Constantly eating over my calories and struggling to maintain a deficit. What do you guys do?! Help!

zichroni
zichroni Posts: 4 Member
edited May 2021 in Food and Nutrition
Hello people of MFP. I could use input on what I can do to maintain my calories or see if I'm doing something wrong.

About me: 28F, SW:181, CW:173, GW:150. My daily limit is 1400 cals/day but I'm averaging 1700 - and often eat closer to 2000. I do light jogging twice a week and on other days I walk an hour a day and do 30m pilates or barre workouts. At this point, I'm just eating back the calories I burn and then some.

What am I doing wrong?! How do you all maintain deficit without feeling like you're starving yourselves?

ETA: I'm 5'3"
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Replies

  • spyro88
    spyro88 Posts: 472 Member
    I really sympathise and don't have a huge amount of advice that common sense probably hasn't already told you :( It's really hard! But just in case you haven't already heard these...

    Try eating foods which are large in volume but low in calories. They take up space in your stomach and make you feel full.

    Also high protein foods will fill you up for longer. Try porridge or cereal with some protein powder added to the milk.

    Another thing to mention... How much do you think you ate before you were doing this?

    If you were eating 2000 a day before and you now aim for 1700, that's going to be a step in the right direction! I really think that part of the reason people fail with this is because they just aim too low. Set yourself a realistic target. 1400 calories won't keep many people full!
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
    I agree about the volume of food, and that 1,400 calories is not much. Try eating more vegetables at each meal or maybe try some soup to feel full.

    Set a timer and slow down your eating. I often eat so fast that I take a 2nd helping before I think. I'm always amazed at eating in a fancy restaurant and sometimes the portions look small but when you have several courses over say 30 minutes you fill up.

    Also are you weighing and measuring everything? Especially high caloric foods like peanutbutter, chips and cheese.

    Also are you waiting until you're famished to eat? I tend to overeat on those days.

    Good luck. Stay the course. It works.
  • zichroni
    zichroni Posts: 4 Member
    Thank you all for the responses! I appreciate your inputs! Cmriverside, thank you for the logging tips! That's really helpful.

    I know I was eating well over 2000 calories before starting, and I've been at this for a few months. I will try upping my calories. I think I need to pare down slowly, so that's a good point. I also try to wait until I'm hungry to eat and *do* eat fast. I've been working on taking more water breaks as I'm eating, but it's definitely something I can improve on.

    I don't weigh my food, but am considering a small scale, because I'm either over or under-estimating things and that's not doing me any favors. Thank you spyro88 and babeisfit!
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,070 Member
    edited May 2021
    What is throwing you over your deficit target? Sweets? Snacks? Portion size? Night eating? Why are you waiting until you are hungry to eat? A regular meal schedule may serve you better.

    An accurate food scale is a must. Please get one ASAP. Maybe try narrowing the time window in which you eat... perhaps nothing after 7PM. Are you pre-planning your foods or deciding as you walk into the kitchen? Are you logging after each meal or waiting until the end of the day?

    I've found pre-logging to be a major help. For example, tonight I made a delicious shrimp stir-fry over rice, ate half and will have the rest tomorrow. Pre-logging tomorrow's dinner lets me know exactly how many calories I have for front half the day - no Sunday pancakes for me! 😁
  • meeppeepneep
    meeppeepneep Posts: 56 Member
    Open your diary?
  • NVintage
    NVintage Posts: 1,463 Member
    What works for me is meal planning. I've just discovered it this past year, trying to figure out how I could make it grocery shopping just once every 3-4 weeks instead of 2or 3 times per week. It has saved me a lot of money, too! I plan for 1200-1300 calories(5'1.5 here), and so even if I have an extra snack or dessert I hardly ever go over enough to gain weight.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    There are a few things that helped my hunger. 1. Volume foods, 2. Lots of protein and 3. Ketogenic.

    If you do a carb based diet, i have to include a lot of low calorie plants and lean meats. Things like dark leafy greens, low sugar fruits (berries, watermelon, kiwi, plums) and lean proteins, especially red meat like sirloin, chicken, rack of lamb and then i throw in lots of low fat dairy.

    When i do keto, i have to keep it rather clean and get my new carbs around 25g.

    Both methods are helpful to me for getting lean.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,173 Member
    zichroni wrote: »
    Thank you all for the responses! I appreciate your inputs! Cmriverside, thank you for the logging tips! That's really helpful.

    I know I was eating well over 2000 calories before starting, and I've been at this for a few months. I will try upping my calories. I think I need to pare down slowly, so that's a good point. I also try to wait until I'm hungry to eat and *do* eat fast. I've been working on taking more water breaks as I'm eating, but it's definitely something I can improve on.

