First and foremost: this is from a place of respect for our diverse situations.

I know we've all got our unique struggles. I know that the grass is always greener. But - I just can't get over how many people here speak of the supreme efforts they must make to eat their full 1300-1500 calories a day! They are just so full, and just eating all the time, etc. etc.

From my perspective, this is discouraging to hear so often. It makes me feel like a mutant freak for being really hungry sometimes or for simply wanting more than what I'm currently allowing myself. How on earth would I have ever become obese without room for more than 1600 calories in my belly? I thought it was common to have a bit of difficulty reducing calories to a level for healthy weightloss, but hanging around here, I'm starting to suspect otherwise!

Anyway, this isn't to pick on anyone, but to encourage those who have the opposite experience and let them know they have company. Are you guys out there?

I'm the same - I definately want to eat more than I should, and the idea of eating only 1200-1400 calories appalls me! I only finished dinner about an hour ago and I am ravenous!

You are not the only one!

I can go both ways. If I've been eating SUPER clean for 2-3 days, and it is the right time of my cycle, etc, I can have trouble getting to 1200 calories. This can also happen if I have a meal that is both very filling and very low calorie (like bean and vegetable soup, which has so much fiber that I'm full for hours after, even though it has fewer calories than most meals I eat).

If I haven't been eating super clean, I'm PMSing, I worked out harder, or I am eating slightly more calorie dense meals (basically, anything I cook OTHER than that soup), I'm never going to have an issue meeting my calorie minimums.

I think people tend to say that they're having this issue when they've been super-clean for a while, and their bodies have adjusted to that. Throw something refined into the mix and the hungries start up again, in my experience.

I've never had a problem eating my full calories (unless sick or something.) In fact, while I was losing, I'd have to tweak my dinner sometimes just to stay under. I think that's why I never really dropped my calories below 1500. I preferred being able to eat a fair amount and lose slower then to starve myself.

You're not alone! I think staying under is far more common a problem then getting up to a certain calorie level.

You're not alone. I read posts like that and can't respond because it's just so far outside of my realm of experience. Not ... hungry ... on 1200 calories?

I've never lost weight without being hungry -- sometimes really hungry! (and I'm a healthy eater and know all the tricks about water, fiber, veggies etc ) Even now in maintenance, I'm hungry a lot of the time. So I plan my meals in advance, eat by the clock, and deal with it. That's the reality of weight loss/maintenance for me.

But I'm genuinely puzzled about how someone gets to be obese if they have to force themselves to eat 1200 calories a day?

You aren't alone. I have never had a problem eating the 1200-1400 calories allowed and I do all the tricks, too (eating lots of "free" vegetables, fiber, drinking lots of water, on and on). It's a struggle and I always have to be mindful.

This is one of those topics that you don't have enough information about what is going on their life or what they are eating. So you have to accept what they are saying but realize there may be more to the story.

I would not be surprised if 50% of the individuals that say this may not be accruately weighing or logging all of their food.

I am such an emotional and stress eater, I realize that has a much bigger impact on cravings. I can have a good day at work where I am so busy and so focused on what I am doing that I get to the end of the day realize that I only ate 1200 calories and am totally satisfied. I usually eat something regardless to at least reach 1400.

This past weekend I was nursing a strained muscle and bored to death and feeling sorry for my self (for no logical reason) and I was still starving at 1600 calories.

One final thought. I have definitely noticed those comments often come from new members who eventualy burn out. When I am frustrated I definitely try to focus on the comments from those members that have been at this for the long run.

Lori

I can sort of see both sides of this...but I assure you if I get to eat 1400 calories one day I will eat every single last one of those calories. I may not necessarily feel like I need to eat but I will throw something in there just because I can. Other days I"m ravenous and could polish off a whole pizza no problem. I tend to binge so that's why I"m overweight. I would eat low calorie all week and then the weekend would come and I'd get bags of chocolate as a "reward" that were easily 1500 calories and eat them in one sitting. The other thing I will say is while I"m not starving on my diet I never feel "full". There's always room for a something extra which is why I ALWAYS get to my calories. I would fully expect anyone to have trouble reducing their calories...especially when you're used to eating so much more.

Heh, my boyfriend laughs that I am ALWAYS hungry and it's true! I practice a combination of whole foods, calorie counting and volumetrics - I love big portions so I bulk up with lots of vegetables. I eat about every 2 hours, and I'm ALWAYS hungry and ready for my snack/meal. I can usually hold out if I know I can eat in an hour

I eat about 1800 calories to maintain, but I have to get serious about this 3-4 lbs that have been lingering since Christmas/week long work trip to Vegas in January (I know, it's ONLY 3-4 lbs but I am a big believer in bud nipping). I am going to have to cut back to 1400-1600 and I am NOT looking forward to it - it's really hard for me to eat that little. I am MUCH happier at 1800!

