To those having trouble getting in 1200 calories...

Okay. People who post here about having trouble getting in the necessary 1200 calories, I have a question for you. 
How can you be overweight? I mean, if you can't even eat 1200 in a whole day, how could you possibly overeat by 3500 calories multiple times? 

I don't mean this to be offensive, it just has been bugging me for a while. Is it a medical condition or something? If it's not, I am so jealous of your "problem." It must mean 1200 calories would be super satisfying. You'd probably lose weight so steadily.

Well I have thought the same thing before, but now I am rethinking.

Just last night I had trouble getting too much further than 1200, and I really tried to eat a lot of healthy foods. I was completely full though because I had had a lot fo veggies and fruit. They fill me up, and make it hard sometimes to reach 1400+

I dunno...

Why not have a treat then or something? A peice of dark chocolate is good for you, and has tons of calories. Same with a glass of red wine. 

Ah, well. Maybe I just enjoy food so much if someone offers me a treat I'll eat it, even if I'm not hungry.

It's also possible that their metabolisms have slowed to a point where they are living on less than 1200 a day, and anything more is over stuffing their stomachs.

That's just another view. (I personally think it's because they're shifting to a completely 'healthy' diet, and forgetting healthy fats like nuts/fish/etc,.) 

I had that problem at one time, and I couldn't lose weight.  My body was in starvation mode.  I mean, I wouldn't eat all day long, drink coffee, but no food, and then at supper I would eat a salad and cottage cheese.  After I joined calorie count and started tracking my calories, I realized that I wasn't eating enough, so I increased my calories, only to 1100, but that didn't seem to work, either.  Once I started reading the forums, I increased to 1200+ and started eating 3 meals per day plus snacking.  The more I took in, the more my weight would go down.  So now I understand that when i starve myself, I won't lose weight.  I am much happier with the weight I am at now, and I eat closer to 1400 for maintaining, sometimes I splurge, so I go lighter the next day, but I make sure to stay over the 1200 mark.  It was really hard in the beginning, getting it in my head to eat 1200, but I have been on CC since July and now it is so much easier!

The thing is even if you have a medical condition that makes it difficult to eat 1200 calories in a day, that doesn't necessarily mean that you feel satisfied or good.  When my illness (cyclic vomitting syndrome) was at it's worst, I struggled to get more than 800 calories, but I felt terrible.  Yes, I lost a LOT of weight, but it was literally painful and I had no energy at all for daily activities.  I could no longer do the things that I enjoyed with my children and my 10 year old had to open the door for me when we went shopping because I wasn't strong enough to do it.  My guess is, if people were really honest with themselves - and if they had a healthy view of their body and food - that people who don't have a medical condition (but still restrict their calories) would have a similar story.  By the way, I'm no longer overweight, but I'm still trying to get my strength and energy back - not to mention get warm again.

speaking for myself:

I don't pay attention and I build up to oddles of cal per day.

Now I am paying attention and I find myself hanging back during the day (hmm don't want to eat too much...) Then find myself after dinner, adding it all up and I am too low!

I spent 2 weeks on a plateau, that I finally figured out was caused by eating too little. (It is just so counter-intuitive!) Now I will not go to bed without coming pretty dang close if not at my BMR: pounds are falling off.

I digress, the point is WORRY, worry that we will eat too much. Could be called obsessing too.

I don't have this "problem", however I think I have an idea of how it works.  Eating 3000+ calories is really easy if you eat 'bad' food like McDonald's, Doritos, candy, etc.   Eating 1200 calories of healthy food is MUCH more filling than those empty calories. 

I'm completely content eating my 1500 calories per day, however I think I ate a lot more than that over a long period of time simply because I was naive about calorie content and too lazy to look it up.

I guess because the calorie-dense foods were the foods I tended to binge on, so if I ever ate that stuff, my calories would shoot through the roof.  If I kept away from them, which was fine with me as long as I didn't start eating them, then I'd have a hard time getting the 1200 living on rabbit food.  But now I can control my binges, so it all worked out fine. =]

For a lot of people, they were probably overweight before & then cut down to eating too little, so that's what their bodies got used to.
I personally am fine on under 1000 cals. I guess it's something you can't really understand unless you've been there, but it's like the less you eat, the less hungry you are. Like, if you don't eat breakfast, it's easier to just continue not eating. But, if you do eat breakfast, you're more likely to want more food.
However, I obviously don't eat under 1000 cals anymore because I force myself to meet my goals.

& no, you don't lose weight very easily in this scenario because your body's in starvation mode & your metabolism is shot to hell.

meleba - I've wondered this so many times my self!! I'm glad you had the guts to ask.

I guess it's the anomaly of the 300 lb woman who only eats diet pepsi and granola bars all day. She's eating so less than she needs to that her body retains everything.

