To think eating 1500 cals daily is unsustainable?

[savedbythewell]

And if you disagree, how do you do it?
How do you satisfy your appetite and what weight loss is reasonable monthly, if three stone overweight

@CooooCoooo

I lost 3st in 3 months eating around 800 calories a day and that was 5 meals a day (two of which were protein shakes). All I ate was salad, fruit, veg and meat/fish/eggs. No sugar or carbs.

While I was on this diet I had a test done which said my resting metabolic rate was 1200 calories per day. I have a very sedentary job and do little exercise so, because I was listening to "women need 2000 calories per day", I was putting on a lot of weight. I'd keep gaining if I ate more than 1200 per day so 1600 seems a lot to me now.

Where did you get this test done?

Today I had a cappuccino, 200g honeydew melon, 70g hummus, carrot sticks, apple, a kefir shot, lamb with mint and pea crust, roasted carrot and parsnips, red cabbage, broccoli and gravy and a pint of pink soda. All of that comes to 1250 cals.

Yesterday I had a cappuccino, apple, hummus, carrot sticks, kefir shot, clementine, 500ml orange juice, salmon fillet with pesto on top, roasted carrots and parsnips, red cabbage and broccoli. That came to 1270.

I don’t think what I’ve eaten over the last two days is “eating like a bird”. I haven’t been left hungry.

@OnceAgainWithFeeling

That is how I started my journey with a PT and they never recommend such low intakes. Coupled with no processed food etc.

I do and the I can only say you just get used to it, I do intermittent fasting.

@BigYellowTaxiT

Fair enough we all have different definitions of bird like I guess.

Just me personally I’ve always felt ill going below 1500 irrespective of my age/weight/activity levels.

Breakfast is almost always toast. Lunch pretty much always soup with toast/crackers etc. Two snacks a day, about 100 cals each. Veggie dinner, heavy on the veg, measure carbs. Drinks are squash or black coffee. Only two alcoholic drinks a week usually.

Exercise helps with a buffer for when I’m eating a bit more. If I’ve put a bit on, I cut back.

What’s pink soda @BigYellowTaxiT

[quote Ponoka7]Also have you worked out your TDEE?

tdeecalculator.net/[/quote]
Just done that. It says to lose weight I should have 1173 calories a day

@Goldijobsandthe3bears

What’s pink soda *@BigYellowTaxiT*

Schweppes Pink Soda. It’s delicious. I have it in a wine glass usually instead of alcohol.

Completely do-able.
Sounds like a normal day's food for me.

Breakfast- egg/ 1 slice toast, OR pot Greek yoghurt and berries, or 30gms porridge oats with milk and berries.

Lunch- usually homemade veg soup, or cheese and fruit, or a salad of some sort.

Dinner- large fillet of fish or chicken, or a casserole, vegie curry, stir fry, even a roast dinner, loads of veg, and fruit for desert.

Snacks- a few nuts or oatcake with almond butter or 1 square 75% dark choc.

if you cant eat less calories then burn more calories but eat a higher calorie diet

Oooh I’ve never seen that, I’ll be looking for it now! Thanks @BigYellowTaxiT

I'm on week 6 of 800cal a day and it is tough. Had the odd day of upping to 1200.

Iv found easiest way is 2 meals a day. Late breakfast and an early dinner. Lots of water.

It depends what you're doing really doesn't it? Training for a marathon, nowhere near enough. Lying on the sofa all day and the furthest you need to walk is to the fridge then it's plenty.

It requires a huge mental shift. I'm not managing it at the moment but have done for as long as a couple of years in the past and know that if I could just do it for 3 months I could stick to it.

You have to get away from the idea that every meal has a large serving of a white starchy carb (bread, rice, pasta etc). You have to gradually reduce portion sizes. You have to swap calorie laden snacks for fruit and salary.

Initially yep, you feel hungry! Your body expects more because you have taught it to, it doesnt mean it needs more.

After about 3-4 weeks you genuinely adapt.

