Anyone finding their 2nd year of maintaining harder than the original?
Replies
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If you're 200-500 calories over every day, and didn't gain 20-50 pounds over the last year, your goal calories are less than maintenance.
I find it easier to live with a target high enough that I'm mostly not over, even if I'm still eating the same number of calories. Makes me less bingey.0 -
If you're 200-500 calories over every day, and didn't gain 20-50 pounds over the last year, your goal calories are less than maintenance.
I find it easier to live with a target high enough that I'm mostly not over, even if I'm still eating the same number of calories. Makes me less bingey.
Agreed. His calories are set to 1900, which seems pretty low for a man.0 -
Just reading this again. I'd look at your macros. More fat and protein, fewer carbs? Too many (even healthy) carbs and I get more hungry. You can't go over your calories. The typical reason people regain is portion size. Yeah, it creeps. And yes, that's what all of us need to watch.0
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BTW - I have ice cream almost every day - 1/4 cup with a dollup yogurt or nuts as a topping if I'm feeling peckish. Depending on the brand, that's 75-180 calories. Sweet, satisfying, and easily within my calorie budget. Just because some is good doesn't mean more is better.
DON'T second guess someone else's calorie limits. I'm a tall woman and MFP tells me mine is 1750 (net). It is very variable and we often confuse net and gross calories on this forum.0 -
BTW - I have ice cream almost every day - 1/4 cup with a dollup yogurt or nuts as a topping if I'm feeling peckish. Depending on the brand, that's 75-180 calories. Sweet, satisfying, and easily within my calorie budget. Just because some is good doesn't mean more is better.
DON'T second guess someone else's calorie limits. I'm a tall woman and MFP tells me mine is 1750 (net). It is very variable and we often confuse net and gross calories on this forum.
His logging isn't accurate at all, it seems (lots of generic entries), so there's a margin of error there anyway.0 -
DON'T second guess someone else's calorie limits. I'm a tall woman and MFP tells me mine is 1750 (net).
I'm a short, sedentary, middle-aged woman, and reality (two years of consistent logging and daily weighing, plus math) tells me mine is a hair below 2,200. MFP says some much lower number. Who am I going to believe - MFP, or my own lying eyes?
In this case, reality is telling the OP that 1900 is not maintenance for him. Otherwise, he'd have gained 20-50 pounds over the last year, during which he claims to have been 200-500 over every day.
MFP provides a fine starting point. But it's just a starting point, not an absolute truth.
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I find this topic interesting. Hunger is such a complex and poorly understood topic.
Anecdotally, I am eating between 500 and 900 Cal a day spread out between 2 - 3 meals and a couple of snacks a day. Net calorie deficit has been 1000 - 2000 Cal a day. I am rarely hungry and it passes quickly or with a small fruit or veggie snack.
'Normal' people simply do not differ physiologically that much one from another, but habits, psychology and behaviours vary widely. So the easy answer to OP is to look at the latter.
My other suggestion is to cut out the junk food. It has three problems you do not need:
1. It is calorie dense and leaves that much less room in your calorie budget for hunger killing bulky foods.
2. You will find it difficult to eat enough protein within your calorie budget, itself a hunger depressant
3. Sweet, fat food appears to act a trigger to eat more of it. You'll notice that people do not binge on carrots
Your other choice is to up the daily exercise. Exercise itself can be a hunger suppressant (or not), but in any case will give you more room in your daily calorie budget.
Second to last suggestion: Increase your water intake. I do it with soups, water, tea and celery, but there are lots of choices.
Last suggestion: Read Joel Fuhrman. He has some ideas how to eliminate excess hunger (in the sense of hunger leading to unwanted weight gain.)
Good Luck!-2 -
ericGold15 wrote: »I find this topic interesting. Hunger is such a complex and poorly understood topic.
Anecdotally, I am eating between 500 and 900 Cal a day spread out between 2 - 3 meals and a couple of snacks a day. Net calorie deficit has been 1000 - 2000 Cal a day. I am rarely hungry and it passes quickly or with a small fruit or veggie snack.
'Normal' people simply do not differ physiologically that much one from another, but habits, psychology and behaviours vary widely. So the easy answer to OP is to look at the latter.
My other suggestion is to cut out the junk food. It has three problems you do not need:
1. It is calorie dense and leaves that much less room in your calorie budget for hunger killing bulky foods.
2. You will find it difficult to eat enough protein within your calorie budget, itself a hunger depressant
3. Sweet, fat food appears to act a trigger to eat more of it. You'll notice that people do not binge on carrots
Your other choice is to up the daily exercise. Exercise itself can be a hunger suppressant (or not), but in any case will give you more room in your daily calorie budget.
