[porchcricket13]

I have been hungry all day.

According to my weight loss tracker I need to literally cut my caloric intake in half to meet my goal by March of next year. I’m assuming if I get a good exercise plan in place I ca adjust that accordingly but for now that would have me at losing 2lbs a week.

I woke up early, very early and ate half of my normal breakfast. I was fine for about 3 hours, then I was starving. I didn’t get to eat lunch for abut 8 hours after breakfast and by then I was so hungry that I barely remember scarfing down my meager lunch. Again, I ate half of what I normally would. I got to eat dinner about 7 hours after that, after I was already starving again. So I was tired of being hungry and ate a normal meal, normal for me anyway. Then I ate a snack right after my meal, and I was still freaking hungry.

If I can remember correctly this has a bit to do with cutting down the amount of carbs I ate today, and cutting down the amount of sugar. I’m going to feel like this for a few days until my body adjusts, but it’s really hard! Every fast food place I passed on my way home was a ridiculous challenge to my will power. I just wanted food!

I also know that when I am able to get better quality foods in my house I will have lower calorie, denser and more filling meals. I have to wait until my next payday to shop though so I am trying to work with the “crap” I have readily available.

I did take my 2 dogs for a brisk walk this morning. An hour with the 2 of them was a bit over-ambitious but I think I can break it up and do a half hour with each of them/day. After a half hour my back was screaming from being pulled around the neighborhood, my heart rate was up and my breathing was labored. So even though it was short, it wasn’t a complete failure.

Work was rough today too. We had a large dog that I was struggling with who made it very hard to catch my breath for about 10 min. That is a HUGE part of the reason i’m doing this. I have never had such a hard time with my job before. I used to feel like super woman there. I can lift dogs heavier than I ever thought imaginable, but now when they fight us I get winded and feel like my body is on fire.

I’m not sure if I feel accomplished, or weak today. I feel like I failed with my food choices at the end of the day, but I feel great that I got up and walked them this morning. It’s going to be such a battle with my critical attitude toward myself. I can only keep taking it one day at a time.

Day 1 is a draw.

[laciemn]

Maybe you should give yourself more time for this goal, or reduce your goal for now. Cutting calories in half is only a good idea if you are in an emergency situation, but just log your calories and I would recommend if you are hungry for more than 10-15 minutes grabbing a small, healthy snack. Something like a boiled egg, carrots, a few almonds or walnuts, something with under 100 calories and not sugary.

[porchcricket13]

I picked an off week to start this so I don't have much in the way of healthy food/ snacks at my disposal until next friday (payday). I do feel like it may be worth it to more slowly reduce the calorie intake but i'm afraid with what i'm eating it won't begin to make a difference. My bigger focus this week is getting off soda. I feel like, right now, the reason I was so hungry today had more to do with a decrease in sugar and carbs than a decrease in calories.
I also know that going so long without eating anything isn't going to help, but in my job you eat when you can not when you need to. I have gotten dizzy and shaky from hypoglycemia before there and HAD to eat.

[Misti in Seattle]

Wishing you all the best. But I do want to add a caution that expecting to lose 2 pounds a week is quite possibly setting yourself up for failure. It is great if you can do it but for most of us the process is much slower.

Glad you decided to join us. on getting started. Eating a lot of fresh fruits and veggies really helps with the hunger and is also giving you a lot of nutrition.

[betsy2013]

First, congratulations on joining the group -- the support here is tremendous.

And, I totally understand about Day 1 being a draw. The first three days I was on my new eating plan, I actually gained two pounds. I was kind of experimenting with what I could and couldn't eat and, like you, going through the withdrawals from the sugar and carbs.

It gets better. It gets easier. Well, ok, maybe not easier, but certainly more of a good habit. Let us know how you're doing at the end of your first week.

[elvislover324]

Going 7-8 hours at a time on reduced calories would make me crazy, please don't make yourself so hungry! Are you able to have snacks in between meals, maybe carrot sticks or grapes? Anything to fuel you in between meals.

Make sure you get plenty of water in your day, but if you are really hungry you do have to eat.

Mornings that I am up very early having breakfast sometimes means I have to have an extra meal during the day (5am til 11pm is too long for 3 "diet" meals in my opinion).

Watching what you eat and losing weight doesn't mean you have to go hungry, I promise you that!

[lunarsongbird]

Protein drinks are my absolute lifesaver when it comes to hunger. Although- do make sure you are eating enough calories.

Loseit.com might help. They also have an app. You can find me on there- my username [email protected]

[April Snow]

How many calories a day were you eating? Unless it was a really high number, cutting it in half doesn't seem too realistic long term. It feels great to see big drops on the scale, and losing 2 lbs a week every week would be great. But the reality is that if you are hungry all the time, you may not be able to stay on plan long enough to even lose the first 2 lbs!

If I can remember correctly this has a bit to do with cutting down the amount of carbs I ate today, and cutting down the amount of sugar.

at least for me, cutting out carbs and sugar hasn't made me hungry. A little bit weak and headachy for a couple of days, but not hungry. A low carb diet actually tends to suppress the appetite for most people, but it depends on how low carb you go - having smaller portions of things like pasta, oatmeal, etc. doesn't do it, you have to cut those kinds of foods out completely, at least to start with.

[linJber]

Welcome aboard. I'm going to say that I think it's fantastic to have an ambitious goal. Some people would disagree, but my thought is you might as well aim high. Just don't get discouraged if you miss some weeks and just as importantly, don't feel like you can slack off if you do better some weeks.

We are all different. In a perfect calorie world you have to cut 7000 calories from what your body needs to maintain to lose 2 pounds. That's a deficit of 1000 calories a day in your case. If you use a TDEE calculator (total daily energy expenditure) on line, you see that you'll be somewhere between 2500 and 2800 calories per day to maintain 250 pounds at 5'2". (I used your age as 35 - not sure if I'm even close. If you're younger, you can have a few more calories. If you're older, a few less.) If you try for 1500 calories a day, you should see a loss of a couple pounds a week. All that changes, though, as you get lighter. Your needs go down and you can only cut so many calories, so your loss might slow down unless you increase your activity level.

I figured my TDEE for the weight I wanted to be, subtracted and additional 300 or 400 calories, and used that as my caloric goal for the day right from the beginning. I thought that would set good habits for maintenance. So far so good.

I think you did a great job of day #1. Try to have apples, carrots, cauliflower, and other crunchy veggies on hand. They are good for you, they take the edge off your hunger, and they take a while to eat.

I also have to agree that cutting carbs and sugar is big. The less you have the less you crave. I have a hard time with small portions of pasta and bread especially, so I just cut them out except on rare occasion. You have to find what works for you, and it will be a challenge, but you can do this. Good luck to you.

Lin