So, I adjusted my information to adjust to my office job which puts me at a sedentary lifestyle.  I exercise 3 times a week, but that's not enough to take me to "light". 

It tells me that instead of 1450, which was hard for me, I need to do 1250 which seems impossible.

What can I do?  I already blew 1050 calories and it's just after lunch!!!

Argh...I'm a little frustrated.  I dont know anything I could eat for 200 calories that wont' leave me hungry later tonight.

 

what sorts of foods are you eating???

I eat approx 1300 / day and it's VERY filling. 

make sure you eat tons of veggies/fruits/protein.....

Let us know and we'll see if we can help you find more satisfying foods for less calories :)
~H~

Unless you're very short in addition to being sedentary, you can still eat your 1450 calories, you'll just lose at a slightly slower rate.  Personally I'd rather not feel hungry all the time.  I like to give myself a calorie range that varies from my lowest amount to my maintenance amount.  That way I can decide what I want to do on any given day.

I was always put off by that, eating too little, so increased my exercise frequency and duration.

45 minutes of cross trainer burns an astonishing 850 calories! Rowing is a great exercise as well, lots of calories to burn with it.

Can you cycle to work? Or walk?

200 calories? 250 g of boiled mushrooms will give you 70 calories. I eat it all the time as it fills up quite nicely! :) I usually boil assorted low calorie vegatables (carrots, asparagus) to eat with lean meat (chicken, turkey or fish). I try not to do fancy recipes, but with this way I have never eaten so much in my life and as a result I am getting leaner by the hour.

Best of luck to you.

Cass

Why don't you post your food log from the last week?  Then we can offer suggestions on things you can eat instead of what you're eating now.  1000 cal.+ by lunch seems like an awful lot to me.  I'm rarely over 800 by then and even that's unusually high for me.

Well, admittedly, I know what did it today.  It's a choice issue I guess.  I work at a restuarant (with NO nutritional facts posted) and when I eat there I have to track down the recipe and log everything individually.

Unbeknownst to me the 'healthy' chicken Apple walnut salad was about 768 calories!  So that pretty much killed my calories today :(

We also have bites of things - so that we can inform guests of what is on the menu.  So occasionally I'll have to log things like "1 Tbsp of a Double Fudge Brownie Sundae".

Today...just not a good day apparently.  But here is what I had so far today

Apples - Granny Smith A 86 45   Breakfast blueberry oatmeal 36 120 Asian Sesame Chicken Salad - Hand-Tossed Salads A- 112 147   Lunch Lettuce, Cos Or Romaine - Raw A 98 17 ATHENOS Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbles D+ 42 144 Raisins, Seedless A 28 84 Newman's Own Three Cheese Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing D+ 44 147 Walnuts, English B- 20 131 Skinless Chicken Breast 224 200   Snacks Double Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae D 28 76 Total Calories Consumed 1,110

Also these are for the most part guesstimates...

The veggies sound like A good idea.  With a lean meat.

Well, admittedly, I know what did it today.  It's a choice issue I guess.  I work at a restuarant (with NO nutritional facts posted) and when I eat there I have to track down the recipe and log everything individually.

Unbeknownst to me the 'healthy' chicken Apple walnut salad was about 768 calories!  So that pretty much killed my calories today :(

We also have bites of things - so that we can inform guests of what is on the menu.  So occasionally I'll have to log things like "1 Tbsp of a Double Fudge Brownie Sundae".

Today...just not a good day apparently.  But here is what I had so far today

Apples - Granny Smith A 86 45   Breakfast blueberry oatmeal 36 120 Asian Sesame Chicken Salad - Hand-Tossed Salads A- 112 147   Lunch Lettuce, Cos Or Romaine - Raw A 98 17 ATHENOS Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbles D+ 42 144 Raisins, Seedless A 28 84 Newman's Own Three Cheese Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing D+ 44 147 Walnuts, English B- 20 131 Skinless Chicken Breast 224 200   Snacks Double Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae D 28 76 Total Calories Consumed 1,110

Also these are for the most part guesstimates...