Second to last suggestion: Increase your water intake. I do it with soups, water, tea and celery, but there are lots of choices.
Last suggestion: Read Joel Fuhrman. He has some ideas how to eliminate excess hunger (in the sense of hunger leading to unwanted weight gain.)
Good Luck!
Wait, you're only eating 500-900 calories a day? That's far, far below the minimum number for males - it's far below the minimum for women, too. I really hope you're being medically supervised with regular checkups and blood tests, because that's just not enough food. Your profile states you only have very little to lose. Why are you eating so little if that is the case? Your profile also states that you want to be healthy and be able to go for long bike rides. That is not going to happen on so few calories.
As for your points... some helpful, but #3 on your 'cut out junk food' point is false. For SOME people, those foods can be a trigger. For most people? Nope. He doesn't have to cut out the treats, he just has to cut down a bit.
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Marzi,
I am a physician, and I have reasonable insight into nutrition and my health.
For now, I exercise elliptical or ride for about 60 - 90 minutes at a time. Multiple hours will require more calories.
As for why ? I started out at 153 Lbs when I decided to lose weight, and I find that this caloric intake is adequate for nutrients and a sense of well being and very little hunger. I use protein complementarity, amino acid, daily Vits and calcium supplements to assure adequate nutrients. I'm retraining myself to only eat when actually hungry.
In the near future I will have to increase my caloric intake. I'm giving the transition more than a passing thought so that I do not relapse back into poor eating habits. Admittedly my poor habits start out not so bad compared to what many people do, but they were bad enough to lead to the weight gain. Cutting out junk food and maintaining daily exercise are going to be the bedrocks of my weight maintenance lifestyle.
#3: Junk food is never 'good,' but people can include moderate amounts in the context of an otherwise active, well balanced, healthy lifestyle. OP does not fit that characterization, thus the recommendation. I cut it out because I find I usually eat either none or too much.0 -
ericGold15 wrote: »I find this topic interesting. Hunger is such a complex and poorly understood topic.
Anecdotally, I am eating between 500 and 900 Cal a day spread out between 2 - 3 meals and a couple of snacks a day. Net calorie deficit has been 1000 - 2000 Cal a day. I am rarely hungry and it passes quickly or with a small fruit or veggie snack.
'Normal' people simply do not differ physiologically that much one from another, but habits, psychology and behaviours vary widely. So the easy answer to OP is to look at the latter.
My other suggestion is to cut out the junk food. It has three problems you do not need:
1. It is calorie dense and leaves that much less room in your calorie budget for hunger killing bulky foods.
2. You will find it difficult to eat enough protein within your calorie budget, itself a hunger depressant
3. Sweet, fat food appears to act a trigger to eat more of it. You'll notice that people do not binge on carrots
Your other choice is to up the daily exercise. Exercise itself can be a hunger suppressant (or not), but in any case will give you more room in your daily calorie budget.
Second to last suggestion: Increase your water intake. I do it with soups, water, tea and celery, but there are lots of choices.
Last suggestion: Read Joel Fuhrman. He has some ideas how to eliminate excess hunger (in the sense of hunger leading to unwanted weight gain.)
Good Luck!
Physician or not, you need help.
Sure sheds a new light on the 'listen to your doctor' advice.0 -
ericGold15 wrote: »I find this topic interesting. Hunger is such a complex and poorly understood topic.
Anecdotally, I am eating between 500 and 900 Cal a day spread out between 2 - 3 meals and a couple of snacks a day. Net calorie deficit has been 1000 - 2000 Cal a day. I am rarely hungry and it passes quickly or with a small fruit or veggie snack.
'Normal' people simply do not differ physiologically that much one from another, but habits, psychology and behaviours vary widely. So the easy answer to OP is to look at the latter.
My other suggestion is to cut out the junk food. It has three problems you do not need:
1. It is calorie dense and leaves that much less room in your calorie budget for hunger killing bulky foods.
2. You will find it difficult to eat enough protein within your calorie budget, itself a hunger depressant
3. Sweet, fat food appears to act a trigger to eat more of it. You'll notice that people do not binge on carrots
Your other choice is to up the daily exercise. Exercise itself can be a hunger suppressant (or not), but in any case will give you more room in your daily calorie budget.
Second to last suggestion: Increase your water intake. I do it with soups, water, tea and celery, but there are lots of choices.
Last suggestion: Read Joel Fuhrman. He has some ideas how to eliminate excess hunger (in the sense of hunger leading to unwanted weight gain.)
