This is HARD!

Brief rant:  It's not even 4:30 and I've eaten 1100 calories!  WHY can't my body adjust???  My BMR is something like 1350 and I'm aiming for 1400 cal/day (hoping that I can manage to burn 1900...don't even know how to do that!), and I'm still STARVING!  What is wrong with me?!!

I too have had such a hard time adjusting my calorie intake, I am trying to only eat 1250!!!! This is my 4th week though and I am doing much better, I play around with the analizer until I find what works.

I always eat breakfast..usually a fiber rich cereal or 1/2 cantalope with milk, sometimes I even have 2 egg whites with a piece of toast with PB (that always fills me up)

Lunch usually consists of 250-350 calories (lean cusine, turkey sandwich..you can even put cheese on it, southbeach wraps which are very good and filling sometimes I will have soup)

I always bring one or two snacks for curbing my appetite (yogurt, 100 calorie packs, fruit fruit and more fruit) Try cutting up an apple into cubs which always makes it feel like more food and put 1/2 cup grapes and 1/2 cup blackberries)

By then I can have a larger dinner usually either a piece of chicken or maybe a burger with no bun, salad something with protein and I love broccoli so usually like 2 cups of some type of veggie......I always save 100-150 calories for an after dinner snack......that way I feel like I get to eat a lot...Hope this helps

I don't know how long you have been trying to eat healthier...etc....i know when i first started...one of my saving graces was RAW veggies...carrots...celery...cucumbers...sala d etc....LOTS AND LOTS of veggies...with spritzer salad dressing on them so i knew how many calories i was adding easily....most fresh veggies are very low in calories and do a wonderful job filling your tummy without a lot of calories....also...make sure you are drinking water...i am lucky in that right now my calories remain fairly high because i am way away from my ideal/goal weight....but i would recommend perhaps swapping out some calorie dense foods to fresh veggies...also perhaps giving a rundown of your day of food may help others who are more well versed in determining if there is something you can tweak to end up with a little bit more calories left toward the end of the day! Good luck...and stick with it!!! it does get better!

Make sure you are drinking lots of water.  Sometimes you might think you are hungry and a glass of water will do the trick.  You might want to try eating foods with lots of protein or protein shakes.  If the foods you eating are high in carbs then they won't satisfy you for long.  Protein usually does the trick for me. 

Some suggestions that others have made.  Eat foods that are filling without a lot of calories.  Some of my favorites include the following:

1.  Cucumbers  (34 calories for 1 large cucumber)
2.  Tomatoes  (33 calories for 1 medium tomato)
3.  Sugar Free Jello  (10 calories for 1/2 cup serving)
4.  Sugar Free/Fat Free Pudding  (70 calories for 1/2 cup serving made with skim milk)
5.  Broccoli  (50 calories for 1/2 cup serving)
6.  Celery  (17 calories for 2 stalks)
7.  Non-fat Cottage Cheese  (80 calories for 1/2 cup serving)
8.  No sugar added/fat free yogurt (Dannon Light and Fit)  (60 calories for 6 oz size)

You may notice that there are a lot of sugar reduced items here and raw vegetables.  If you are not feeling full on the number of calories you are consuming, you may be consuming foods that are high in calories from very small portions.  Pasta is notorious for this.  Try looking for foods that will fill you up with fewer calories.  And as others suggested, increase your liquid (water or unsweetened tea) intake to help you feel full with less.

Just don't give up.  Overcoming your hunger is hard, but it is doable.  The key is eating smarter. 

Hey, don't sweat it too much. Whenever I change my calories (well, whenever I lower my calories; I don't seem to have too much trouble raising them!) it always takes me a few days to really get used to it and actually MAKE the change successfully. After the holidays/vacations/whathaveyou, you're just used to eating more...

I was extremely upset with myself after winter vacation because I just couldn't seem to rein in my calories at ALL. I was eating 2200 or 2400 a day! My sedentary maintenance is 1800 and my calorie target at that time was 1600, so I was pretty off the mark. However, I really made an effort and managed to drop my calorie intake by at least 100 calories each day. I wish I hadn't beaten myself up so much every time I went over, because now I realize I just didn't give myself enough time to cope...

I think the first few weeks were the hardest for me.  I was hungry and grouchy. But I soon figured out how to fill my belly with low calorie foods. It's common sense, a small slice of cheese? Or a big pile of celery dipped in three pepper hummus? The latter was less calories, fat and satisfied me. Now 1200 calories seems like a lot. I am not ravenous anymore ! And I lost nine pounds in the first four weeks. Now I am trying to lower the carbs and up the protein...and lower the fat a bit more so that my weight loss doesn't slow down, and trying to get the most energy for my calorie allowance so I can go to the gym and burn more fat !

You WILL get over the hunger if you feed yourself something you like that is healthy. Much of it is psychological, you might feel deprived. Think about the end result, and how proud you will be that you have lost weight ! Don't lose faith ! Keep on keepin' on !

Thanks!!  You guys are all WONDERFUL!!  Last night I did particularly badly because my husband is about to graduate law school and thus being "wined and dined" constantly!  So I did my best, but still didn't manage to stay under even 2500 calories (which makes me feel just awful).  On a normal day though, by around 4 o'clock, I would have eaten

-a piece of fruit by 8am (100 cals)

-some dry bagged cereal (i really like Kashi) no more than 200 cals as a mid-morning snack

-often soup or a peanut butter sandwhich (again, no more than 250 cals or so, on whole wheat bead) for lunch

-a light yogurt or jello pudding (70-100cals)

-another piece of fruit (50-100cals)

-mini-bag of popcorn (100cals)

- fiber one bar (150cals)

 A lot of times I suck on hard candies throughout the day, but try to make sure I don't use up more than 60 calories' worth, and by 4 I've usually had at least 6 8-oz cups of water.  I still can't figure out why I'm so hungry!  I don't love vegetables by any means, but I will definitely try to eat more of those...  Am I doing something wrong?  Why am I so darn hungry all the time?  

