Am I supposed to feel hungry?

I ate coffee, turkey, salad, a protein shake, popcorn, tomoto soup, cheese, avocado, and beef jerky today. I feel like that was quite a bit of food, but it only added up to less than 1200 calories.

That seems like plenty of food for a day, but it is theoretically under the minimum calorie limit.  WHAT AM I MISSING HERE?

The list aand portions are below. 

Breakfast Espresso Coffee  2 French Vanilla - Coffee-mate Liquid 2 oz 80 cal

Lunch 100% Whey Protein Powder 120 cal,  2% Milk 10 oz  122 cal,   Roast Turkey Breast Tenderlon 4 0z 110 cal

   Dinner Campbell's Tomato Soup 3 cups,  270 cal,  Mexican Cheese 1 oz 75 cal Lettuce 2 cups, 15 Avocado 1/2 cup, 192 cal

Snacks Butter Popcorn  - 3 cups, 120 cal  Jack Link's Jerky 1 oz,  80 cal

Total Calories Consumed 1,186

I would try eating food in the AM. You don't actually eat until lunch. I find that eating in the morning keeps me more satisfied for the day.

If time is an issue, try instant oatmeal or hard boiled eggs, you can make them the night before.

YOU'RE MISSING BREAKFAST....  Coffee is a drink, not a food.  If you had a light 300 cal breakfast you'd be on 1500 cals for the day which isn't a bad place for an adult female to start weight-loss.  Skip breakfast and all that happens is that your metabolism stays relatively slow until lunch.... missed opportunity to burn more fat.

The other thing you're missing are complex carbohydrates.... fruit, vegetables, wholegrains etc.   The food you describe is woefully lacking in fibre.. mostly fat, meat and salty things like canned soup, cheese and jerky.  You'll feel pretty bad after a few weeks on such a poor diet.  Try to get at least five portions a day of fruit and vegetables and three portions of grains .... then work other foods around it.

Where is your breakfast? Have an egg and some whole grain bread or bagel. A bowl of whole grain cereal with banana and a yogurt, peanut butter and jelly on whole grain toast.

Add some whole grain bread or a wrap to the Turkey and some fresh fruits and veggies, some nuts or seeds, olive oil on salad. Think of a balance at each meal. Eat a little bit from all of the food groups.

i am having a similar issue with feeling hunger....mine being that a lot of the time, i dont feel hungy!!  i eat my meals at scheduled times throughout the day, abuot 3-4 hours apart. i hardly ever feel hungry, so i sometimes feel bad about hitting my calorie target and sometimes i don't come close to it. i just don't know if i can eat that many calories! it seems like so much food when it's healthy! any advice?

also, i am tryin to cut out a lot of sugar from my diet. any tips on some healthy foods with less sugar in them besides fruits?

I've really enjoyed adding dairy and protein to my diet plan and it has really been working well.  I also find that trying to plan my entire meal plan the day before, or first thing in the morning, gives me a lot of flexibility with creating larger, more nutritous meals that are very satisfying.

This works best when I know I want to have a high calorie dinner (like meatloaf and a baked potato) because then I enter this in first and see what my left over calorie count and nutrition deficiencies are.  Am I missing fiber -- okay, oatmeal for breakfast with a peach diced in.  Missing veggies -- fine, I'll have a one cup spinach with 1/2 cup grated carrots 1 tablespoon salad dressing matched with half a whole wheat sandwich (turkey, hummus & alfalfa is my fav).  Dairy - those lite (dessert flavored) yogurts are incredible.  If I am cutting it close on my calories and still low on nutrition then I just have to suck it up and cut back from 5 oz of meatloaf to 3, and fine... I'll only have half a baked potato and good sized servings of carrots and brocolli.

Enjoy eating... healthy eating, of course.
= )