I agree with Rana - one of my favorite meals used to be from Wendy's, and I'd always get the same kind of big hamburger with cheese and mayo, french fries, and a Frostie (kind of a thick milkshake). Loved the fat, salt and flavor, but I didn't gain weight because I was in my 20's and playing tennis, racquetball, etc. so much then. Fast forward to my 50's now, but every time I need to stop at Wendy's for a meal it's so darned hard NOT to order that same old combination, that I have to almost force myself to get a grilled chicken breast instead.
I think comparing these food choices to a 3-year old is very accurate, as a 3-year old wants what they want without thinking of consequences. We (I) need to keep reminding ourselves that we're adults now and can't eat everything like a kid in a candy store when food choices are involved.
It depends. When I was calorie counting, it never did. I couldn't stick to things, and it just made me feel unberably deprived every time I would "Start" my diet over. If I had been able to consistently stick to it, it might have been different.
When I switched to south beach and cut out all the processed junk, I stopped wanting it. Every once in a very exceptionally blue moon I'll have a little hmph over not being able to have something. Most of the time, though, it's more like "Ooh cheesecake! That looks soooo good! Meh. I can't have it" *moves on* However, if I have those things in my diet more than once every few months or so, I want them, and there is no moving on without a full scale temper tantrum.
With that said, 1200 calories is awfully low. You may be feeling hungrier on higher calories- but what are you eating with them? Anything less than truly whole grains makes me hungrier. Are you getting in enough veggies?
I don't generally feel deprived on my 1500 calories a day, but I do spend a LOT more time planning, shopping, and cooking than I used to.
Something has to give somewhere. The way I saw it, I had three choices: eat tasteless, but convenient "diet" food that I enjoyed about as much as I enjoy putting gas in my car's tank; embrace being fat and adopting a "well, ya gotta go sometime, might as well be soon" attitude toward my life; or get in the damned kitchen and learn how to cook tasty stuff that also fits with a weight-loss goal.
Yeah, there are definitely times that I'd rather go to a drive-thru than spend an hour in the kitchen kneading, chopping, dicing, sauteeing, and then cleaning up the mess all the cooking leaves behind. And I definitely get annoyed sometimes at the fact that a snack entails so much effort now compared to the old "grab bag, open bag, eat" method of consuming a snack. I also miss some foods that just plain taste good to me and have no real homemade substitute (Cheetos and other mega-processed stuff leaps to mind).
I choose to deprive myself of convenience because I'm a spoiled flavor-junkie with a lot of spare time. Other people choose to deprive themselves of some flavor because they're super-busy and convenience is a higher priority for them, and that's fine too. But no matter how you slice it, something's got to give. The occasional feeling of deprivation or discomfort is only natural.
If you find yourself feeling deprived constantly and for weeks on end, then you probably need to reassess your plan; it is not working for you. It's not feasible to white-knuckle your way through months of weight loss, especially since you'll be adhering to a lot of the same principles during maintenance.
For what it's worth, I tried a super-low-calorie plan (under a doctor's recommendation, no less) in my past and thought I "wasn't hungry." In a sense, I wasn't--I was too ill and apathetic from undernourishment to feel anything as vivid as hunger after the first week. It was ultimately an unsustainable way to live.
I'm not at a maintainer stage - but after a couple of years of nudging my habits in the right direction, I *can* say that I don't miss some *truly* awful junk food.
White cake with white icing? Ugh. Just refined sugar and fat. No thanks.
"Breakfast food" at Burger King/ McD's / Bojangle's etc. Gag! Last couple of times I bought any, I could blatantly feel the grease coating my tongue... Had to resist the urge to wipe the inside of my mouth with a paper napkin! The stuff is G*R*O*S*S.
I don't feel a deprived feeling any longer. It probably took 3-4 weeks though. I actually have found meals that are on my nutrition plan and I really look forward to them. I don't find myself craving the things I used to crave when I made terribly poor choices for eating. I find the results I am seeing far outweigh the feeling that I would like to eat a full bag of cheetos or whole half gallon of ice cream. I wore my size 18 Levis today... although just a week or so ago started allowing a little treat (Granola Thin only 80 calories) and just on Sunday I allowed myself a Re-Feed (which was a splurge as I had a hamburger with the bun). That was on suggestion of my trainer.
Shmead, your post was really inspirational. I feel exactly how you described yourself at your high weight. Do you mind me asking about how many calories you were eating in the beginning and how fast it was coming off? I know everyone loses differently, it's not a race, etc., but I find it a lot easier to try if I have SOME expectation.
It looks like your calorie intake has been discussed, so I'll move right to deprivation. I used to live for fast food. Through high school, I worked 50 hours/week at two fast food restaurants, and I ate a ton. In college, I ate even more fast food. I just kind of stopped eating it when I 'got healthy' in November of 2009. I missed it for a few months, but now the thought of it grosses me out. I'm totally over fast food. Sweets, on the other hand... Hmm.
I feel deprived for about 2 seconds until I remember that the food that I am feeling deprived of was actually, until very recently, completely controlling my life. I want to control my life! And so I am doing it. Then I feel empowered. Except sometimes. Then I just have to remember that I already had my cheat that day and it was DELICIOUS. Usually it's my flavored tea, a single cordial cherry or a glass of whole milk and graham crackers. I think we can still have what we like, just in moderation. There is no reason in the world we cant empower ourselves and still have tiny tasty treats every now and then.
I was feeling deprived of food awhile ago and then I looked back over my list of foods for the last six months (I use a program called "Lose It" and just spun through the list on iphone). There was a huge variety of all kinds of stuff (including smaller servings of the odd bit of junk food under controlled circumstances). So I'm not actually deprived. Everything I like is on there--plus a bunch of new good foods--just not so often with the junk and in small, controlled quantities. Maybe after awhile you will feel like that.
I'd say yes and no. It becomes less constant and at times dissappears for a few weeks or even months. But occassionally it seems to come back as strong as week 1 out of nowhere. You just tough it out and it fades again.
ETA- I like the 3 year old analogy. It is just like that
I decided to try MediFast, so I think that whole deprivation thing is about to get a lot worse before it gets better, but I'm hoping the whole cold turkey thing will help me kick the habits.
