The closer I get to goal, the more I want to eat! What's up with that?

crb426
crb426 Posts: 661 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My original goal was 135 pounds (30 pounds lost total). I am currently at 136 and have decided to go down to a new goal of 125-130 because I still feel like there's a little more to lose, plus I want that cushion of a range.

But after 5 months of feeling good about eating 1200 calories a day I am suddenly struggling to keep to that number. It's not ridiculously higher, but it's more like 1600. It's not a huge deal of course since I basically "made it", but frustrating just the same.

Anybody else feel like the closer they got to goal, the harder it became?

Replies

  • duddysdad
    duddysdad Posts: 403 Member
    I was the same way. I knew I was close to maintenance and felt like I had come so far, that I could afford to let loose a little more.
  • ElleMarieRose
    ElleMarieRose Posts: 37 Member
    I'm in the same boat. I'm like semi happy with my body and fitness level but I still want to lose a little more. These last 10 have been the roughest yet. I get discouraged because at 240, I could eat 1700 calories and lose weight fast. But that is my tdee now.
  • haydiz70
    haydiz70 Posts: 56 Member
    Same here. I have 7 more pounds till my goal and I'm struggling with increased hunger. I've lost 48 pounds over the past year. I'm not sure why I'm struggling so much.
  • suziecue20
    suziecue20 Posts: 567 Member
    It's like being in labour (the weight loss process to NEARLY goal] and then giving birth [reaching goal] - the nearer you get the harder and more painful it becomes - the difference is you have no choice but to get to goal in childbirth lol - don't get discouraged, give it that extra PUSH and you'll get there!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    I believe it's complacence

    It might help to get your mindset into the place where you understand that you are heading to maintenance .. you should be at a small cut by now (no more than 250 calories) and realising that your normality forever will just be a small amount more food

    focus on what fills you up ... your go to foods.. how you're going to eat for the rest of your life
    try to get rid of 'diet'/weight loss mentality
    move more to eat more
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited November 2015
    Same here. Heck I've been maintaining 3 pounds from my goal for 1.5 year because I just can't eat less, and I eat more than when I was losing!
  • dawniemate
    dawniemate Posts: 395 Member
    crb426 wrote: »
    My original goal was 135 pounds (30 pounds lost total). I am currently at 136 and have decided to go down to a new goal of 125-130 because I still feel like there's a little more to lose, plus I want that cushion of a range.

    But after 5 months of feeling good about eating 1200 calories a day I am suddenly struggling to keep to that number. It's not ridiculously higher, but it's more like 1600. It's not a huge deal of course since I basically "made it", but frustrating just the same.

    Anybody else feel like the closer they got to goal, the harder it became?

    Identical lol. I want to eat everything I've previously cut down on and lots of it! Having difficulty cutting back, I think I need help :)
  • amberlyda1
    amberlyda1 Posts: 154 Member
    Self sabotage! I am the gueen of that realm. I have even done that to myself recently. I was sticking to 1200, loosing 2 lbs a week, I was super happy with my progress.....then I started to slip. Freak yesterday I ate 1600 and didn't exercise. When I'm tired it's worse, and right now im stretched to the limit. Haven't lost a pound in almost a month.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 661 Member
    Do you think the weather has anything to do with it? Like "bulking up for winter"? Ha!

    I'm glad it's not just me. I will continue, but I love the idea of only being about 250 under my future maintenance number.
  • brb2008
    brb2008 Posts: 406 Member
    I can tell you I felt the same once I hit 100lbs lost. I said, "heck, you can slow down now! Eat more and rest more!" And over the last year I only managed to maintain for 6 months before gaining again. I'm now back up 65lbs :/ my experience isnt everyone's but I suggest you try to stick to it. Giving myself too much slack was my downfall and I am trying not to forget what went wrong before.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    I'm right there with you!! My original goal was 138 and once I hit it, I knew I wanted to lose another 10 pounds. But I decided to do it slowly and changed my settings to lose 1/2 lb per week. Well, I did that for a couple weeks and was just maintaining. So I moved it back to 1 pound a week, but that brought my calories to 1200 for the day and then I get an extra 300 for breastfeeding, so it's 1500 which isn't bad. But I'm so freakin hungry! I think I'm going to go back to 1/2 lb per week, tighten up my logging, and just maintain for a while if I need to. I've worked too hard to lose the weight, I do'nt want to feel starving and then start binging because of it.
  • swim777
    swim777 Posts: 599 Member
    Same! I've lost 61 lbs and the closer I get to goal the hungrier I get. I have slowed down both to get used to having a little more and not go over..and just because I am close...still tough!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    When was your last diet break?
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,592 Member
    crb426 wrote: »
    Do you think the weather has anything to do with it? Like "bulking up for winter"? Ha!

    I'm glad it's not just me. I will continue, but I love the idea of only being about 250 under my future maintenance number.

