This is why people gain weight, and why losing it is so hard.

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  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
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    I like Kommo's post!



    OP and all, it's only hard if you are constantly hungry, craving or feeling low energy.

    Eating would be just a thing to do once you have taken care of those issues. In fact to some people, such as my brother in law, eating is kind of a chore.

    Sometimes I feel like a portion isn't enough per my craving, strong appetite, but other times it feels like I HAVE to eat a lot to sustain living.

    You should base your eating on your energy expenditure, not some number. When you eat enough, any more food will feel like too much. And, obviously when you don't have to eat, you'll earn that time and the $$$ that otherwise goes to it for other things.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    So I just did a little experiment. I started out just trying to see how many calories I would be able to eat per day once I reach my goal weight. The number was shockingly low. My TDEE, not including any exercise, will be 1899. That number hit me hard, I don't know how I can possibly live my life eating that few calories. I mean right now It's one thing because I am working very hard to cut weight, but to look up and see that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, because maintenance is so low calorie, its very discouraging.

    So here's were the experiment comes into play. I thought, you know what, I've never just booked out a normal "non deiting" day, lets see how many calories that is. So I went into MFP and loaded up what I would eat on a normal day. Over 4500 calories!!! HOLY S**T!!!! No wonder people get so fat so quickly without even realizing whats happening!

    So my takeaway: I don't know whats worse, thinking about how easy it was to get this way without even realizing what was going on, or thinking about how miserable its going to be trying to eat at maintenance once I get to my goal weight.

    Where are you getting essentially 1900 calories for maintenance? I'm almost 42 and 5'10" @ 180 and without exercise I can pretty easily maintain on 2400 - 2500...with regular exercise it's closer to 3,000. I was losing like 1.5 - 2 Lbs per week eating 1900 calories when I first started MFP and I was only 220 Lbs.

    Also, when talking about TDEE one should include exercise in the conversation...because TDEE includes exercise activity.

    I'm 40, 5'2 and I will get 1500 for maintenance when I reach 120. Height makes a big difference!

    Activity makes more

    Calling @WinoGelato
  • Sara1791
    Sara1791 Posts: 760 Member
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    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    You have to understand though that with a higher TDEE (at your current weight) you do NEED to eat at a certain level to feel satiated. When your TDEE drops as you lose weight your caloric-need-to-reach-satiation is also going to drop.

    I have to keep reminding myself of this. When I think my prospective maintenance calories sound stupidly low, it's because at my current weight that would not be enough, but I'll likely feel differently then - at least physically.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
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    Sued0nim wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    So I just did a little experiment. I started out just trying to see how many calories I would be able to eat per day once I reach my goal weight. The number was shockingly low. My TDEE, not including any exercise, will be 1899. That number hit me hard, I don't know how I can possibly live my life eating that few calories. I mean right now It's one thing because I am working very hard to cut weight, but to look up and see that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, because maintenance is so low calorie, its very discouraging.

    So here's were the experiment comes into play. I thought, you know what, I've never just booked out a normal "non deiting" day, lets see how many calories that is. So I went into MFP and loaded up what I would eat on a normal day. Over 4500 calories!!! HOLY S**T!!!! No wonder people get so fat so quickly without even realizing whats happening!

    So my takeaway: I don't know whats worse, thinking about how easy it was to get this way without even realizing what was going on, or thinking about how miserable its going to be trying to eat at maintenance once I get to my goal weight.

    Where are you getting essentially 1900 calories for maintenance? I'm almost 42 and 5'10" @ 180 and without exercise I can pretty easily maintain on 2400 - 2500...with regular exercise it's closer to 3,000. I was losing like 1.5 - 2 Lbs per week eating 1900 calories when I first started MFP and I was only 220 Lbs.

    Also, when talking about TDEE one should include exercise in the conversation...because TDEE includes exercise activity.

    I'm 40, 5'2 and I will get 1500 for maintenance when I reach 120. Height makes a big difference!

