Consistently Overeating and Missing Target Caloric Goals

SarenaDunn

It seems simple and every morning I tell myself I am going to hit my calorie goal.
But now it's almost 9 pm and I am 500 calories surplus, again.

I feel like I am doing something wrong. Why is it so difficult to reach that number? (1500 kcal).
It is not low for someone of my height and activity level.
Mentally I feel very deprived if I only eat 1500 calories. It's definitely a mental hurdle.
Does anyone have any advice on overcoming that part of my brain that wants to keep eating and eating.
I could eat non-stop all day if I let myself.
I don't really feel satisfied after a meal unless my stomach is so full it hurts.
I know that is not right.
I don't want to admit I have a problem that I can't solve myself, but I really can not stick to my goals.
Because of this, I simply maintain weight instead of losing it.


Please tell me I am not alone in these struggles. I would love to hear how someone was able to overcome the
problems I am describing.

MikePTY

What type of foods are you eating? Sometimes the macro breakdown of the foods can affect satiety. Some people feel fuller if they have more protein. Others if they have more fats or carbs. There is not a one size fits all solution, but playing around with them can help you figure out which is most filling for you personally.

kq1981

I went through this! It took me a few months to get into the swing of things (and not be so hungry) because I was ultimately teaching myself to eat less calories. I just kept going forward, learning what filled me up, browsed forums, learned that it’s a slow process and kept determined. I started with a lower weight loss per week aim to ease me into it. I kept determined Because I didn’t want to wake up a year from then saying I am going to lose weight, still at the same weight and saying the same thing and on it goes (if that makes sense). 3 years later I’m still here, I don’t log as consistently anymore but I still browse and learn. You honestly can do it. Try a smaller weight loss aim for a few weeks and go slowly. If you feel u have an eating disorder (binging) please seek help from yr dr!

Mrsindepenant1

Agree with mike, I feel fuller eating things like steak, if I have bacon or steak for breakfast I feel so much better throughout the day.
I also look how I’m spending my calories, I could have a whole bowl of broccoli for the same amount of calories as a tablespoon of mayo, I know which one is healthier and will keep me fuller longer with lower calories. You just have to really look at your choices and try and get the most out of your calories.
Also plan ahead, I failed at MFP a few times, now I pre log all my food a week before so I don’t get caught out.
Having a big glass of water before every meal or when you feel hungry.
I find I get hungrier at night, I’m use to a big meal before bed so I save most calories for my dinner and have a hot chocolate before bed to top me up. Find where your falling and try and save your calories for that time so you can eat a larger meal without going over and bulk out meals with as much veges as possible.
I hope this all helps, this has worked for me but everyone’s different. I have issues where I gorge myself silly and I seem to finally have it semi under control so I totally understand the wanting to eat until you pop and then going over the calories.

kq1981

Mrsindepenant1 wrote: »

Agree with mike, I feel fuller eating things like steak,
Having a big glass of water before every meal or when you feel hungry.
I find I get hungrier at night, I’m use to a big meal before bed so I save most calories for my dinner and have a hot chocolate before bed to top me up. Find where your falling and try and save your calories for that time so you can eat a larger meal without going over and bulk out meals with as much veges as possible.
I hope this all helps, this has worked for me but everyone’s different. I have issues where I gorge myself silly and I seem to finally have it semi under control so I totally understand the wanting to eat until you pop and then going over the calories.

Exactly this, I save my calories mostly for nights.

KerrieA87

Have you tried splitting your meals into 5-6 smaller ones, rather than the traditional 3 square meals a day.

imabeevampire

I understand this 100%.
Drink water between meals to keep you fuller and when you've finished your last meal, brush your teeth.
Brushing my teeth signals to my brain it's almost time for bed, as it's a bedtime routine. Plus I hate the aftertaste of mint if I eat.

BarbaraHelen2013

One approach that might work for you since you’ve identified that it’s a mental hurdle is reduce your calories slowly rather than suddenly cutting down to your 1500 goal. This might give you time for both your body and brain/mindset to adjust.

Let’s take the implied 2000 maintenance calories from your post. (Your 1500 plus the 500 surplus from today and the bit saying you maintain rather than lose - the actual numbers may be different but you can see where I’m going with it).

Start by sticking firmly to the 2000, then once that’s comfortable (at least a week), chop another 50 cals off, get comfortable at that level, rinse and repeat until you arrive at the 1500.

I know that sounds like it’ll just take you forever but there’s a couple of advantages along the way- as soon as you’ve dropped below the 2000 you’re in a deficit, tiny, but it’s there - by doing it this way hopefully you’ll give your mental process time to settle into a different place.

