Feels impossible to eat only 1200 calories!!
ChristieJourney
Posts: 16 Member
It feels nearly impossible to only eat 1240 calories a day! I am getting frustrated and have hit a plateau for a couple months. My BMR is 1656 calories and this app tells me that if I want to lose 20 lbs, than I only can eat approx 1200 cals a day. What do I eat?! Please help 
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Replies
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Do you have your weight loss set at .5 lbs a week?
Are you using a food scale and weighing everything that you eat?4 -
I'm finding a hard time too! I drink 2 slimfast shakes a day and have small snacks to keep hunger at bay, then i eat a meal for dinner.1
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I have it set at 1 pound a week. And I have never weighed my food...do you literally weigh your food? I am really new to this1
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christiemuzzio wrote: »I have it set at 1 pound a week. And I have never weighed my food...do you literally weigh your food? I am really new to this
Healthy weight loss would be .5 lbs a week. It might help to change your goal. To be honest I don't use a scale, but using one does help you to know a more accurate look into how much you are eating.3 -
christiemuzzio wrote: »I have it set at 1 pound a week. And I have never weighed my food...do you literally weigh your food? I am really new to this
Healthy weight loss would be .5 lbs a week. It might help to change your goal. To be honest I don't use a scale, but using one does help you to know a more accurate look into how much you are eating.
Thanks for your advice!
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Do you have your weight loss set at .5 lbs a week?
Are you using a food scale and weighing everything that you eat?
^^^This. If your deficit is too aggressive it will make you crazy. Get all notions of doing any of this in a hurry out of your head. People are usually concerned about how long it takes because they are trying to suffer through it. If that’s you, try to find the place where you can lose without the suffering.
The best plan is one we will actually follow.
My approach to calorie counting was different from a lot of folks. I carefully weighed, measured and tracked everything to make sure I was eat as much as my plan allowed. But if your numbers and tracking
are tight the only other place to go is food selection. Get enough dietary fat and enough protein. Fill in the rest with fresh veggies and some fruit. My best weight loss friends have been, egg whites, apples, broccoli and cabbage.
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You’re absolutely right. Honestly, I should be eating better. The foods I want to eat are high in calories so that’s makes it seem impossible.Do you have your weight loss set at .5 lbs a week?
Are you using a food scale and weighing everything that you eat?
^^^This. If your deficit is too aggressive it will make you crazy. Get all notions of doing any of this in a hurry out of your head. People are usually concerned about how long it takes because they are trying to suffer through it. If that’s you, try to find the place where you can lose without the suffering.
The best plan is one we will actually follow.
My approach to calorie counting was different from a lot of folks. I carefully weighed, measured and tracked everything to make sure I was eat as much as my plan allowed. But if your numbers and tracking
are tight the only other place to go is food selection. Get enough dietary fat and enough protein. Fill in the rest with fresh veggies and some fruit. My best weight loss friends have been, egg whites, apples, broccoli and cabbage.
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That'll do it. You can lose the weight, it's hard, but you can. I think the previous suggestion about food choices is key. I use a food scale and it helps.1
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Yes, I didn’t start out that way though. But It makes tracking more accurate, especially when you don’t have much wiggle room. That tablespoon of PB measured could be far different than one weighed. It took me a couple/few weeks to settle into a new norm with food. I started out with high caloric breakfasts which messed me up for the rest of the day so I started there (I try too keep them under 300, usually a thin slice of bagel, cheese, and an egg). I also pushed my first meal to later in the morning so I didn’t feel as snacky before lunch. Find low cal fillers, or substitutes for higher cal options (my go to mayo was 100cal/serving, I switched to a different type that is only 45. Not as simple of an ingredient list, but for the little I use I don’t sweat it). Taco night? Make it a taco salad for yourself. Burgers and fries? Skip the bun, add in a veggie for volume so you don’t fill up on fried potatoes.ChristieJourney wrote: »I have it set at 1 pound a week. And I have never weighed my food...do you literally weigh your food? I am really new to this
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Thanks!yourenotmine wrote: »That'll do it. You can lose the weight, it's hard, but you can. I think the previous suggestion about food choices is key. I use a food scale and it helps.
