3:30pm already at calorie limit, do I stop eating?

I am already at my calorie limit of 1200 calories...do I just drink water the rest of the day.  If I do, will my body go into starvation mode or do I have enough in my system for my body??  I also will be putting in an hour of cardio around 7:30pm this evening.  What should I do??

If you're planning on doing cardio later this evening, you should eat something small, like a piece of fruit (bananas are great) beforehand so you have some energy for your workout. Afterwards, have something else small too, maybe a piece of toast with a bit of non-fat cheese and some veggies (if you're feeling hungry).

Drinking lots of water will help with the hunger, but don't feel you need to deprive yourself.

are you looking for permission to eat more?

I think your 1200 limit is a little low--have some fruit or a salad later..that way your calories COUNT and it digests very quickly. If you feed your body what it truly craves, i.e. healthy stuff, you will find that your hunger diminishes quite a bit. otherwise your hunger/cravings keep going until you eat what you need.

this is why i give myself a range.. i am shooting for 1200 a day but sometimes i get to 1400.. so i set my eat meter at 1300 and if i go a bit over that's ok and if i'm a bit under that's ok.. so say your range is 1200 for the low end and 1400-1500 for the high end you still have up to 300 calories to play with for the rest of the day before you start eating too much for your "range"  so you went a bit over today.. don't beat yourself up.. like united said.. eat a big salad with lots of veggies.. few calories and very very filling.. 

Shanda, I would eat something or you are going to feel so hungry and it will ruin your day and make you feel miserable!  Eat a stirfry or something and use light salad dressing instead of oil, maybe add some fish and then do an extra bit of exercise and I bet you'll do fine.  This is a long term goal remember, going over a little bit one day won't hamper your efforts that much or for very long as long as you get back to it tomorrow!  Have a wonderful evening!

Hey Shanda,

If you're going to put in an hour of cardio - I'd say you have to be burning at least 2000 calories today.  Am I close?  If so, then as long as you're around 1500 - you're still at a deficit of 500 cals - which is healthy for weight loss.  So, I agree with those smart people above me - have a nice healthy dinner - you don't want to start a cycle of denying yourself and binging.

Beautiful picture, by the way!

Things to help avoid hunger I've found:

1) Diet pepsi

No calories.  A touch of caffeine.  Fantastic stuff although some have qualms about the asparatame.  I did my digging and couldnt find anything really bad but it's synthetic so overindulging over the long term could be bad for you.

2) Eat a big salad - go easy on the dressing or use balsamic vinigar

Cucumber and lettuce have very few calories and are very filling.  This was mentioend before.  You'll find that most dressings have more calories than the rest of the salad in quantities as small as 2 tbsp.  Balsamic vinigar works with zero.

3) Wont help you now but...

Tomorrow maybe try eating something more substantial.  When I tried constantly snacking with small low calorie foods I found myself perpetually hungry and ended up starving and near my limit.  Then I tried indulging (in a small size) once per day like having a fried egg sandwich with bacon in the morning, a light salad lunch and a small bowl of pasta in the evening.  The heavier meal fills you up and keeps you from wanting to eat.

4) Excercise

If you're nearing your limit and still hungry, do an hour of excercise and then eat as many calories as you burn.  Excercise is kind of like the lifeline on "who wants to be a millionaire" because you can kind of extend the "is that your final answer?".

However really it's much smarter to keep to your calorie limit AND excercise. You'll lose the weight that much faster.

Losing weight is like paying off your credit card - once you're done you'll get an extra 800+ calories you can burn!