Also, it seems really low that I only burn 1600 calories a day.  That means on days I don't go to the gym, I would have to cut to 1100 calories to eat??  I'm so confused!

Don't worry about an occasional indulgence day. There are a lot of people on this site who deliberately plan a "cheat day" once a week or every 2 weeks, and they still lose a lot of weight. It is actually good for your body to indulge every once in a while; it helps convince your metabolism that you're not starving, and makes it easier to lose weight.

Even if you don't go to the gym, you shouldn't be eating any less than 1200 calories per day. (and some say not less than your BMR). Too low and your body isn't getting enough to feed your basic bodily functions. 

Also, you don't need to match your calorie consumption to your workouts on a day by day basis.  It works if you average the right number of calories over a week.   You can use the calorie count tool for the approximate level of activity (light, moderate), or you can take your workouts for the week, average them, and add that to your sedentary burn.  Then  substract 500 calories for the amount to eat.

You can stay at that level ever day, or go under and over. It doesn't matter as long as you don't regularly dip really low. 

I added all those up using the high estimate and that is barely 1010 including the hard candy....The biggest thing i notice is no veggies unless there are some in your soup....also it might help to make some of the more carby snacks include a little protien...to balance them out....i know i can have a serving of cashews for 150 cals....and that is a LOT of cashews...almonds or even sunflower seeds are a good crunchy chewy snack that seem to stick for a long time....i know for me...i do better if i have a bigger breakfast all at once..and then maybe a small snack midmorning. I don't know if you care for it at all or not but Fiber One cereal (regular plain) is only 60 cals per half cup and has a LOT of fiber....to me it is a yummy filling snack that eaten dry keeps me full for a long time....

4 ideas to help feel less hungry:

* eat more breakfast, and get protein with your breakfast. That helps reduce hunger for the day
* eat more vegetables. look up recipes for adding spices. and it is good to have a small amount of healthy fat with veggies to help absorb the vitamins.
* eat snacks with protein (helps give your brain the full signal)
* eat healthy fats, like a small handful of nuts, or olives. watch the portions because these are calorie dense foods, but the fat gives "full" signals to your brain.

I need to do all four of these or else I get really hungry too.

*Edited to fix typo*

Thanks, guys!  The averaging out my workouts helped me think about the whole thing a lot easier.

I had never been a breakfast-eater before, so I'm usually force-feeding myself that piece of fruit, and sometimes even the cereal!  But, it's a good start to hopping on the breakfast train :)

I think the reason you may be getting so hungry is because of the way you group your foods.  I went to a nutritionist and she told me that I should always pair carbs with either fat or protein.  I see for breakfast you have fruit and cereal.  Those are both carbs.  Maybe try adding cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, or some other kind of protein or fat.  Hopefully that will keep you satisfied for longer.  Just adjust your calories around this idea.  

this is hard, i'm starving. i've only had 850 calories so far today and my head hurts and i feel like punching all my coworkers in the face.

it looks like you have hardly any protein at all in your diet, so it's no wonder you're starving!  protein takes longer to digest (and actually burns more calories to digest--it takes almost a third of the calories in a lean protein choice to digest it!), which means it's in you longer, helping you feel full longer.

 the other magic feel full longer trick is fiber, but it looks like you're already on that train.

 the best option for optimum fullness is a protein/carb mix, ideally a whole grain carb.

 good luck!

Don't know of this will help, but here's my typical daily meals. I'm targetting 1550 cals :)

for breakfast

1/2 cup Egg beaters, cooked omlete style with 1/2 oz Kraft Fat Free Cheddar (83 cals)

2 strips Jenno-o Low fat turkey bacon ( 40 cals )

1 slice of Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat bread, toasted ( 50 cals )

1 tbsp Land O Lakes whipped butter ( 50 cals )

3/4 cup Cranberry Almond Crunch - Post Selects (197 cals )

1/2 a medium banana ( 53 cals )

16 oz water.

-- for a breakfast total of 473

I feel guilty eating so much food, I'm actually stuffed when I finish :)

for Lunch,

3 cups of Fresh Express spring mix - baby greens ( 15 cals )

1 tbsp (Racconto) Raspberry Infused Balsamic Vinegar ( 5 cals )

1 WHOLE can of BUMBLE BEE Chunk White Albacore in Water ( 180 cals )

2 tbsp Fat Free Sour Cream - instead of mayo in the tuna ( 25 cals )

1/2 tbsp Dried Dill Weed ( 5 cals )

2 slices of 15 Grain Whole Grain Bread - Pepperidge Farm Bread ( 240 cals )

32 oz water.

you could replace the pepperidge Farm bread with the natures own, and get 100 instead of 240, but I needed the extra cals.

Lunch total : 470

and again, I feel stuffed :)

that's 943 , and I will have a dinner with fish or chicken and veggies, and a couple protien bars for snacks.

the one thing I majorly avoid is anything with much refined sugar.. because it makes me hungry.

Hope it helps.. :)

 

Make sure you have enough fiber and protein in your diet.  If you don't have fiber and protein consistently, you'll get hungry sooner.