I have less self control while maintaining then I did while losing
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I believe that a body can be defective in small ways, such as needing glasses or hearing aids. You and I have a particular defect that tells us to eat too much. Add to that a world in which food is not scarce and we will tend to gain weight. If we were living during times of scarcity, this tendency might help us survive. Therefore, simply accept that it may always feel like someone is whispering in your ear telling you to overeat. A person who is naturally slim and athletic cannot teach you anything about this problem because they don't hear the voice. You simply need to devise a system to ignore the bad advice this voice is giving you and get the right amount of food and exercise.
Utter rubbish.4 -
I got really hungry when I brought my calories up to maintenance even though I did it gradually week by week for over a month. I thought something was wrong but I posted a thread here on 'maintenance' and found out increased hunger is definately a thing that happens in early maintenance for a short time.
Now that I'm usually eating maintenance (some days more, some days less) but on average I'm eating over what maintenance calories should be according to mfp. I'm not gaining at all and surprized! My hunger has gone back down to normal. At least I'm satisfied with what I eat every day, which explains why some days I just eat more, or less, depending on my hungeries.
I left quite a gap between my calorie loss plan and my maintenance though. I have about 350 more calories to eat in maintenance, so this may be a factor, according to how you lost.
So far, except for the first month I find maintenance way easier than losing. The increased energy makes me a much more active person. I take on more tasks and do a lot more walking just for errands and interest, my regular calesthenics, yoga routine is more enjoyable and I out more into it which I think is from the added energy from eating more.
Hey, its just one day!
Best wishes to you. I also would find it hard to resist a dollar discount on the fries!
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trigden1991 wrote: »I believe that a body can be defective in small ways, such as needing glasses or hearing aids. You and I have a particular defect that tells us to eat too much. Add to that a world in which food is not scarce and we will tend to gain weight. If we were living during times of scarcity, this tendency might help us survive. Therefore, simply accept that it may always feel like someone is whispering in your ear telling you to overeat. A person who is naturally slim and athletic cannot teach you anything about this problem because they don't hear the voice. You simply need to devise a system to ignore the bad advice this voice is giving you and get the right amount of food and exercise.
Utter rubbish.
I don't think this is rubbish at all, and I'm sorry to see a new member attacked like this when they're trying to help. I think it's a good analogy, in fact - I didn't have the impulse to eat too much when I was young, slim and athletic, but I do now. And I do think that part of maintenance has recognising that - it doesn't go away, just because you've reached goal weight. You have to deal with it constantly. I have talked to other "maintainers" who have the same issue, and have to always be vigilant. That might be the case for everybody, but I think it's worth being aware that it happens to some.14 -
Sometimes I have to remind myself that the weight can come back on...if I let this lifestyle stop. Hate to admit it, but sometimes I do have this mentality like "I am DONE! Hellzzz yea, mutha *kitten*, I did it!" and I don't really care what I eat nor pay attention. I guess that's the key, my attention to detail goes out the window sometimes. Nevertheless, my "good" days outweigh the "bad" days in maintenance. Plus, I do acknowledge how well I feel when I treat my body right!1
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I'm in the same boat OP. That's why I keep a deficit whenever I can, lol (my goal is 400 calories under my TDEE), so if I decide to have an extra 300 calories a couple days a week, it evens out. It's mental for me though - when I see that I have fewer calories left, I make better choices 90% of the time. And when I actually hit it.. great! That's 400 calories banked for next time. If I go over a bit... chances are I'm still at maintenance. If I go over a lot... well, I probably had 800-1000 calories banked this week, so it's all good.
That's how I've been maintaining for 2.5 years now, but I've also never worried about losing too much weight (I'd still love to lose a few pounds, it's just not happening). I know that if I had my goal set at maintenance, I'd just be too comfortable eating to goal most days (probably eating junk to get there), so if I went over too much, I'd end up gaining.
The bottom line is that we all have bad days, but there are also good days when you can make up for it.9 -
I went from around 250 pounds last september to about 165 this year. Well anyway the last couple of days have been brutal. I had about 500 calories leftover for the day after work and decided to go for a jalapeno mchicken which was 430. Well anyway the guy upsold me on a medium fries for $1 more which was 340. So yeah I'm over already. And part of me just snaps when I'm already over my goal. I just don't stop and tell myself i'll try again tomorrow I just keep eating and eating and eating. When I was losing weight it was easy because I had some kind of goal to focus on. Now I think I'm kinda rebelling against the "rules" i set for myself by forcing a certain amount of calories on myself. Anyone go through this and have any advice? The good knews is I know I'm doing it. The bad news is I have no *kitten* clue how to stop it.
