How to eat in a calorie deficit and not be bloody starving!!

[flossie232]

Trying to eat in a calorie deficit of 1600. I have at least 1.5 stone to lose. I'm finding it so hard to keep to 1600, I'm just hungry all the time. I try to make good choices, today for example I had granola, Greek yoghurt and berries for breakfast thinking it would fill me up. By lunch I was starving again and had a hearty soup for about 300 calories which filled me up at the time but by the evening I was hungry again so ended up having a massive pasta dish that will have probably tipped me over my calories. Even with sensible meals it seems really tough to eat 3 satisfying meals a day and incorporate the other little things I like (like a few coffees, maybe a biscuit in the evening etc) without going over.

I know this method will work if I can find a way to eat within a deficit sustainably. Does anyone have any tips or maybe recommendations for low calorie but filling food? It's astonishing how quickly calories add up and how calorific certain things are.

On my working days I used to have a cereal bar and a coffee for breakfast, then a sandwich/crisps at lunch and something from a Gousto box for tea. I genuinely didn't think that was a lot but logging it all on MFP has made me realised how many calories are in things like supermarket sandwiches. It's all just such hard work.

What strength psyllium husk tablet do you take ?

Amazon has everything from 500mg to 5000mg

Hi @tartancladpjs

No, not training for anything, just a 48 year old woman trying to keep trim! 😁

I’ve always done a lot of exercise but often stuck to cardio and I was really conscious that as I got older, I needed to get stronger. I got myself a PT who has really pushed me and I’m lifting weights I never thought I would. He’s a 32 year old who I think sometimes forgets that I’m 16 years older than him and am not in training to be a gladiator 😲 but I love the fact that I’m in the best shape I’ve been in for years.

As for calories, my maintenance is approx. 2200 but like most people, I go over at weekends when we have a treat meals and I have wine so I try to keep my calories lower in the week to give me more to play with at the weekend. I never used to eat this much protein but that coupled with the training has really changed my body shape (for the better!)

I didn’t even mention you or any of your posts in my reply, I’ve not RTFT so I have no idea what you personally have advised. Talk about ‘if the shoe fits…’ though. You seem to have taken a post I wrote vaguely about 4 pages worth of advice very personally 👀

It's not directly what you've asked -

but, if you can build up your muscle strength at all, you'll find you can eat more without gaining weight as it burns more at resting state. Even things like squats at your desk, or working on holding a plank will help.

Not all calories are made equal - and fat is not the enemy. Fat carries oestrogen and is essential for body function. Cooking rice with a bit of oil or butter means you don't absorb as many of the calories, and eating the equivalent calories of almonds vs granola, you will absorb more of the granola calories because it's more easily available to your body -

So focusing entirely on the numbers is tricky way to actually lose way. If you can work on physical strength you might find a more natural way to eat for what your body needs and learn to understand your body's signals better.

Where are you getting 1600 from?

I just ask because a lot of people take 2000 daily calories as a fact but depending on your lifestyle 1600 might not be a deficit at all. That's about average for me with a low energy lifestyle.

If you drive to/from work, sit at a desk all day then come home and watch tv etc... then 1600 is probably just daily amounted needed to maintain.

If you go to the gym everyday before going work as a waitress in a busy restaurant where your on your feet all day etc... then you probably need more like 2000-2500 to maintain.

I would always suggest cutting out saturate fats, they are what cause 'fat' to pile on... things like cheese. As counting calories blindly is not a very effective measure. I you do want to diet I would also suggest 5:2 diet where you 'fast' for two days and eat normally otherwise.

More protein
More veg than you can think possible
Carbs that are fibre rich - beans, lentils, whole wheat bread, brown rice.

This.

High protein, low carb. Eat little and often.

Try a meal replacement like Huel - it is very filling and slow release.

if you can’t bear to lose carbs altogether, cook & cool to make them less easily absorbed.

But basically high protein is the only way. If you’re a meat eater, stick to low fat meats like turkey, chicken breast - avoid red meat and fatty cuts. If you’re veggie, chickpeas, beans and pulses are low calorie and high protein. You can eat an entire can of chickpeas without adding to the calorie count much.

look at the NHS diabetes pages on hand portion size and stick to it - you need less in a sitting than you think. If you’re hungry again quickly, try splitting meals up into 4 or 5 a day so you’re only going a few hours without food.

drink more water. Drink less (no) alcohol.

sliced bread has 100 kcal a slice so your sandwich is already 200 kcal before you add any filling. Switch to wholemeal wraps, make your own so you can use Greek yoghurt instead of mayo (add lemon juice / other flavours).

stop with cereal bars / granola - too much sugar. Have porridge or overnight oats with non dairy milk (oat or pea milk is quite high protein) and grated apple for sweetness.

