At what daily calorie amount does it become hard to feel satiated?

[fuzzybabybunny]

A person needs to have a 1500 calorie day if they want to lose 1lb a week without any activity. 500 cal × 7 = 3500 cal = 1lb fat

Provided that they ate a ton of low calorie / high fiber stuff, at what calorie count does it just become really difficult to feel satisfied with the amount of food eaten? ie. Not hungry, not thinking about demolishing a plate of ribs, etc.

1500 cal for me seems like it would already be difficult to do. I'd feel unsatiated and would need to work out more so I could go back to eating a full 2000 cal day. Or am I just picking the wrong foods?

 

[Zivic]

Are you saying... "let's assume a person...

needs to have a 1500 calorie day if they want to lose 1lb a week without any activity. 500 cal × 7 = 3500 cal = 1lb fat

Provided that they ate a ton of low calorie / high fiber stuff, at what calorie count does it just become really difficult to feel satisfied with the amount of food eaten? ie. Not hungry, not thinking about demolishing a plate of ribs, etc.

1500 cal for me seems like it would already be difficult to do. I'd feel unsatiated and would need to work out more so I could go back to eating a full 2000 cal day. Or am I just picking the wrong foods?

there are an infinite number of variables to consider to ever give an accurate number and those variables change from person to person.

for example:
I can lose a lb a week at 3000 calories if I am on the higher end of my weight spectrum. yet, I'll gain weight at 2700 if I'm on the lower end... and given certain circumstances I won't feel satisfied with either amount of food. yet, I can have days I'll feel just fine at 1800-2000.

 

[Koing]

A person needs to have a 1500 calorie day if they want to lose 1lb a week without any activity. 500 cal × 7 = 3500 cal = 1lb fat

Provided that they ate a ton of low calorie / high fiber stuff, at what calorie count does it just become really difficult to feel satisfied with the amount of food eaten? ie. Not hungry, not thinking about demolishing a plate of ribs, etc.

1500 cal for me seems like it would already be difficult to do. I'd feel unsatiated and would need to work out more so I could go back to eating a full 2000 cal day. Or am I just picking the wrong foods?

Like Zivic the answer is very complicated and due to many factors (age, weight, muscle mass, activity level in day to day life).

When I cut I could cut on 2800cals and 2600 I was losing weight too fast. I had trained for about 14yrs at the time and built a reasonable amount of muscle. I do zero cardio week to week.

Some people will struggle to lose weight o 2000cals depending on their metabolism and the amount of activity they do in a week.

The best solution IMO for people to get in to shape is to build muscle for 1-2yrs, build their metabolism up and then slowly diet down. As the person is building muscle they should be making better food choices also. Of course it's not a quick fix and I'm not surprised most people fail if they had to eat 1500-2000calories a day.

I'm training a few guys at work and they are making solid beginner strength gains. Build size and their metabolism up for 6months or longer and then to slowly diet down a bit.

Koing

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

What I'm asking is is it possible to feel satiated eating 1500 calories a day and doing nothing. And if possible, with which kinds of foods?

At what point in caloric intake does it just become impossible to feel satiated while still doing no activity?

Ex. You can still feel unsatiated throughout the day eating 2000 calories of candy bars. You will feel more satiated eating 2000 calories of normal food.

 

[Zivic]

What I'm asking is is it possible to feel satiated eating 1500 calories a day and doing nothing. And if possible, with which kinds of foods?

yes it is possible... and with any kind of food

At what point in caloric intake does it just become impossible to feel satiated while still doing no activity?

I bet some people could not eat for an entire day and feel ok; especially with 'no activity'

Ex. You can still feel unsatiated throughout the day eating 2000 calories of candy bars. You will feel more satiated eating 2000 calories of normal food.

to some people, candy bars are normal food and eating 5 in a day would satisfy them.

you need to understand that there isn't some objective number that fits everyone or even in general. Koing gave you an actual list of factors as to why your question cannot be definitively answered.

the best answer is for you to try to drop your calories and figure out what combination of foods satisfies your needs.... and then realize as you get older, or do more in a day, or have a little more bodyfat, that number and/or foods will change.

 

[yottabit]

What I'm asking is is it possible to feel satiated eating 1500 calories a day and doing nothing. And if possible, with which kinds of foods?

At what point in caloric intake does it just become impossible to feel satiated while still doing no activity?

Ex. You can still feel unsatiated throughout the day eating 2000 calories of candy bars. You will feel more satiated eating 2000 calories of normal food.

It's important you figure out your actual daily calorie requirements. The 2000 calorie daily diet is a gross simplification. It's probably in line for someone like a 150lb male, with very sedentary life style. Above that in terms of weight or activity and you'll likely need more calories.

I've always had good luck with Scooby's calculator:
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

To calculate your BMR (base metabolic rate- basically calorie consumption at "idle") and then estimate your TDEE (or calories to maintain weight based on your BMR + daily activity)

For me my TDEE is around 2200 (office desk job- no exercise to speak of) so I've been targeting 1700-1800 calories a day and losing ~1/lb a week for about the past year. So about a 500 calorie deficit. Not any real special foods but egg whites and toast in the morning, basic sandwich for lunch, some variant of meat + whole grain dinner. Some snacks in between at 10 am and 2 pm usually protein shake, yogurt, nuts, etc.

If I go out to lunch with friends or something I'll either have half the meal and box the rest or skip dinner or something. Not so much to count calories but mostly because I'm very full after that. Restaurants don't list calories here but I'm guessing it's hard to order a meal with <1k cal a lot of places

If I have days with lots of traveling/activity then have an extra 200 calorie snack or so

I'm definitely comfortable not hungry, however it's pretty close to the point if I miss one of those 10 am or 2 pm snacks my energy will be down.

When I used to hit the gym a lot my diet was closer to 2200 calories and pretty similar energy levels.

I think if you tried to run > 1000 cal deficit to your TDEE then you'd probably be hungry all the time. 500 deficit you might be hungry the first few days but if you stick with it your body will adapt (assuming you've got fat to lose). That's my opinion at least

 

[slashbinslashbash]

You just have to break through the hunger barrier a few times and you will start to get used to it. I do intermittent fasting usually once a week (i.e. eat only lunch 2 days in a row, i.e. ~24 hours between eating the 2 lunches with ~18hrs on either side between last dinner/next breakfast) and I rarely have hunger pangs or anything like that.

Of course you want to ease into it if you're not used to it, and don't do something dangerous like drive a vehicle if you're not sure if you're going to pass out. Try it on a slow weekend when you're not going anywhere. 24 hours without food. And throw in a few "big lunch/skip dinner" situations a few times a week so you're going from lunch to the next day's breakfast without eating. Don't necessarily try calorie reduction, just try to get your body not used to eating at the regular intervals that you're used to.

Most days I only eat 2 meals a day with no other snacking. My 2 meals are usually probably bigger than they would otherwise be, but I don't have any ill effects from it. No problems waking up / getting going in the mornings, etc. (Of course that happen sometimes and so I choose to eat breakfast on those days when it does happen.)

The whole "you must eat regularly and at the same time every day" and "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" lines are a crock. You think that in our evolutionary history it was possible to eat 3 times a day, at the same time of the day, every day? More like gorge yourself for 1 day, don't eat for 2 days, etc.... If you don't have sufficient energy when you try this then it's just a matter of accommodation. Build up your tolerance and it's not a problem.