I’m trying to eat healthier and less but I can’t seem to stick to a low amount of calories. Even when I do, I’ll binge at the end of the day because I just feel so hungry. I consistently eat around 3000 calories, and I need to half that but feel like I can’t. I already eat plenty of fruits and veggies but it’s just not working. What can I do?
by SecretaryMother1296
27 Comments
If your normal intake is 3000, I would try aiming for 2500 calories as a place to start, and then work on bringing it down from there. Take things one step at a time!
You probably could have skipped the whole serving of potato fries honestly and substituted with something else. If you need something to snack on quest has protein chips for 140 calories. Also that cereal is pretty high in calories too. You can try different snacks and find what you like best. Even 2 cheese sticks with maybe Turkey deli meat would be good. Or some slices of pepperoni.
I wonder if you might not be getting enough fat in your macros. Not sure if you’re also tracking how much water you drink, but if you’re not already I always find increasing my daily intake helps with cravings (adding frozen fruits to your water or drinking non-caffeinated teas without sugar/cream can also help with upping your fluids with some variety). I also think trying a more gradual decrease might be helpful too!
Maybe try having more soups. You’ll still have the right amount of veggies and protein, but the extra liquid will keep you full. You can make soup in bulk whenever you have free time. It’s also super cheap. You can portion it out and keep it stored in the freezer. Some of my favorite soups are chicken soup, broccoli soup, potato-leek soup, squash soup, and lentil soup.
I would also start weighing your ingredients instead of using serving size. It’s more accurate that way.
You might be surprised just how many fruits and veggies you can actually eat for very few calories. You might want to increase the amount you’re having per meal.
Also, I think it’s in your best interest to stay away from any ultra processed food as much as possible. It’s hard to fully know how many calories you’re consuming. If you want fries. Weigh your potatoes, cut them up, weigh your oil, toss the potatoes in oil and salt, then air fry them. They taste damn good, and you’ll be certain how little calories you actually ate. If you want something sweet, have a cup of strawberries. If you want something salty, have a cheese stick. Most are typically 60 to 90 calories. Just weigh everything to make sure you’re in your calorie allowance for the day and adjust accordingly.
Overall, my advice would be to start cooking, avoid ultra processed food, and weigh everything out. If you’re busy, prepare in advance.
I think you need more fat for breakfast. Instead of the non-fat yogurt you had today, you could try the Fage 5% plain greek yogurt. Put in some frozen berries like the day before you eat it, and they’ll melt down, flavoring the yogurt (I use mason jars). And maybe add a tablespoon of peanut butter to your protein shake. I think the avocado at or with lunch would help, too.
i find it very helpful to plan my full day of eating in advance. i know exactly what i’m eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. i don’t meal prep, but meal plan. make your own meals. incorporate lots of fresh vegetables (filling and low cal) and lean protein sources like chicken breast. choose healthy carbs and fats, and if possible include each of these macros in every meal. weigh your food. all of it. basically you just need to include more high protein low calorie foods, skip (or reduce the serving size of) the cereal and fries and chocolate.
I am not coming from a jugemental place: what do you mean by a binge at the end of the day? To me, it looks like the “error” for the lack of a better word, came in at lunch. Then you compensated by not eating a balanced dinner. Which then resulted in feeling hungry late at night so you had 4 cups of cereal.
Echoing having a heartier breakfast, if a similar thing happens around lunch, you can absolutely still mitigate some of the damage by having a balanced dinner. You ate 220 calories in carrots and avocado, but instead you could have had maybe a piece of chicken with veggies, or eggs to add some protein!
I started about 5 weeks ago, eating about the same! You might find this trick helpful.
It’s a little game I played with myself called “5 or 15 “. When I’m hungry, any time, any place, I’ll wait for 5 minutes. Video games, reading, walking, wahtev. Just hold on for five minutes. The hunger goes away, and I feel **sated**. That was a craving!
If I’m still hungry after 15 minutes, alright cool, it’s meal time.
This game helped me learn real hunger vs “time to eat I guess”, which I how I got this fat in the first place. Try it for yourself! Your body will tell you whether or not you need food right now. Just gotta listen to it for 5 or 15.
You need more protein and fiber so you can feel full for longer. Also, try intermittent fasting.
What did you do wrong…other than the obvious 1,000 calories worth of french fries and chocolate at lunch?
