starving?
lkidgell17
Posts: 10
ok, so im just getting started and mfp has me on 1200 cals a day. but i feel like im starving if thats all i eat. is this normal in the beginning? should i start out with a little more cals then that and work down to 1200 or just stay constant at the 1200? im really motivated to lose the weight, so ifi have to fight through the hunger for a bit i totally will. im just wondering if this is a normal thing and what everyone thinks. thanks!
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Replies
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MFP does not have you on anything. YOU put yourself on 1200 a day by how you set your goals. If you want to eat more than that, you should set a less aggressive goal, such as 1 pound per week instead of 2.0
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Yes. Reset your goals to 1lb a week at most. Please, if you are hungry then eat more. I'm up to 1950cals a day, and I am losing!0
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Apparently you are suppose to eat back your exercise calories because MFP estimates the calories way too low. I have seen so many people on here that are either starving themselves because they dont know this or that miscalculate their exercise calories too end up eating way over what they should be and wonder why they are not losing fat. I think it makes it more complicated for beginers. I eat between 1600 and 1700 cals and am losing 2-3 lbs a week. MFP originally told me to eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I would def up the calories or try to figure out how to track your exercise calories accurately and eat them back.0
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If you are hungry, eat a few hundred more calories. BUT make sure you are eating healthy foods- meats, fish, hard boiled eggs, fruits and veggies, plain yogurt, a little cheese etc. drink water, coffee, tea and maybe 1 diet drink a day if that helps.
Just don't eat fast food or junk. They have a lot of calories but aren't going to give you the calcium, vitamins, fiber etc that you need. Many overweight people are actually starving their bodies of nutrients. I don't know your situation or what you are eating but that is all I know- it's 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. Google Mark's Daily Apple or the primal blueprint. It's helped me lose and I'm eating more real food than I ever have. Good luck and God speed!0 -
Eat more whole grains that will help you feel full and drink plenty of water. It's hard to go down to the 1200 calories after eating much more (like I was), but when you exercise, the program also gives you extra calories.
If you're really feeling extra hungry, just eat more fruits and vegetables until your body gets used to less calories.0 -
Log your food, log your exercise, it tells you how much to eat. How is that complicated?Apparently you are suppose to eat back your exercise calories because MFP estimates the calories way too low. I have seen so many people on here that are either starving themselves because they dont know this or that miscalculate their exercise calories too end up eating way over what they should be and wonder why they are not losing fat. I think it makes it more complicated for beginers. I eat between 1600 and 1700 cals and am losing 2-3 lbs a week. MFP originally told me to eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I would def up the calories or try to figure out how to track your exercise calories accurately and eat them back.1 -
if you're hungry you're probably not fillin yourself with the proper fuel, in order to lose weight none of us should ever "starve" true you have to watch what you eat and the key i've learned is to think "is the 200 cal. bar going to fill me up or would something with more fiber and protein with the same cal. do the trick" --you can have food, just choose what will fill you up til you 're next meal. personally i have to eat at least 6 times a day, all small meals of course but it keeps my body fueled whle at the same time making me aware of what i choose.0
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1. Make sure you're eating enough protein throughout the day.
2. Make sure you are drinking water throughout the day. Water. Not tea, not coffee, not diet soda...
HTH! Good luck!0 -
I have lost 111.4lbs over the course of the past year. I only want to lose another 20-30lbs more.... but I have always eaten 1500-2000 calories (and now at a lower weight, I am at the higher end of that and typically eat 1800-2000 calories a day).... 1200 isn't enough for most people, and it's not healthy, especially if you're exercising.0
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Sorry - but MFP recommends EVERYONE have 1200 calories if they want to lose 1 pound or 2 pounds a week. I was put on the same thing. Do not follow MFP's calorie intake, because 1) It makes 99% of MFP community hungry 2) It's not even correct, TBH.