It’s worth a shot!

Alexziz

Or exercise more to reward yourself with more calories even squeezing in an extra walk helps small snack 🤪

ReenieHJ

Would you be able to stay within your calories 5 days a week, then up it to 2000 over the weekends? That might help you towards training yourself and losing a little bit, which might give you more motivation. I've been going above my allotment lately too, have tried many of the suggestions here and haven't been successful yet. I do chew a lot of gum. It comes down to just not eating anymore after a certain point. I eat healthy, up my protein, drink lots of water, brush my teeth. Nope, if I want something, I want something. Good luck with finding the answer for you!!!

amtyrell

If you have mfp set to 2lbs move it to 1 lb if 1 lb move it to 0.5 lb.
I don't know what you are consuming but i would focus o calories in beverages and very calorie dense foods. I love things like oils and butter and nuts but they are very high calorie for the volume. I know i can eat a huge bowl of spinach salad or an entire head of celery for the calories in a handful of nuts.
Perhaps some judicious increases in the less calorie dense foods and decrease in the more calorie dense foods

lgfrie

Put simply, 1500 is not working for you. In the end, if you're think about food all day, feeling unsatisfied after meals, and missing your target by 500 calories per day, no matter what other things you do or don't do, you need more food. The sooner you adjust that target upward to a number you can live with, the better. You can always adjust it downward once you really get into the swing of things and decide you're ready for a bigger challenge. A calorie target is not a forever target; it's just a target for this week or month. You are not married to it. It's more like a Tinder date. You can throw it out of your house a day after deciding it was a poor match, and pick up a new one.

I suggest you bump that up 100 calories immediately and see how that goes. If it doesn't solve the problem, add another hundred in a week. And so on. Meanwhile, really try hard to hit and not exceed the number, so you get a true picture of how the different numbers work for you.

You're definitely not alone. I started at 1600 and eventually got to 1850, in increments of 50. I think I am finally ready to start clawing my way back down to 1750 but it took a while. It's been a long (and informative) process to pinpoint that caloric level where it's like "I am now at the highest deficit I can maintain without dreaming about beef brisket and corn muffins and cole slaw and feeling little queasy hunger pangs even right after I finished a meal". Those feels are the feelings of never being satisfied - because you're not getting enough food! So ... more food.

Right now you are in a circle of despair, and what has to happen is that you get into a virtuous circle. The circle of despair comes from accumulated failure. You miss your goal by 500, so you feel like you aren't succeeding, so the next day it's like "why bother; I'm hungry!" and ... another miss and you question whether you're capable of doing it at all. A virtuous circle is one in which every day you're achieving your goal, so you feel powerful and in control, and you know "you've got this". The circles of despair and virtue are psychological constructs, of course - winners win because they feel like winners; losers lose because it becomes ingrained that they fail - and therefore perfect for dieters, which is mostly psychological. You need to get yourself out of the spiral of despair and into a virtuous circle a.s.a.p and that is done by increasing calories until you get to a point where most days are a success.

lemurcat2

What have you estimated maintenance cals at and how have you done that? As others have said, 1500 might be too low.

Beyond that, how do you happen to eat more than your 1500 daily? Are you not tracking as you eat? Are you using up dinner cals before dinner intentionally? Are you feeling a huge desire that you aren't able to resist to eat more after dinner? Understanding how this happens would help us suggest ways to avoid it (especially once we know how extreme a deficit it is).

Often just saying "oh, I won't overeat today" is setting yourself up for failure. What many of us need, at least at first, is a plan -- today I'm going to eat these things at these times which will be roughly 1500.

RoseyandReady

Cutting the sugar / high carb foods has been a game changer for me. Looking at labels beyond the calories has made a huge difference to stop wanting to eat all day long. I look at the carbs, I can't believe how high the carbs were in some of the foods I was eating and they were super low cal. I had ketchup for the first time in 6 weeks and it tasted like candy. It was a tough road to get to this point, but I feel way more full every day. We've all been there! I'm sure you will find the right mix of foods that will keep you feeling full. Being a taste tester is kind of fun when you try new recipes.