Snack on nuts not biscuits.

Lots of small changes will add up.

good luck!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/diet/gut-health/tim-spector-calorie-counting-doesnt-work/

I think Zoe is a marketing huge success and wouldn't sign up to it. But there's some sense in what he's saying about eating whole foods.

I can't believe some people saying 1,600 calories a day isn't enough. 1,600 calories a day is more than enough for the average person. Unless OP is exercising like a demon every day, she doesn't need more than that. Peoples idea of how much 'food' we need makes me weep and tbh goes to show why so many people have serious weight issues. The fact is, losing weight on 1,600 calories IS working for OP - so we should be supportive of that rather than telling her to increase her intake. All OP needs to do is adjust the quality of what she is eating.

OP - I had 1,300 calories yesterday (most days I eat about 2K as I do a lot of exercise, but yesterday I was lazy and adjusted my calories to reflect that). I don't eat snacks on days I don't exercise as I am a picker.

Breakfast was: Greek Yoghurt, home-made granola (basically just nuts and dark chocolate), one apple chopped up, cinnamon, (400 calories)
Lunch: 200G Rump Steak, 150G Broccoli, 300G Beansprouts. (400 calories, including seasoning such as garlic, ginger, coriander, red onion which has basically no calories etc).
Dinner: Chicken breast wrapped in Parma ham stuffed with cream cheese and spinach. Mediterranean vegetables (in the oven, no oil but lots of seasoning) and 200G asparagus. (500 calories).

As with anything, it's about the quality and quantity of what you eat.

For days you're working (assuming you're going into an office) try a homemade yoghurt bowl or homemade breakfast muffins (with egg, chorizo instead of sausage, cheese and red pepper - you just mix it together and pop it in the oven a few days before. They reheat nicely or you can have them cold). For lunch try homemade marinated chicken breast with vegetables or a big salad or a 'fancy salad' (I have a butternut squash, rocket and blackberry one I do). For dinner, something high protein (Chicken, Steak, Salmon) and bulk up with vegetables - don't do carbs like pasta as tbh it's satisfying at the time but not filling and not really nutritionally 'dense'.

Don't forget seasoning. Seasoning really changes a meal. The mistake so many people make is trying to have things like soup or fruit and yoghurt or chicken and rice and veg and they forget about seasoning - any diet or restrictive eating will fail if you don't give yourself variety.

Depends what you buy, there are a lot of low sugar granolas

Maybe you are finding your hunger patterns, now that you are not eating before you get hungry.

As PP have said, try having breakfast later. Get through as much of the morning as you can until you actually feel hungry.

Try Skyr instead of Greek yoghurt. It's high protein and very low calorie so you can have a big bowlful with 80g of berries for only 130 cals. I'd usually add about 3 walnut halves to that (another 50 cals, so go easy on nuts) to stop myself from feeling too hungry later on.

300 cals for a bowl of soup seems quite high. A tin of Baxters country garden is only 140. Might you be over estimating how many calories there are in the soup if it's home made? You can make a big batch of veggie soup for 300 cals. You could add a small slice of wholemeal toast with a boiled or poached egg for another 120 cals. Or a ham salad on the side - leaves, cucumber, tomatoes and a couple of thin slices of meat for about the same - 120 cals.

I usually get through until about 4 or 5pm and then feel proper hunger. 1 oz of pretzels and an apple or nectarine helps. That's about 200 cals.
If you ate all that, you'd have eaten 720 cals.

Plan an evening meal around 600 cals and then you have some spare calories to play with for lots of cups of tea with milk, or for a light dessert or an evening snack. Bulk out the evening meal with lots of green veg - asparagus or stem broccoli with lemon juice or pak choi with soy or roasted kale with chilli flakes and garlic granules, or grated cabbage and carrot slaw in a honey, herb and vinegar dressing or with salad cream or a mix of low fat mayo and yoghurt.

I think you may not be eating enough during the day, leading to a heavy meal at night, which is harder to burn off.

Am a little confused - do you mean you are eating 1600 cals a day to lose weight because this creates a calorie deficit? If so, it will take you months to loose weight because for most women the average requirement is 1800-2200? Ie you may only be cutting down 200 cals a day, so losing 1lb every 2-3 weeks? Low carb/moderate to high protein definitely helps, but one of the ways it works is that it satiates better, meaning you naturally eat a little less.

