[MadameZombie]

I know I shouldn't complain because not everyone has this problem but do you find that it's almost difficult to reach even 1200 calories a day before you're full? I know one thing slowing me down is my braces... I have to get really creative with eating veggies and hard or fleshy fruits. So you know that rule where you should chew your food and wait before you're stuffed? Totally believe it... Here is what I usually eat:

B
1/2 cup of oatmeal
1 banana
1 tsp of almond slivers
1 tsp of maple syrup

S
1/2 an apple

L
3 cups salad (I just fill a reusable container with about 75% green leaf lettuce, the rest of it a mixture of grape tomatoes, radishes, carrots, and cucumbers)
1 tsp of low fat vinaigrette
1 serving plain greek yogurt
1 serving of soup (Campbell's Select Harvest usually ranging from 100-250 calories depending upon soup)

I'm usually full after lunch but doing the math somedays I barely peek over 650 calories at this point)

S
1/2 an apple

Then I exercise after work for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours

D
25% Some Carb (like brown rice... potatoes, so on)
25% Protein (chicken, pork, sometimes lean ground beef)
50% Veggies

Desert is sometimes more yogurt or 1/3 cup of ice cream

I drink a crap ton of water and make tea with no sweatners.


I mean, I'm losing weight but I wonder if something other than fat since somedays I barely peak over 1200 calories. Maybe I'm just getting crazy over nothing? I'm just happy that for once I feel like I'm doing the right thing and results are showing but scared because it's always... "What if I'm actually screwing myself up?"

[JayEll]

Your choices look pretty good to me. You're including protein, some good fats, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables.

I'd say that you don't have to have your calories so low, though. I would be you'd still lose on 1300 or even 1400. How would you increase them? Well, have bit more of your protein foods (like the chicken, pork, beef, Greek yogurt, almond slivers) and a bit more of the carb foods (like the brown rice or the oatmeal). Doesn't have to be a lot--but you may find as time goes on, you start to feel hungry on only 1200. And why eat less when you can eat more? You also want to eat enough to support your muscles for exercise.

Good luck!
Jay

[StuffedBunny]

I'm right there with ya! I've been tracking my calories and everything and some days I'm just way too full before I hit 1200 calories in a day. I'm eating so much more food now than I was before I started dieting. As opposed to eating chips for lunch and taco bell for dinner, I'm eating breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner....so much through out the day that I'm just damn full before I get to my target.

[carter]

I have a huge appetite and have never had the problem of being too full to get in enough calories. (I tend to eat around 1600-1700 calories a day.) But if I did, I would try to add some healthy fats in. Use real oil and vinegar instead of low-fat dressing; add a few nuts or olives or slices of avocado to a salad; eat a slice of cheese with that apple - that sort of thing.

[xty]

I have had this "problem" in the past also. I know most people wont consider it a problem, but I had some real issues, lol:
- not being able to easily hit target calorie/protein range
- feeling overfull all day
- never having a flat belly (too busy constantly digesting)
- eating later into the night just to try to get my calories in

I decided to make some changes...
- more calorie dense foods that are healthy (peanut butter, avocado, etc)
- less volume of food while still meeting fiber + variety of produce needs
- less fruit, more veggies
- zero eating after 9pm!!
- counting calories + protein/fiber (I dont actually count fat or anything else)

This has really helped. My tummy is soooo flat now, I dont feel like its such a labored effort to get my nutritional needs met and BONUS, big big bonus...my tummy is now very accustomed to smaller quantities of food. That means if I do splurge, its a small one because anything more is painful.