When I've done it successfully my menu for a day has looked like this:
Breakfast: skimmed milk porridge. 4 tbsp rolled oats & 120ml skim milk, plus blueberries or apple: 150 cals
Snack: fruit 50 calories
Lunch: sainsburys minestrone soup 600g. The pot contains two servings, 140 cals each. I actually eat both, one at about half 11, one at about half 1. I find that way it's a satisfying volume, but is less calories than a sandwich. 280cals total.
Snack: 4pm is my weakest time of day for snacking. I try and stick to salad (beetroot, carrot, celery, pepper, cucumber or tomatoes) - 60 calories or so But occasionally I give in and have biscuits etc - 120.

This leaves 900 calories for a main meal, which honestly is loads!

As a sedentary 5’3” woman my TDEE is around 1400, and to lose around 1200. I tend to think of 2/4/6, so a 200 calorie breakfast (eg a cereal bar, small bowl of porridge, or fruit and yogurt) 400 calorie lunch (eg bowl of homemade veg based soup and a small roll or a hummus and veggie wrap or a bagel thin with cream cheese and smoked salmon) and 600 calorie dinner (anything here really, the key is measuring portions, especially of carbs - a portion dried weight of pasta is 75g and rice is 60g - lean protein and plenty of vegetables, or ready meals can help as they’re calorie counted for you). Then 2x100 calorie snacks. I like small sweet treats like a two finger Kit Kat or single twix. I tend to drink sugar free squash during the day, and coffee with skimmed milk and sweeteners. If I know I’m having a bigger dinner I’ll have a smaller lunch (apple slices dipped in peanut butter or a couple of rice cakes with ham and cheese for example) or just have a brunch late morning.

I skip breakfast and have a small lunch to keep me going until dinner then have a normal dinner. One ‘day off’ where I eat as I feel each week. I feel hungry through the day but accept it is part of trying to lose weight and won’t be forever. It’s easier once you start to see results

1500 cals is 3 x 500 meals.

You can eat a very satisfying meal for 500 cals and even more if your two other meals are only 200-300 cals.

Fill up on protein, veg and fruit, keep the carbs less, and avoid refined carbs.

According to a calorie counter app I eat around 1500 per day if I don’t eat out. Mostly due to a small breakfast I think, as I like wine.

The other thing people forget is drinks.

You have to scrap full fat cans, juices, milky coffees etc.

Peppermint tea is my go to when I'm cutting calories.

@pinkprettyroses

That's very little for a fully grown adult.

Of course you'll get the typical mumsnetters telling you they are full up on 1200 calories and eat 800 a day.

If you feel this is unsustainable up your calories and Include more low impact exercise.

I'm a 'full grown adult' and if I'm largely inactive, slightly less than 1200 is as much as I can eat without putting on weight. However I'm extremely active 25-35k steps a day, several hours of which is a mix of steady state and high intensity cardio. And at least 30 minutes a day on average of resistance training meaning I'm quite muscular (for a woman). With all of that I can eat just over 2000. And even with that kind of activity and 'low' food intake my BMI stays around 22.

If you can only eat 1200 cals a day without putting on weight would you not just move more? Surely at 5'7 you must be rooted to the couch to not burn more than that on a daily basis. I hate this focus on size, it should be about health too. Being so sedentary that you have to eat like a bird to maintain a healthy weight is surely not healthy in itself?

God looking at these comments, no wonder so many people struggle to lose weight. I'm 54 and 10 stone 8, and my basic daily calorie requirement is 1600 calories. If I eat more than that and don't exercise I will put on weight; If I want to lose weight then I need to exercise and or/ create a calorie deficit. We have lost all perspective on what a normal amount of food is. OP, if you want to lose weight through calorie counting on that number of calories a day, then look at high protein low carb. If you balance your diet you won't be hungry and it is sustainable. Longer term it's best to incorporate some exercise into your routine (my calorie burn goes up to 2000 when I walk to work or go for a run, for example). Good luck with it.

Dr moseley Fast800 , you do it for 3 months and lose 3 stone

Lots of people do it and manage it fine.
At first I thought I'd be starving and unable to continue to run etc

I was still managing to run 20 miles a week on it.

Loads of Facebook groups for it. Have a look.