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ChristieJourney wrote: »It feels nearly impossible to only eat 1240 calories a day! I am getting frustrated and have hit a plateau for a couple months. My BMR is 1656 calories and this app tells me that if I want to lose 20 lbs, than I only can eat approx 1200 cals a day. What do I eat?! Please help
That's why I exercise!1 -
Yeah those little changes would probably help a lot! Didn’t think of that. Also, I am doing intermittent fasting so in the morning I get ravenous with hunger and I tend to eat most of my calories in the morning. Which screws up the rest of my daymoonangel12 wrote: »
Yes, I didn’t start out that way though. But It makes tracking more accurate, especially when you don’t have much wiggle room. That tablespoon of PB measured could be far different than one weighed. It took me a couple/few weeks to settle into a new norm with food. I started out with high caloric breakfasts which messed me up for the rest of the day so I started there (I try too keep them under 300, usually a thin slice of bagel, cheese, and an egg). I also pushed my first meal to later in the morning so I didn’t feel as snacky before lunch. Find low cal fillers, or substitutes for higher cal options (my go to mayo was 100cal/serving, I switched to a different type that is only 45. Not as simple of an ingredient list, but for the little I use I don’t sweat it). Taco night? Make it a taco salad for yourself. Burgers and fries? Skip the bun, add in a veggie for volume so you don’t fill up on fried potatoes.ChristieJourney wrote: »I have it set at 1 pound a week. And I have never weighed my food...do you literally weigh your food? I am really new to this So I need to find another way because that seems to sabotage things
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If IF isn’t working for you, maybe try something else? I usually eat breakfast between 9 and 10 rather than when I first get up, unless I do an early run, then I have two breakfasts
set eating times/time frames works for some but not all - experiment and see what works for YOU! 3 -
I’m not consistent enough with exercise. That needs to changeChristieJourney wrote: »It feels nearly impossible to only eat 1240 calories a day! I am getting frustrated and have hit a plateau for a couple months. My BMR is 1656 calories and this app tells me that if I want to lose 20 lbs, than I only can eat approx 1200 cals a day. What do I eat?! Please help
That's why I exercise!
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IF did work in the beginning - I lost 15 lbs pretty quickly. But I’m assuming that was mostly water weight because it happened so fast. That’s why I have stuck with IF. The food I am eating is the biggest threat I think. I’ll switch it up a bitmoonangel12 wrote: »If IF isn’t working for you, maybe try something else? I usually eat breakfast between 9 and 10 rather than when I first get up, unless I do an early run, then I have two breakfasts set eating times/time frames works for some but not all - experiment and see what works for YOU!
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ChristieJourney wrote: »
I’m not consistent enough with exercise. That needs to changeChristieJourney wrote: »It feels nearly impossible to only eat 1240 calories a day! I am getting frustrated and have hit a plateau for a couple months. My BMR is 1656 calories and this app tells me that if I want to lose 20 lbs, than I only can eat approx 1200 cals a day. What do I eat?! Please help
That's why I exercise!
Even if you walk for half an hour, you should get an extra 100 calories to work with. 2 -
Hi Christie;
At the beginning I was measuring everything to know exactly what I was eating and to understand better the portions.. now I kind of know the sizes and measure less.
Also what can help you is eating more fat and protein, you will hit your calorie count faster however you'll feel less hungry.
Hope it helps
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I weigh everything (apart from maybe lettuce, cucumber etc - which is unlikely to make my count more than 10kcal off), and also - the rate of weight loss that's sustainable/reasonable changes depending on how much you have left to lose, if you're close-ish to goal weight you could set your rate to 0.5 per week. But seriously, get a food scale, without it you really can't know for sure how much you're eating - either over or under your goal1
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Seems simple enoughChristieJourney wrote: »
I’m not consistent enough with exercise. That needs to changeChristieJourney wrote: »It feels nearly impossible to only eat 1240 calories a day! I am getting frustrated and have hit a plateau for a couple months. My BMR is 1656 calories and this app tells me that if I want to lose 20 lbs, than I only can eat approx 1200 cals a day. What do I eat?! Please help
That's why I exercise!
Even if you walk for half an hour, you should get an extra 100 calories to work with.
0 -
Hi Christie;
At the beginning I was measuring everything to know exactly what I was eating and to understand better the portions.. now I kind of know the sizes and measure less.
Also what can help you is eating more fat and protein, you will hit your calorie count faster however you'll feel less hungry.