Well, the good news is that your maintenance calories isn't exactly XXXX calories...your maintenance calories are a range and the human body is very adept at using excess energy in the short run...the human body strives for homeostasis so in the short run it will simply speed up or slow down processes to compensate for more or less energy...you have to consistently underfeed or overfeed to override your body's ability to maintain homeostasis.4 -
I have the problem with maintenance and the urge to over eat also. I think many of us who have had true weight issues have unhealthy relationships with food. We might consider going to Over Eaters Anonymous to acquire the skills we will need to maintain our weight loss for the remainder of our lives.1
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Totally OP. I do try to do a couple day s in a deficit with the hopes it helps keep me in my weight range.
I was great 95% of the time, then maint...just is killing me.... Clean foods, non-clean...mentally I'm in an attitude of I don't care. Hoping to change that and get back into wanting to eat right.
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Totally OP. I do try to do a couple day s in a deficit with the hopes it helps keep me in my weight range.
I was great 95% of the time, then maint...just is killing me.... Clean foods, non-clean...mentally I'm in an attitude of I don't care. Hoping to change that and get back into wanting to eat right.
Yeah I set my goal to half pound a week for next ferw days or so to see what happens. I weighed my self at about 163 this morning which is about 3 pounds more than the lowest weight I ever recorded that was probably a fluke.0 -
I think maintaining can be even more difficult that losing! I think the difficulty with calorie counting to maintain is that it has to be precise. Obviously if you have a figure for a 500 deficit while losing, for instance, then it doesn't matter too much if you go over by 100 calories every other day. You'll just lose slightly slower. But if you do that when maintaining, then you'll slowly gain.
I haven't got to my goal yet but I've taken a few "maintenance breaks" along the way this year, and this is exactly what happened to me the first time I did that. I found it very stressful to eat at maintenance levels and not go over, because I was so paranoid about gaining some of the weight back, and it was a relief to get back to restricting! I was aware of the problem the next time and was able to be a bit more relaxed about it (and developed a slightly different problem instead - it's definitely a constant learning experience!).
OP, I like some of the advice here to try setting your calorie a bit lower than maintenance, and perhaps that will help you to not stress about going over. It also gives you some 'banked' calories to absorb the effects of a higher day if you want a bigger meal or whatever.
From a lot of what I've read here in the forums, it takes some time to really get to grips with your maintenance anyway so try not to worry about it too much, and just take time to play around with things and find what works for you. Congrats on getting to this stage!0 -
JessicaMcB wrote: »Just wanted to say I totally feel you OP. I hit goal at the beginning of September, dropped a little too far with hard training into the underweight category and after freaking out about that did something collosally stupid (ate some of my daughters' birthday cake after being keto for 7 months) which has spiraled into me feeling totally out of control and being up above my maintenance weight threshold for about a week now. Going back into serious cut phase tomorrow and am seriously disappointed in myself
I kept attempting this "eat treats in moderation" that people love to espouse on here but this ignores the fact that I apparently can't moderate treat foods, I swear to God I've tried
. My solution is to bite the bullet, go back to keto with my tail between my legs and accept I can never eat cake again if I don't want to be fat and hate myself (and before someone jumps all over me no I am not suggesting that other people cannot eat cake and be thin and happy, I am suggesting I am a moron who literally can't be trusted with confections lol)
I hope you figure out something more moderate than I have so you can have your McSammich and fries and maintain your weight too OP, hang in there
I'm also an abstainer not a moderator. I've learned to accept that I can't eat in moderation but I pick alternate things that I can moderate and I truly enjoy them.6 -
I'm in the same boat OP. That's why I keep a deficit whenever I can, lol (my goal is 400 calories under my TDEE), so if I decide to have an extra 300 calories a couple days a week, it evens out. It's mental for me though - when I see that I have fewer calories left, I make better choices 90% of the time. And when I actually hit it.. great! That's 400 calories banked for next time. If I go over a bit... chances are I'm still at maintenance. If I go over a lot... well, I probably had 800-1000 calories banked this week, so it's all good.
That's how I've been maintaining for 2.5 years now, but I've also never worried about losing too much weight (I'd still love to lose a few pounds, it's just not happening). I know that if I had my goal set at maintenance, I'd just be too comfortable eating to goal most days (probably eating junk to get there), so if I went over too much, I'd end up gaining.
The bottom line is that we all have bad days, but there are also good days when you can make up for it.
I do this too most of the time. I'm on a perpetual "lose .5 lb a week" setting. But I figure it makes up for any inaccuracies in logging or days I say to heck with it. Been maintaining for 2+ years this way.6 -
Small portions. It's the only thing that helps me. And chewing slow. And drinking lots of beverage. All of it keeps me from shoving more food in my mouth.1
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trigden1991 wrote: »I believe that a body can be defective in small ways, such as needing glasses or hearing aids. You and I have a particular defect that tells us to eat too much. Add to that a world in which food is not scarce and we will tend to gain weight. If we were living during times of scarcity, this tendency might help us survive. Therefore, simply accept that it may always feel like someone is whispering in your ear telling you to overeat. A person who is naturally slim and athletic cannot teach you anything about this problem because they don't hear the voice. You simply need to devise a system to ignore the bad advice this voice is giving you and get the right amount of food and exercise.