    Not the weather ... it's late spring here, and yet I could eat an entire restaurant full of food.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    I just started a bulk and I'm still hungry. I feel you.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,592 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    When was your last diet break?

    Now that is what I figure is going on with me.

    I hit my first goal in mid-June, approx. 4 months after I had started, and took a 1-month diet break which was wonderful!

    I resumed the weightloss plan, and now another 4 months have gone by. I figure I'm due for another break, but I did want to hit my goal first. 2 kg to go.

  • Jmgkamp
    Jmgkamp Posts: 278 Member
    Oh I'm loving this post! I'm so with you all. I'm 17 pounds from goal (going 5 under for the cushion) and was so hard. I took an unplanned diet break - immediately gained 5 (overnight) but that's because I went to maintenance and restored the glycogen/water weight.

    I'm getting used to the idea that this is forever. There's never going to be an end for me. I'll always have to balance over days with under days, and it's a process. But gone are the 4 pounds a week :). Now I'll bounce around and end up at 2-3 each month.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    When you had 30 lbs of extra fat (if you're a typical healthy person) you were actually able to function well on a larger deficit. Your body still needs your full TDEE every day, whether you ate 1000 calories under it or not, it still burned all 2200 or whatever. It's just when you had 30 extra lbs of fat your body could use that fat to make up the difference. Let's say at your highest weight that fat could produce about 1500 calories per day. Now that you don't have that extra 30 lbs of fat, maybe now your body can only manufacture 500 extra daily calories from your current fat stores. What this means is now you have to eat more calories per day to not get raging hunger signals (you're still using 2000 or whatever calories per day, it's just now your body can't pull more than 500 reserve calories from you fat stores).

    Does that make sense? i don't know if I'm explaining it as well as some people can.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 661 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    When was your last diet break?

    I've been slightly less strict lately. Still logging, but I shocked my coworkers by eating m&m's with lunch on Tuesday and leftover spinach lasagna yesterday instead of my usual salad with chicken. I have had a series of days in which I have added in a few more calories than usual, so I guess you can count that as a break. I'm not willing to break away completely (no logging), especially since I can't quite trust my hunger to not lead me down a bad path.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    crb426 wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    When was your last diet break?

    I've been slightly less strict lately. Still logging, but I shocked my coworkers by eating m&m's with lunch on Tuesday and leftover spinach lasagna yesterday instead of my usual salad with chicken. I have had a series of days in which I have added in a few more calories than usual, so I guess you can count that as a break. I'm not willing to break away completely (no logging), especially since I can't quite trust my hunger to not lead me down a bad path.
    When I say diet break, for me it means no logging for two weeks. It does NOT mean go hog wild. It's more of a psychological on that end for me and the first time I did it, it took me 3 days to stop freaking out and mentally weighing everything. Physiologically, it always feels for me, like I'm giving my body a break for a bit, from being in a deficit.
    This is a good time for you, being so close, to take a practice run at what maintenance will look like.
  • modestguineapig
    modestguineapig Posts: 23 Member
    Yes! This is totally me! SW 160lb, CW 138, GW 130. The last week I have been so hungry all the time. I bumped my calories up 100 a couple days ago, so now I think I am around a 300 calorie deficit. It has seemed to help. Thanks for posting because I felt like it was just me and all in my head!
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 661 Member
    WBB55 wrote: »
    When you had 30 lbs of extra fat (if you're a typical healthy person) you were actually able to function well on a larger deficit. Your body still needs your full TDEE every day, whether you ate 1000 calories under it or not, it still burned all 2200 or whatever. It's just when you had 30 extra lbs of fat your body could use that fat to make up the difference. Let's say at your highest weight that fat could produce about 1500 calories per day. Now that you don't have that extra 30 lbs of fat, maybe now your body can only manufacture 500 extra daily calories from your current fat stores. What this means is now you have to eat more calories per day to not get raging hunger signals (you're still using 2000 or whatever calories per day, it's just now your body can't pull more than 500 reserve calories from you fat stores).

    Does that make sense? i don't know if I'm explaining it as well as some people can.

    Ohh, thank you for that! I get it.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 661 Member
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    crb426 wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    When was your last diet break?

    I've been slightly less strict lately. Still logging, but I shocked my coworkers by eating m&m's with lunch on Tuesday and leftover spinach lasagna yesterday instead of my usual salad with chicken. I have had a series of days in which I have added in a few more calories than usual, so I guess you can count that as a break. I'm not willing to break away completely (no logging), especially since I can't quite trust my hunger to not lead me down a bad path.
    When I say diet break, for me it means no logging for two weeks. It does NOT mean go hog wild. It's more of a psychological on that end for me and the first time I did it, it took me 3 days to stop freaking out and mentally weighing everything. Physiologically, it always feels for me, like I'm giving my body a break for a bit, from being in a deficit.
    This is a good time for you, being so close, to take a practice run at what maintenance will look like.

    I just don't know that I'm ready for that yet...

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