Someone on this board talked about FitDay( a place to log in calories and exercise), and I signed up, as a way to log my food in and exercise. I have seen people talk about eating less then 1500 calories a day. How do they do it?? I have done it for a few days out of the week with bad results, because 2 days out of week the munchies hit me, and while I don't pig out, I eat more than other days, and I think this is a result of eating less then 1500 calories the day before. I find I have less energy when I eat so little and am cranky. Is anyone else having the same problem? Can anyone point me to a sight that tells you what you need to eat daily to lose weight at a healthy pace? Thanks
I eat under 1500 calories some days. But my calories vary wildly. I don't know, some days I'm just not as hungry. Then, around that time of the month, I get ravenous. If you look at my FitDay recently it's crazy, I'll have 2 weeks of eating 1200-1500 calories a day, then a week of 1500-1700, then a week of 1800 with spikes of 3000 here or 3500 there.
I think it varies for people, appetite and how many calories you need to do things during the day. I wish I knew how some days were 1500 or under, so I could repeat them all the time! A lot of it depends on what and when I eat. I've learned I definitely need protein in the morning -- yogurt, milk on cereal, a soy breakfast patty, eggs, something. I find if I skimp on the fats, I get hungrier, so I tend to a use a little bit of olive oil (about 1-2 tsp per serving) in my stir fries and sauteeing, even though it adds calories and fat.
For a while when I was ravenous in the afternoon I would eat a frozen meal in the 150-250 calorie range. It felt silly eating another lunch after I just ate lunch three hours ago, and certainly not like dieting. But though it was expensive, really, just as often I'll head downstairs to the convenience store for a hershey chocolate bar, and that's 230 calories right there. Yes, I have that one memorized. So the Lean Cuisine meal would be more filling and no more calories, really. Granted, on days with intense cravings for chocolate and junk food, that never did the trick.
It also depends on what you are eating. Certain foods have a lot of calories while not providing your body much substance. There is a difference between 4 oz of steak and 4 oz of chicken breast (no skin, fat trimmed). There is also a difference between a handful of chips and a handful of carrots. If you are eating a lot of refined carbs, that can also make you hungry. There are certain foods that are more filling than others like brown rice versus white rice, whole wheat pita versus white bread pita, oatmeal versus most cereals, etc.
I don't know your diet so you might already be cutting out sugar and refined carbs, but if not, I'd definitely start because those can trigger cravings. Vegetables also are mostly low calories so adding more of those into your diet can be more filling.
I agree with what the other posters said (especially WHAT we eat!). I weigh over 200 pounds and try to stick between 1800-1900 calories right now. Some days I eat less because I'm not as hungry, but other days, wow! It's harder to keep it under control.
I have no idea if 1500 is the right number of calories for you or not. But don't pick a number just because others are doing it. Take some time to figure out what works for you. You talked about using fitday. I don't remember if they include calculators to determine how much you should eat based on weight, etc. Nutridiary does, I know. These calculators may not be perfect, but they are places to start. I have found that nutridiary's works for me.
I don't always track my cals at fitday but I did one day last week and I was at about 1200 cals. It makes a huge difference in how I feel if I cut out simple carbs, those are foods made out of sugar and flour. They are simple because they are very easy to digest. Complex carbs are veggies and whole grains. It takes more energy to digest those foods because there are more nutrients in them. If I am not eating any simple carbs I don't feel hungry all the time and if I do snack on a complex carb ie carrot sticks I seem to feel fuller faster. It really helps if you need to snack to have a protein and a complex carb ie yogurt and some carrot sticks which is going to fill you up and give you more energy than cookies or a bag of chips.
If you are on this forum, 1500 calories is probably too low for you. I am not sure what your weight is, but I once heard a formula for figuring how many calories you should eat to maintain or to lose. It was 15 calories per pound of weight to maintain, and 10 to 12 to lose. If you weigh say 200 pounds, then that would be 2000 to 2400 to lose! Yes that sounds like a lot, and for us women I would be inclined to think it is maybe off by just a bit, particularly if you have trained your body to survive on very little food, by dieting for years and years.
