What regiment are you on that has lost you weight?

How do you make yourself eat more when YOu don't feel hungry to eat more. I struggle with this all the time. I only lost 5lb and then thanks to Easter gained 1lb back since Feb. WTH? So I am curious too

How do you make yourself eat more when YOu don't feel hungry to eat more.

How do you normally cook vegetables or meat? If you cook them in cooking spray, use a tablespoon of healthy oil (olive, walnut, whatever kind) instead. Bam, there is 120 calories. One tablespoon of peanut butter is 100 calories and certainly isn't filling. There are many calorie dense healthy foods that you can fit into your day that won't make you feel stuffed.

I don't know why I didn't think of using my coconut oil. Love that stuff. Good thinking

Dude, 8lbs is actually REALLY good for a month!

I did a weight loss challenge at my gym for 3 weeks, and the average loss was about 8lbs, and those people were on a strict diet and working out an hour a day at least. You seem to be doing just as good as them.........

Eating primal. 2000 Calories a day. Sometimes I find it hard to eat that much. I started the week of Feb. 20th 2012.

I definitely agree with the previous posters - you are not eating enough. I recently hit a plateau and it was basically because I was eating too little, I upped my calories and lost 2 lbs instantly.

From my blog (http://all4derby.blogspot.com/2012/04/great-practice-great-weigh-in.html):

My regular food goal with no exercise is 1450 calories.
My estimated exercise expenditure was 538 calories.
The actual number of calories consumed was 1902 calories.
My net calories (food - exercise) aka the only calories that count was 1364.

And I got to eat ALL THAT FOOD! And I dropped 2 plateau pounds like nothing.

You can lose weight fast AND eat. Make sure your net calories are always at your calorie goal!

I agree with the others... 8 pounds in a month is great! I'd keep doing what you are doing!

I do agree that staying on a 1200 calorie a day diet for long term can cause problems but I don't think it happens overnight. Or you could do a plan like I'm doing. I follow the Spike diet. The suggestion of the plan is to figure your bmr and eat at that level 3 days, eat 500 minus bmr 3 days (but never under 1200), and eat twice your bmr one day a week to keep your metobolism going. This way you will reset your body and leptin levels weekly and won't go into starvation mode.

That said I've modified my plan a bit. My BMR is 1500. I eat at 1200-1300 Mon-Fri, around 1500 on Saturday, and around 3000 Sundays. It finally got me off a month long plateu and losing again and it's been much more fun.

I am supposed to eat about 2300 calories a day, so I eat about 2300 calories a day, more if I exercise. I am losing weight just fine, and I am never hungry. It's your journey, but it doesn't seem that cutting calories more than a 1000 calorie a day deficit provides sustainable results for most people.

Just my thoughts. I am about 8 weeks into this, and I don't do everything perfect, I don't exercise as much as I should, and sometimes I eat like crap. Still, I am losing weight, and I feel like my energy levels are higher than they were two months ago.

This is great and encouraging. I love this thread. LOL

I struggle because I feel like if I eat mroe than 1300 calories I am going to gain weight. But my SIL eats normal people food and loses and my BIL. Yet here I am trying to lose weight too and doing the smoothie for breakfast, and a protein shake for dinner and trying to cut back on carbs, but not losing weight. I am also working out most days so burning anywhere from 400-800 calories doing that. I clearly am not eating enough. I am g oing to start eating normal. I don't buy a lot of processed stuff so I am good their, I think I just need to work on not being afraid to eat

I'm doing Power90 and I try to get net 1500 calories. It's a struggle since sometimes I'm not hungry. I'm going to take the idea that one poster posted about the Olive Oil & Pam exchange though.

