How to deal with calorie adjustments
Replies
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I’m sure you’ve already gotten lots of suggestions. I skip breakfast and eat only lunch and dinner and just make myself follow this “no snack” rule and it helps. As long as I’m full at bedtime I’m ok. I also eat more on weekends. So it is easier for me to stick to my deficit during the week when I can look forward to taking breaks on the weekends. I’m not too concerned about losing my weight in any particular amount of time.0
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »At various points over my initial 95 pound loss I had to juggle my macro balance and shift things around to enhance my satiety.
Regardless, IMHO you have to not only experiment, but also to keep experimenting!
Bingo. What worked three months ago might not work now, for some odd reason, and sometimes a few grams of almonds sprinkled on your yogurt instead of Grape Nuts (or vice-versa) can make all the difference in the world.
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Thank you everyone for your wonderful and insightful comments. I'm really taking a lot out of everything that's been said here. I've temporarily dropped my goal weight down to 1 lb/week (which bumped me up to 1750 cals) while I play around with the macros and timing of "cheat"/maintenance days throughout the week while sticking to a weekly deficit.
Went to Zumba tonight, so I guess the macro experiment starts tonight. I have never counted my macros, just my calories. I know that there are a lot of resources on My Fitness Pal and elsewhere to help me figure it out.
I think a lot of the suggestions here about carbs are spot on. No, they're not the enemy, but I don't stay as full for as long when I've had a carb heavy day. I'll probably be working on shifting some of the macro burden from carbs to protein but I think that's going to be somewhat of a struggle. Beans, tofu, eggs, and lean deli meats are good and well but I'm not actually a huge fan of meat. While protein shakes can really do in a pinch, I'd like to chew the limited number of calories I get daily.
Again, thank you all for the suggestions!
I'm not a fan of meat either. In fact, I don't eat it. Can you have dairy? Cottage cheese goes with a lot of meals that would surprise you. Greek yogurt is another dietary staple for me.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Thank you everyone for your wonderful and insightful comments. I'm really taking a lot out of everything that's been said here. I've temporarily dropped my goal weight down to 1 lb/week (which bumped me up to 1750 cals) while I play around with the macros and timing of "cheat"/maintenance days throughout the week while sticking to a weekly deficit.
Went to Zumba tonight, so I guess the macro experiment starts tonight. I have never counted my macros, just my calories. I know that there are a lot of resources on My Fitness Pal and elsewhere to help me figure it out.
I think a lot of the suggestions here about carbs are spot on. No, they're not the enemy, but I don't stay as full for as long when I've had a carb heavy day. I'll probably be working on shifting some of the macro burden from carbs to protein but I think that's going to be somewhat of a struggle. Beans, tofu, eggs, and lean deli meats are good and well but I'm not actually a huge fan of meat. While protein shakes can really do in a pinch, I'd like to chew the limited number of calories I get daily.
Again, thank you all for the suggestions!
I'm not a fan of meat either. In fact, I don't eat it. Can you have dairy? Cottage cheese goes with a lot of meals that would surprise you. Greek yogurt is another dietary staple for me.
I definitely can, and do. If you flip through my diary, I'd be surprised if you didn't see Greek yogurt on at least half of the business days!0 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Thank you everyone for your wonderful and insightful comments. I'm really taking a lot out of everything that's been said here. I've temporarily dropped my goal weight down to 1 lb/week (which bumped me up to 1750 cals) while I play around with the macros and timing of "cheat"/maintenance days throughout the week while sticking to a weekly deficit.
Went to Zumba tonight, so I guess the macro experiment starts tonight. I have never counted my macros, just my calories. I know that there are a lot of resources on My Fitness Pal and elsewhere to help me figure it out.
I think a lot of the suggestions here about carbs are spot on. No, they're not the enemy, but I don't stay as full for as long when I've had a carb heavy day. I'll probably be working on shifting some of the macro burden from carbs to protein but I think that's going to be somewhat of a struggle. Beans, tofu, eggs, and lean deli meats are good and well but I'm not actually a huge fan of meat. While protein shakes can really do in a pinch, I'd like to chew the limited number of calories I get daily.
Again, thank you all for the suggestions!
I'm not a fan of meat either. In fact, I don't eat it. Can you have dairy? Cottage cheese goes with a lot of meals that would surprise you. Greek yogurt is another dietary staple for me.
I definitely can, and do. If you flip through my diary, I'd be surprised if you didn't see Greek yogurt on at least half of the business days!
Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are my JAM!!! I eat them almost every single day.0 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!0 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
I walk a good amount and I started because I also found it increased the amount I could eat and it didn't drive hunger like more intense cardio did. I think it is viable if walking (or whatever lighter cardio you choose) is something that you find sustainable. I walk 20 minutes or so on my lunch break and, when weather allows, I walk to and from work.
Like any exercise, if it's something you hate doing or struggle to make time for regularly, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. I don't think of it as trying to "out-exercise my diet" because I'm still keeping my calories in calibrated to my estimated calories out. I'm not just eating as much as I want and then hoping the walking is going to balance everything out.4 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
I have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia on top of my already existing medical conditions. The main symptom that's been getting to me with it is fatigue.