Also, various studies have shown that the calories in pre-prepared meals are wildly inaccurate, and can vary by as much as 10% of what is stated on the label, so if you are eating pre-made soups, yogurts, granola bars, you may be taking more calories than you realise - preparing food from scratch using whole ingredients is really the only way to calorie count. Have lost nearly 5 stone - basically veg/salad + a protein at each meal, no processed carbs (bread, pasta) plus portion control and snacking on low GI fruit (ie no calorie counting), and accepting that I won’t die of hunger. It passes.

I probably do need to give it time but my willpower around food and hunger cues is just shit.

How much would you say you drink in a day ? I know that I mix up being a bit dehydrated with being hungry and try to have a glass of water first, to see if that helps. It quite often does the trick.

Eggs for breakfast worked for me and a salad at lunchtime with mixed beans and other bits and bobs in the fridge.

It's definitely harder the older you get 😒

I am fully aware a protein heavy diet is the way forward but can anyone advise someone who struggles with many of the suggestions here due to gluten intolerance and IBS?

I have to follow a strict fodmap diet which rules out porridge (have tried GF oats, I still can't eat them), all dairy, soya, nuts, pulses, virtually all fruit, tomatoes, a lot of veg inc cauliflower, mushrooms, peas, parsnips, (can only tolerate a very small amount of broccoli floret, absolutely no stalk), garlic, onion. Nor can I eat egg yolks.

It's very hard trying to eat a high protein/high fruit and veg diet when you're intolerant to most of it!

Good job, I can eat unprocessed meat but it's bloody expensive!! Hence why I fall back on carbs that I can tolerate. If I could afford to eat steak for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I'd be sorted!

I had a surgical menopause brought on by hysterectomy in January 2023 and the surgeon said if you can get into the habit of a calorie deficit and walking as your main exercise you'll keep on top of your weight in menopause and that's half the battle. I was about 11 stone at my pre op and managed to get down to 10 stone 4 for my surgery. I followed 1400 deficit as I am only 5 foot 4. I stopped weighing myself then and went on hip to waist ratio as the surgeon said this was better for cardiac health - my HWR is 0.7 - I walk 35 miles a week (sometimes a bit more if we do a mountain walk at the weekend). I just measured myself for the first time in 3 months and I am C: 35, W:29 and H:38 and it's probably the smallest I have been for a decade.

My tips for stopping feeling hungry are: overnight oats, cut out sugar (it makes you hungrier I find), eat eggs regularly, drink shit loads of water, stop takeaways, and I stopped drinking alcohol. I think the walking and no booze has made the biggest difference and my fitness is really good.

I've lost 3 stone recently

Breakfast- blueberries, ful l fat Greek yoghurt, pecan nuts, a teaspoon if mixed seeds, drizzle of honey. No carbs ever at breakfast

Lunch 2 egg omelette, sometimes with cheese. Tuna salad. Vegetable soup with beans in. Sometimes one slice of homemade wholemeal bread

Dinner Ptotein ( chicken, duck breast, salmonetc) with carrot fries or mashed cauliflower, roast celeriac or beetroot. Courgette 'pasta" Maybe 2 small pieces of potato, or a few gnocci

Snack Rice cake and peanut butter . Apple and peanut butter. Bowl of Greek yoghurt.

It's fucking joyless mostly. But I have one square of chocolate and a glass of rose most evenings.

If you used to do Gousto have a look at Mindful Chef. Most recipes are pretty low calorie. Sometimes I eat half of mine and have the rest for lunch. I can only eat 1200 max to lose weight due to the shitting menopause.

I have to say, if I have breakfast I'm absolutely starving by about 11am!

Now I just have a cup of coffee when I get to work and just start getting hungry around lunchtime. It is definitely easier to manage the deficit if you're just doing two meals.

My problem is wine has too many calories so any good work I do in the week is undone at the weekends!

@Killingoffmyflowersonebyone very good point. I’d personally gain weight at 1600 because my BMR is a pathetic 1448. (I’m 5’3 and pretty fit.) Can’t believe some people are saying 2500 is average for women to maintain. That can’t be right. Or it’s an average of some big differences!

what you wrote was
TheDisgustingBrothers · Today 08:11
I’ve not RTFT because most of the answers are nonsense anyway but has anyone actually asked why 1600?

Protein and lots of water throughout the day aim for 3-4 litres

Yes…

1600 is a deficit for me and was calculated by a PT I had a few years back (when ironically I was the weight I am now).

You can eat as low carb /high protein as you like. If you aren't in calorie deficit you won't lose weight.

Wegovy.