1200 calories a day is killing me!!!
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I also want to mention that I am a compulsive scale addict. I weigh in every day and even though I tell myself I wont I just cant seem to stop myself. This ofcourse can put me on the wrong track.
Obviously I am very new to this and have a lot to learn so I am going to take all the advice and try and work on my mistakes. I need to be more consistant with my water intake as well.
If I could loose a pound a week I would be very happy so I have no unrealistic goals set out for myself. I just want to start by learning about healthier options and incorporate exercise in my daily routine.
What I have learned is that people still achieve their goals and some are in the same situation as me so it is time to stop feeling sorry for myself and saying I dont have time to exercise when I clearly have a hour a day just waiting for me to fill.0 -
I mean this in a nice way, but seriously, get over making 3 different meals today! You can still eat most of the same foods as your husband, just modify recipes and make them healthier and lower calorie. As for kids, the only time, they get something different, is an occassional thing I make they don't like. In that case, they get a sandwich and carrot sticks or something else as a healthy side. The way I see it, I do the cooking so they have to eat what I cook. now, I will do variations of things or add extra veggies to mine etc, but basically we all eat the same meal. Your changes are for a lifetime and there is no way you can always make 3 meals every day.Just reading some of the things you guys eat makes me feel like I am overeating. Thank you I will go check out the recipe side.
The other challenge is ofcourse cooking 3 different meals at dinner time as DH is not in the mood to change his lifestyle and the kids do not eat any of the two meals I make. I want to stop making excuses and just do it.0 -
Oh please come to my house. haha. I have a 3 year old son who I have helped create bad habits and now can not seem to correct. He lives off processed foods ( nuggets, fish fingers). I have tried this strategy but he wouldnt eat for a long time and I chicken out. Your post actually motivated me to start becoming a bit firmer with this as well as being smarter with my meals and make small changes to suite everyone.0
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For me, that's a lot of carbs: muffin for breakfast, bread at lunch, rice for dinner, and another muffin for snack.
If you looked for alternatives to some of these, you might be able to bring down your calories. Eggs for breakfast, or soup/ salad for lunch. Nuts or fruit instead of the snack muffin.
Also look at portion size - could you reduce the amount of rice you eat at dinner time, and have more veg instead?
I agree you need more protein and less carbs. Carbs will make your blood sugar go up and down and when it goes down you get hungry again. Protein is harder to digest and keeps you full longer. Try eating more veggies they are also filling and nutritious with few calories. I don't think 1200 calories is not enough. When I signed up they gave me 1250 to lose 2 pounds a week. I'm eating 2000 and I am losing 3 pounds a week. The first week your body is trying to get used of eating less and you get hungry. Set your calories to your BMR.0 -
I want to feel energetic and go to bed feeling satisfied. Usually by the time I get to be (around 23h00) I want another meal. urgh. The late sleeping might be my downfall but with 2 toddlers I only get to sit down and watch some tele at 22h00.
Now I eat supper at 18h30 so by 22h00 I am opening and closing the fridge door.
Skip breakfast and save the calories for a late night snack.
Studies have shown greater weight loss in obese people when consuming carbs at night and sleeping while fed!
Lions and tigers do it so why cant we?
http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Fat Loss0 -
I eat 1200, and sometimes less, but I'm a short short lady and my TDEE is pretty low to start with. Even I was pretty hungry in the first couple of weeks, but it was manageable hunger.
So if it isn't working for you, find your TDEE (fitnessfrog.com, calculators) and subtract 500 to start. That's a pound a week, which is easy on your body and you won't feel as hungry. More aggressive weight loss, like 2 pounds a week, is much harder to sustain, but if you're feeling pretty good with a 500 calorie per day deficit, you can see about working up to that. If you go by TDEE, notice the calculator asks you how much you exercise. So don't eat exercise calories back if you calculate your planned workouts into your TDEE.
