Not eating enough?

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My recommended calorie intake is down to 1,400. I know that calorie wise I could eat as little as 1,200 and be "healthy" as a female. But I feel like I can't eat anything! A banana for breakfast, a chicken wrap and veggie sticks (chips) and a 60 calorie pudding for lunch. Pork chop, green beans, 1 potato and carrots for dinner and a cup of skim milk and I'm over 200 calories. Does anyone else feel like they arent allowed to eat anything? I don't consider myself on a "diet" this journey was me trying to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle. So I want this to be something I'll be doing for the rest of my life. Any advice, help, motivation is greatly appreciated!

Replies

  • maryd523
    maryd523 Posts: 661 Member
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    Exercise more...eat more!
  • MakingAChoice
    MakingAChoice Posts: 481 Member
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    Check out the tools on this site and the podcasts for information.

    www.fat2fitradio.com/tools

    Here you you can figure out you Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is the number of calories your body needs to function if in a coma. This tool will also help you figure out how much you can eat to have a slow and steady weight lose without cutting so low you damage your metabolic rate.
  • BondBomb
    BondBomb Posts: 1,781 Member
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    I felt like that at first. Drinking water is key of course but I also find that if I replaced a lot of meat with veggie dishes I can eat a lot more food, same calories.. That is a challenge for me since I love meat. I found a vegetarian cookbook and some great veggie Indian dishes to try. Sometimes I'm still pretty hungry so I just go to bed lol.
  • kje2011
    kje2011 Posts: 502 Member
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    yep, sometimes I am just starving and sometimes not sure what I should eat to fill the day. Exercise definitely is essential!!!
  • nel0311
    nel0311 Posts: 248
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    if you want to eat more...workout more!
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    Exercise more...eat more!

    This.

    In the beginning, I felt like you do now. What was I supposed to eat?! So I worked out so I could earn more calories and eat more. Now I'm actually eating more volume-wise than I did then, but it's healthier food and still stays within my calorie goals. It gets easier. Just look at making one change at a time: maybe work on getting more protein, or getting more vegetables. Making small adjustments as you go will help you find the right balance.
  • zml_mom
    zml_mom Posts: 270 Member
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    I felt like that at first and have slowly started eating more and more of the dinners my husband makes and am still loosing weight

    I put all the recipes in on here so that I knew the nutrition info and that has helped a lot
  • kgs1292
    kgs1292 Posts: 4
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    see a nutritonalist, they will put you on the right track of what you can eat.
    Potatoes are a big no no. to much carbs. Veggies, fruits, some meat (not ground beef) are good. I eat the skinny cow icecreams for snacks, or a 100 calorie brownie from Fiber one or bar those are really good. Then I eat a chobani yogurt and 100 calorie breakstone cottage cheese with fruit for lunch. For breakfast I eat fiber one cereal 90 calories, 1 cup. and a banana or cheese stick for some protein becaus protein makes you feel fuller and so does fiber. Dinner I eat shrimp or a roastbeef/ ham/turkey sandwhich with two pieces of Wonder smart bread and some mayonaise that is Kraft with olive oil. So I feel I actually eat alot but I am never over 1000 calories. some nights i eat a 3 oz porkchop with some veggies. Cucumbers are delicous if you like them and hardly no calories at all. So is watermelon. I think a cup of watermelon is 65 calories. 5 cucumber slices is like maybe 10 at the most.
  • Showgirlbody
    Showgirlbody Posts: 402 Member
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    I was just thinking that! I'm new to MFP after having used Sparkpeople where I had a larger caloric range. I only get 1230 on here and that's with my activity level being "active". I definitely have to exercise to eat what I'm used to eating when I'm on point, which is around 1400. 1230 goes by very fast...I'm not big on a lot of veggies so can't see myself eating a couple cups of it to get full, though I will eat a regular serving with a meal. I wake up starving too because usually I can't eat anything else after dinner and end up going to bed early so I'm not tempted and taunted by my growling tummy.
  • DeathWish
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    Maybe try eating smaller portions, slowly. What you're eating IS healthy, but there might be too much of it. Since your body takes 10-15 minutes to realize it's full, right? So maybe, if you ate say, half of what you're eating now, put it down and go do something else (exercise??) for like, half an hour. You'll feel less hungry if you're distracted, so do something that requires a lot of concentration.

    If you're still hungry, maybe eat half of what you have left. If you've done exercise, you've maybe burned off enough to eat the whole thing, but then you're just breaking even, and I think the goal is to consume less calories than you burn.
  • ambermichon
    ambermichon Posts: 404 Member
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    I would agree to exercise more but no I havent really felt that way.....with what you just listed it makes me wonder how are you preparing it? what condiments are you adding to the potato? What you listed alone with proper portion size sounds like a normal day to me. Pork however I do find to be higher even though I love it.
  • lallaloolly
    lallaloolly Posts: 228 Member
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    definitely exercise more so you can eat more.
  • ashesoh1234
    ashesoh1234 Posts: 132 Member
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    Lately I've been feeling like I eat all day. For example, today I had:

    Coffee with 1/2 cup skim milk
    180 cal energy bar
    greek yogurt with strawberries & cantelope
    Tofu jerky
    Medium sized cucumber, sliced, with 3 oz baby carrots
    Green salad with a teeny bit of dressing, pasta with pesto & veggies (small portion) - LUNCH
    Big green salad (lettuce, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, cherry tomatoes) with 4 oz chicken breast - DINNER

    I'm at about 1400 cal