Did maintenance make you hungrier?

noobletmcnugget

So I slowly upped my calories to maintenance over the past month or so. I find myself feeling more hungry and it taking more self-control not to splurge than it did when I was losing (netting about 1200/day).

Did anyone else experience this? If so, did you get used to it eventually? Any tips?

I guess I'll try to experiment with eating different types of food to maximise satiety (as much as I love croissants, they don't have the best calorie/volume ratio haha).

Francl27

I was almost at my goal weight and went on vacations, found out the people we were staying with ate out all the time, so I ended up eating more... I ended up way hungrier when I came back and never lost the last pounds (I'm actually 8 lbs heavier now, 3 years later).

So yes. I was doing fine on my deficit but as soon as I started to eat more for a week, it was over. I've managed to minimize the weight gain by walking (a lot) more and keeping a deficit (so it makes up for the days when I'm hungrier and eat more). I've been trying to lose those couple pounds again but I just can't do it though (I do also have a sweet tooth, bad PMS, and not the best willpower when that happens).

macchiatto

I recently reverse dieted (not quite done yet) and I did find I was hungrier for maybe 2 weeks? It was weird. But then I started finding after another increase that I often wasn't eating quite my full allotment b/c I just wasn't hungry. So for me it leveled off. I did end up losing another 2 lbs over the past 30 days of reverse dieting so looks like I need to do another increase.

zyxst

Sorry, no.

bbell1985

Yes, I feel more hungry when my calories are increased. Even this week, my coach increased my calories to kind of see where my maintenance threshold is, and I'm more hungry than I have been. I also had a bigger appetite when I was bulking and in a surplus.

Maaike84

Question: do you also change the type of foods you eat when you are in maintenance? I can imagine if before in a calorie deficit, you were eating mostly high protein low fat foods, and with the increase you are now eating more high calorie sugary things, that might have an impact on the perception of fullness?

noobletmcnugget

Maaike84 wrote: »

Question: do you also change the type of foods you eat when you are in maintenance? I can imagine if before in a calorie deficit, you were eating mostly high protein low fat foods, and with the increase you are now eating more high calorie sugary things, that might have an impact on the perception of fullness?

Hmm I basically eat exactly the same way as when I was losing but topping the calories up to maintenance by adding carbs mostly (I really love croissants and toast lol). I think maybe it's more psychological for me... maybe I'm just coming to terms with the fact that I'll never be able to splurging and not thinking about how much I'm eating if I want to maintain. Hmm.

RogerToo

noobletmcnugget wrote: »

So I slowly upped my calories to maintenance over the past month or so. I find myself feeling more hungry and it taking more self-control not to splurge than it did when I was losing (netting about 1200/day).

Did anyone else experience this? If so, did you get used to it eventually? Any tips?

I guess I'll try to experiment with eating different types of food to maximise satiety (as much as I love croissants, they don't have the best calorie/volume ratio haha).

Hi
What I have found is that I do need to eat healthy and avoid trigger foods and yes IMO there are trigger foods. Salty foods such as Potato chips or French Fries or sweets such a Cakes, Pies or other types of Pastries. And Yes I include Pizza in that category.

I have also found that eating sweets makes me feel warmer for the same temperature so I really need to avoid them this summer.

Today's Menu is Oatmeal sweetened with Truvia, Later Home roasted Turkey Breast on two slices of 40 calorie 12 grain bread with a bit of Miracle Whip, then for a later meal some Loose cooked well drained Ground Beef mixed with Ketchup and No Sugar Added Sweet Relish, 0 calories FWIW, on a 60 calorie wrap for Dinner. Lots of salad, CostCo's Normandy Mix twice at 170 calories each portion and a Banana at breakfast, a Apple at Lunch and one or two Clementines depending on size with Dinner.

Good Luck
Roger

tomteboda

I'm hungrier, but I think its because my body fat is starting to get lower. As in visible ribs, backbone, and some muscle definition lower. I suspect my increased hunger is a natural and hormonally controlled response.

TimothyFish

noobletmcnugget wrote: »

Maaike84 wrote: »

Question: do you also change the type of foods you eat when you are in maintenance? I can imagine if before in a calorie deficit, you were eating mostly high protein low fat foods, and with the increase you are now eating more high calorie sugary things, that might have an impact on the perception of fullness?

Hmm I basically eat exactly the same way as when I was losing but topping the calories up to maintenance by adding carbs mostly (I really love croissants and toast lol). I think maybe it's more psychological for me... maybe I'm just coming to terms with the fact that I'll never be able to splurging and not thinking about how much I'm eating if I want to maintain. Hmm.

I find that there are some foods that I "can't eat just one" of. This isn't hunger but some of those foods are high in carbs.

Gamliela

Tbh, yes maintenance made me hungrier. I felt less hungry when I ate 200 to 500 calories below my TDEE. When I eat at maintenance or higher I am much more hungry. IDK why.

