After a few days of counting calories, feeling fuller a lot sooner

Has this happened to anyone? I'm only on day eight and I can't reach my goal of 1880 calories because I feel so full from the day before. It looks like I cannot complete my diary if I haven't met a minimum of 1k calories, so I added what I
would've eaten. I don't know if this is normal 🙈. Note, I don't eat late so there was a definite time gap between my last meal and breakfast this morning which I forced myself to eat, but I honestly wasn't hungry. I even ate later than usual around 10. I normally have breakfast between 730-830am and dinner at 430-5pm.

Replies

  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,970 Member
    Don't worry about completing the diary. There's really no benefit to it.
  • surfbug808
    surfbug808 Posts: 251 Member
    I'm on day 5 and am experiencing the similar "symptoms". I'm not that hungry, but I am more energized, and I feel like I have to force myself to consume my total calorie count. The post about the honeymoon phase helps. I'm guessing there's a bit of excitement, ambition and adrenaline that might be causing me to feel less of an appetite right now. I'm eating high proteins, lots of veggies, and limited carbs. I'm not sure I'd want to take a scoop of ice cream just to get to my totals at the end of the day though... I don't use a food scale, but I do measure my portions with measuring spoons/cups and check accuracy on my food labels to the MFP database. Also, I find I'm never hungry immediately after exercising, but maybe a couple hours later.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited September 2019
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    It sounds like if people are too extreme they binge the other way later, and I don't want to swing from one end to the other, not healthy for me. I'm learning a lot from reading the posts at MFP. Thanks for everyone's tips!

    You've got it. If you undereat at first, you'll probably end up overeating (or just not dieting anymore) later. The solution is discipline from the opening bell: learning to eat the same # of calories every day, rain or shine, happy or sad or stressed out, hungry or not hungry. Train your mind and stomach that you always get the same amount of food everyday, then make sure the food is mostly food you love and crave, not just super-healthy diet foods you don't really want. The less torture is involved in your diet, the more likely you are to stick with it and the longer it will last.

  • surfbug808
    surfbug808 Posts: 251 Member
    lgfrie wrote: »
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    It sounds like if people are too extreme they binge the other way later, and I don't want to swing from one end to the other, not healthy for me. I'm learning a lot from reading the posts at MFP. Thanks for everyone's tips!

    You've got it. If you undereat at first, you'll probably end up overeating (or just not dieting anymore) later. The solution is discipline from the opening bell: learning to eat the same # of calories every day, rain or shine, happy or sad or stressed out, hungry or not hungry. Train your mind and stomach that you always get the same amount of food everyday, then make sure the food is mostly food you love and crave, not just super-healthy diet foods you don't really want. The less torture is involved in your diet, the more likely you are to stick with it and the longer it will last.

    Spelling it out like that is good. No matter what, just stick to the calorie count and make it enjoyable. Got it!
    I'll also experiment with snacking through the day instead of forcing too much during a meal or filling up the final make-up cals in the evening. I don't want to develop a habit of binging last minute. And weigh everything. Very helpful!
  • 3011sophie
    3011sophie Posts: 20 Member
    edited September 2019
    Having said the above - feeling unable to eat over 1000 calories when your target is 1800 goes beyond the point of "flexible calorie goals" and suggests unsustainability. There's a list (somewhere on this site...!) of high calorie density foods such as nuts, avocado, oils etc that you could add in to get some extra calories. I tend to cook with Frylight cooking spray but if it looks like I'll be under my calories for the day I'll measure out a teaspoon or two of olive oil and use that to cook dinner. Or I'll grate some cheese onto my pasta, or have a slice of toast with peanut butter as an evening snack.

    Edit - I found the thread but I'm on mobile and can't work out how to link it! Search in the forum for "A list of calorie dense foods" and there's a thread by Diannethegeek with loads of ideas
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    edited September 2019
    " Weigh ALL your food. Forget you own any measuring cups or spoons.

    "Measuring cup" is synonymous with "you're eating a lot more calories than you think you're eating".

