CAREbebe's Journal, 15 Jul 10

If you eat healthy food instead of junk food, you'll find you'll be satisfied with less. If your body gets adequate good nutrition, it won't prompt you to eat more. That's what I found out. Like you, I found I was not eating my full intake because I wasn't hungry. 

I took a peek at your food journal and RDI. I'm a bit concerned that your RDI may be set too high for you. Being that the most I weighted was 417 when you are a bigger person you can have a bigger calorie deficit and still be ok. I have set mine to 2000cal but on average I eat between 1200 and 1500 with about one day a week I eat closer to 2000. If you get into the habit of eating quality whole foods for the most part you will not need a product like the FullBar to make you feel full. I'm also skeptical of products like the FullBar. If you gain the knowledge about food and what it does for your body then no "diet" food is necessary. I'm just sharing this with you because I am concerned for you and want you to succeed. I was big on eating everything that was bad for me and from time to time I still have the cravings but I know what I need to eat to be healthy. This should be a lifestyle change and not just trying to lose weight. I'm very happy that you are starting to see changes in your habits. I was amazed when I started feeling full on what I thought was so little food. I don't think that I could even eat a full large pizza and bread sticks anymore like I use to. Anyway I am kinda babbling. Stick with it and always ask for advise. You are off to a great start and it will only get better and easier.  

If you're bigger and enter "moderate weight loss" into as your goal in FS it does give you a really really high calorie amount for your RDI. For example, I think mine is coming up somewhere around 2900 right now. Unless I eat crap, I really can't eat that much. I usually fall somewhere between 1300-1600 a day, with the occasional going up to 2000 once a week. I don't think anyone should starve themselves but I also don't think you should force feed yourself anything either.  

Thanks suechru that is what I was getting at.  

Yeah, I think the RDI thing was designed for someone who is overweight and wants to lose 20-30 lbs. The rules of weight loss are drastically different when you're bigger and have more to lose. For example 1) It's safe to lose more than 2lbs a week (at least when you start) 2) You can have a really high calorie deficit and be okay. (Although it shouldn't be that high as you get closer to goal because there's a chance you're starving yourself.) 3) Low impact will actually burn the same (or more) as high impact does on thinner people due to the extra body weight being carried. Although that said, you shouldn't go below 1200 calories no matter WHAT you weigh.  

I don't go by the RDI calculated for me here on the site because I thought it was too high from the beginning (2700 when I started & I just recalced it, came out to 2600). I actually didn't pay much attention to it at all, I too considered using Fullbars but decided I would rather work on training myself not to overeat instead of tricking my body into feeling full. Not saying it isn't right for you, if it's working for you then stick with it, but I decided to go with SlimFast mostly because that is the brand I see in the stores with the widest variety of meal replacement options. So far I'm very satisfied with it, & the only times I ever feel hungry are when I don't eat on time. From the beginning I didn't limit myself to a certain # of calories, but I found that replacing breakfast & lunch then eating a low-calorie dinner was often less than 2000, even with snacks. Over time I have become comfortable anywhere between 1400-2100 & I continue to lose so I don't stress about it.