First of all, one week does not a stall make. Most people define a plateau as the scale not moving for 5 or 6 weeks. Second, I agree with those who suggest you eat more. Aiming for 1 pound per week -- which would allow you to eat about 1,600 cals -- seems more reasonable to me.

HTH Freelance

A lifestyle change that works for you, that will allow you to lose and then maintain, is a practice in patience, and tracking, and feedback.

If you are physically hungry, as evidenced by gurgling stomach, light-headedness, etc then your body is telling you that you are not eating enough.

Try upping your calories a bit until you can get through the day feeling comfortable. Not stuffed or overly full, but comfortable.

Originally Posted by BeachBreeze2010:
Was last week your first week? Remember that exercise causes your muscles to hold water, especially when it's new to you.

Also, measure, measure, measure.

And - I second what was said above. There's no reason to be hungry. Eat foods that will fill you up. My lunch today - spinach and kale salad with avocado and lime dressing, chopped cucumbers, green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and olives. 300 calories later and I'm stuffed! I think you need to eat more, but not necessarily more calories.

Sounds like you're on the right track. Keep exercising and keep eating healthy!

Last week wasn't my first week. I've been exercising for a while but have only recently begun making sure I'm under a certain calorie number. Previously I had focused on not snacking on junk food all the time. The calorie counting is the new step. Some of the weight that wouldn't budge was most likely water weight because I had a big whoosh today.

You are correct about eating more good food (less calorie-dense stuff). Now that I look over my food log, I see the difference that makes. The week before last I was much better about my meals, either cooking/making most of them or having legitimate leftovers. Last week I was really busy (and somewhat lazy) so I ate processed stuff from the freezer and relied on bars for meals. So although the two weeks had pretty similar calorie counts, the healthy week left me much more satisfied for longer.

Thank you for the encouragement! This is why I love this site!

Originally Posted by emurph:
Do you know what your BMR is? I would guess it's more than 1300 calories. You need to eat at or above your BMR and that should help some.

I eat roughly 1300 calories a day, but I am 5ft tall and less than 10lbs from the high end of my healthy weight range. I am hungry close to mealtime, but not all day long anymore.

I eat fat and protein with every meal and snack and find it helps immensely. If I have to go over my calories a tiny bit because I want peanut butter on my celery for a snack, then I do it and don't think twice about it.

My BMR is ~1900, so yeah, it's a lot more than 1300. I have a sedentary job with lots of hours so I don't add too much to it, which is why I need to use the little free time I have to get some burn to be able to eat more.

I've been trying to get better about snacking on crap and substituting good foods. I will keep the fat and protein in mind when I choose the next snack.

Originally Posted by augeremt:

I did forget to mention my foods so here is a sample from last week:
Breakfast - Muesli and milk
Lunch - Dense dark bread (I can't remember what it's called now but it's not the regular floofy bread) with either meat or Boursin cheese, tomatoes, broccoli, and cucumbers
Dinner - Stuffed bell peppers with mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes
Snacks - Grapes, apples, or mini bell peppers (see previous post)
Guilty pleasure - Either some chocolate or a small candy (anything under ~50 calories)

I see almost no fat or protein - what if you replaced the muesli with eggs (with their yolks) and turkey sausage, made your lunch a salad, and added a big portion of meat with dinner?

To deal with hunger, I choose whatever I really like to eat and bulk it up with non starchy vegetables. It really works. I almost never do "veggies on the side" but incorporate them right into my dishes. After doing this for years, I don't even think twice about it.

For example, yesterday I really wanted tortellini. I boiled one weighed portion of spinach tortellini (210 cals), then sauteed half of an onion (30 cals) and half of a green pepper (30 cals) and threw in a handful of spinach (5 cals) at the end. I took the veggies and mixed them with the tortellini, then mixed tomato sauce (100 cals) into it. If I had mushrooms, I would have added them in too.

The entire bowl was about 375 calories and I had to eat it in two portions because it was so big and heavy.

Every meal I eat is just like the above meal. If you take your favorite foods and just imagine what vegetables could mix in either without being detected or by complementing the flavors, then you'll find you may not be so hungry anymore. It takes a little practice, but becomes second nature quickly.

Originally Posted by krampus:
I see almost no fat or protein - what if you replaced the muesli with eggs (with their yolks) and turkey sausage, made your lunch a salad, and added a big portion of meat with dinner?

This is my take as well and I whole-heartedly second krampus' suggestions. A 1 egg + 2 egg white omelet with lots of veg, some turkey sausage, and a little bit of cheese is in my breakfast rotation and I find it very filling. You could also try half a cup of greek yogurt as one of your snacks or as a guilty pleasure. (I get plain and add in coffee syrups for flavor. Nummy!)

Originally Posted by Munchy:
To deal with hunger, I choose whatever I really like to eat and bulk it up with non starchy vegetables. It really works. I almost never do "veggies on the side" but incorporate them right into my dishes. After doing this for years, I don't even think twice about it.

...........