    Activity makes more

    Calling @WinoGelato

    Obviously...I thought we were comparing sedentary numbers for the sake of all other things being equal ;)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    jdb3388 wrote: »
    I dunno man. I'm 5'4F (23 years old), GW is 130. I calculate my maintenance calorie intake for being 135 lb (without exercise) to be 1700. Right now, I'm not really suffering under the calorie restriction. Some things I have to sacrifice (Like eating more than two pieces of pizza ; ; ), but it's not like I'm starving. I should be okay to follow a maintenance restriction once I get to it. Especially since I'm certain my stomach will have shrunk some. And this is taking into account that I'm not..necessarily eating clean at the moment. Last night I had a Lean Pocket and a cup of those Green Giant Steamers: Lightly Sauced Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli things. The other day I ate 4 pieces of pizza. I went a little over, but then I worked it off with some cardio.

    And I do plan to remain active. I probably won't be as active. It might end up only being 3 days a week, or when I eat a particularly big meal. At that point I'd probably just buy an elliptical for my home instead of a gym membership.

    That being said, I'm not a breakfast person. I never have been. When I eat breakfast, I don't feel any different. I stop being hungry momentarily, but then I'm hungry LONG before lunch starts. That lasts a bit, and then I'm hungry the last few hours of work, and the hour after when I get to the gym. Then I eat.

    However, I grew up in a very low income household, and I grew up hungry...so I'm kind of used to it. I never had breakfast, and I also never really brought lunch to school either (which is probably why I gained the wait in the first place. When I got a job of my own, I was eating so much more food than I would have eaten).

    Man, that pizza analogy hits me hard though, talkin about eating two pieces and four being "overboard". I can eat an entire pizza myself, and I don't mean on a dare or because someone said I couldn't. I mean like, I ate the last piece and reached for another one and said "well hell, I guess I ate it all". I hope my appetite shrinks like everyone says, but i feel like its gonna be really hard to maintain my goal weight when I get there.

    I eat a big salad with three pieces of pizza, which I chew slowly, and am satisfied. (My OH eats the other 5 pieces. Not having leftovers helps me to stop eating.)

    Are you hitting your fiber goal daily? That really helps with fullness.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    jdb3388 wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    Here ...not even hit 1900 calories ...under maintenance ...will drink and eat that this weekend instead ..I know the sodium is out but I'm not that bothered

    And I logged my dinner in the wrong place (peanut butter and jelly sandwich)

    l291cxqbat7e.png

    I'm not saying that I can't eat 1900 calories every day, I'm just saying that, and no offense and its nothing personal, nothing on that list looks very good to me at all. I mean I am willing to eat all of those things, I'm not a picky eater, but its not what I want. I find happiness in food that taste good, things that are fried, things that have a lot of cheese and/or creamy sauces, I like soda. That's where its so hard. I'm not saying I can't do it, I'm upset because I know I'm not going to be happy doing it.

    Ice cream was my go-to food. I still eat ice cream, but far less often, and my servings are 1/4 the size they used to be. I don't miss it, to which I attribute getting plenty of protein, fiber, and exercise.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Sued0nim wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    So I just did a little experiment. I started out just trying to see how many calories I would be able to eat per day once I reach my goal weight. The number was shockingly low. My TDEE, not including any exercise, will be 1899. That number hit me hard, I don't know how I can possibly live my life eating that few calories. I mean right now It's one thing because I am working very hard to cut weight, but to look up and see that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, because maintenance is so low calorie, its very discouraging.

    So here's were the experiment comes into play. I thought, you know what, I've never just booked out a normal "non deiting" day, lets see how many calories that is. So I went into MFP and loaded up what I would eat on a normal day. Over 4500 calories!!! HOLY S**T!!!! No wonder people get so fat so quickly without even realizing whats happening!

    So my takeaway: I don't know whats worse, thinking about how easy it was to get this way without even realizing what was going on, or thinking about how miserable its going to be trying to eat at maintenance once I get to my goal weight.

    Where are you getting essentially 1900 calories for maintenance? I'm almost 42 and 5'10" @ 180 and without exercise I can pretty easily maintain on 2400 - 2500...with regular exercise it's closer to 3,000. I was losing like 1.5 - 2 Lbs per week eating 1900 calories when I first started MFP and I was only 220 Lbs.

    Also, when talking about TDEE one should include exercise in the conversation...because TDEE includes exercise activity.

    I'm 40, 5'2 and I will get 1500 for maintenance when I reach 120. Height makes a big difference!