I also read that you shouldn't decrease your calories by more than 1000 calories from your maintenance level. So assuming that same 200 pounds your maintenance level should be about 3000 calories a day. Decrease it by 1000 and you are again at 2000 calories. Much more than that and you go into the dreaded "starvation mode", which then slows your metabolism and makes it harder to lose.
When I first looked at these numbers I had to actually increase my calories. AND I started losing weight at the added "good" fuel. I was afraid to continue it, though so it was an aborted experiment. I would say 1700 calories is probably about right depending on your current weight. If you are up in the 300s, then maybe a few more. I wouldn't try to go as low as 1500 though.
I do 1800 a day and Kimberley does 1600 a day. As said above it really depends on what you are eating. We stay with the American Heart Association guidelines and keep it low fat and eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day. We eat our grains and dairy and that kind of thing. Most days I don't find myself being hungry all though there are some days where I'm just hungry all day, I think you just have to deal with those days and make it through somehow. We also try to eat 5 or 6 times a day so we don't get as hungry.
It's definitely possible to eat this many (few?) calories each day, but I find that it does require some careful planning on my part if I'm going to get through it in a *sane* way. Everyone is absolutely right -- when you're dealing with 1500 or fewer calories, WHAT you eat becomes critical. Sure, you could have 2 slices of meat lovers pizza, but you'll have to go HON-GRY the rest of the day.
I believe the keys to making this work are protein, good fats, and complex carbs. When I am eating reasonably (without being hungry) under 1500 cals, a typical -- but not perfect by any means -- day might look like this:
Breakfast
1 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal - 190 cals.
1 cup frozen strawberries - 51
1.5 cup 1% milk (some of that is for coffee) - 144
16 oz coffee - 0
Dash Splenda - 0
TOTAL DAILY CALORIES - 1456
Fat 30%, Protein 23%, Carb 48%
I try to get more protein than this in general, but I use this just an example of a day when I ate reasonably, didn't get hungry because I planned snacks, and felt good about what I ate. Note that you could probably even eat MORE of some things if you chose a low-fat or fat-free alternative (I prefer to have a small amount of full-fat cheese than a busload of low or fat-free! ).
Hope this helps (and sorry it's so long!).
Last edited by teapotdynamo; 03-15-2006 at 11:53 AM.
Good post Jennifer I agree with everything you said along with the good cheese. I try and stay away from the low fat no fat stuff. About the only thing I do in that area is once in awhile I get the Lays Light chips, just because they taste good and are low in calories.
Just a note, too, that I think Sherry might be right... I didn't start this journey eating 1500 cals a day. I started around 1700-1800 at my heaviest and tapered off as my losses stalled. Now I should probably be at 1200-1300 to lose faster, but I'd LOVE to see somebody's menu for THAT one... I rarely can pull it off!
Last edited by teapotdynamo; 03-15-2006 at 11:59 AM.
When I first started a little over a month ago, I struggled with how many calories to eat as well. I found a spot right here on 3FC under the diet tab, under calculators. If you enter in your weight, height and activity level it will tell you what you need to maintain your weight. For me it was about 2600 calories a day. So what I did is the first week I dropped it by 500 calories, the next week I dropped it by 200 more and now I am eating 1500 calories or less a day.
Maybe try to ease into it instead of making drastic changes. Just a suggestion. It worked for me. I was able to give my body some time to get used to the decrease in food intake.
There have been alot of good points already made, I don't know if can add anything new, But I agree that you should not go down to 1500 calories @ first. work your way down. Find a calculator to find what you need to maintain and go 500 less. Than every week or 2 drop it some more.
I find it hard to get my calories everyday. I am just not that hungry anymore. and somedays I am just so busy I have to remember to stop and eat. I have never gone over yet. I just try to keep it as close as possable. Nutridiary puts me @ about 1700-1900 cals.
I also follow nutridiary, I like it it is good. But I hear fitday is good too. Either one of those sites is a good place to start. Good luck.
http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/DayFoodsTab.asp
I hoped it worked. I do not eat red meat or Chicken, so you will not see that. I do eat lots of Carbs( I have been noticing this since logging everything on Fitday). I f I am doing anything wrong, please let me know, and suggestions would be great. Thanks Cheryl
Calories???? How do some people do it....
So the Lean Cuisine meal would be more filling and no more calories, really. Granted, on days with intense cravings for chocolate and junk food, that never did the trick.
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