    To the bolded: If you figured out that that's best for you by experimenting with it, I wouldn't suggest doing otherwise.

    However, if it just seemed like a good idea, you might experiment. People are very individual, and some of us (me!) can even be weird. If I start to feel a little hungry and have a small snack (usually a protein-y one), it turns out I arrive at the next meal not feeling so ravenous, and this makes portion control easier for me.

    What you eat can be important for satiation (which macros, what specific foods, overall sound nutrition), and so can the timing of eating. Much of satiation is *very* individual: I've seen people here who say they do best on anything from one meal a day (OMAD) to pretty much all-day snack-sized grazing, as an eating strategy. Whatever schedule is sating for you, and practical, is a good eating schedule. Within the boundaries of decent overall nutrition, whatever foods/macros keep you full is a good way to eat.
    I don't weigh my food, but am considering a small scale, because I'm either over or under-estimating things and that's not doing me any favors. Thank you spyro88 and babeisfit!

    Bonus: If you've been using cups/spoons, weighing food can also be quicker and easier. (And if just eyeballing, I'm reasonably confident using a food scale will be less fussy and time-consuming than you may be thinking.) Also, a scale is inexpensive, usually available for $20 or less. This thread (despite the joking clickbait title) has tips for using a food scale efficiently/quickly, for people who've decided to use that approach:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive#latest

    Best wishes!
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    I had to play "this for that". Essentially it's an easy substitution game to maximize the use of your calorie allowance. So instead of 2eggo waffles and log cabin syrup I choose 1 gluten free Van's brand of waffle, 2eggs no additives like milk for scrambling and 90% less calorie log cabin syrup. The goal is reduced inflamation, better use of the calories you have and better hydration. It gets easier with practice. I also found it easier to up my allowance to 1720 calories and walk 5miles a day without eating back my exercise calories. Most days I eat under now that I'm used to maximizing my food volume. I also rarely consume liquid calories aside from protein drink meal replacement.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 914 Member
    I used a TDEE calculator to calculate your total daily energy expenditure (I used 'sedentary' as the lifestyle multiplier since IDK what your job/activity is like).....and to maintain your weight you would need to eat ~1780 cals/day (estimate).

    So...if you are eating 1400...it just sounds like your deficit is just too high - especially if you are adding in intentional exercise burning calories. That would make your deficit even bigger.

    So, if I were you - I'd bump up your daily net goal to like 1550/1600, be sure to measure/weigh your food (until you get a better idea of what amounts are what...then you can transition into more intuitive eating), and log your cardio exercise and eat back like between 50-100% of those cals.

    This *should lead to fairly consistent (but maybe slow) weight loss. But it'll be easier and you won't blow your daily calorie goal bc you won't be so hungry all the time.
  • Kupla71
    Kupla71 Posts: 1,467 Member
    I found going low carb really helpful at reducing my appetite. I don’t go as low as keto. Just between 99 and 120 grams a day. Eating this way I rarely go over my calorie goal because I’m just not hungry. Most days I struggle to eat enough! I hope you find something that works for you!
  • lukejoycePT
    lukejoycePT Posts: 182 Member
    my advice would be to stop seeing your calories as a daily thing and seeing it as weekly total. Cycle your calories. If you are hungry on a wednesday log it and eat less on the thursday and friday. if you stay in a deficit over the course of 7 days you'll still meet your weekly goal.
  • Kereru44
    Kereru44 Posts: 28 Member
    Maybe you could also try fasting as well. That way you have a smaller window to eat your calories and may not eat as much.
  • judswi
    judswi Posts: 73 Member
    I decide what I am eating for the whole day and track it. I do not eat anything else that day that is not tract and I also weigh amounts.
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    One thing I do when recalculating my calories and lower them is I use natural appetite suppressants. Apple cider vinagar, cinnamon and ginger are my go to. Apple cider vinegar in the morning before teeth brushing. Tea with added ginger at lunch. Then hot cocoa 2 cups with water and 2 scoops of ovaltine and added cinnamon. For suppressing appetite hot beverages work better for me than cold ones.
  • Lark13
    Lark13 Posts: 21 Member
    Your experience of course maybe different, but I think your calorie count is too low for sustainability. My (former) weight and activity level were virtually identical to yours. I consistently lost 1/2 to 1 pounds per week eating 1800 calories daily. It was sustainable and steady. I also ate at the same time everyday, including a planned am and pm snack, so I was never famished.
  • Rimtimtim
    Rimtimtim Posts: 21 Member
    edited June 2021
    If you switch to maintenance, how many calories do you get? Starting out I set my goal to high, realized I wasn't going to eat 1200 calories a day and set my goal to maintenance and aimed to eat 300 calories below that, but the real goal was not go above it.
  • DD265
    DD265 Posts: 651 Member
    DeterminedDivaMN wrote: »
    Also, one other piece of advice sticks in my mind… Your stomach holds the same size no matter how hungry you are. So even if you are “starving”, only eat ONE serving. It seems we typically grab this, that, and the other to scarf down… but you really only need the “this” to take away the hunger.