MaryT233

I was addicted to a morning muffin every day, had to feel that fullness that comes from the muffin. but then i discovered that eating 2 boiled eggs instead kept me as full, and so if you find something like that that works, and stick with it for the most part, you might be amazed. Try different foods to see if they will do the trick for what you want.

ghudson92

I agree with other users that you may want to reduce your defecit and play around with your macros.
I can overeat massively if I eat a lot of carbs and sugary foods consistently as they just are not satiating for me. Eating more protein and fat was what kept me going through my defecit days - and I still focus on those two macros in maintenance. Good luck, hope you figure it out soon.

belgerian

I find I tend to eat more in the evening then during the day at work I bring my food with me, I have no opportunities to snack, I eat at my designated times and I only eat what I bring with me it is structured. Which does give me quite a bit of wiggle room in the evenings to have snacks. Also in the evenings I have more down time (no Structure), maybe do something to stay busy. Do not know what your routine is but maybe take a look at that also. I also sometimes think I've only had X amount to eat I can still eat Z amount even though I am not "hungry". That is when I usually go over and eat A-Z. Gotta find a little humor. I do find when I go to the gym after work I do not eat near as much when I get home compared to when I go straight home. Also what has already been said look at the quality of food vs nutritional value.

kimny72

SarenaDunn wrote: »

It seems simple and every morning I tell myself I am going to hit my calorie goal.
But now it's almost 9 pm and I am 500 calories surplus, again.

I feel like I am doing something wrong. Why is it so difficult to reach that number? (1500 kcal).
It is not low for someone of my height and activity level.
Mentally I feel very deprived if I only eat 1500 calories. It's definitely a mental hurdle.
Does anyone have any advice on overcoming that part of my brain that wants to keep eating and eating.
I could eat non-stop all day if I let myself.
I don't really feel satisfied after a meal unless my stomach is so full it hurts.
I know that is not right.
I don't want to admit I have a problem that I can't solve myself, but I really can not stick to my goals.
Because of this, I simply maintain weight instead of losing it.


Please tell me I am not alone in these struggles. I would love to hear how someone was able to overcome the
problems I am describing.

How much weight do you have to lose, and how many lbs per week are you trying to lose?
How long have you been trying to hit that 1500 calorie goal, and do you go over every day? If not, how often would you say?
Do you exercise, and does that 1500 goal include some of your exercise calories?
Are you paying any attention to your macros?

lemurcat2

RoseyandReady wrote: »

Cutting the sugar / high carb foods has been a game changer for me. Looking at labels beyond the calories has made a huge difference to stop wanting to eat all day long. I look at the carbs, I can't believe how high the carbs were in some of the foods I was eating and they were super low cal. I had ketchup for the first time in 6 weeks and it tasted like candy. It was a tough road to get to this point, but I feel way more full every day. We've all been there! I'm sure you will find the right mix of foods that will keep you feeling full. Being a taste tester is kind of fun when you try new recipes.

Something super low cal can't have that many carbs. There are 4 calories per gram of carb, after all. I dislike ketchup so have no particular interest in defending it, but one TBSP of ketchup (depending on brand) that is 16 cal is going to have about 4 g of carbs. If you think 4 grams of carbs is especially high, well, dunno.

Anyway, carbs don't affect fat loss/gain, calories do.

Maybe OP is overeating because she's having trouble controlling sugar or other carbs, but she hasn't said anything to support that yet, and this automatic "carbs must be the problem" is odd.

IF the problem turns out to be that OP is eating a reasonable calorie deficit yet struggling with hunger (there are lots of other reasons to exceed the calorie deficit besides hunger), I would certainly look at whether she were getting enough protein and fiber, first, and also when she happens to be feeling hungry.

imfornd70

I have a theory and it seems to help the people I help - often times your body will maintenance its hunger level until it get what it needs - make sure

1. Macros are tight
2. you are getting a well balanced diet
3. Getting enough sleep - if you body doesn't have energy it will gather it from food sources

kshama2001

In addition to the other questions above, I am also curious about protein and fiber. Please swap out one of the default nutrients tracked, such as sugar or sodium, to Fiber and change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

Unknown

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springlering62

There’s a thread on MFP called Volume Eaters which was really helpful to me. I can have a massive salad for lunch with a ton of shredded chicken and pork. My husband is always aghast when he sees me eating it but it’s seldom over 350 calories.

I do the same with my afternoon snack. A serving of nonfat cottage cheese, blueberries (a serving of blueberries is surprisingly big), 150 grams of strawberries, a few
Grams of grape nuts and a splash of good balsamic vinegar (chocolate or coconut goes great with the berries) fills a large cereal bowl to heaping. And only comes in at 250 calories.

There were a lot of tips on that thread that have helped along the way.

Danp

Do you pre-log?

It can be helpful to not let anything pass your lips until it's in the database. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to eat something. Logged it and saw what a huge dent it would make in my calories for the day and instantly it becomes WAY less appetising.