I echo recommendations to plan out your food for the day
The best part is, when you plan in advance you can find ways to compensate if you want to add something more calorie dense! Like if I know I have a birthday celebration for a friend, I’ll portion out room for a slice of cake.
Dieting does not have to mean always giving up the calorie dense foods, but if you don’t plan ahead you’ll either always go over, or end up losing out on nutrients and more filling foods (aka end up going to bed hungry or losing will power and bingeing).
If you’re someone who likes snacking, crunchy foods, sweets, etc to look into the lower calorie alternatives, like popcorn, low cal ice cream, sugar free chocolate, etc. (but still make sure measure those out because even with the lower calorie options, it’s easy to accidentally overeat if you aren’t being mindful during meal and snack times). I even found a 190 calorie instant ramen because restricting on things you love long term isn’t something that works for everyone—chances are, if you love it, there’s a lower calorie option of it these days.
Everyone is different and small, sustainable changes are almost always better than big sudden “fad” changes so start with cutting down to 2500, or prioritizing food prep, or whatever you can prioritize to get momentum going.
You got this ♥️🤞🏻
What is your height?
Your lunch consisted of 3 items that could have been meals all on their own. If you’re trying to eat less calories, eating foods that are extremely calorie dense is going to make that much much harder.
If I’m at a restaurant, I rarely get fries, if I even get a side it’s the lowest calorie option (usually veggies).
A lot of times a meal won’t make you feel “full”, rather, you’ll just be “not hungry”.
You’re going to feel hungry a lot, and you’ll have to be ok with that. At first you’re going to get super anxious and feel like you absolutely have to eat. Once upon a time, that anxiety was our motivation to find food and not die. Now we’ve got more food than we need, but our body still panics as soon as it feels hunger.
Over time the anxiety will get less, and you’ll realize that being hungry is ok. Hunger is just a feeling, it doesn’t actually mean you have to eat, and nothing bad is going to happen if you don’t.
Through that process you’re going to have to start building coping mechanisms to deal with hunger and satiety throughout the day. Things like drinking coffee to curb your appetite, intermittent fasting (not for everyone, but great for some), new hobbies to avoid having idle hands (it’s hard to open the fridge when you’re busy), etc.
You can also look into programs like Overeaters Anonymous, and/or drugs like Wegovy (talk to your doctor obvi).
It’s not easy to deprogram a lifetime of bad habits and unhealthy relationships with food… And unfortunately, since you can’t just quit cold turkey like most addictions, there’s an even higher chance you’ll backslide and gain some back (I have, and do).
But if you build the right habits and coping mechanisms along the way, you can hopefully catch yourself when you inevitably start to fall. I’ve yo-yo’d quite a bit since I initially lost the weight nearly 20 years ago, but I’ve always been able to reign myself back in before it got really bad.
It sucks it can’t just be automatic for people like us, but we can’t do anything about that. We can only deal with who we are, not who we wish we were.
Another little trick is to add the food before you actually eat it. Knowing how many calories you are about to consume is hopefully a great motivator to make better decisions. A user friendly scale is imperative to success as weighing out your food is crucial to accurately counting your calories.
Everyone has weak moments or even days… that’s ok, dust yourself off and get back on the right track. Whole fruits, vegetables, and beans are your friend. Find some that you really like and eat only those until you are full. Avoid cheeses, starchy vegetables (like potatoes)and other processed foods and breads for 1 week as a trial. You will find it nearly impossible to consume 1500 calories in fruits & vegetables. If a week seems like too long, just do it for one day. Start somewhere, and build off of that.
As many other have stated already, avoid pre-processed food as much as possible. Preparation is the key my to staying on track. For instance, I consistently am 800-1000 calories under my budget daily during the work week because I plan out and pack every breakfast and lunch, plus I usually try to cook a few items for dinner later in the week. Once the weekend arrives, I am trying to do everything around the house so I skip my breakfasts, eat late lunches, and have larger dinners. I really need to buckle down and pack my weekend breakfasts and lunches so I can remain consistent.
In any case, don’t give up, don’t get discouraged, and don’t expect overnight results. You didn’t get to this position overnight and it will take a lot of commitment and effort to get you to your goal.