    Weigh EVERYTHING."



    All of that.

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,455 Member
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    apullum wrote: »
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    I'm on day 5 and am experiencing the similar "symptoms". I'm not that hungry, but I am more energized, and I feel like I have to force myself to consume my total calorie count. The post about the honeymoon phase helps. I'm guessing there's a bit of excitement, ambition and adrenaline that might be causing me to feel less of an appetite right now. I'm eating high proteins, lots of veggies, and limited carbs. I'm not sure I'd want to take a scoop of ice cream just to get to my totals at the end of the day though... I don't use a food scale, but I do measure my portions with measuring spoons/cups and check accuracy on my food labels to the MFP database. Also, I find I'm never hungry immediately after exercising, but maybe a couple hours later.

    Weigh ALL your food. Forget you own any measuring cups or spoons.

    Think of it this way: imagine a cup of rice. Now imagine you put a few more grains on top. Then add a few more. And a few more over on that side. And a little more on top.

    Is it still a cup of rice? The rice probably isn’t spilling out of the cup at this point, so it is still a “cup,” but it obviously has more calories than the original cup did. You can add quite a lot of rice—and calories—yet still call it a “cup.”

    Weigh your food.

    I'm listening to all you experienced folks, cuz I'm completely new to weight-loss. Ok, I hear you on weighing food for accuracy.

    I'm probably being super strict otherwise (this is my habit when I try something new that requires discipline, kind of perfectionist... not good) so I'm going to treat myself to make sure I get my total cals so there's more pleasure in it and it'll keep me balanced on eating enough. Right now, even without having the accuracy of a scale at home, I can see that I'm severely lacking b/c I'm not fully making up for my exercise calories spent.

    It sounds like if people are too extreme they binge the other way later, and I don't want to swing from one end to the other, not healthy for me. I'm learning a lot from reading the posts at MFP. Thanks for everyone's tips!

    Great attitude about learning from the veterans and posts for long term success! If you haven’t already, read the stickied most helpful forum posts at the top of the getting started section. They have tons of helpful info on a number of topics.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    Most people who "diet" change their food choices. Instead of a pop tart for breakfast, they have say, oats and eggs. The properties of these foods are more filling per energy unit. So, you may not be as hungrier and stay more full. I mean, I have not looked at your journal, but its just a pattern i have seen. The leaner you get, the hungrier you will be in general. Jmho
  • LeiLaura
    LeiLaura Posts: 238 Member
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    apullum wrote: »
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    I'm on day 5 and am experiencing the similar "symptoms". I'm not that hungry, but I am more energized, and I feel like I have to force myself to consume my total calorie count. The post about the honeymoon phase helps. I'm guessing there's a bit of excitement, ambition and adrenaline that might be causing me to feel less of an appetite right now. I'm eating high proteins, lots of veggies, and limited carbs. I'm not sure I'd want to take a scoop of ice cream just to get to my totals at the end of the day though... I don't use a food scale, but I do measure my portions with measuring spoons/cups and check accuracy on my food labels to the MFP database. Also, I find I'm never hungry immediately after exercising, but maybe a couple hours later.

    Weigh ALL your food. Forget you own any measuring cups or spoons.

    Think of it this way: imagine a cup of rice. Now imagine you put a few more grains on top. Then add a few more. And a few more over on that side. And a little more on top.

    Is it still a cup of rice? The rice probably isn’t spilling out of the cup at this point, so it is still a “cup,” but it obviously has more calories than the original cup did. You can add quite a lot of rice—and calories—yet still call it a “cup.”

    Weigh your food.

    I'm listening to all you experienced folks, cuz I'm completely new to weight-loss. Ok, I hear you on weighing food for accuracy.

    I'm probably being super strict otherwise (this is my habit when I try something new that requires discipline, kind of perfectionist... not good) so I'm going to treat myself to make sure I get my total cals so there's more pleasure in it and it'll keep me balanced on eating enough. Right now, even without having the accuracy of a scale at home, I can see that I'm severely lacking b/c I'm not fully making up for my exercise calories spent.