    I love this. It's so obvious, and yet I'd never thought of it before.
  • joyanna2016
    joyanna2016 Posts: 323 Member
    I like to feel full. For me, I've found time restricted eating to be the most helpful tool I've found this go round. I only eat from 3-10 pm most days, but I get to eat a lot in those hours! I know it seems counter intuitive to what we've been taught our whole lives about eating, but for me it works and It may work for you. Its easier for me to not eat a little while and then eat more than to eat little meals all day long. Maybe start with just skipping one meal? It's an idea. It may not be right for you, but its right for me.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,976 Member
    Sometimes it's just making sure you save your calories for habitual eating. I habitual eat at night between 9pm and 11pm. So I make sure I save calories for that time. I'm NOT a big morning eater at all so I don't worry about eating in the am and normally don't feel hungry at all.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • Fallfrenzy
    Fallfrenzy Posts: 118 Member
    This is a habit of logging and truly resisting certain temptations for me. I stopped logging for a while and realized that when I did start logging just how much I was overeating in calories for my goals. When I get hungry and I have goals in mind that I want to meet, lately I have been having cucumbers with dijon mustard. I have something low in calories, high in snack value for me. I have been staying away from sugary and processed stuff as snacks. I agree with others on measuring out stuff. For example, although a scoop is provided with protein powder, they also give grams per scoop. I find that many times it will either be over or under, so measuring is important.

    I make sure that I have enough lean protein with each meal, as protein keeps you fuller longer.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,407 Member
    Beverly2Hansen wrote: »
    One thing I do when recalculating my calories and lower them is I use natural appetite suppressants. Apple cider vinagar, cinnamon and ginger are my go to. Apple cider vinegar in the morning before teeth brushing. Tea with added ginger at lunch. Then hot cocoa 2 cups with water and 2 scoops of ovaltine and added cinnamon. For suppressing appetite hot beverages work better for me than cold ones.

    Just because someone mentions the dreaded ACV doesn’t mean they’re proposing it as a diet plan.

    Absolutely hot beverages work for me, too, regardless of weather.

    I enjoy two spicy chai lattes, with lovely mounds of frothed skim milk, liberally doused in cinnamon every afternoon. 37 calories apiece. These luxurious, satisfying treats are a very important element in holding my appetite off between snacks or before bedtime.

    Hot drinks can’t be drunk quickly, so being forced to slow down and savor them is very effective.

    Btw, I love ginger, too. I put a cube of thawed Dorot frozen ginger cubes (available at Trader Joe’s and Lidl) in my pumpkin pudding every night, along with a shedload of regular powdered ginger. It really amps up the flavor.
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    Beverly2Hansen wrote: »
    One thing I do when recalculating my calories and lower them is I use natural appetite suppressants. Apple cider vinagar, cinnamon and ginger are my go to. Apple cider vinegar in the morning before teeth brushing. Tea with added ginger at lunch. Then hot cocoa 2 cups with water and 2 scoops of ovaltine and added cinnamon. For suppressing appetite hot beverages work better for me than cold ones.

    Just because someone mentions the dreaded ACV doesn’t mean they’re proposing it as a diet plan.

    Absolutely hot beverages work for me, too, regardless of weather.

    I enjoy two spicy chai lattes, with lovely mounds of frothed skim milk, liberally doused in cinnamon every afternoon. 37 calories apiece. These luxurious, satisfying treats are a very important element in holding my appetite off between snacks or before bedtime.

    Hot drinks can’t be drunk quickly, so being forced to slow down and savor them is very effective.

    Btw, I love ginger, too. I put a cube of thawed Dorot frozen ginger cubes (available at Trader Joe’s and Lidl) in my pumpkin pudding every night, along with a shedload of regular powdered ginger. It really amps up the flavor.