The veggies sound like A good idea.  With a lean meat.

Since you work in a restaurant, can you ask for specific and simple cooking for you? Fancy recipes always take lots of butter and all sorts of oil: refrain.

I cook my own food and take to places, which might look kind of weird if you did due to your work place, but it would make sure you know what is what when counting the calories.

Buy a £ 3 kitchen scale as well. It does wonders to weight your food and make estimations a thing of the past.

Cass

I have found that the fruits and veggies make a HUGE difference during the day, its hard becuse there's more planning but it works great. I would also think about turning up the intensity on the workouts to get you more calorie allowance, more walking-(after dinner, parking farther away, etc.) wil also give yoiu a few extra calories burned here and there...I know your frustration, it takes a while to get the groove.  

austj020 - I just posted a whole week worth of 1200 calorie days - perhaps they might help somewhat?

 

http://www.phord.com/cc/?m=US&q=f-22-164- 60.45-1.55-0-0-20

Are you under 3'6" tall? At 192 pounds, and 24 years old you cannot get the BMR Calorie calculator to recommend around 1250 Calories per day for a lightly active person. I smell a recalculation.

Unless you're really small, I'm sure you can probably eat more.  I'm 5' 2", started at 140 lb (now 132), 22 y.o., female, and I eat anywhere from 1400 - 1700 a day (which is maintenance for me).  With my calorie intake at those levels, it has taken me 3 months to lose those 8 lbs, but I have never, ever been hungry. 
I have an office job too, so I'm down as sedentary but try to work out at least 5 times a week--biking, jogging, strength training.  That has helped me create the deficit I need, plus my body is definitely getting more toned!
Good luck--I'm sure you can do--sometimes it just takes a bit of tweaking to make things work for you!

Tue, Jul 08 2008 Grade Grams Cals Sugar Packet 4 15 Original Iced Tea - Unsweetened - Lipton Original Iced Tea 448 0 Lite Mixed Fruit in Pull-Top Cans B+ 113 50 Grapes - Fresh Fruit A 138 30 Cucumber - With Peel, Raw A 52 8 Green Bell Peppers - Organic Vegetables A 28 6 Lettuce, Cos Or Romaine - Raw A 168 29 Fat Free Catalina Dressing B- 28 32 Pop Secret 100 Calorie Butter B 31 110 Coca-Cola Zero 240 1 HANDI-SNACKS PUDDING CHOCOLATE FAT FREE 99 90 Strawberries - Fresh Fruit A 74 23 Blueberries A 73 42   Snacks Chips Deluxe 100 cal cookies D 21 100 CHEEX-IT party mix 100 cal D 21 100 Total Calories Consumed 634

I am on a 1250 calorie diet tooo. I work in an office 7:30-5:30 and it's easy... lots of raw veggies and fruits. You can do it :-)

 

Ps- its 4:30 and I have like 600 left for dinner.. it's not that bad :-)

Do you log your exercise?  When you do you should be able to eat more.  If you burn say 200 cals in exercise, you should be able to eat another 200 cals.  That's what I do. On sed level I should be eating 1350, which I can do, but if I eat more than that I do some exercise and burn it off.  As long as you have a 500 cal deficit you're ok.  How many cals do you burn on sed level?

Do some exercise.  the more you exercise the more you can eat.  So stop being so lazy and get your butt off the chair and do something about it instead of moaning.

Well I dont have time to post a weeks worth but I'll show ya what I have had today for 1200 calories:


Breakfast:
1 cup of Honey Grahams with 1% milk. Coffee with creamer and hazelnut splenda.

Lunch:
6 oz grilled chicken breast, cut up and dipped in ketchup. Baby carrots dipped in salsa. And 6 chocolate meringue cookies.

Dinner:
I'll be on the road tonight so it will be: Wendys Small chili, a side salad, a mandarin orange cup, and a diet coke.

Snack:
Popcorn