Unknown

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sofchak

Thank goodness it's not just me... I know it's psychological but I absolutely struggle more now at 1750 calories than I ever did at 1200. Bizarre.

anybeary

I can relate. I'm on 1200 cal a day now, and have been for a little more than 90 days. Last weekend was my bf's birthday, so we had two days of having meals with family and friends where I had cake and a beer and ended up eating around 1800 on those days. Oh, man, this week, after going back down to 1200, I felt so hungry for all kinds of junk food. It bummed me out! Finally today I feel like I'm getting back to feeling okay on 1200, but it only took a couple of days of overage and junk food to ruin feeling full on 1200.

nowine4me

Maaike84 wrote: »

Question: do you also change the type of foods you eat when you are in maintenance? I can imagine if before in a calorie deficit, you were eating mostly high protein low fat foods, and with the increase you are now eating more high calorie sugary things, that might have an impact on the perception of fullness?

I've absolutely been hungrier, but for the exact reason that @Maaike84 mentions. What I missed most when cutting were sweet foods, so that was the first thing I added back. Even in small doses, some sugar makes me want more sugar. It's a vicious cycle. For me, I need to satisfy my sweet tooth with fruit to keep my weight under control.

Can't really think of a great substitute for croissants at the moment. But if you haven't already tried Ezikiel English Muffins, give them a shot.

starfruit132

It seems like when I don't prepare meals at home, I eat more and am more hungry because take out food generally has more carbs or more calories. It gets me used to eating more and not being as satisfied with less.

LAWoman72

My husband was suddenly very hungry at maintenance and pigged out to a bounce-up of 10 lbs. He has lost a few since then.

He thinks it was a combination of:

No longer having the incentive of actively losing.
Having lower fat stores than at the beginning.
Having held back for so long from having "treats* and/or eating large quantities.

neldabg

Not hungrier, but my appetite definitely increased. Thankfully, I didn't stop logging, so my weight has stayed in my goal range.

cwolfman13

Yes...'cuz hormones.

MelanieCN77

I'm so hungry this last two or three weeks, it's making me crazy. I wondered if it was because as part of maintenance I really kicked up my strength workouts. I know the point of those is to build and "gain" but I can't wrap the emotional side of my brain around it being ok to gain. The number on the scale has been the simple thing to chase this last year, now I need to find a way to have a more casual relationship with it. That said, I'm still losing but I am eating at maintenance cals and all my exercise cals. The idea of eating more than that stresses me out but clearly I'm under-eating for my purposes right now.

ceiswyn

I've had to up my calories a couple of times, and each made me hungrier. I'm currently eating just below maintenance while my body recovers from the insanity I inflicted on it for six months, and it is THE WORST. While I was on 900-1400 kcal I could eat a tiny bit of breakfast and lunch and not feel hungry again until dinnertime (and sometimes not even then), but now I'm on 2100 I just want to snack all the time!

It must be psychological in some way, but it's sure as hell weird. And unhelpful.

eweadock

I've been on "maintenance" for two years + now. Initially, it took me 14 months to lose 65 lbs, and I permanently (nearly) eliminated refined sugars, most starches, and most sweet fruits. My goal is to get most of my carbs through high-fiber options like beans, and non-sweet fruits like squash, tomatoes and avocados. I try to eat modest amount of "good" fats each day from nuts.

Only on special occasions will I have any sweets like birthday cake or Thanksgiving dessert, and I try to plan for those in advance by logging ahead of time.

Still, I became complacent and lazy about logging, and over the past 14-16 months gained almost 20 lbs. My downfall is a combination of two eating errors: corn tortilla chips, which I've now minimized to one serving a week (Es verdad!! I live in New Mexico!!!); and simply eating too much.

Yes, eating more makes me want to eat more. Success at weight loss has made me feel successful, and I took my eye off of the goal. However, I will NEVER go back to the way I was.

I'm once again logging daily, and recording my weight. I'm also back to a 1200-1400 calorie diet, focused on consuming 100g protein, <20g sugars (regardless of source), 30g fiber and 40g fat. I've added in weight training to help tighten up my muscle structure and keep my bones healthy.

At age 58, my margins for error with regard to diet are very small. Through diligence, my weight trend is once again downward, and I'm starting to feel better again. This time during "maintenance," I will remember that I am on a permanent life change that requires logging and weigh-in. Pre-logging for events like eating out, birthdays and such give me a means to stay on track and be happy about it.

I feel as if the "maintenance" stage of any weight loss endeavor is a bit of a psychological hurdle, and poses risk of weight gain and damaging yo-yo diet behavior. I've never been a person who can eat whatever I like and NOT gain, and I won't be at any time in the future, either.

The perception of hunger is too easily affected by psychological states of mind. I keep telling myself that if I'm feeding my body what it needs, I should feel hunger when I need to eat, not based on how much I ate the day before. Eventually I'll get back to not thinking about eating when I'm not hungry, but I'm not quite there yet.

Good luck, keep your eye on the ball!!

ritzvin

Tasty fat-starchy foods do make me (and a lot of other people) crave more (that definitely includes croissants).