I personally can't lose 2 pounds a week because my TDEE is only like 1850ish. I guess I could if I ate 850 calories a day, which I have done, but it was not pleasant and I don't recommend it. The only way I could lose that much is if I stuck to 1350 but burned an extra 500 a day with cardio (extra meaning I did NOT include it in my TDEE calculation). Which, nope. Sorry.0 -
ThisFor me, that's a lot of carbs: muffin for breakfast, bread at lunch, rice for dinner, and another muffin for snack.
If you looked for alternatives to some of these, you might be able to bring down your calories. Eggs for breakfast, or soup/ salad for lunch. Nuts or fruit instead of the snack muffin.
Also look at portion size - could you reduce the amount of rice you eat at dinner time, and have more veg instead?0 -
There are many people who are going to tell you to eat more. Some will tell you they eat 1200 and are doing great. If you truly want to stay at 1200 and be full and want to stick with it I suggest having more protein rich foods and having more water. Foods high in fiber also keep you fuller longer.. However the easiest thing to do would be to not be at such a low calorie amount in the first place. I personally eat about 1400 on average and that is plenty for me as a matter of fact I'm very very full most days at 1400. You can eat 1400 calories and work off 200 at the gym that will net you 1200.0
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How clever is that. I actually never get hungry in the morning but eat because its the most important meal right?
I would much rather skip it for something light at night.0 -
Breakfast: English Muffin with laughing cow wedge and strawberry jam
Lunch: 2 Slices Seed Bread with Pesto, Avo, Cottage Cheese and Peppers.
Supper: Chicken Breast with rice and grilled veggies
Snacks: Peach and Small Bran muffin.
That is over the calorie range.
No wonder you're always hungry. You have too many simple carbs in your diet. Like others have said, you need to up the protein to stay fuller for longer.
Replace the rice in your supper with another strip of chicken and/or more veg. Skip the bran muffin snack - cheese or greek yoghurt instead. Replace the bread in your lunch with some protein - maybe salmon, tuna or turkey? All delicious with the rest of your ingredients.
Breakfast - the most important meal of the day and THAT's what you eat when you're trying to lose weight?? It's not just about calories in/out - nutrition is just as important too
Egg whites rule. 0 -
My calorie range is also 1200, and I haven't been hitting the mark (I'm eating fewer!)
For example, this is what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast: cup of kelloggs frost flakes (dry), I was on my way to class
Lunch: 2 lightly salted Rice Cakes w/ 1tsp crunch peanut butter and 1 tsp concord grape jelly on each, 1 lrg banana, 1/2 serving Clancy's Vegetable Chips
Dinner: McDonald's small fry & 4 pc nugget (everybody has their cravings, right?)
Snacks: About 10 seedless grapes, 1/4c strawberries, and handful of blueberries (mixed together), 1c Trix cereal w/ about 4oz vanilla soy milk
This put me at 1,136 calories for the day.
I eat the banana around lunch time because they're filling, and rice cakes can be too if you conbine them with the right things. Suggestion? Use ricecakes instead of bread- 2 years ago I lost 25lbs substituting bread for ricecakes (NOT all the time, just sometimes), and would top them with pb&j, salsa and tuna, or even a spoon of speghetti sauce and a sprinkle of cheese (like fake pizza). Being inventive will be your best friend.0 -
I should have noted that I'm 5'3, I've been maintaining about 120lb since my weight loss 2 years ago. Now I'm trying to lose those last 5. But my biggest problem was bread, that's why I mentioned ricecakes- bread is one of my favorite foods.0
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I have been on 1200 calories since I started MFP in August. I learned by reducing my pasta, rice, potato, & bread carbs I could eat more fruits and veggies to get my carbs. I eat oatmeal, limited bread, and some potatoes. I eat plenty of lean protein to keep me full. I usually don't have a problem going over 1200 & I am usually so full that I don't eat my exercise calories.0
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If it were me I would cut back on the carbs. Try a protein smoothie for breakfast, or have eggs. It will make you feel full longer, I rarely eat any bread and when I do it's only 100% whole grain. Also eat more veggies, they are extremely low calorie and totally help fill you up. I agree with the poster who said to drink more water too, it's possible you're thirsty and just think you're hungry. I get 1200/day too and I usually eat just over that but I workout everyday. I would say I average about 1300/day.0
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Hi all you beautiful people.
