Maintenance Food Intake

Yep! I sure can. Even when I was losing 1 pound per week, I found it tough to eat all my calories! I just hit my goal weight, and will be increasing calories today. Should be interesting to see all the food I have to eat! So, you aren't alone:) best!

Oh yeah. My maintenance is 1700+exercise. I have been under my calorie alotment all but 2 weeks of the last three years - often by several thousand calories in the summer. I love food. I eat healthy. I enjoy ice cream almost every day. But I eat snacks in small portions and veggies in large ones, so it doesn't add up to a lot.

I'm happy. I'm not hungry. I'm maintaining. Must be okay.

katiejanecollins wrote: »

Because everything I eat tends to be low calorie, getting to 1800 cals is pretty tough. I've been filling my calorie allowance with foods that contain high protein/fat to get my macros up which is working well for me - but it means I don't stop eating all day! I have breakfast, 2 snacks, lunch, 2 snacks, dinner, 2 snacks. Yet my calories usually still come in at around 100-200 short. Everyone at my work is saying I don't stop eating which is making me concious, but at least I'm eating lots of good things rather than chocolate and biscuits!! Can anyone relate!?

I can relate. I am around 50-100 short of my 1800 goal, with the occasional overage (usually on days after hard workouts). I honestly meet that number with a beer or a dessert and don't feel bad about that.

During the day, my meals are around 250-450, with dinner usually being a bit larger. Of course, that leaves room for snacks, which somedays I'm totally into and somedays I'm not. I didn't snack at all yesterday, had a beer and some ice cream and still came in under 1800.

I'd just look for higher calorie snacks--nuts and nut butters, avocado, etc. Enjoy a drink. Enjoy some dessert

Try making blend shakes example :banana1 oatmeal peanut butter, milk , proteins powder. That just give you about 600-800cals + your meals

I can relate to those comments, I know it feels kinda crappy like they're judging you. You could either say "Well I lost a bunch of weight eating like this, so I guess I'm doing something right!" or you can just shrug your shoulders and ignore it. But if you're maintaining then keep it up!

I would recommend a couple things:

1) I'm not sure what your regular diet is like, but if there's anything you're eating that's "diet" or "substitute" (e.g. egg whites or egg substitute instead of eggs), make a swap.

2) Try increasing your calories gradually. I'm not actually on maintenance yet, just doing a lot of research, and many of the articles I'm reading tell you that you should increase your calories 100-200 at a time until you're eating what you're supposed to be. It will give you some time to adjust mentally and your body time to adjust physically.

Congrats for being on maintenance!