And when you put in a new intake, you know how it says "Your projected weight loss is: such-and-such number"? That's wrong also. I'm at 1500 calories, I set myself up on that, and I'm losing weight. You don't need to starve to lose weight - and this is from a recovering EDNOS.0 -
thanks everyone! i think im going to up my cals to about 1800-2000 for now and see how it goes. i almost feel like if i dont eat more, that im going to not want to do this at all and i'll stop. but thanks to everyones input i know that upping my cals is ok and i feel so much better about it 0
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Would it be possible for you to retroactively guess at how many calories you were eating previously? I mean write down everything you ate in a day from BEFORE you started dieting and then figure out the fat and calories and stuff? Then, take those numbers, and pick a number lower than them!0
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Log your food, log your exercise, it tells you how much to eat. How is that complicated?Apparently you are suppose to eat back your exercise calories because MFP estimates the calories way too low. I have seen so many people on here that are either starving themselves because they dont know this or that miscalculate their exercise calories too end up eating way over what they should be and wonder why they are not losing fat. I think it makes it more complicated for beginers. I eat between 1600 and 1700 cals and am losing 2-3 lbs a week. MFP originally told me to eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I would def up the calories or try to figure out how to track your exercise calories accurately and eat them back.
It is complicated because unless you are doing steady state cardio low intensity weight training it is impossible to know how many calories you are actually burning during your workout and the afterburn effect. I do heavy strength training and there is no way i would be able to know ACCURATELY how many calories i am burning. If you figure out a way please let me know.0 -
Would it be possible for you to retroactively guess at how many calories you were eating previously? I mean write down everything you ate in a day from BEFORE you started dieting and then figure out the fat and calories and stuff? Then, take those numbers, and pick a number lower than them!
omg i think i was eating at least 3000 cals a day? maybe more... its terrible i know... and i know its not an excuse, but my fiancee and i live together and he's a super picky eater. and so whatever he eats is usually what i eat. and its far far far from anything healthy. but he stays at 165 lbs and i got huge lol. before we moved in together i was healthy and i was a bit over weight, but still healthy looking. i put on all my weight since we moved in together. about 45 lbs in 10 months. i know i can get it off, its just going to be so much harder than it was to put on haha0 -
Are you saying 3000 because it sounds big or did you actually work it out based off of a couple of average days of food intake? (you answered so fast! that's why I ask....)0
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on my days off i find it easy to stay at 1200 and i sometimes have that warning that i havent had enough. when im at work i get so hungry and find it very hard to stay in my calorie allowance and find im always hungry even though i try to make sure half my meal is almost empty calories with lots of mushrooms and veg. my carbs are cut in half, where i would easily eat half cup of rice or pasta i now used brown or whole meal/grain and only quarter cup. if i used to have 2 slices of bread i now have 1 or none. i rarely eat potatoes anymore. i fill myself up with broccoli and such but still find in the late evening im soo bloody hungry my belly feels its turning inside out. i dont like water...it gives me heartburn but i drink lots of teas and i have cut down from 2 sugars to one. i tried cutting the sugar all together but i just dont like it. i dont like milk or have it in anything except just a teaspoon or two to dampen my cereals when i have it for breakfast. i finding it so hard to loose much weight even on just the 1200 allotted and have been doing this for 3 months and i think the only reason i lost only 4 pounds so far is coz i was really sick for a week and couldnt eat anything. it can be a bit disheartening0
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oh and i guess i should add that im on the jenny craig program... so i know what im eating is healthy and its all pre packaged. so every time i eat i know exactly what im taking in. plus im adding in some of my own salads and fruits so im not totally relying on the program. i want to learn to be healthy on my own too.0
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Are you saying 3000 because it sounds big or did you actually work it out based off of a couple of average days of food intake? (you answered so fast! that's why I ask....)
im guessing it at 3000 because i know it had to be at least that. its probably even more some days. we eat out almost every single meal. usually mc d's or other fast foods (bec thats all he eats) so even if my cals arent that high, i know fat and sodium are really high.0 -
I went to a nutritionist once and she told me to lose weight I could either eat 1200 calories a day or eat 1500 calories a day and exercise 300 of those off. That is how MFP operates, if you don't want to exercise, you only get 1200 calories a day so you have to be super careful. If you can't survive on that, then you have to exercise. I burn between 700-1200 calories a day in exercise so I can eat more.0
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ok, so im just getting started and mfp has me on 1200 cals a day. but i feel like im starving if thats all i eat. is this normal in the beginning? should i start out with a little more cals then that and work down to 1200 or just stay constant at the 1200? im really motivated to lose the weight, so ifi have to fight through the hunger for a bit i totally will. im just wondering if this is a normal thing and what everyone thinks. thanks!