Pre-logging give you information, post logging just shows you consequences.

PAV8888

hobbitses333 wrote: »

I find it is cyclical for myself. Two weeks a month I am a powerhouse in the gym and bang on with my eating while weighing in at my lowest weights. One week I am okay in the gym and having a little more food and a lb or two heavier. And one week where I feel bloated, peformance sucks, its hard to push myself, my eating ravenous and full of cravings weighing in at the top of my range of 5 to 7 lbs fluctuation.

Then the powerhouse returns and I am flying and feeling sleek. Often weighing in less than the last cycle...that hope is what gets me to the gym through "hell" week sometimes... Not. Going. To. Stop. Me.

You may find yourself performing better and (overall) losing faster or at least more happily (if you're still trying to lose) by deliberately adding ~100 to 200 Cal during shark week. Or even taking it to maintenance and calling it a break!

I seem to recall that there is an RMR variation ranging from ~1.5% and up to 10% depending on the individual. And that RMR gets multiplied by your activity factor.

So if maintenance were 2000, it may now be 2030 to 2200, maybe more for some. And don't forget to count the effect of an extra 5lbs of water being carried around all day.

So maybe not enough for an ayce buffet; but, quite possibly enough for an extra protein bar!!!

Avidkeo

One thing that stood out to me OP is your comment about not feeling happy unless you feel full. I think you need to change your mindset there a bit.

When I lost my first 20kg it was simply by stopping eating when I gel satisfied. I wasn't hungry, but I wasn't full. I think you need to find that satisfied point and feel good about it. And also teach your brain its ok to feel the occasional hunger pang. It's just a sign that you are ready to eat but you don't HAVE to eat. Get comfortable with that sensation. It's a little scary to let go and not eat at the first sign of hunger but it does help because eventually you won't feel the need to eat everytime you feel it, and know you can wait till the next meal.

I didn't describe that well but I hope you get the gist of it.

kshama2001

springlering62 wrote: »

There’s a thread on MFP called Volume Eaters which was really helpful to me. I can have a massive salad for lunch with a ton of shredded chicken and pork. My husband is always aghast when he sees me eating it but it’s seldom over 350 calories.

I do the same with my afternoon snack. A serving of nonfat cottage cheese, blueberries (a serving of blueberries is surprisingly big), 150 grams of strawberries, a few
Grams of grape nuts and a splash of good balsamic vinegar (chocolate or coconut goes great with the berries) fills a large cereal bowl to heaping. And only comes in at 250 calories.

There were a lot of tips on that thread that have helped along the way.

Because of all the green beans, this recipe for Stir-Fried Green Beans with Pork and Oyster Sauce has surprisingly few calories for all the bulk. I add 4 oz ground chicken for more protein, and serve over rice.

https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/stir-fried-pork-oyster-sauce-green-beans

lillola96

Have you tried intermittent fasting? I'm 5”9 and 85 kilos and I can feel satisfied on 1300 call a day (plus exercise). I eat lots of protein - eggs, yogurt, very little bread, lots of veggies to fill out my meals like cucumber and tomatoes. IF in the mornings first meal (lunch) at 11am has been working very well for me.

AprilSue

Increase proteins and veggies. Cut out sugar and sweets. Proteins and veggies give you more bang for your buck and keep you full longer. Get a lot more food for the calories with veggies.

mebeny

AprilSue wrote: »

Increase proteins and veggies. Cut out sugar and sweets. Proteins and veggies give you more bang for your buck and keep you full longer. Get a lot more food for the calories with veggies.

Totaly agree!
Try to eat veggies end less sweets you can have a bigger meal that can fill you for hours ,personally a do a intermitant fast since a woke up the morning , i drink 2 to 3 litter of water end only black coffee , end i eat breakfast just 6 hours after i woke up , so i can limit the number of my meal for the day end i can have bigger one's after
I was struggle to not over eat end stay on calorie deficit but after that , i can manage to take a 1200 cal per day meal end am feeling really full .
Try to drink a water before you eat , that help to eat less .
If all this do not work , You can water fast also one or 2 days per week, i tried that before...it's a little bit harder than the intermitent but it can be done without issue normaly.

gothchiq

Is there either insurance money or other funds for a therapist? Something psychological is going on here if you desire to eat until your stomach is overstretched. That's not an insult. As we grow up, sometimes things go wrong that set a counterproductive pattern in our minds. Then as adults we have the fallout from it. As an example,, I grew up in a situation where my mother decided how much I should eat and of what, and I was forced to finish whatever she gave me. Now I have weight struggles.