Does anyone else struggle to eat anough calories to maintain

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Tanie98
Tanie98 Posts: 675 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I am at where I am happy with my weight and I decided to maintain. However, I still track my food and I find myself not being able to reach my goal because I got used at eating at dificient.I just don't have apetite :( don't want to lose more weight because I still want to keep some of my butt and curves.

Does anyone had the same problem?
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Replies

  • focusedonfitness2015
    focusedonfitness2015 Posts: 240 Member
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    I have that problem too. I think its mental with me though. I ate at a deficit for so long it became habit and I have a hard time getting past it. I increased my calories once and do my best to hit it even if its by eating a calorie dense food like peanut butter. I still do gym workouts as I always have too. I've actually lost 3 lbs in the past 2 weeks so I had a massive cheat meal last night. Not that I would gain back 3 lbs overnight but I felt it was a step in the right direction.
    Weight loss/gain/maintenance is as much mental as it is physical...with me anyway

    Feel free to add me if you want support. Maybe we can figure it out together :D

    Good luck to you and congrats on hitting maintenance!
  • Tanie98
    Tanie98 Posts: 675 Member
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    I find it gets more harder when I exercise which means I have to eat extra calories.
  • steff274
    steff274 Posts: 227 Member
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    Me!! Realised we are already friends lol think Steph must have worms!! :p
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Up your calories slowly...as you do this, your hormones will adjust and your appetite will increase. Your appetite is controlled by hormones.

    Also, go lift heavy things and put them down...you will be hungry.
  • Tanie98
    Tanie98 Posts: 675 Member
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    Ok I have to start lifting heavy weights but I don't want to over do it.I have seen some women who look bulky , not as big as guys but they look muscular from lifting heavy. Its just not my cup of tea
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Tanie98 wrote: »
    Ok I have to start lifting heavy weights but I don't want to over do it.I have seen some women who look bulky , not as big as guys but they look muscular from lifting heavy. Its just not my cup of tea

    You won't get bulky if you lift and are eating in maintenance.
  • orchidee1987
    orchidee1987 Posts: 97 Member
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    I really don't have a problem like this. I had been maintaining for a year and recently put on a few pounds over my maintenance weight range. If you cannot eat more volume, what about just changing the type of food you eat ?! Really that simple ! Enjoy your extra calories !!!!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Not me. I started out losing at 2 pounds a week, then adjusted my calorie deficit every so often, so that for the last 15 pounds I was set to lose .5 pounds per week. When I first went to maintenance, I did continue losing weight, so it took awhile to find my maintenance calories, and here I am! Been maintaining for a year now.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Tanie98 wrote: »
    Ok I have to start lifting heavy weights but I don't want to over do it.I have seen some women who look bulky , not as big as guys but they look muscular from lifting heavy. Its just not my cup of tea
    Women don't get bulky from weight lifting, but we do get toned and defined. However, if you don't want this look, there are other options for you, such as light weight lifting or cardio, walking, etc. :smile:
  • Tanie98
    Tanie98 Posts: 675 Member
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    86xgt9ukspgb.png

    This what I am talking about .I don't want to look like this from heavy lifting
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    I had this problem at first. I'd find myself with 500-700 calories left at the end of the day. But small and slow changes brought my calories where I want them. Things like higher calorie bread and an extra slice of cheese at lunch. An extra serving of nuts. A little bit of ice cream. It adds up and eventually you'll get into a maintenance routine that works.
  • Tanie98
    Tanie98 Posts: 675 Member
    edited November 2014
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    Here is another one,not my cup of tea
    2ewfue3t73do.png
  • Maitria
    Maitria Posts: 439 Member
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    OP, you will not accidentally look like either of those women. If you start disliking the look of your body, you can change things up. You will get your appetite back, too.
  • Docbanana2002
    Docbanana2002 Posts: 357 Member
    edited November 2014
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    Yes it is absurd to think you will accidentally look this way from a little lifting. Like me thinking I'm going to run around the block a few hours a week and accidentally become ready to win a marathon. They want to look this way and work very hard for it.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    I'm still early on in my weight loss journey -- 10lbs lost out of my 40lb goal -- but looking ahead, I see I will only need about 1600 calories to maintain my goal weight when I eventually reach it (and that's TDEE calculated with 1-3 hours of exercise/week, which is a sustainable pace for me -- my sedentary goal weight TDEE is only 1450 calories!) Since I'm currently eating 1300-1350 for a 0.5lb/week loss rate, I suspect it will be very easy to eat enough once I reach maintenance. My struggle will be to not eat too many calories.

    I think that for people who are extremely active, larger, or have been eating at a huge deficit for a long time, it could be a bigger jump.
  • mymodernbabylon
    mymodernbabylon Posts: 1,038 Member
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    The women who look like this have done a serious bulk and then a VERY serious cut to get very low body fat and they only hold onto this look for the show or magazine cover. They are dehydrated. and many are taking 'supplements' and have worked to get there for years. You will never look like this while lifting heavy weights unless you truly want to look that way and work specifically to get there. Most of us look like normal people with just a bit more definition.
  • Tanie98
    Tanie98 Posts: 675 Member
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    mymodernbabylon wrote: »
    The women who look like this have done a serious bulk and then a VERY serious cut to get very low body fat and they only hold onto this look for the show or magazine cover. They are dehydrated. and many are taking 'supplements' and have worked to get there for years. You will never look like this while lifting heavy weights unless you truly want to look that way and work specifically to get there. Most of us look like normal people with just a bit more definition.

    Ok sounds good :)

  • Teamdhb120
    Teamdhb120 Posts: 25 Member
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    Weight training will help you maintain your butt and curves too. I lost weight doing all cardio and was a skinny marshmallow. My curves are coming back now that I've added weights. I have trouble eating the maintenance calories too. I allow two cheat meals per week and have been able to maintain.
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    Read New Rules of Lifting for Women, you might learn a thing or two.

    When people said to Arnold Schwarzenegger "We never want to look like you" he replied, "Don't worry, you never will".
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    Yes. I eat what I want and love to eat and log everything but often don't hit the calories I'm supposed to. One of the things I like about logging is it can nudge me into eating more and give me permission to eat something I want but might leave on the plate.

    My weight's been pretty stable, but I lost 5 pounds I hadn't expected to, so upped my calories and have stabilized again.

    You change over time. Just as I didn't adjust my eating to my body slowing down as I got older so slowly gained weight, now that I've been maintaining a few years, my body seems to be speeding up and I don't always adjust my eating UPWARDS enough either. That's one reason logging helps.

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