I started off the same way I didn't know and I've upped my cals to 1,500 and it's helped! move it up if your hungry!0 -
Everything is not easy for EVERYONE! just because it is that simple to you does not mean that's the case for all of us. I suggest a Heart rate monitor and a BMR evaluation.0
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I can only tell you what has worked for me - when I first started I was eating 1800 not eating back calories, then I changed it to 1500 eating back calories, when I changed it to 1200 not even eating back my calories was enough... I did some research on TDEE based on a thread - went figured it out, placed my TDEE to sedentary as well as MFP - now my calorie intake is 1350 (something like that) plus I eat close to all my calories back -- I strive to Net 1200 but never lower than 1100.... I also eat 4-6 meals a day and have my diary set to 40% protein, 40% carbs, n 20% fat...
You have to educate yourself, try different things until you find the right fit for you0 -
Yeah, don't go hungry...you won't stick with it...and you won't be able to maintain it. You want to be able to find ways of eating forever, ghast's what I'm trying to figure out. In addition to adding calories play with with when and what you eat. Upping my protein intake and eating my largest meal mid day has worked well for me. Also as soon as I start getting hungry, I grab a snack, a piece of fruit, a yogurt, something I know will quell my hunger. I get in trouble when I let myself get too hungry and I over eat. Good luck, you'll figure it out!0
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I found 1200 very challenging for the 1st 2 weeks, then I learned to make better choices. Getting into the habit of keeping track of what you eat is progress on its own. Now I feel like I can eat whatever I want, I just want different things. I eat back my exercise calories, which translates into time at the gym or walking.
Pick foods that stay with you: Oatmeal, Eggs. edamame, quinoa, brown rice. Vegetables make the meal interesting but you are often hungry in an hour or 2.
Good Luck.0 -
on my days off i find it easy to stay at 1200 and i sometimes have that warning that i havent had enough. when im at work i get so hungry and find it very hard to stay in my calorie allowance and find im always hungry even though i try to make sure half my meal is almost empty calories with lots of mushrooms and veg. my carbs are cut in half, where i would easily eat half cup of rice or pasta i now used brown or whole meal/grain and only quarter cup. if i used to have 2 slices of bread i now have 1 or none. i rarely eat potatoes anymore. i fill myself up with broccoli and such but still find in the late evening im soo bloody hungry my belly feels its turning inside out. i dont like water...it gives me heartburn but i drink lots of teas and i have cut down from 2 sugars to one. i tried cutting the sugar all together but i just dont like it. i dont like milk or have it in anything except just a teaspoon or two to dampen my cereals when i have it for breakfast. i finding it so hard to loose much weight even on just the 1200 allotted and have been doing this for 3 months and i think the only reason i lost only 4 pounds so far is coz i was really sick for a week and couldnt eat anything. it can be a bit disheartening
I used to have 2tsp sugar in a cup of tea, and while I was studying was drinking 10+ cups of tea a day, so you can imagine the state I might have been in. I cut down gradually to 1/2 tsp and was quite content to stay there - like you I didn't like my tea without sugar.
Then, a few years ago my Dad had surgery and had to give up smoking before they would agree to do the surgery. He made a deal with me: He'd give up smoking if I cut the sugar out of my tea completely. After that every time I went around to Mum and Dads and he'd offer me a cup of tea, he'd ask me if he was heading out the back for a smoke I managed to stick to it (and so has Dad!), and now if someone puts even half a tsp of sugar in my tea it tastes sickly sweet.
