I am wondering what I am doing wrong and hope you can advise!! I am a school teacher and by the end of the day today - I felt like crap and was so hungry I could have eaten my arm!! I would like to make it until 3:30 without feeling so bad. Here is what I ate:
Breakfast - Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage sandwich - 260 calories
Lunch - 280 calorie Lean Cuisine and a banana (120ish calories)
Snack - 110 calorie Skinny Cow Bar
This totals 770 calories. So - why, why, why did I feel so bad? I had a headache and was very irritable - so I KNOW it was truly not enough food - but it was 770 calories!!!!
sometimes I feel that way too and I think it's because you may not be getting enough protein or fat.
Both the banana and the skinny cow bar are mostly carbs and they get through your system really fast, so I would switch them out with a protein bar or add peanut butter to your banana or something.
How many calories are you planning on eating per day vs how many were you eating in the past? Are you giving yourself enough calories for the day? For me, I feel better when I eat most of my calories between 5pm and 7pm, so I eat lightly during the day. But, other people feel better eating more food at different times of the day.
As well, for me a skinny cow or lean cuisine or Jimmy Dean whatever is just not a lot of food, visually or in my stomach. When I've eaten frozen meals in the past, I've needed to flesh them out with a big salad full of low cal veggies and low cal dressing. Adds maybe 50 calories but makes me feel like I've actually had some food. Ditto the skinny cow. I'd feel much better if I had something like a cheese stick or yogurt and baby carrots or an apple or some berries as a snack.
Good proteins and good fats will keep you feeling full for a lot longer than carbs (especially processed carbs) will. On Monday morning I had a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast and was starving by 10:15, but today I had a yogurt cup with granola and made it to lunchtime without needing a snack. It's amazing what a difference it makes sometimes.
Those Skinny Cow bars are tasty, but unlikely to keep you full for more than about an hour. Try cheese, deli meat, whole grain crackers or granola, yogurt, raw veggies (baby carrots, cucumber slices, chopped bell peppers), nuts or peanut butter, etc.
One reason I grabbed the Skinny Cow bar is because it only has 110 calories. I have tried an apple or other fruit or cheese for a snack before and that doesn't curb my hunger either. If I add peanut butter to my banana that is adding even more calories and fat. Is that ok????
How any calories are you eating per day? I concur with changing what you're eating. Jimmy dean sandwich is mostly carbs-id switch to a bowl of oatmeal or slice of whole wheat toast with some scrambled eggs/egg whites and an apple, lunch maybe do a large salad with chicken breast, snack you can do an apple with almond butter or cheese stick... 770 calories thru 330 may be too low for you. Normally I eat 1,000 by them and save about 500-800the for dinner/snack
Last edited by TiffNeedsChange; 05-08-2012 at 10:58 PM.
I've not been calorie counting a heck of a long time, but I've been a dieter for a long time and I have to say I whole-heartedly agree with the others... you need more filling stuff like fruits and veggies and good proteins and fats. Plus one other thing... and I think I said this on a different post of yours... I think your calories for your current body weight are too low. According to the page I use to calculate my own calories, the cals you need JUST to maintain your weight if you were sedentary is over 2400... To lose a pound a week you need to cut 500 cals per day -- either through diet or exercise or both... That means you could realistically do 2000 calories per day and lose since being a teacher, I HIGHLY doubt all you do is sit all day! If you are only eating around 700-800 cals and most of that is carby stuff that your body burns through quickly, you're going to feel like you're starving. Personally, if it were me, I'd up my calories so that you are having maybe 3 meals at 500 each and then 2 250 cal snacks. Plus, LOTS of water! Many times when you are dehydrated, you feel hungry when you are only thirsty. Anyways, you could add some fruit and a yogurt cup to breakfast. Lunch, you could still do the LC meal, but then add a side salad and maybe a cup of soup or a pack of pb crackers. Snack could still be the ice-cream, but how about you add some berries and nuts to that like almonds?
I know you want to lose, but drastically cutting cals won't do it. Your body will only fight it. And in the end too many people push through to lose a ton only to gain it back because they were so miserable trying to get there. Not to mention, they weren't working that whole time to retrain themselves how to eat right. So, they get there and can't find that balance. Doing it slow and steady with small changes really IS the way to go. Sorry if I sound like some sort of life coach or overly pushy... it's just what I've learned along the way.
I agree that it's WHAT you're eating, not the number of calories, that is keeping you from feeling satisfied. I love my skinny cow ice cream bars, but they don't do a thing in terms of filling me... I eat them just for the taste, as a treat.