    Activity makes more

    Calling @WinoGelato

    LOL thanks!
    41, 5'2, 120 lbs, and maintenance of 2100. Truly can see the impact of activity as I've not been able to fit in as many steps recently due to summer heat, busy work schedule, traveling and thus my average calories burned from my FitBit dropped from 2200 to 2100 in the last couple of months. Sad, I miss that extra glass of wine...

    Average steps 12K and circuit training 2x/week (down from 15K steps and 3x/week weights).

    I'm also a big proponent of chosing activity over low calorie as a way of establishing a comfortable deficit. Get a lot of flak for that for whatever reason, usually centered around not everyone being able to be active or having time to be active.

    Yep - I agree. I eat more now than I did before I lost my weight, because I'm way more active.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    So I just did a little experiment. I started out just trying to see how many calories I would be able to eat per day once I reach my goal weight. The number was shockingly low. My TDEE, not including any exercise, will be 1899. That number hit me hard, I don't know how I can possibly live my life eating that few calories. I mean right now It's one thing because I am working very hard to cut weight, but to look up and see that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, because maintenance is so low calorie, its very discouraging.

    So here's were the experiment comes into play. I thought, you know what, I've never just booked out a normal "non deiting" day, lets see how many calories that is. So I went into MFP and loaded up what I would eat on a normal day. Over 4500 calories!!! HOLY S**T!!!! No wonder people get so fat so quickly without even realizing whats happening!

    So my takeaway: I don't know whats worse, thinking about how easy it was to get this way without even realizing what was going on, or thinking about how miserable its going to be trying to eat at maintenance once I get to my goal weight.

    You have to understand though that with a higher TDEE (at your current weight) you do NEED to eat at a certain level to feel satiated. When your TDEE drops as you lose weight your caloric-need-to-reach-satiation is also going to drop.

    That future version of yourself will be able to feel full at 1900 calories in a day even if current you cannot because that future you won't require nearly as many calories as you do now.

    Fabulous addition to the thread. OP how many calories is MFP giving you for a 1-2Lb loss per week?
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    I dunno man. I'm 5'4F (23 years old), GW is 130. I calculate my maintenance calorie intake for being 135 lb (without exercise) to be 1700. Right now, I'm not really suffering under the calorie restriction. Some things I have to sacrifice (Like eating more than two pieces of pizza ; ; ), but it's not like I'm starving. I should be okay to follow a maintenance restriction once I get to it. Especially since I'm certain my stomach will have shrunk some. And this is taking into account that I'm not..necessarily eating clean at the moment. Last night I had a Lean Pocket and a cup of those Green Giant Steamers: Lightly Sauced Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli things. The other day I ate 4 pieces of pizza. I went a little over, but then I worked it off with some cardio.

    And I do plan to remain active. I probably won't be as active. It might end up only being 3 days a week, or when I eat a particularly big meal. At that point I'd probably just buy an elliptical for my home instead of a gym membership.

    That being said, I'm not a breakfast person. I never have been. When I eat breakfast, I don't feel any different. I stop being hungry momentarily, but then I'm hungry LONG before lunch starts. That lasts a bit, and then I'm hungry the last few hours of work, and the hour after when I get to the gym. Then I eat.

    However, I grew up in a very low income household, and I grew up hungry...so I'm kind of used to it. I never had breakfast, and I also never really brought lunch to school either (which is probably why I gained the wait in the first place. When I got a job of my own, I was eating so much more food than I would have eaten).

    Man, that pizza analogy hits me hard though, talkin about eating two pieces and four being "overboard". I can eat an entire pizza myself, and I don't mean on a dare or because someone said I couldn't. I mean like, I ate the last piece and reached for another one and said "well hell, I guess I ate it all". I hope my appetite shrinks like everyone says, but i feel like its gonna be really hard to maintain my goal weight when I get there.
    And again, this is why you're obese. (you're technically obese right, by medical standards?). You're seriously going to need a paradigm shift. Learning to cook is a good start. Learning, knowing, the calorie content of foods is a good start. You're probably one who would really benefit from using a scale to weigh foods (when you do eat at home).

    It's gotta be a life style or as you say: it will be very difficult to maintain. That lifestyle can include some pizza. But, given your height, goal weight, and sedentary lifestyle, not a lot of pizza.

    And I would add to this that there were a lot of things I could do four years ago when I started all of this that I can't do anymore simply because I'm smaller and can't fit that kind of food into my belly anymore...it just doesn't fit.

    Absolutely true.