    It sounds like if people are too extreme they binge the other way later, and I don't want to swing from one end to the other, not healthy for me. I'm learning a lot from reading the posts at MFP. Thanks for everyone's tips!

    This is a great attitude to have! You'll get there. I found myself in a similar place a couple weeks in, but I added in a couple foods containing fat and protein (protein to prevent muscle loss) as snacks, such as Greek yoghurt / Skyr (protein yoghurt), mini Babybel Lights and small pots of fromage frais, as well as the aforementioned peanut butter (yummy with banana on toast!). Now I'm finding I struggle to keep to my limit unless I exercise, but a swim every day or two keeps me right :) So look into the importance of protein - you'll feel better about eating "extra" food because, while you might not be hungry, you body *does* need the protein so as not to burn your muscle along with fat. Good luck!
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    lgfrie wrote: »
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    It sounds like if people are too extreme they binge the other way later, and I don't want to swing from one end to the other, not healthy for me. I'm learning a lot from reading the posts at MFP. Thanks for everyone's tips!

    You've got it. If you undereat at first, you'll probably end up overeating (or just not dieting anymore) later. The solution is discipline from the opening bell: learning to eat the same # of calories every day, rain or shine, happy or sad or stressed out, hungry or not hungry. Train your mind and stomach that you always get the same amount of food everyday, then make sure the food is mostly food you love and crave, not just super-healthy diet foods you don't really want. The less torture is involved in your diet, the more likely you are to stick with it and the longer it will last.

    Spelling it out like that is good. No matter what, just stick to the calorie count and make it enjoyable. Got it!
    I'll also experiment with snacking through the day instead of forcing too much during a meal or filling up the final make-up cals in the evening. I don't want to develop a habit of binging last minute. And weigh everything. Very helpful!

    Yes and no. You do not need to rigidly adhere to daily calories. Your daily calories need to be your average over a week. Some people find great success is daily management. Others, like me, find flexibility to be more important. I like the fact that I eat less on some days because it gives me more calories to enjoy food that I want to eat on the weekends or special occasions. I manage myself on a weekly basis. As long as I eat enough calories in a day to fuel the day and not feel tired/fatigued I am fine to "bank" the excess calories to spend at another time.
  • Ok so I haven't done the scale thing, I will definitely be weighing my food going forward. I was using the spoons and cups, and as mentioned may be underreporting, tnx for the tips everyone! My first day after really feeling full was after my dinner which was a chickpeas salad that I found on pinterest lol. Those things are so filling.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    edited September 2019
    surfbug808 wrote: »
    Spelling it out like that is good. No matter what, just stick to the calorie count and make it enjoyable. Got it!
    I'll also experiment with snacking through the day instead of forcing too much during a meal or filling up the final make-up cals in the evening. I don't want to develop a habit of binging last minute. And weigh everything. Very helpful!

    Yep, you've definitely got the right mindset about it. Everyone's different but I think it can be said nearly universally that a consistent # of calories/day (or, as @novusdies notes, per week) helps avoid binging and dieting nosedives. I really try to stay focused on that aspect of things. I sometimes eat more than my MFP number when I feel like it, but never less. Here's my chart of the last 90 days:

    snm1bkabrshz.jpg

    One thing you might not have thought about is pre-logging your food for the day so you don't get stuck in the "uh oh it's 11 pm and I'm 300 calories under" trap. It doesn't need to be exact; you can refine it as you go, but it's definitely helpful to go into the MFP diary in the morning (if possible) and take a first pass at your food intentions for the day, see how they add up, adjust things a little so it looks like a satisfying food day and adds up to the right number, and then go about your day and fine-tune it later. Doing this can not only help you avoid ending up with hundreds of calories to eat before bed, but also will lead to more satisfying meals and snacks during the day, since it'll be all mapped out in advance. For instance, maybe a Kit Kat bar will fit in perfectly at 3 pm!! And you can savor every molecule of it at 3 pm because you already know it fits into the plan, because you've mapped out the whole day!