Would you rather workout more than have to eat less?

lavrn03

Would you rather workout more than have to eat less? I would!!
I've just reached my goal of 50lbs weight loss this past June, took me a year. I adjusted my calories up to maintaining. I also have set more intense fitness goals...heavier weightlifting 3x week and running 2-3x a week. Progressing very well!!
My idea was to take a break from calorie deficit and focus on fitness goals for awhile. But I find because I'm so active I need to eat!! I'm hungry! I can't eat less then my maintance calories.
I haven't gained. I have lost 2 lbs these last 2 months. I started measuring and lost inches.
My issue is I need to lose another 20lbs so I can reach my ultimate goal of being in a normal BMI range.
I eat fairly well. High protein, limit simple carbs and tons of veggies.
I think my brain is my enemy. I feel I'm doing all the right things but it's just slow.
I don't want to be hungry. I actually Love challenging myself with cardio and weights.
Not sure what I'm asking from anyone...I guess is there anyone that can relate to this?

arditarose

Eh. With my stats I'd have to do WAY more cardio than I'm interested in doing to maintain or eat a bit more in a deficit to lose. I'm interested in zero cardio, but if I had to do it I can't see doing more than 30 minutes steady state per week. That basically makes no difference in my activity level. So for me, no. It's not worth it.

Now before I got into a healthy weight range and was using the NEAT method, it was absolutely worth it to be able to eat closer to 1600 and lose. It's just different now.

boogiewookie

no advice but I can relate. Im.16lbs away from being at a normal bmi so I'm losing weight while doing a great deal of strength training. it sucks working out a lot on a deficit. I spend a very good portion of my day being hungry. I just have to eat my carbs before my workouts, otherwise my strength and energy suffer. yes it is a slow process, but it's so worth it!

999tigger

Its a balance working out to burn calories is really cardio. I find it quite hard as you have to do a lot even to burn a moderate amount. Depending how I feel then I will eat some all or none back out of it. It does give me extra flexibility and makes up for deficiencies in logging, so overall its worth it, but at the time it doesnt seem it.

lithezebra

Not any more. I was over training, and I decided that I'm an artist, not an athlete. I changed my desk so I can work standing up, and call myself "moderately active" instead of sedentary, which adds about 250 calories to my TDEE. But I'm not willing to exercise myself to exhaustion any more. My goal is 150 minutes of dedicated cardio per week. If I go over, that's fine, but I don't go past 30 minutes a day unless it feels great.

barbecuesauce

The more cardio I do, the hungrier I am. I also suffered a bit of a burnout--I know the apple is a smarter choice than the double serving of ice cream, but I just shrugged and scooped it out anyway. I've pretty much eaten at maintenance 50% of the time this summer. I know losing my last 2 pounds won't change how I look so I'm kind of meh about the whole thing.

I don't have any advice for you. There's no shame in maintaining your loss for a while.

zyxst

I'd rather eat less because I'm inherently lazy. If I had access to other activities, I'd probably be able to burn enough to be "satisfied" each meal.

I'll start the annoying part:
- are you weighing/measuring all your food?
- can you open your food diary for specific help?

lavrn03

I love doing cardio! Well I like challenging my endurance. I was so out of shape before and now so impressed how I can push myself and keep up with what I'm asking my body to do.
I do treadmill workouts for 45-50mins, which include 5min warm up/ cool down. I'll change my routine each time. Usually intervals...hills and speed. Walk/run/jog.

I do feel I'm on the slow and steady road. When I do get to my next goal, I know I will already have good muscle tone. People talk about being skinny fat when they reach their goal. I'm hoping to already have a good base of muscle tone in place.
I need to figure out a happy medium. The time line to reach -20lbs is in my head so I need to just relax about it.

I don't have an open diary, sorry! I do measure and stay within my calories of the day. I try to keep my exercising calories as a buffer.