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.

Cereal bars are upf and not good for you at all.

Try a mushroom omelette for breakfast porridge with berries or a kipper.

Cut out carbs as much as you can.

Dinner, try a fish recipe, or slices of beef with onion gravy and veg.

Do a spag bol sauce and eat an omelette filled with the sauce.

A mixed salad with salmon.

As said, protein. Instead of hearty soup, chicken curry with chick peas, packed with veg and no carbs rice. Poached eggs for breakfast, or omelette. Use no carbs pasta with bolognaise, with lots of veg and red lentils. Snack on cooked chicken, babybel light cheese etc. IF doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can have a morning coffee, then just clear drinks until you eat.

Veg, veg and veg! Seriously, you can ‘spend’ your calories on a massive, stomach-filling meal if you include enough veg. Have green veg plus a green salad with your meals.

Forks Over Knives has some good recipes (you can add low fat animal protein if you want). The Engine 2 diet is also good. If you want to go it alone, plan your meals around non-carby veg then add protein, healthy fats and some brown carbs. You should be able to make filling meals and stay within your calories target.

I'm not saying this is the case but i thought it maybe worth a mention, when i was trying to lose weight i was starving all the time it turns out i was type 2 diabetic. I know several people who are type 2 and i refused the medication because the side effects are bloody awful and did the fast 800. It sounds brutal doing 8 weeks on 800 calories a day but it was (as dramatic as it sounds) life changing. My bloods are now normal after a week or so i wasn't starving all the time, my skin was better, i slept better and i had more energy. after 12 weeks i switched to 5:2 the recipes from the books are really nice as well.

Low carb. Cheese, yoghurt and berries, eggs

For you.

IF does not suit everyone.

Hi @flossie232

I’ve been in a calorie deficit for 8 weeks and have lost 2 stone.

I find it easier to do it along with fasting. So I skip breakfast and lunch and eat around 4.30pm

My favourite meal is 1/2 pack of M&S classic breaded chicken fillets in a toasted brioche bun, with M&S pineapple spicy chutney and a teeny bit of grated cheddar. I add cucumber for crunch. This is served with 100g of sweet potato fries; 70g (4-5) onion rings and a garden salad.
Dessert is an M&S chocolate tiffin or a pineapple tart.

Then I don’t eat until the next day.

I also drink about 2 pints of squash with 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar added to it.

It’s delicious, filling and has worked for me. I’m not saying it’s overall healthy though. Just effective for losing weight.

I posted this the other day. I am trying to eat about 1000 calories a day and have started eating a BIG bowl of vegetables (whole bag of spinach/whole head of broccoli type thing) with some soy sauce or miso, when I get home from work at about 6. This keeps me full and I can then have a smaller dinner at about 8 than I would have done.

Trouble is that everything you buy thats packaged says adults NEED 2000 cals a day

Seriously Im 60 this year and have only just learned that needed calories are different for everyone. And as I get leaner and fitter the calories I "need" get less and less

Even when someone feels they are making healthy choices, they are looking at the traffic lights on a sandwich, they are picking what they percieve to be the healthiest, they are choosing their sides to be within their 2000 cals a day, not realising thats a pile of crap.

I seriously ate very little (I ate a lot of carbs though ) and got fat. Oh I kept to the 2000 recommended calories - and got fat. Because I believed that was what I should be doing. Its only now , as Ive tackled the weight, that I have learned better

I do walk a tight line, as my weight drops, my maintaining/loss calories drop and to keep them at a level where Im not feeling hunger all day, or reaching for food, I have to up the exercise.

So right now my needed maintenance calories are 1340, not a lot , so I have to gain a few hundred via exercise and that does take a bit of effort ( well actually quite a bit )

Way more protein. You’re choosing quite ‘empty’ foods to fill your calorie allowance, none of which will fill you up.

Tin of tuna has about 25g protein in it. Mix it with 100g Greek yoghurt (excellent substitute for mayo!) and stick it in a sweet potato jacket for lunch, and you’ve got yourself a 35g+ protein meal for about 340 calories which will keep you full until dinner.

Trouble is that everything you buy thats packaged says adults NEED 2000 cals a day
The packaging states a recommended daily intake. That will be for the average adult, not for e.g. a sedentary 47 yr old 5'2" woman or whatever.

It doesn't say adults NEED it.

We need to be able to understand what food labelling means.
The 5-a-day is far too low too.

I thought about that, but I work in an office from 7.30am till around 5pm and there aren't any cooking facilities bar a kettle and microwave.

I'm absolutely fine with not eating until midday, I just really miss the cup of tea with milk in the mornings.