Confused

yup MFP is designed for you to eat back your exercise cals.

Unfortunately, no I don't. It's something I struggle with too, as do many people.

I've found 2 things to help -

1) stay busy. The busier I am, the less I'm thinking about food and the less chance I have to eat simply because I'm bored or there's food around or whatever else.

2) make good decisions. I've found that good decisions lead to more good decisions, and bad ones lead to more bad. For me, there is a bit of a snowball effect to how I eat. If I eat well for a couple of days, my cravings start to fade, which makes it easier to eat well, which cause my cravings to fade further, which makes it even easier to eat well, etc. Similarly, eating poorly seems to increase my cravings, making it harder to eat well, which leads to more bad choices which leads to more cravings, etc.

So why was I gaining so much weight at 2600ish cals a day?

Not properly tracking food? Are you weighing your food? or just guessing?
Eating more than 2600 calories.?
Exercise was not enough to require the calories your were ingesting......so eating above maintenance?
Maybe you should see a doctor?

Those are things that come to my mind initially.

Do you have any tips on managing food cravings, keeping my mind off food etc?

I used to eat alot, well over 2500 Cals a day, and now im down to eating 1400 max with exercise, do i have to just wait for my stomach to shrink?

Thanks

Eat more filling foods. Veggies are the most effective for me. You can eat A LOT of (most) veggies for very few calories. Sometimes it's nice to get that "oh, I'm so full!" feeling. The other thing I do is avoid junk food. While I agree with the notion that you don't want to entire deprive yourself of things, I have found that the less junk food I eat, the less I want it. The healthier I eat, the healthier I want to eat. (The other night, I had 200 calories left. I love Heath bars and have some in the freezer. I could have had that or an apple with peanut butter. The apple/PB actually appealed to me more. Sometimes I feel like I should eat the Heath when I have the calories in order to prevent uncontrollable cravings later. But I actually think that if I had eaten it, I would have just wanted more. So for me, I mostly avoid.)

Especially if the food is processed food, like cereals.....they all tend to be very high in carbs.

Ok....
Why doesn't your lunch consist of something like this?

Orange/apple
Chicken or fish (grilled or baked)
broccoli (or some other veggie of choice, steamed)
Maybe also a sweet potato

Your lunch sounds very lacking.....TBH

I'm a 1st year apprentice, all my money is spent on rent, car insurance and petrol. 300 quid a month. I simply can't afford to buy chicken for lunch, I'm lucky if I get it for dinner.

Ok.

Well, I can't see your diary.....
But I would recommend your daily targets for your macros be on the order of
170 - 180 gr of protein/day == 680 - 720 cal
80 - 95 gr of fat/day == 720 - 855 cal
190 - 225 gr of carbs / day. 760 - 900 cal
That should get your 2100 - 2400 calories / day.

If I got your weight right......and assuming 3 days of exercise.

Sounds to me like your diet is lacking is some areas......but as I noted I can't see your diary.....

Best thing to manage your hunger is drink alot of water. Sometimes people mistake thirst for hunger. Drink lots, I always have a water bottle on the go.

Stay busy. Its when you sit down and watch tv that you think about it. Get out of the house and do something.

I'm a 1st year apprentice, all my money is spent on rent, car insurance and petrol. 300 quid a month. I simply can't afford to buy chicken for lunch, I'm lucky if I get it for dinner.

Ok.

Well, I can't see your diary.....
But I would recommend your daily targets for your macros be on the order of
170 - 180 gr of protein/day == 680 - 720 cal
80 - 95 gr of fat/day == 720 - 855 cal
190 - 225 gr of carbs / day. 760 - 900 cal
That should get your 2100 - 2400 calories / day.

If I got your weight right......and assuming 3 days of exercise.

Sounds to me like your diet is lacking is some areas......but as I noted I can't see your diary.....

So I should be doubling my cal intake to keep at 2lb a week loss?

How do I make my diary public?

I think 2lbs a week is very aggressive to be honest.......don't treat this like a sprint....it is a marathon....
It takes time, and you want to make it a lifestyle.

You can open your diary through your profile settings.

also keep in mind, that some people in their first week can lose 5 - 10 lbs.
That is usually just a water weight and can fluctuate......

There will prolly be times you lose 2 lbs a week (or more) and there may be times where you lose no weight......

You have to look at the big picture.....and not focus on the little one.