You're not alone! While I'm satisfied most of the time, it's on a higher amount of calories - more like 1650. Even then, though, my tummy is grumbling like crazy if I go longer than 3 hours without eating, so I feel like I'm almost always grazing on something. I eat 3 meals and 3 snacks (one I call dessert, but it isn't always something sweet) each day, and sometimes my snacks are picked at over the course of an hour, with a meal not long after! It can seem like I'm just eating, eating, eating!!

I think it's good, though - there's no prize for going the longest on the smallest amount of food! I belive in feeding your body if you experience genuine hunger - I'm actually a bigger believer in eating BEFORE you're feeling that genuine, gnawing hunger!! Provided you make a smart choice in what to eat (which is SO much easier if you eat before you're ravenous!), I don't think there's much to worry about. Like a lot of others here, I find that moving away from processed foods towards more natural whole foods makes a big difference - fruit with protein in the form of some nuts or a little cheese, veggies with hummus, etc. keep me full so much longer, and on much fewer calories, than any packaged "snack".

There's never a day that ends where I feel like I couldn't possibly eat another bite, no matter what, though - and there probably never will be!

You're definitely not alone. At my highest weight I was probably inhaling a good 3000-4000 calories per day, so of course I'm finding 1500 hard to handle!

Now, I think it would genuinely be hard to handle eating 1500 calories from celery, green peppers and blueberries alone, but not with a balanced diet. A piece of beef here or a hard-boiled egg there definitely adds up. To echo some other comments here, I think sometimes people underestimate their calorie intake such that while they think it's hard to get their 1200 calories in, they may actually be taking in substantially more than that.

My two cents.

Yup, that's what I was going to say. Sometimes people are so into the whole weight loss thing when they first start out, that they really don't think they are hungry. It's a mental thing I think. But eventually the physical will overtake the mental, and they'll be ravenous like the rest of us lol.

i have never in my life been unable to eat lol, even when i get sick i can still eat. however when i first started ww i was having a hard time getting all my points in because i had replaced all the bad with all the good. now if i could have kept eating pizza and doritos then heck ya, i could eat all day. but when you go from that to required to eat 5 fruits/veggies, 2 milks, oils, protien, and high fiber, well i was stuffed. now i've lost like 10 of those points, and it gets a little tricky trying to stay full, and i can always eat like i said b4. i just think when people first start out their bodies arent used to the healthy eating so their tummies are telling their minds they are full. just my two cents

The only times I've been unable to eat have been when I'm unconscious.

I've never lost weight without being hungry sometimes, and maintaining, I'm often hungry. I drink a lot of tea, chew a lot of sugar free gum, and do a lot of mental tricks...but I'm hungry.

I never know how to respond to those posts either because I can't fathom not being able to eat my allotted 1400 calories. And I eat very clean 99% of the time, and eat bulky food, so there's relatively a lot there for 1400 calories!

I'm also an emotional eater and just WANT to eat, but the hunger is true hunger.

You certainly aren't alone

Mel

um, that "not hungry" thing? Really often comes from having spent so many (many, many) years of engaging in starvation diets and causing such a nasty imbalance that now we actually gain weight on 1500 calories a day. We've pretty much trained ourselves not to feel the hunger - ever. Even when we spent weeks at a time eating nothing but one hardboiled egg every other day (yes, it is sick but at the time we feel so empowered because we can do it). So then, of course, when we get tired of eggs and go off the deep end, we vacuum up whatever our hands land on (even though we still aren't hungry - and we don't even taste the food) and, voila, instant toad.

Then it's not just a matter of creating a calorie deficit because our bodies can pretty much adapt to surviving on air. We have to spend half our time juggling foods around to try and keep our systems on their toes. Believe me, I get really jealous when I read about people who know it's time to eat because they are hungry, not because the alarm on their cell phone went off, and who can enjoy a little piece of pizza once in a while because they figured out how to fit it in their plan. That sounds like some pretty darned green grass to me

And Meg Honest to goodness (right hand raised, taking oath) before I wised up (and found 3FC) I tried going back to the old habit starvation thing. For about 4 months I ate either 1/2 a skinless chicken breast or 1/2 a pork chop for dinner and had nothing all day except about 1/2 a gallon (maybe a little more) of Crystal Light (also was putting in a mile a day on the treadmill). My big "treat days" were Sunday mornings when I would have 3 or 4 slices of bacon. In that 4 months I gained almost a whole pants size - now who should feel like the mutant freak? Doctor screamed at me that I was rapidly headed for malnutrition and told me to just eat whatever I wanted but start logging every shred I put in my mouth. I wasn't supposed to count calories at that time but a few weeks ago, just for grits and shins, I went back and added some of them up and for the most part I was in the 1500 to 1600 neighborhood with a real binge day about once a month that would hit 2000. I did that for 2 months and finished off the pants size. Apparently I am one of those people who could be trapped in a building after an earthquake, eat drywall for a week and come out fatter than when I went in.

end rant