Hope it helps
I should look into a food scale! Thanks!1 -
Yeah, you’re right. I am probably not being very accurate with counting calories without a scale. I’ll look into getting one, thanks!netitheyeti wrote: »I weigh everything (apart from maybe lettuce, cucumber etc - which is unlikely to make my count more than 10kcal off), and also - the rate of weight loss that's sustainable/reasonable changes depending on how much you have left to lose, if you're close-ish to goal weight you could set your rate to 0.5 per week. But seriously, get a food scale, without it you really can't know for sure how much you're eating - either over or under your goal
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ChristieJourney wrote: »I have it set at 1 pound a week. And I have never weighed my food...do you literally weigh your food? I am really new to this
if you don't weight your food, you don't actually know how much you're eating...
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I cannot do 1200 or any restrictive number of calories day-in-day-out either. So I do IF instead and eat 600 calories on fasting days and 1800 on non-fasting days. I also have the very occasional treat day.
This works for me but of course everyone has to find what works for them.0 -
Fruits & veggies! You can eat a ton of certain fruits and veggies for very few calories! You can eat a whole bag of frozen organic spinach from Trader Joe’s for 140 calories! I can only eat half a bag, it’s so big, and add a tablespoon of grated or Parmesan cheese and it’s a full meal! Melon, especially watermelon has very few calories and you can eat a LOT and it’s very filling. Steamed artichokes are good too because they take a long time to eat. Just don’t add a high calorie dipping sauce! Now that I’m eating mindfully and only for nutrition, I’m finding it really easy to stay under 1200 calories. Watch out for things like salad dressing though because that can be more calories than the whole salad. Just add a tiny bit of low cal dressing to salads or just add a small drizzling of extra virgin olive oil and vinegar and add your own spices like garlic (or even better FRESH garlic which is super healthy, especially when raw!) oregano, cayenne, or a ton of other interesting spices and you can even add a tablespoon of Parmesan. My highest calories are at least healthy things Ike avocado, flaxseed meal, chia seeds, salt-free nuts, fresh coconut, which are things I REALLY have to portion out because those can be high in calories. Don’t buy any premade food, it’s almost never healthy except occasionally maybe from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s but make sure to read all the ingredients. I’ve found that when I eat only super healthy food, I get two benefits, it feels really good and it’s much easier to eat low calories! 1
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You have mentioned you get really hungry in the morning, what kind of foods are you having for breakfast? I find when I eat foods high in carbs like toast or cereal, it just makes me more hungry. I switched to more protein, such as Greek yogurt and fruit or eggs and to me, it's made a huge difference. I've recently found Aldi (UK) do these 'protein pot' yoghurt things and they really keep me full.
My calorie goal is around 1200 due to my height, but I usually eat back my exercise calories and don't beat myself up if I go over to about 1400 (without exercise).
Everyone is different so it's all about finding what works for you. I've resd through some of the other suggestions here and some work for me but some don't. It could be worth keeping a food diary separate from MFP (or using the notes feature, although this isn't private) to write about how you feel after eating certain things, you might find certain foods don't help with hunger as much as others.0 -
If your BMR is 1656, then your total energy expenditure (with no exercise) is at least 1950-2000.
But in another post you indicated the 1240 goal is based on losing 1 pound per week, so I wonder if you did not mean 'bmr'. You can change to .5 pounds per week, and have 1490. But as others have said, accuracy is SUPER important with a small calorie deficit. Estimating portions will lead to frustration and likely eating more than you think. You can also look for ways to increase your activity in order to burn more.
Food scale is no big deal, but anything new-to-you will involve an adjustment.ChristieJourney wrote: »It feels nearly impossible to only eat 1240 calories a day! I am getting frustrated and have hit a plateau for a couple months. My BMR is 1656 calories and this app tells me that if I want to lose 20 lbs, than I only can eat approx 1200 cals a day. What do I eat?! Please help
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The food & nutrition area is a great place to get meal ideas. If you shared what foods you typically eat, you would probably get lots of ideas on how to tweak them to be lower cal.0
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minibagz1203 wrote: »I'm finding a hard time too! I drink 2 slimfast shakes a day and have small snacks to keep hunger at bay, then i eat a meal for dinner.
I maintain on 3000+ calories and would struggle if I "drank" my nutrition.1 -
Disclaimer of this "isn't for everyone" but I find the low carb/mid protein/high fat ratios to be more satisfying for me. Watching my macros helps a lot while I work on reducing.1
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I thought by just calorie counting, I would know how much I was eating?zebasschick wrote: »ChristieJourney wrote: »I have it set at 1 pound a week. And I have never weighed my food...do you literally weigh your food? I am really new to this
if you don't weight your food, you don't actually know how much you're eating...
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