[shaunabear]

So for the past few weeks I have been counting my calories and increased my work out sessions. My daily calorie intake is around 1600 and I try to eat every few hours but sometimes I won't be able to so on occasion it gets stretched to 4, maybe 5, hours between meals. My problem is that even though I cut my calories and my portions are smaller I still get REALLY full and feel like I physically cannot finish my meals. Should I cut my calories to maybe 1500 instead or just finish the food? I'm just worried that not meeting my calorie intake requirements will affect my weight loss. What should I do?

[jillnicole03]

If you are not hungry, then I wouldn't finish the food. As long as you're having 1200 calories you will be fine. You can also add healthy things like nuts (which are high in good calories) to your meals or snacks if you feel your calories get too low.

[kelly315]

The same thing happened to me when I started cutting calories in august. that phase lasted for about a month or so, and now I feel more normal. Smaller meals still satisfy me like they never had before, but the full feeling is gone.

Definately force yourself to eat at least 1250, or if you can, force yourself to eat closer to your goal. Trust me, its worth it to keep your metabolism up. Or you can use this to do some calorie shifting...only forcing yourself to eat your goal every other day or randomly, and eating less on other days. That really works for some people.
Good luck!

[JulieJ08]

At one point, I had a week or so where I was really full, even before finishing my meals. It was kinda nice. Then it went away

[shaunabear]

I guess I'll give it some time then for my body to adjust. Hopefully the full feeling will go away soon.

[EmilyMartis]

When this used to happen to me, I'd work on increasing the calorie content of the food I -was- eating with healthy but calorie-dense foods.

So... switch to regular peanut butter. Add in a slice of real cheese. Consider 2% milk instead of skim. Use a -real- slice of whole-grain bread instead of 'lite'. Add some olive oil to your veggies. This won't add volume, but will boost your nutrients and get you closer to goal cals.