Start cutting down and eventually cut out refined carbs and sugar. It will only make you crave those foods more. Check the label on your nonfat Greek yogurt. May be excess sugar. Opt for low fat or full fat plain Greek yogurt and add fresh fruit. Have a baked potato with turkey chili on top instead of waffle fries.
What is your gender / weight / height?
If you’re normally eating 3000 then you’re cutting your calories way too much.
Your choices are way off though, it’s not the volume you are eating but you have fries, chocolate and 4 servings or cereal in a day. What are your expectations of how 1500 should be met?
Probably the fries and chocolate at lunch. Set you back and you tried to compensate with super small dinner which left you hungry late at night
Your lunch was 1500 calories. That’s a lot for one meal. A good place to start would be to not have chocolate, fried, or cookie crisps around. Maybe keeps apples or low calorie popcorn around to munch on. Your problem is you are eating a lot of empty calories that aren’t doing anything for you.
The French fries and chocolate killed you
I see barely any protein- center every meal around 20-40g of protein and I bet you’ll start feeling way different, satiety wise.
I would start by being honest with yourself. The fries, chocolate, and half a box of cereal are 1,500 calories alone. Sub those out with a whole wheat turkey wrap, an apple, and some baby carrots and you would be fine.
If you eat more at lunch or breakfast, don’t compensate by eating far less at the next meal. It will just lead to binging. It’s important to still have a balanced meal and not just ‘healthy stuff’, baby carrots and smashed avocado wouldn’t leave you satiated which is probably why you then needed the cereal. Try and eat a bit more balanced across the day and food groups.
Also, start with swaps rather than cutting food out. Go for lower calorie versions of foods (e.g things like the cut of meat you get or skim milk etc). It’s surprising how much they can vary. You could also look into volume eating, so eating more for less. I think it helps feeling full and just the mental aspect if that makes sense. If for some reason you do feel really hungry at the end of the day, you know you can reach for x food and snack on it (mine is popcorn)
I also found a lot of success in not completely denying myself what food I really wanted as then I’d eat other items instead, then still really crave the food and end up eating that on top of the other items. So just eat it but in smaller quantities. E.g instead of going to McDonald’s and getting a large fries, I’ll get a small
Anyway, also don’t start with the goal to cut down to half ur calories immediately. That is a huge change and super hard mentally and physically! Take small steps 🙂 try and reduce 500 calories at first
You can’t see those snacks? Maybe eat only 1 cup
Your worst offenders here are very calorie dense but nutritionally poor lunch and very small dinner that left you hungry so you binged. 500 calories in chocolate is a lot, having a square or two after lunch is ok to enjoy some dessert, eating half the package is not. Fries are drenched in oil and are essentially empty calories, having very little nutritional value. If you want to stay fuller you should substitute things like fries and chocolate for other carbs that have a lower calorie and higher satiety index. Wild rice, quinoa, oven-roasted sweet potatoes will all keep you fuller and won’t spike your blood sugar. Things like beans, lentils, chickpeas are all great to have with a meal to not feel hungry.
It helps to also always have precut veggies in the fridge (bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots) and snack on them with hummus or homemade tzatziki, peeled boiled eggs, cottage cheese, canned tuna – things you can quickly grab when you’re really hungry and can’t control yourself much, instead of cereal.
It also seems to me that your portions are all large – more than one serving, like 4 cups of cereal is a lot, which possibly means you are used to eating till your stomach is stretched and you feel food coma. Not knowing when you’re full and eating till you start feeling like you’ve overeaten is a common issue for a lot of people, especially if your parents had this habit or made you always finish your plates. Try to stop eating 70% in, after that leave the rest of your plate in the fridge or microwave and wait for 30 minutes. Still hungry? Can eat the rest, but maybe you will start discovering that you don’t actually need as much food, and it’s more a matter of psychological habits than actual physical necessity. Good luck!
Honestly cereal is a huge issue. 4 cups of it may not seem like much but it’s Cookie Crisp, which is a smaller serving size as it is. I’d just cut it completely, if you’re still reading comments.
Okay but 1 serving of dark chocolate being over 500 kcals means you’re eating the entire bar in one go alongside your lunch. Are you doing that or are you logging it wrong?
If you are doing that: try eating half the bar and save the calories for a bigger dinner.
If you are logging it wrong: log it correctly and you’ll have extra calories for a bigger dinner.