I just want to yell and scream and say "eat! eating is what got you fat in the first place so just eat so you can get healthy!" but then again, my own personal problem isn't not eating enough and getting fat because of it, but because I eat too much and it makes me fat!

i'm with you!  how in the world can they not get 1200 calories in a day?  i don't understand, it's not hard.  just eat!  i wish i had trouble eating 1200 calories daily.

Original Post by meleba:

Why not have a treat then or something? A peice of dark chocolate is good for you, and has tons of calories. Same with a glass of red wine. 

Ah, well. Maybe I just enjoy food so much if someone offers me a treat I'll eat it, even if I'm not hungry.

Well sometimes things like these aren't just around. All I had here was fruits and peanut butter and nuts and stuff. I would have eaten more but I was SO full because like alylou said, I leave too many calories for night time sometimes.

ugh.

But believe me, I would have eaten some chocolate if it was here! haha. Its hard for me to pass that up, so I try not to keep it too handy!

Original Post by alle0299:

I don't have this "problem", however I think I have an idea of how it works.  Eating 3000+ calories is really easy if you eat 'bad' food like McDonald's, Doritos, candy, etc.   Eating 1200 calories of healthy food is MUCH more filling than those empty calories. 

I'm completely content eating my 1500 calories per day, however I think I ate a lot more than that over a long period of time simply because I was naive about calorie content and too lazy to look it up.

That is exactly my problem.  If I eat what I normally eat (nachos, chili dogs, french fries) then I go WAY high on my calories.  But when I am trying to eat healthy I am lucky if i get up to 1000.  I am really trying to eat better and eat more but my calories still aren't adding up.

 Ex. today this is what I ate:

Yogurt for breakfast

Chicken breast and rice for lunch

Chips and Salsa for a snack

Chicken and salad for dinner

I can only eat about half a breast before i fill up and I try not to eat too many chips since they are higher in fat and salt.  This food totally filled me up but I only got up to 800 calories for the day.

Actually mamasita, I don't think ^that's your problem, I think this is your problem:

"For a lot of people, they were probably overweight before & then cut down to eating too little, so that's what their bodies got used to.
I personally am fine on under 1000 cals. I guess it's something you can't really understand unless you've been there, but it's like the less you eat, the less hungry you are."

You are not filling up on healthy food, you are undereating, thereby conditioning yourself to get by on less food.  Yogurt is not a breakfast that "totally fills you up".  You've just trained yourself to get by on just a yogurt until lunchtime.

I have to agree with shandykat here, eating A Yogurt is hardly a breakfast.... Try wheat toast with a serving of peanut butter (good fats, will help you digest those vitamins you hopefully take), AND your yogurt.

Denial and diet obsession. That and eating too many "diet foods" instead of REAL food. I gave up "diet foods" 8 months ago and never went back. You can eat a LOT of volume with frozen meals and 100 cal packs but get little to no real nutrition.

Original Post by shandykat:

Actually mamasita, I don't think ^that's your problem, I think this is your problem:

"For a lot of people, they were probably overweight before & then cut down to eating too little, so that's what their bodies got used to.
I personally am fine on under 1000 cals. I guess it's something you can't really understand unless you've been there, but it's like the less you eat, the less hungry you are."

You are not filling up on healthy food, you are undereating, thereby conditioning yourself to get by on less food.  Yogurt is not a breakfast that "totally fills you up".  You've just trained yourself to get by on just a yogurt until lunchtime.

Maybe it would help if I told you how I would eat before...

No breakfast...maybe a pepsi or cookie

Some fast food for lunch...usually either Burger King stacker (just the double one) and fries

then whatever I made for dinner which varied a lot if I even made dinner for myself.  My husband works night so if I usually make the kids something and then either snack on chips or eat something fried.

So I am acually eating a lot more now and it really is filling me up.  The reason the yogurt is a filling breakfast for me is because my body is still getting used to eating breakfast at all.

 

Original Post by alylou:

speaking for myself:

I don't pay attention and I build up to oddles of cal per day.

Now I am paying attention and I find myself hanging back during the day (hmm don't want to eat too much...) Then find myself after dinner, adding it all up and I am too low!

My boyfriend is the same way.  With him, though, it's not just hanging back, he's super busy and doesn't always give himself time to eat.  I get on his case about it.  He better eat the risotto I left in the fridge for him...

But even if all he eats is junk all day, he can still keep his calories down.  I don't get it at all.  How can this guy have gotten up to 275 in the FIRST place?

I have put myself on a 1500 calorie-a-day plan.  I too am finding it hard to meet the entire 1500 calories but I know it is because I am eating healthier foods that have less calories.  More veggies in mass quantities, lean meats and healthier snacks. 

The reason I had a hard time at first eating 1200 was because I had been eating less than that for a long time trying to lose weight, but I didn't know it was a bad thing at the time.