Every meal I eat is just like the above meal. If you take your favorite foods and just imagine what vegetables could mix in either without being detected or by complementing the flavors, then you'll find you may not be so hungry anymore. It takes a little practice, but becomes second nature quickly.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. Vegetables have really low calories and provide a lot of volume and nutrition to dishes. If you are eating 1300 calories of junk it definitely is going to leave you hungry. I've found some of the best tasting swaps involve substituting half of something for veggies some examples:

*spaghetti and spaghetti squash
*linguine and zucchini ribbons
*mashed cauliflower and potatoes

I've also found that everything adds up and sometimes you can cut half the calories for an item if you use the right thing. For instance there are some really delicious high fiber wraps and tortillas with half the calories as regular. Spaghetti sauces with 50 calories a serving instead of 80. Laughing cow cheese spread at only 35 calories a wedge. Flat breads, diet bread, or lettuce instead of regular bread. Egg beaters or egg whites instead of regular eggs. I'm always on the hunt for good swaps.

Couple of things already mentioned but I wanted to reiterate that studies have shown that protein will stay with you longer than carbohydrates or fat. I've also read another study that indicated that eating soup made people feel full longer and eat less at meals if used as an appetizer. This worked even better than just drinking water with meals.

I'd also suggest planning for a low calorie day but always listen to your body. What has worked well for me in the past was to start out the day planning to have three good meals with no snacks. Some days that was enough and I was fine. Others I would get hungry in the afternoon and/or evening and I would eat a really good low calorie snack or low calorie dessert (skinny cow ice cream sandwich, frozen fruit bar). Also on the nights I'm really hungry I eat a bigger meal than normal but still with good, low calorie ingredients. Some people vary their calories per day to keep their body guessing and this is a more spontaneous way for me to do that.

Wow! Thanks for this explosion of food ideas. You guys and gals have been amazing with your suggestions and I will definitely incorporate them into my days.

As for the hunger, it's mostly gone. I've been eating between 1500 and 1600 calories a day lately and that's helped significantly. Having the time and the desire to cook more often has also made a huge impact because for some reason I feel a lot more satisfied when I've cooked my meal than if I were to buy it as take-out, even if it is just leftovers. And it's not due to snacking while cooking, I promise!

Originally Posted by Munchy:
To deal with hunger, I choose whatever I really like to eat and bulk it up with non starchy vegetables. It really works. I almost never do "veggies on the side" but incorporate them right into my dishes. After doing this for years, I don't even think twice about it.

For example, yesterday I really wanted tortellini. I boiled one weighed portion of spinach tortellini (210 cals), then sauteed half of an onion (30 cals) and half of a green pepper (30 cals) and threw in a handful of spinach (5 cals) at the end. I took the veggies and mixed them with the tortellini, then mixed tomato sauce (100 cals) into it. If I had mushrooms, I would have added them in too.

The entire bowl was about 375 calories and I had to eat it in two portions because it was so big and heavy.

Every meal I eat is just like the above meal. If you take your favorite foods and just imagine what vegetables could mix in either without being detected or by complementing the flavors, then you'll find you may not be so hungry anymore. It takes a little practice, but becomes second nature quickly.

This is exactly how I have tomorrow's gnocchi planned. I know, I know...gnocchi isn't all that nutritious. But I've been craving it for a while and adding a whole bunch of veggies without making it the central focus of the meal is my way of making it work.

I'm glad to see I'm on the right track, or at least getting there.

Originally Posted by krampus:
I see almost no fat or protein - what if you replaced the muesli with eggs (with their yolks) and turkey sausage, made your lunch a salad, and added a big portion of meat with dinner?

Originally Posted by Thistleberry:
This is my take as well and I whole-heartedly second krampus' suggestions. A 1 egg + 2 egg white omelet with lots of veg, some turkey sausage, and a little bit of cheese is in my breakfast rotation and I find it very filling. You could also try half a cup of greek yogurt as one of your snacks or as a guilty pleasure. (I get plain and add in coffee syrups for flavor. Nummy!)

You are both correct in saying I'm low on protein so I've upped that aspect, mostly for dinners but in other meals as well. I really don't like eggs, so although that would be an easy fix for breakfast it just doesn't work for me. With the newly added meat for dinner I've been getting my protein up quite a bit, which has helped. Apparently getting all my protein from dairy is not nearly enough. Who knew?

Originally Posted by Renwomin:
Couple of things already mentioned but I wanted to reiterate that studies have shown that protein will stay with you longer than carbohydrates or fat. I've also read another study that indicated that eating soup made people feel full longer and eat less at meals if used as an appetizer. This worked even better than just drinking water with meals.

I entirely agree with this because soups fill me up a lot more than I would expect. Even low-calorie soups keep me satisfied for a really long time. It's pretty awesome and they're definitely my go-to lunch these days.

There is so much wonderful food that you can eat on between 1500 and 1800 a day, but you have to avoid junk and really enjoy the food you eat. Stir fries are delicious and for myself if I load them up with ginger and garlic I don't need much calorific sauce.

I also use my crockpot a lot. I make really flavourful stews with tons of veggies and fresh herbs (sooo yummy).

I logged my details at MFP and it had me on some kind of crazy calorie restriction, like 1200 cals a day. It just doesn't make sense at my weight and with my level of activity. I'd be starving. My BMR is just under 1800. My gut instinct is that you shouldn't be eating much less than your BMR and maybe a little more if you're really active.