Help me/ Calorie Questions

JasonD334

Okay to start let me say that I know there are many people who don't want to hear about my "problem" and may think I am not being genuine, but put all that aside, because I truly need help. Here's my situation. -- I have reached my goal weight about 3 weeks ago, and am now about 5 lbs under where I wanted to be, and am still losing. Right now I am having to eat about 3000 calories a day just to maintain my weight, and this is proving to be a much harder task then when I was wanting to lose the weight.

If you are in the same boat as me, or have been, please tell me what I can do to help maintain this weight, while continuing to run 4-5miles a day (average 600/700 calorie burn). I don't want to eat foods loaded with fats and a bunch of other crap, but today for instance I found myself eating one meal from McDonalds (which isn't my fav) that was over 1000calories by itself (BTW, still only had 2400 calorie intake).

I need advice on how I can eat all my required calories, while at the same time not adding a bunch of unwanted junk to my body. --

Can you help?

Acg67

calorically dense foods (fats aren't bad btw)

nuts
nut butters
pasta
avocados
full fat dairy

Kate6868

brown rice
bananas

Huffdogg

Is running your only form of exercise?

Acg is right; fats aren't bad at all, especially if you have reached (or surpassed) the point that you were looking to burn existing body fat. In fact, you need quite a bit of fat in your diet to supply all that ready energy your metabolism is now demanding. Additional protein, especially coupled with some strength training, will help build additional muscle, so you can put back on some of those pounds you say you didn't want to lose. But let me ask you this, coming from someone who also surpassed what they originally thought to be their goal weight: is the number on the scale really that bothersome? Do you feel good? Do you like what you see in the mirror? If so, I'd quit worrying about scale weight. In fact, I'd quit counting calories in any diligent manner entirely. You have clearly mastered what your body needs. I seriously doubt that you need to count to maintain a healthy body at this point. I'd start eating foods you know are healthy in whatever amount feels comfortable, focusing on omega 3 type fats and lots of protein with some good fruit and vegetable carbs and just see what happens.

Edit: hey I just checked your diary out. Looks like you're still using MFP's defaults for macronutrients. IIRC that's like 40% carb, and 30% each fat and protein. Try fiddling with that if you're still going to count and log. Drop carbs to 20-25, raise protein to 40, and fat to 35-40. That could be what you need.