My advice would be to start cutting down your sugar even further - go down to half a tsp, and in a few months cut it out completely. After a while you won't notice the taste difference, and sugary foods will seem sickly. Don't waste your calorie intake on something you can adapt relatively easily to doing without, save it for something that will make you feel full and feel better!0 -
You could try eating more often...that's how I keep from getting hungry....have a high fiber snack in between small meals.....drink lots of water....and "they" say a cup of hot green tea will help boost metabolism...so have a go at that if you'd like. Some days I only need the 1200, and some days I eat them back......but I really try to never go over.0
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I don't know your stats (height, start weight, goal weight, age, BMR, TDEE), but most people do NOT have to eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight. I eat 1650 plus exercise calories and lose 1-2 lbs a week. The one time MFP put me at under 1600 and I stalled for a month. I moved it back up myself and started losing again.0
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Sorry - but MFP recommends EVERYONE have 1200 calories if they want to lose 1 pound or 2 pounds a week. I was put on the same thing. Do not follow MFP's calorie intake, because 1) It makes 99% of MFP community hungry 2) It's not even correct, TBH.
And when you put in a new intake, you know how it says "Your projected weight loss is: such-and-such number"? That's wrong also. I'm at 1500 calories, I set myself up on that, and I'm losing weight. You don't need to starve to lose weight - and this is from a recovering EDNOS.
MFP doesn't put EVERYONE on 1200. When you put in your data it subtracts either 1000 (for 2 pounds/week) or 500 (for 1 pound a week) from your maintenance calories. That means that if you are already fairly small and you choose and aggressive (and probably unrealistic goal) like "lose 2 pounds a week" then MFP will default to 1200 as a safe minimum.
To give a concrete example - my maintenance calories are a bit over 1800 so if I set "lose 1 pound a week" I will get 1300 cals to eat each day.
I'm not going to do this any time soon because that is a ridiculously low amount and makes me very grumpy... but it's how the numbers work out if I want that goal.
And don't forget that MFP also assumes that you will add, and eat, extra calories when you exercise. If people choose not to do this, then they are not actually following MFP's recommendations and are probably eating too little.
It all comes down to understanding the tools that you are using to work out the numbers - it doesn't have to be hard if you take a few minutes to read and understand the system!
And the "you can lose x pounds in 5 weeks" - my experience is that when I set a realistic goal and ate all those calories -it was pretty damn close. If you eat way under the recommended amount (ie. don't eat exercise calories) then it will make a hgih prediction which is unlikely to happen.
I do agree that you don't have to starve to lose weight- you are absolutley right there.0 -
Log your food, log your exercise, it tells you how much to eat. How is that complicated?Apparently you are suppose to eat back your exercise calories because MFP estimates the calories way too low. I have seen so many people on here that are either starving themselves because they dont know this or that miscalculate their exercise calories too end up eating way over what they should be and wonder why they are not losing fat. I think it makes it more complicated for beginers. I eat between 1600 and 1700 cals and am losing 2-3 lbs a week. MFP originally told me to eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week. I would def up the calories or try to figure out how to track your exercise calories accurately and eat them back.
I think it's complicated and I'm an analyst. I think that's why there are so many "I don't get it" posts on here every day.
I don't understand why they don't just have people estimate their total avg. daily burn and then give them a 'calories in' target. Then people can skip all the 'exercise' estimating/logging and also just make a food plan for the week. It's so much easier to track to me if you can just have a daily range you stick to, period. You can pre-plan your meals. After a week of eating at that level you know about what portions you can have. If I suddenly had 500 more calories to eat in a day due to a workout, I think I'd have a sundae or some fries or something, because that's a big bonus. And it'd negate my workout, from a caloric perspective. The next time I'd think, "Hmm, spend an hour in the gym and eat a Happy Meal in 5 minutes or skip both, to net the same deficit? No contest."0 -
Eat more. I did 1200 calories for several weeks, then went up to 1400. I am actually losing weight faster at 1400 than I did at 1200. Go figure. If I do a lot of exercise, I will even eat 1600.0
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