But anyway, one of the things that started this whole episode that was part of what led to the diagnosis is that I was not recovering from my workouts, and I found that I needed to scale back my activity.
Now, I have a couple of other autoimmune diseases that also have fatigue as symptoms, and I've learned the hard way that staying active is the best way to fight fatigue. Sitting around and giving into it just worsens it.
Anyway... I'm rambling to tell you about my TDEE.
I used to run and lift weights. I had to stop because I wasn't recovering.
I now walk. I walk a lot. I can walk a lot more than I could run. I do bodyweight strength training.
My TDEE has not changed and my appetite is just fine and here's the best part. Weight lifting used to make me so hungry. None of this makes me hungry.
Now, I have an indoor treadmill, but before I had the treadmill, I paced our hallway and burned calories. It worked.3 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
This strategy works for me. It probably works better for some than others, pointing back to the "keep experimenting" idea.1 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
I've just started doing this exact same thing. I just set my calories to maintenance yesterday. I had been going over on them most days, and was starting to despair a bit, and then I realized that I'm in no big hurry and I'd be happy to maintain for a few weeks. So I'm now set to sedentary maintenance and any exercise I do will create the deficit.
This is essentially what I did before, though, just the flipside of doing it. Before, I was set for 1lb a week, which gave me 1440 calories. I really don't do well on less than 1800 minimum, so I would have to work every day to get those calories into the green. I'm not exercising quite as much with the cold, but I somehow feel better knowing that I'm not "going over" every day, even if I'm not in a deficit. It's all the same thing, just a different way of looking at it.1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
I walk a good amount and I started because I also found it increased the amount I could eat and it didn't drive hunger like more intense cardio did. I think it is viable if walking (or whatever lighter cardio you choose) is something that you find sustainable. I walk 20 minutes or so on my lunch break and, when weather allows, I walk to and from work.
Like any exercise, if it's something you hate doing or struggle to make time for regularly, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. I don't think of it as trying to "out-exercise my diet" because I'm still keeping my calories in calibrated to my estimated calories out. I'm not just eating as much as I want and then hoping the walking is going to balance everything out.
I definitely think it works for me because I LOVE to walk. I walk on my breaks at work to get outside and in the fresh air and I end up walking my dogs when I get home from work for 20-60 minutes weather permitting. I figure it's been pretty constant for most of the year. It's only just now become a bit of a struggle because it's 5 degrees out but I love to be outside moving so much that I still find I'm going out and doing it. Once I'm at goal I'll still do it, except I'll set me activity level appropriately so that I'm no longer in a deficit.
I don't like running or don't like walking indoors and I don't like most kind of exercise. When I do other things I like it's strength training or kettlebells and I will increase intake slight to account for that on those days. Generally my deficit right now is around 200 calories a day. Sometimes more sometimes less. I never go over 500 calorie deficit per day and will rarely go over 400. I think it's sustainable for me at least.
I also don't view it as out running a bad diet because, my diet isn't bad. It would be the same as setting myself to a higher activity level which based on recent averages I could go lightly active and set myself to .5 lbs a week and it'd be the same thing really. But mentally I'm trying to prepare for maintenance since I'm about 15 lbs from goal and want to slow myself way down.
Edited for spelling1 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
Also on Team Walking Doesn't Increase My Hunger Like Running. In fact, I made a conscious decision to not start running again while I was still at a deficit once my knee got back up to scratch post mid year injury, because it makes sticking to a deficit really hard for me. Walking, I'm fine.
Re the creating your deficit with exercise, that's actually how I do it (did it, maintenance, y'all!!), unless I'm having a total sloth rest day. My TDEE is usually around 2200-2400, so even the low end minus 500 puts me a smidge above sedentary maintenance cals per online calculators.
The 'can't outrun a bad diet' thing only applies where people are not tracking or whatever and think they're fine because they exercise, but are actually eating over TDEE.5 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
Wow - I like this idea too. I think it is motivating to keep active - not necessarily with excessive excercise just increased day to day movement. I’d have to train myself to aim to be in the red over the course of the week. I might try it after the holidays. Thanks!1 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
Wow - I like this idea too. I think it is motivating to keep active - not necessarily with excessive excercise just increased day to day movement. I’d have to train myself to aim to be in the red over the course of the week. I might try it after the holidays. Thanks!
Definitely not excessive exercise! In spring/summer/fall when I walk significantly more I increase my activity level to lightly active (when I'm really more like highly active) so that my deficit doesn't get bigger than I want it. And if I have a day where I just get a ton of steps and have a huge exercise adjustment I eat an appropriate amount of calories to keep my overall weekly deficit where I want it.1 -
Definitely not excessive exercise! In spring/summer/fall when I walk significantly more I increase my activity level to lightly active (when I'm really more like highly active) so that my deficit doesn't get bigger than I want it. And if I have a day where I just get a ton of steps and have a huge exercise adjustment I eat an appropriate amount of calories to keep my overall weekly deficit where I want it.
I pretty much created a deficit for myself by hitting 10k steps minimum every day during spring/summer/fall, but I don't seem to quite as eager to get outside right now, and am averaging more like 6-7k per day. Alas.2
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