Low calorie filling foods?

Pat McGhee

Hi all,

First off, apologies for the long post (I just read it back & realised the length!) but I need help before I go spare.... Last year I quit the cigs and as a result, piled on over 2 stone so now I weigh 10.5st. I'm only 5f 1 but when I smoked, I could eat whatever I wanted & to be honest, most of what I wanted was stodge. I love my junk food, chocolate, crisps, take away food of any kind but I knew from previous experience that I'd have to watch what I ate once I quit the cigs. And I did, I swapped out the stodge for healthier, lower calorie & fat meals & I stopped eating sweets, except for an occasional treat at the weekend but it all seemed to no avail, 2 stone of extra blubber managed to cling on over a 12 month period.

So a month ago I kicked things up a gear; reduced my calorie intake to 1300 a day, doubled my exercise time (2 energetic dogs get me power-walking twice a day now instead of once, 35-40 mins per walk) & cut out the occasional weekend treat. Imagine my dismay when after 3 weeks I climbed on to the scales, only to see I hadn't shifted a pound, not one. All I could do was climb back into bed & cry.....

Since Saturday, I've reduced my calorie intake further to 1000 a day, but this is leaving me extraordinarily hungry. I'm literally on lunch & dinner of approx 400 cals each, leaving 200 for teas (with skimmed milk) & some fruit &/or crisp breads to snack on. By the time 1pm rolls around, I am physically shaking with hunger, not surprising really since the last meal would have been consumed approx 17 hours previously.

Typical lunch:
Mixed leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, baby potato, 2 boiled eggs, pickled beetroot, 4 crisp bread slices, 2 tbsp fat free dressing.

Typical dinner:
Mixed leaves, raw peppers, tomatoes, raw onion, cucumber, baby potatos, fillet of cod.

At the end of the day, they're the biggest meals I can make keeping within my calorie restrictions but I feel like I'm starving ALL the time, give or take an hour or two. I swear, I'm almost on the verge of opting for a model's diet of cotton wool soaked in orange juice, just to take the hunger pangs away! That or start smoking again but my bf would kill me if I did.

Help!
ps: I don't eat meat
pps: If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading...

ncmc

hi Pat,

I'm no expert but there are plenty on here who will be able to help you! To me though it seems like you are eating way too little, your body goes in to starvation mode and holds on to what ever calories you do eat, so you don't lose weight. You need to be eating a small meal/snack every 3-4 hours to keep the body ticking over.

Also, why are you not eating breakfast? It really is the most important meal of the day, it kicks starts the metabolism and gets your body burning fat! Have you read the stickies on this forum, there is a lot of great info in there.

Glowing

My god that sounds very extreme. Don't under any circumstances reduce your calorie intake any further.

Although the walking is great, you should really introduce some light weight work - it's REALLY beneficial! If you build and strenthen your muscles, your metabolism will get a kick start and you'll really start shaping up!

Edit: And Breakfast! Have some oats/porridge, it's really important!

Pat McGhee

Hi ncmc,
Thanks for the response. Believe it or not, I did start out dieting & exercising the 'proper' way, eating low cal & fat foods in proper portions, set meal times, (including brekkie!) etc... but I just could not shift the weight so that's why my meals have been decreasing, & decreasing some more to this ridiculous bird sized diet. I know how little I'm eating & believe me it's f*cking frustrating but the right way to diet just won't work for me, hence being reduced to near anorexia.

As for breakfast, I stopped eating it because having one is almost like a form of masochism - it actually makes me hungrier. Small, consistent meals have the same effect & are more likely to cause me to binge.

I've been struggling with to lose the blubber since January because I've got hols in August but what's construed a proper dieting/exercise procedure is doing squat. I'm pretty much at my wits end.....

ps: Glowing, I also have a rowing machine at home, which has an option to flex for weights, & I have a Carmen Electra workout dvd - both of which I do occasionally, but the dogs come first & I don't necessarily have the energy to work out further after that & a stressful day at the work.

Glowing

Hi Pat, it sounds to me it's the excersise letting you down rather than your food intake.

Are you member of a gym? Boring as it sounds, weights will REALLY make a difference!

ncmc

Pat, I really do feel for you, it sounds like this is really getting you down. You have to try and stay positive, I am like you and don't get much chance to exercise due to doggie duties! I am going to start trying the couch-2-5k challenge, which aims to get you running 5 k in ten weeks, this is something you could include in your doggie walks (i'm sorry, I don;t know the website, but it comes up straight away if you google it)

I think you need to train your body how to eat properly, lots of small meals shouldn't be making you hungry or binge, if you eat before you get hungry, you should actually binge less! I have a pretty big appitite and have been trying to train myself to eat little and often, so here is a sample of what I eat:

Brekkie - Porridge (keeps me going until....
11am - Low fat Yougurt
2pm - Big salad with leaves, pepper, cucumber, spring onion, tomato and either eggs/tuna/lean ham
5pm - Apple
7pm - Small serving of spuds, veg and a portion of lean meat.

I know some would critisise me eating my big meal so late, but it is the only way with work. I have been doing this for a few weeks now and feel pretty good.

It seems your diet is pretty repetitive and boring, you need to enjoy your food or else you will just end up getting fed up. No wonder you are feeling so down, you are starving yourself!

Well done on giving up the fags, the weight will come off eventually, just keep the spirits up and stop starving yourself!:D

Khannie

Pat McGhee wrote: »

Imagine my dismay when after 3 weeks I climbed on to the scales, only to see I hadn't shifted a pound, not one. All I could do was climb back into bed & cry.....

I'm sure that was hugely frustrating. You shouldn't take it as a sign that you haven't lost fat though. Weight can fluctuate _wildly_ just on water levels alone (A litre of water weighs a Kilo (2.2lb's)). You couple that with maybe having full intestines (you know what I mean) and maybe a full belly and all of a sudden it's half a stone (I know this from experience).

When you're weighing yourself, try to look for the trend, rather than relying on individual weigh points.

Pat McGhee wrote: »

Since Saturday, I've reduced my calorie intake further to 1000 a day

This is probably too low. G'em can give better advice here, but when you say things like this:

Pat McGhee wrote: »

By the time 1pm rolls around, I am physically shaking with hunger

it sets off alarm bells for me.

First off: Definitely eat breakfast. It sets you up for the day and kickstarts your metabolism. 60g of porridge made with water is only 220 calories odd if I remember correctly and will fill you up and keep you going 'til lunchtime. Apart from anything else, it's really comforting on your stomach.

Try to get slow release carbs in instead of stuff like potatoes. Veg ftw!

Have a read of the stickies on here. They're super useful.

Lastly: Have you an electronic scales? Those ye olde worlde ones are sh*te.

edit: Congrats on giving up the fags btw. Cost me about 2 stone too, all of which is gone now. You'll get there.

Really last thing: Get an electronic kitchen scales and try to weigh everything for a couple of weeks so you're absolutely certain of your calorie intake. This really helped me.