So MFP suggested I eat 1200 calories a day but I am finding it very hard to eat healthy and stick within the calorie range.
For example today my diary consists of the following:
Breakfast: English Muffin with laughing cow wedge and strawberry jam
Lunch: 2 Slices Seed Bread with Pesto, Avo, Cottage Cheese and Peppers.
Supper: Chicken Breast with rice and grilled veggies
Snacks: Peach and Small Bran muffin.
That is over the calorie range.
Before starting this I did not even eat so much but now I obsess with what I eat and although the choices are healthy, it is not in the 1200 calorie limit.
Please advice cause when I eat any less now I feel extremely hungry.
Also my other bad habit is having a glass of wine at night which takes my guard down but I'm working on that.
My question is, what changes can I make to stay within this range otherwise I'm never going to loose this weight.
Less strawberry jam? A lower-calorie brand? Mashed fresh strawberries instead?
Different kind of cheese?
Lower calorie bread?
Pesto can have a lot of calories. You might want to make a substitution, use less, make your own so you can control the ingredients.
As other people have said, more low-calorie protein, such as Greek yogurt.
1200 is not a lot of calories, but you seem to be eating less than I would expect even with that limit.
In thinking about food with care you're not being "obsessive." You're engaging in a necessary educational process. Most people have no idea how many calories are in food until they are made to stop and take note.0 -
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Just reading some of the things you guys eat makes me feel like I am overeating. Thank you I will go check out the recipe side.
The other challenge is ofcourse cooking 3 different meals at dinner time as DH is not in the mood to change his lifestyle and the kids do not eat any of the two meals I make. I want to stop making excuses and just do it.
I want to say that I had this problem for years. I actually made two meals. One for myself and one for the kids and hubby. Now that I have increased my protein, I am making yummy meat meals that the guys (I have 5 sons and 1 daughter) will eat. It makes things a lot easier.
I am not trying to tell you to change your lifestyle or diet plan, but I think those of us with husbands and sons, meat meals are always preferable!! haha!
I use my crockpot a lot and cook chicken and soups. If you add some cheese for the kids BINGO!! haha!
Also, I did not read pages 2 and 3, so you might have answered. I have my MFP set at "Maintain" weight. That way I can gauge if I am going to be 100 calories under or 500 calories under. It has helped to see that I can eat 1700 calories. So, I eat 1700 calories and then I exercise 400-500 calories and that gives me my deficit. Just a thought that might help you. 1200 calories is low and I think tough to maintain for life.0 -
I read you have kids so you have to cook stuff he will eat. Check out skinnytaste.com. They have great recipes. Even one for chicken nuggets that my kids love. They eat what I make from that site without any problems. Start off small by substituting small things they eat for healthier stuff before you know it they will be eating health stuff. Always serve them the veggie eventually they pick it up and eat it.0
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Salads can be made in a flash if you prep all the mix in's ahead of time. At the begining of each week I cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, cooked chicken, steak or whatever meat and store everything in baggies in the fridge. Then you can just throw everything on some lettuce and you're good to go with a healthy salad. Also, you can make a "sandwich wrap" with all of your sandwich favs wrapped in lettuce leaves.0
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I should have noted that I'm 5'3, I've been maintaining about 120lb since my weight loss 2 years ago. Now I'm trying to lose those last 5. But my biggest problem was bread, that's why I mentioned ricecakes- bread is one of my favorite foods.
Perhaps try substituting the McDonald's junk food for a proper, nutritious meal instead?0
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