Can't seem to stay under my calories goal

localgrr
localgrr Posts: 99 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I was doing really well the first couple of months and now I'm finding it really hard to stay under my goal, it's like something has mentally shifted? I think I'm still under maintenance so that's okay but I'm regularly going over by 50-200 calories/day. I'm not sure how to get back in to the head space but I'm just much more hungry than I used to be. I do exercise regularly.

Thanks

PS feel free to add me, I love bouldering and live in Berlin (from the UK)

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    try a diet break for a couple of weeks?
  • localgrr
    localgrr Posts: 99 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    try a diet break for a couple of weeks?
    Thanks, good idea! Like not counting at all or just going to maintenance?

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    localgrr wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    try a diet break for a couple of weeks?
    Thanks, good idea! Like not counting at all or just going to maintenance?

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
  • localgrr
    localgrr Posts: 99 Member
    jasonpoihegatama wrote: »
    Eat healthy food like veggies they are low calories
    oh i love my veggies! I can't seem to stay away from the sweet stuff though sometimes but even then I don't completely over do it. Maybe one or 2 squares of chocolate or share a slice of cake... You can't just eat healthy... Can you??

  • hypocacculus
    hypocacculus Posts: 68 Member
    Yes, it sounds to me like your body is trying to tell you something and you need a bit of a diet holiday. Feed yourself up a for a few days and take a couple of days off exercise - I find it's a bit like a reset button. Your weight will jump alarmingly as your gut fills and glycogen levels go up, but it will disappear again soon enough when you get back on your routine. Unless you go berzerk, fat gain will be minimal to non-existent.
  • localgrr
    localgrr Posts: 99 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Have you maybe selected a rate of weight loss that is inappropriate to the amount of weight you have to lose?calories?
    No I'm on the lowest setting actually, taking it easy ;)
    sijomial wrote: »
    Have you maybe selected a calorie goal that is simply too hard to adhere to long term once the initial honeymoon period of enthusiasm and motivation has worn off?
    I mean I hope not, I'm not even gonna try 1200 calories (I'm 5'4) I'm actually not that far from my goal so I don't know why I feel like cheating so much. PS this is my second time at MFP, weight slowly crept back up so yeah it is less motivating the second time.
    sijomial wrote: »
    Are you eating back exercise calories?
    Not always but I keep reading how innacurate it all is. But at the moment I mostly am. With climbing it's really hard to get an accurate read if you ask me

  • localgrr
    localgrr Posts: 99 Member
    hypocacculus wrote: »
    Yes, it sounds to me like your body is trying to tell you something and you need a bit of a diet holiday.
    Yeah this seems like the most sensible option. I really hope I don't gain though. I'll not go berserk as you say.

  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    I have found my own "system": since I am also very bad with general portion control, I have split my meals into calorie allocations. I am not a big breakfast eater - never was, so that's my calorie split: B'fast 250 - 300 cal., lunch 450 - 500 cal., dinner 700 - 750 cal., snacks 250 - 300 cal. My allocation is (MFP calculated) 1740 calories a day. I am very comfortable that way and I have enough leeway in case we go out for a meal. I would love to reduce the dinner calories but that's our family time around the dinner table. Started on 170 kg, 375 pounds - lost so far 30 kg, 67 pounds - still a long way to go.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    localgrr wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Have you maybe selected a rate of weight loss that is inappropriate to the amount of weight you have to lose?calories?
    No I'm on the lowest setting actually, taking it easy ;)
    sijomial wrote: »
    Have you maybe selected a calorie goal that is simply too hard to adhere to long term once the initial honeymoon period of enthusiasm and motivation has worn off?
    I mean I hope not, I'm not even gonna try 1200 calories (I'm 5'4) I'm actually not that far from my goal so I don't know why I feel like cheating so much. PS this is my second time at MFP, weight slowly crept back up so yeah it is less motivating the second time.
    sijomial wrote: »
    Are you eating back exercise calories?
    Not always but I keep reading how innacurate it all is. But at the moment I mostly am. With climbing it's really hard to get an accurate read if you ask me
    Good news - you are avoiding a lot of the common pitfalls.

    Agree climbing would be difficult to estimate accurately (not true of all exercise).
    I would avoid choosing the one estimate that is guaranteed to be wrong though - zero!

    I'd be tempted to log the duration as "strength training" as that's a fairly modest METS value - that's just attempting to get a reasonable estimate rather than empirically accurate.

    An alternative approach as you are close to goal that might simply make you feel better might be to set your daily goal to maintain weight but try to undercut that on days when you aren't struggling with hunger. That way every day at or under goal is a success rather than viewing being over your weight loss goal as a failure.
    (For me every day deficits simply feel harder and more restrictive than erratic deficits - even if the weekly total is the same.)
  • localgrr
    localgrr Posts: 99 Member
    edited February 2019
    sijomial wrote: »
    I'd be tempted to log the duration as "strength training" as that's a fairly modest METS value - that's just attempting to get a reasonable estimate rather than empirically accurate.
    Ok maybe that's better than what I do which is climbing / 3. I think what makes climbing, especially bouldering hard to estimate is all the breaks!
    sijomial wrote: »

    An alternative approach as you are close to goal that might simply make you feel better might be to set your daily goal to maintain weight but try to undercut that on days when you aren't struggling with hunger.
    That sounds sensible to me. I do.worry that then I'm going to be tempted to go over maintenance on bad days and I'm not doing that at the moment at least.

    Although I am just doing my meal plan for the day at maintenance and I'm like ooo coconut on that and honey on this where I wouldn't usually, what if I get too used to the luxury!?

    Thanks :)



  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    I'm very bad at watching my calories every day. I find that if I use the calorie counter at least half the week, and don't overeat the rest, I still maintain or lose weight. Can't be perfect all the time!
  • emilysusana
    emilysusana Posts: 416 Member
    First, I think it happens to a lot of us after a couple of months. It happened to me two years ago when I first lost all the weight... (this time around I’m not to the 2 month mark yet). I think I took a 1 week diet break at maintenance (still strictly logging, not going over), and then told myself I needed to do the next week perfectly at my deficit. No red! Maybe that would help.

    Also, 50-100 calories can be take care of by taking an extra walk. If you live somewhere cold, maybe that doesn’t sound the best... but it’s an option.

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