Good Luck!
Physician or not, you need help.
Sure sheds a new light on the 'listen to your doctor' advice.
I have reported his first post in this thread, if you will, please do that as well. (Not flagging, it's neither spam nor abuse.) It's not allowed in here to advocate a VLCD.0 -
DON'T second guess someone else's calorie limits. I'm a tall woman and MFP tells me mine is 1750 (net).
I'm a short, sedentary, middle-aged woman, and reality (two years of consistent logging and daily weighing, plus math) tells me mine is a hair below 2,200. MFP says some much lower number. Who am I going to believe - MFP, or my own lying eyes?
In this case, reality is telling the OP that 1900 is not maintenance for him. Otherwise, he'd have gained 20-50 pounds over the last year, during which he claims to have been 200-500 over every day.
MFP provides a fine starting point. But it's just a starting point, not an absolute truth.
What you say is absolutely true. And you should always look at your own diary for information after you have figured out what the models say. I think that's especially true because we all have our own gigs when logging. We consistently over or under log or we differ in how we log exercise. And our bodies are different. I had to adjust after I first got on MFP because their models weren't quite right for my body.
But I do think we get into silly arguments on the forums on what is 'too little' or even too much. Especially as some people are talking net calories and some calorie intake. That's what I was reacting too. I'm also a middle aged woman. I eat over 2200 a day. But I net under 1740. Some people talk about one measure of calories, some others.
Maybe I've missed part of this discussion, but the OP says he was having trouble maintaining now. So it seemed odd to be seeing because he is a male, his calorie intake is too low, when he's saying he's having trouble.
OTOH . . . I really question anyone who says they are maintaining or should be maintaining on under 1000 calories and is normal size.
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I'm also a middle aged woman. I eat over 2200 a day. But I net under 1740.
Sorry, I was using maintenance to mean TDEE. I really am sedentary, and can count on one hand the number of days I've logged exercise in the last year, so gross and net are the same for me.
I'd personally be hesitant to put any weight on net calorie data, unless my exercise were very consistent in type and perceived exertion (due to habituation effects).Maybe I've missed part of this discussion, but the OP says he was having trouble maintaining now.Spiderkeys wrote: »And almost everyday I find myself going over in the red on an average of 200-500 calories everyday [...] some days I do keep at my limit, but wow it makes me feel hungry it I do.
I had a slight weight gains this year
Trouble maintaining, yes, but because his intake was far higher than his theoretical target. Which strongly implies that his theoretical target is well below his TDEE.0 -
Physician or not, you need help.
Sure sheds a new light on the 'listen to your doctor' advice.
I agree. I do not have a medical degree, but even from my limited, compared to physician, knowledge - 500-900 calories per day WITH "I exercise elliptical or ride for about 60 - 90 minutes at a time" is ... what's the word here .... not very healthy or sustainable0 -
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kommodevaran wrote: »
I have reported his first post in this thread, if you will, please do that as well. (Not flagging, it's neither spam nor abuse.) It's not allowed in here to advocate a VLCD. [/quote]I am not advocating anything. I wished to point out the span of caloric intake and hunger. That is all.
If I ever do advocate a personal approach (doubtful), it will have a sound scientific basis and be the experience of a physician. Does that meet MFP rules ?0 -
With all respect due, I pointed out in my follow-up post that my current diet is not meant to be long-term. As for healthy, what exactly is it that you think you know ? Original medical research will be read analytically, while your opinion will be ignored.I agree. I do not have a medical degree, but even from my limited, compared to physician, knowledge - 500-900 calories per day WITH "I exercise elliptical or ride for about 60 - 90 minutes at a time" is ... what's the word here .... not very healthy or sustainable
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I love how the "I'm a physician" line gets thrown out almost immediately, as in 'further discussion unnecessary... I'm a doctor.'
I have often read how most physicians really know very little about nutrition and that we should stick to advice from dietitians and nutritionists. Here we see the truth of that in full display.0 -
I love how the "I'm a physician" line gets thrown out almost immediately, as in 'further discussion unnecessary... I'm a doctor.'
I have often read how most physicians really know very little about nutrition and that we should stick to advice from dietitians and nutritionists. Here we see the truth of that in full display.
Yep, lol.0 -
yes, yes,I think it is difficult. Why would so many people gain their weight back if it was easy? I am up 10 lbs after losing 48 lbs. Trying again, I want to fit in my clothes more than I want to overeat! I don't think it will ever be easy for me, I am too greedy but doable with MFP.0
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