    I appreciate that you didn't jump to assumptions. I am an emotional eater and I struggle with binge eating. To adjust to 1720 calories after I've been not logging my food and eating say 3,000+ calories is very hard the first 2 weeks. I studied both mental health resources like weightloss meditation and appetite suppressants that are safe as tools to stop food addiction behavior and form healthy habits. I do not aim to lose more than 7lbs per month and sometimes only lose 4lbs. There are times I start to slip into bad behaviors of over eating and recommit using audio weightloss meditation and safe appetite suppressants. I do not go below 1500calories because I'm active and don't eat exercise calories back. Some of us need extra tools to break food addiction behavior or poor impulse control especially in the beginning 2 weeks of a deficit. Writing a diary helps a lot of people too. Yes people with disordered eating can abuse natural appetite suppressants but they are many cultures utilize these things to promote health and most people use them in moderation in a way that doesn't hinder their health at all. I can say my physical, mental and emotional health are improved by these things.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,407 Member
    Beverly2Hansen wrote: »
    springlering62 wrote: »
    Beverly2Hansen wrote: »
    One thing I do when recalculating my calories and lower them is I use natural appetite suppressants. Apple cider vinagar, cinnamon and ginger are my go to. Apple cider vinegar in the morning before teeth brushing. Tea with added ginger at lunch. Then hot cocoa 2 cups with water and 2 scoops of ovaltine and added cinnamon. For suppressing appetite hot beverages work better for me than cold ones.

    Just because someone mentions the dreaded ACV doesn’t mean they’re proposing it as a diet plan.

    Absolutely hot beverages work for me, too, regardless of weather.

    I enjoy two spicy chai lattes, with lovely mounds of frothed skim milk, liberally doused in cinnamon every afternoon. 37 calories apiece. These luxurious, satisfying treats are a very important element in holding my appetite off between snacks or before bedtime.

    Hot drinks can’t be drunk quickly, so being forced to slow down and savor them is very effective.

    Btw, I love ginger, too. I put a cube of thawed Dorot frozen ginger cubes (available at Trader Joe’s and Lidl) in my pumpkin pudding every night, along with a shedload of regular powdered ginger. It really amps up the flavor.

    I appreciate that you didn't jump to assumptions. I am an emotional eater and I struggle with binge eating. To adjust to 1720 calories after I've been not logging my food and eating say 3,000+ calories is very hard the first 2 weeks. I studied both mental health resources like weightloss meditation and appetite suppressants that are safe as tools to stop food addiction behavior and form healthy habits. I do not aim to lose more than 7lbs per month and sometimes only lose 4lbs. There are times I start to slip into bad behaviors of over eating and recommit using audio weightloss meditation and safe appetite suppressants. I do not go below 1500calories because I'm active and don't eat exercise calories back. Some of us need extra tools to break food addiction behavior or poor impulse control especially in the beginning 2 weeks of a deficit. Writing a diary helps a lot of people too. Yes people with disordered eating can abuse natural appetite suppressants but they are many cultures utilize these things to promote health and most people use them in moderation in a way that doesn't hinder their health at all. I can say my physical, mental and emotional health are improved by these things.

    I think you are doing what I did. I started here at 1470. I don’t even know where I got that number. It just “sounded good”. The weight fell off, but several months in, my dietician recommended increasing it.

    It is hard to increase. My “reward center” responded so positively to the weight coming off, and I was terrified of stalling out or even gaining. I had to force myself to add a couple hundred calories. You get used to it really quick, though.

    Three months after that I started with a personal trainer and the first thing she did was insist I bump it up yet again. Rinse and repeat with the mental handwringing.

    Same as you, I stuck with a flat calorie plan slightly above TDEE, and didn't eat my exercise calories back. It was just easier mentally for me to have a line in the sand. I also eat the same foods over and over, because I enjoy them, am a bit OCD, and because I can be more confident in knowing where my calories stand at any point in the day by doing quick math in my head.

    I still don’t eat my exercise “back”. I try to stick with a daily of 2200, giving me room once every week or so to have some cookies, extra pizza, or that unexpected pack of graham crackers I scarfed down the other night. I’m currently averaging about 2500 per day.

    I think by “safe appetite suppressants” you’re referring to are the natural ones you mention like the ACV, and ginger products? For me, it’s hot drinks. If I have a two or three hour gap between meals or snacks, I fill it with chai. That’s my suppressant. It’s meditative to make, too hot to be swilled down quickly, and tastes wonderful, of course. Plus it forces me to sit down with a book, magazine or MFP and relax fir a few minutes mid day, which I no longer do otherwise.

    Interesting you mention diarying. I’ve only done it once, during a thirty day yoga challenge, and to my utter and complete amazement I broke two deeply held lifelong habits. For me, it worked crazy well, and led to permanent change. I think that posting here on the boards has fulfilled some of the same function as the diary and kept me out of trouble with food.

    You’re not under eating, you’re exercising, you’ve researched and got a handle on this. I can only compare to my very similar trajectory, but FWIW I think you’re doing great. You do what works for you, and much success to you. Hope you’ll be a long-hauler. I plan to be!

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