If you can, try higher protein and/or higher fiber foods, and if possible less processed foods. I know it's tough to do (and I certainly can't manage it all the time!), but it will seriously help with feeling satisfied. Greek yogurt is high in protein and a great, portable snack if you have a place to keep something cold. Blackberries and raspberries have a lot of fiber, and will satisfy longer than an apple or banana which are mostly carbs. Cheese sticks and beef/turkey jerky are more processed (and jerky has a lot of sodium) but make good protein snacks as well. Can you make any of your breakfasts or lunches ahead on some days, rather than having a lean cuisine? My lunches are often smaller portions of my leftover dinner that I can reheat in the microwave; I just package them up in gladware the night before. Try eggs and turkey sausage or bacon without the added sandwich biscuit in the morning, add some veggies to the pan, and you'll get a lot more/more filling food for the same number of calories. Or, make your own breakfast sandwiches on a whole wheat english muffin that has a good amount of fiber and protein (try Thomas' Light Multi-Grain English Muffins; they have 8g fiber and 5g protein for 100 calories each). Anyway, just some ideas.
And on the total calorie front... I'd say that you can choose a calorie level that you feel comfortable with, as long as you're getting in the necessary nutrients and don't feel overly deprived/restricted. (And I'm assuming here that ~800 calories is not all you're eating for the day, but rather what you're eating before the end of the school day. Total calorie levels that low are definitely NOT recommended.) Under-eating definitely can be a recipe for failure, but for some people, eating high-nutrient foods makes lower calorie limits very do-able. I lost most of my weight eating 1200-1500 calories/day, and I began that intake level when my weight was still above 260. I wasn't hungry and didn't feel deprived because of what I was eating to fill those 1200-1500 calories. It just depends on what works best for you.
Last edited by chickadee32; 05-09-2012 at 03:10 AM.
I generally eat anywhere from 650-950 calories in the morning hours and I'm usually fine by 2:30 when I get home (I'm a teacher too ). Like others said, it's WHAT you eat that makes a difference. Ditch some of that processed stuff if you can and focus on natural things with protein. My breakfast, for example, always has egg or egg whites and even though it's never over 200 calories, it keeps me full until my mid morning snack. My lunch is a chicken wrap with lots of veggies. Make it the night before! It's what I always do.
I concur! And chickadee32 has some great ideas. My go-to breakfast has been plain greek yogurt (130 cals) with granola (110) and some kind of berries (50). Less than 300 cals overall, but with a TON of protein that keeps me full until lunch. And although I do often eat Lean Cuisine meals (they're just so easy!), I usually have more greek yogurt and granola as well. 200-300 cals for the LC, 80 for the yogurt (pre-portioned cup this time, for the convenience), and 110 granola. That takes me to the 700-750 cal range for the day - and leaves lots of room for a nice-sized dinner and an evening snack. It's been working for me so far and I haven't ever felt deprived - which is super important to someone who fights binge eating disorder, as I do.
Last edited by magnoliafan; 05-09-2012 at 12:30 PM.
i agree with everyone else about getting in more protein- that has been helping me get more bang for my caloric buck-- i'm also a teacher
for me:
breakfast: half a cup egg whites microwaved for 1 minute at 60% power with some ketchup, and if i'm super hungry i'll also have a half a cup of cereal with unsweeted almond milk or a package of lower sugar oatmeal (adds up to less than 200 calories altogether)
lunch/snacks: a package apple slices (30 calories), lean meat (either turkey slices or canned salmon, chicken or tuna) (about 100 calories), and a veggie (either lettuce or carrots) (30 calories)- like sontaikle, i pack it the night before, and a container of yogurt (100 calories). lunch usually adds up to right under 300 calories. i keep jerky in my purse for snacks and have a keurig in my office for coffee..
I ate a turkey Jimmy Dean sandwich today instead of my usual oatmeal for breakfast and I was starving all day. Try the oats in the morning, it may help. I would suggest prepacking a plain micro instant oats with premeasured almonds brown sugar and dried cranberries...throw it in the micro and there you go.
Man, oatmeal leaves me starving after 90 minutes. Bodies are so different. I can't count on something with so little protein to get me through much of the morning! This is why experimenting and changing things that aren't working for you is the best course of action... because we can only make suggestions, not guarantees!
After trying to just count calories for a month with little progress, I looked into the South Beach Diet - the key to that diet is not just reducing your intake, but changing what you eat and your entire approach to eating. I really would recommend getting a copy of the book and reading the entire thing.
As everyone else here said, you should try and add 1-2 cups of veggies and lots of lean protein to your diet and remove as many empty carb calories as possible. This means cutting out most sources of sugar, highly-processed and refined starches and focus on finding foods that keep you full for a long time. Try ditching all of the pre-prepared food and make more of your meals ahead of time at home.
One of the pitfalls of just counting calories is that many of the online tools rate sources of good fats (like avocados, nuts and olive oil) and most lean protein relatively poorly, but these are the things that help us lose weight. I've been following SBD while counting calories for a few days now, and I've already lost more weight than I did after more than a month of just counting calories.
Hunger Question
Try cheese, deli meat, whole grain crackers or granola, yogurt, raw veggies (baby carrots, cucumber slices, chopped bell peppers), nuts or peanut butter, etc.
Bodies are so different. I can't count on something with so little protein to get me through much of the morning! This is why experimenting and changing things that aren't working for you is the best course of action... because we can only make suggestions, not guarantees!
