Does it get easier?

It gets easier over time. I am on round 2 (after 3 years) and the third month. After the first 2-3 weeks, it got much easier for me. The cravings subsided and making better food choices got much easier. I also found out what eating habits worked for me (timing, what kept me full, etc).

I am netting 1200 per day, but generally taking in about 1500 with exercise calories. 17 lbs down in the first 2 months told me that my body did want to carry that extra weight another day. Feel free to add me; my food diary is open to friends. I still have about 35 lbs to go between now and the end of the year.

It gets easier, but there are still days where it's hard. I have gotten significantly better about my stress eating, but I still want to eat some days out of boredom.

Like others said, exercise helps a lot. For one, that's 30 minutes - an hour that I'm not eating, lol; and two, it gives me more calories to eat on. I usually burn around 2,500 - 3,000 calories a day when I'm tracking it and making an effort to be more active, so that's 2,000 - 2,500 calories I can eat on a 500 calorie deficit.

I'm also vegan now, and I eat a lot more vegetables and fruits than I used to, so I'm able to eat bigger portions than if I was eating meat and cheese, so that helps as well. Once you find what works for you, it gets much easier, even on days when you don't have motivation.

Good luck! There's a lot of support here on days that are hard.

I agree with @kristinhowell Some days is a breeze and it's very easy - other days I'm starving and can't seem to eat enough

At my highest weight I was right where you are now--188.8. I have set points throughout that range (now I'm 145) that are tough as nails to break through, and at some of those I was STARVING. I literally wanted to eat my hand (assuming nothing else was available) on some days. I've learned to run for water first--or wine if I'm home--as both of them will deal with the "it's not really hunger" hunger, or what my mom calls phantom hunger. If I'm hungry after that, fiber (I love fruit). And if I'm hungry after *that*, protein. Usually by that point it's time for a meal anyway.

Phantom hunger will likely be with you forever, but you will not feel STARVING all the time. (To me, that was the hardest thing to fight. Being a little hungry is okay. Hulking out because you haven't eaten *enough* is different.)

If you exercise more, you can eat more--that's true--but you'll also be hungrier. I've known women who have *gained* weight running because they were eating more than they should have been. There's a balance there that's very individual, and it's something you'll have to find for yourself. I've slowly become an active woman (biking and core work these days) who is vegetarian and would sooner walk through fire for a handful of cherries than a piece of cake, but that didn't happen overnight. And I still have "hungry days," for which I keep the vats of sugarless jello on hand.

Everyone has different strategies to get through it. I will say that the first three days is the worst. As you accustom yourself to fewer calories, your stomach will shrink (externally and internally), but the process takes time.

antinomiancelestial wrote: »

For some background, I weigh 189.4 (after losing my first pound thanks to this wonderful site!) at 5 foot 6 inches. My goal is to lose one pound a week, and since I'm sedentary that leaves me with an allotted 1520 calories per day.

To be clear, I was never an emotional overeater or someone who ate lots of fast food or anything. I gained the weight for two major reasons. The first reason was that my medication slowed my metabolism and made me feel hungrier than I otherwise would. I'm thankfully almost completely off that medication now, but the weight still has to come off. The second reason was that my roommate (who is lightly active, muscular, and truly blessed in the metabolism department) and I were cooking all our meals together for a while to pool money and resources. Of course, she can eat /any/ amount and stay thin, so I was eating portions that were right for her rather than for me.

Unfortunately, I guess my body is used to over 2,000 calories per day, and now I'm trying to cut it down to 1520. Even when I eat regularly, I still feel hungry a lot. Does this get easier with time? I really hope so because to lose 40 pounds (as my minimum goal), I'm in this until at least Christmas.

The more you want ti, i think the easier it gets. you have to make up you mind, that no amount of food tastes better than being goal weight. I love that this is not a diet, but a too to teach you correct ways of eating just for you. i have always been very determined in what I do. it does not bother me logging daily. i think i have hit a year with a few starting over points, ie. always have a digital scale. don't trust label, weigh it all! beat wishes in your journey!