If you cook most of what you eat yourself, as opposed to eating out, you can cut calories in all kinds of places. I substitute low fat or non fat versions of dairy products in recipes all the time. I've heard on more than one occasion that the low fat or non fat versions are filled with "fillers" or sugar to compensate, but I read labels and haven't run into this yet. Some of the non fat cheeses don't taste so good, so beware, but in recipes they're usually fine. One example: I use fat free ricotta in Greek Spinach Pie and you can't tell the difference at all. I also have used low fat cottage cheese in lasagna or stuffed shells and even my Italian mother-in-law could not tell the difference. Also, I use minimal olive oil in sauteeing recipes (like a couple of teaspoons) and then use vegetable stock for moisture.
In the past, eating carbs only in the morning, drinking lots of water, walking 3 times a week for 20 minutes and doing lunges with 5 lb weights and sit-ups with an ab roller 3 times a week worked great for me.

BUT, I have only lost minimal amounts of weight over one month. I guess, over the entire one month eight lbs is not that bad...

8 lbs in one month is FABULOUS.
Healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs a week, depending on how much you have to lose. Alot of people lose more than that once they first start a diet program because of water weight, etc, but 2 lbs a week consistently is GREAT.

I am supposed to eat 1800 calories per day, so I try and eat less and go way under the 1800, generally 1200 per day.
BUT, I have only lost minimal amounts of weight over one month. I guess, over the entire one month eight lbs is not that bad, keeping in the scheme of things, but I want to know what has worked for you all out there, and maybe I can incorporate what you have had success with, to my lifestyle.
Thank you.
Stephen

I guess how much were you expecting to lose every month? 8 pounds in 10 months would be 80 lbs. The slower you lose weight the easier it is to maintain it.

Losing weight isn't the hard part of this game it is just the beginning. Maintenance over a 3, 5, 10, and 20 year period is what is so hard.

8 pounds isn't minimal. it's pretty good, don't be fooled by those things like biggest loser where they have people losing 8 pounds in a week. you have to ask yourself what's more important, losing the weight and keeping it off or losing it and gaining it all back again because you were only focused on the short term?



also 1800 sounds low. are you also eating back your exercise calories?

Ok, the diversity of replies have me scratching my head. On the one hand, it has been suggested that I eat all my calories, up to the 1800 per day allowed. However, on the other hand, some of you have suggested that keep it going the way I have been going since day one, a month ago.
I haven't been starved doing this 1200 calorie per day method, not at all.
Last year I was on the HCG diet, and I was dropping weight like a lead weight. The HCG diet has you eating no more than 500 calories per day. And the extra calories needed to supplement your body comes from the fat reserves in the body. I had to stop that, I was actually then going into starvation mode, and was very weak; it took its toll on me!
Thanks for all your suggestions, and we have a various group of nice people out here, just trying to encourage all fellow dieters on. That's fantastic!!!
Stephen

Your NET calories is what is important to lose weight, not your INTAKE. Your NET cals = your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) - your defecit + plus exercise.

For example: your TDEE* is 1800
You want to lose 1 lb a week, your NET has to be 1300, or a 500 cal defecit from your TDEE. You can create this defecit with exercise OR eating:
Intake 1300 - no exercise = 1300 net
Intake 1800 - 500 exercise = 1300 net
Intake 1500 - 200 exercise = 1300 net

You have to make sure you are INTAKING enough for your body, so the less you have to lose, the less you can rely on your eating alone creating the defecit and the more you have to incorporate exercise to get to your net but still be intaking enough. Yeah, your body CAN burn energy from its fat; but your body NEEDS more things than energy to live well, things like vitamins, iron, calcium, etc. MFP's intake minimum is 1,200, this isn't necessarily a hard and fast rule for some of us smaller women, but should certainly be considered due to your sex and weight. And honestly if you aren't giving your body enough protein cals it is going to eat your muscles along with your fat, and few people want that!

*TDEE is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) x your activity level (for example BMRx 1.2 for sedentary)

MFP should set your goal at your NET. Follow that and log/eat back your exercise cals, but make sure you are accurate in your burns like with using a Heart Rate Monitor.

HCG is a freaking....:explode: don't get me started. Glad you are off of it.