low carb" because it works for a lot of people (diet consisting mostly of meat, vegetables and fats (includes things like nuts, avocado, butter, coconut oil) where most of the calories come from fat).
    • Some people are more "volume eaters". They do better by incorporating larger volumes of foods like non-starcy vegetables where you can get a lot of food for not a lot of calories.
    • Most people will find it helpful to cut down on ultraprocessed foods - or at least to bulk them out with added veggies/salad/whatever. A Lean Cuisine is not filling. A Lean Cuisine with a cup or two of non-starchy vegetables and a salad can be.

    Also, seriously consider your activity level. Get up on your feet and walk a bit and "buy" yourself some extra calories for the day. If you're already doing this, you need to account for it and adjust your activity level on MFP. Your goal of 1500 cals/day is for 2 pounds/week weightloss IFF (if and only if) you're sedentary (less than 4,000 steps/day).

  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    SusanMFindlay wrote: »
    Also, seriously consider your activity level. Get up on your feet and walk a bit and "buy" yourself some extra calories for the day. If you're already doing this, you need to account for it and adjust your activity level on MFP. Your goal of 1500 cals/day is for 2 pounds/week weightloss IFF (if and only if) you're sedentary (less than 4,000 steps/day).

    Times 1000. I get 10K steps most days and try to work out 3-4 nights a week, but I have a desk job, so it is VERY hard to compensate for that. A sit-down job makes a huge difference, unfortunately. On those infrequent days where I am on my feet all day (mostly trips out of town where we are walking all day) it's just incredible how I can drop the scale after a weekend like that (normal eating - not going overboard but not being very restrictive either). So frustrating...but all-day activity makes a "night & day" difference for me.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    Ugg I did an emoji and it cut off the rest of my comment!!!

    I think he was saying when overweight we tend to have a skewed view of hunger and being full. I know I did. When we are used to being stuffed all the time it's hard. Also some people look at literal use of words like starving. (Insert smiley)

    Play around with your macros, meal timing, volume and exercise. It takes a little while to figure out are you really hungry? Used to being full all the time? Bored, stressed, tired, emotional?

    As a personal note I've learned so much from "snarky" "mean" posts. I just had to divorce it from the information.

    Best!!
  • richardbabooram
    richardbabooram Posts: 1 Member
    First time I am eating 1500 calories per day and for some strange reason a small amount of cardio per day helps me not to feel so hungry.
  • Bheath9
    Bheath9 Posts: 1 Member
    I was 210 pounds and couldn't lose weight at 1500 calories and exercising. I bumped my calorie intake to 1800-2000 per day and have lost 15 pounds in 3 months. My body was dropping my metabolism to account for my too low calorie consumption. I also second the reduction in carbs. That has also helped. I refuse to do keto or something that cannot be a lifelong change, but reducing carbs and substituting some keto recipes has really helped my weight loss and I have not missed the carbs.

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