Utter rubbish.
I don't think this is rubbish at all, and I'm sorry to see a new member attacked like this when they're trying to help. I think it's a good analogy, in fact - I didn't have the impulse to eat too much when I was young, slim and athletic, but I do now. And I do think that part of maintenance has recognising that - it doesn't go away, just because you've reached goal weight. You have to deal with it constantly. I have talked to other "maintainers" who have the same issue, and have to always be vigilant. That might be the case for everybody, but I think it's worth being aware that it happens to some.
It wasn't an analogy though, it was a statement about human mentality. The point being made was that some people have an impulse developed through evolution to eat to excess to help us survive in times of scarcity. If that was the case, the whole population would experience the same impulse, unless you believe that some people are more evolved than others.3 -
Maintenance is harder for me as well. So far I'm only 3lbs over my goal weight, so my new goal is to simply train myself to stay within my target. No one is twisting my arm and forcing me to eat what I should not. It's difficult sometimes, but it's starting to become habitual and is getting easier.
Hang in there OP, find healthy replacements. You can do this.3 -
trigden1991 wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I believe that a body can be defective in small ways, such as needing glasses or hearing aids. You and I have a particular defect that tells us to eat too much. Add to that a world in which food is not scarce and we will tend to gain weight. If we were living during times of scarcity, this tendency might help us survive. Therefore, simply accept that it may always feel like someone is whispering in your ear telling you to overeat. A person who is naturally slim and athletic cannot teach you anything about this problem because they don't hear the voice. You simply need to devise a system to ignore the bad advice this voice is giving you and get the right amount of food and exercise.
Utter rubbish.
I don't think this is rubbish at all, and I'm sorry to see a new member attacked like this when they're trying to help. I think it's a good analogy, in fact - I didn't have the impulse to eat too much when I was young, slim and athletic, but I do now. And I do think that part of maintenance has recognising that - it doesn't go away, just because you've reached goal weight. You have to deal with it constantly. I have talked to other "maintainers" who have the same issue, and have to always be vigilant. That might be the case for everybody, but I think it's worth being aware that it happens to some.
It wasn't an analogy though, it was a statement about human mentality. The point being made was that some people have an impulse developed through evolution to eat to excess to help us survive in times of scarcity. If that was the case, the whole population would experience the same impulse, unless you believe that some people are more evolved than others.
The analogy was between feeling the impulse to overeat and somebody whispering in your ear, telling you to overeat. The person didn't say that we have literally evolved to hear voices (or even that we've evolved to have a tendency to overeat), only that a tendency to overeat might not be a problem if food were scarce, but can be a problem when it's not. The point seemed to me to be not about evolution, but the need to find a way to ignore the "voice" that tells you to overeat. Don't just expect it to go away because you can eat a bit more in maintenance.
Anyway, you didn't find the advice useful, maybe because it doesn't apply to you and that's fair enough. But somebody else might, and I think there's no need to dismiss the whole post as "utter rubbish", especially when it's somebody new.7 -
It wasn't an analogy though, it was a statement about human mentality. The point being made was that some people have an impulse developed through evolution to eat to excess to help us survive in times of scarcity. If that was the case, the whole population would experience the same impulse, unless you believe that some people are more evolved than others.
Except it's a statement about physiology, not mentality, and it's pretty well established our levels of hormones regulating hunger and satiety do vary.
Also, not all favorable traits are uniformly favorable. For example, the gene that confers resistance to malaria is coinherited with sickle-cell trait. Nor does a trait being fairytale mean it has 100% penetration. While seeing well is a clear evolutionary advantage, large swaths of the human population have poor vision.
The WHO is freaked out because the moment they thought world hunger is solvable, world obesity showed up in a big way. This actually makes a lot of sense. People were starving because of scarcity. Now they are fat because of abundance. Why would they not stop eating at "medically perfect weight"? A good explanation is that our hunger cues are conservative.
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I understand. Last week was a rough week for me. I overate every day and only worked out twice. I told myself that Monday I would start all over again, and that 1 week wouldn't make a difference overall. I did restart everything on Monday, and yesterday was better, I was under my calorie goals which also isn't good, but it's better than being over I guess. I'm trying to take it each day at a time.
I just didn't realize that maintaining would be more challenging mentally than eating at a deficit.2 -
The last few weeks have been brutal for me. I've lost 66 pounds but have 31 more to go. It dawned on me last night that I have been skipping my veggies. In the beginning I was getting alot more bulk. Take a look at your food log and see if you have slipped back to eating lots of carb. You may be different than me but that is a sure trigger that makes me crave things I shouldn't eat. I know I'm not in maintenance so can't really relate with personal experience yet but your post made me think about this issue again and I thought I would share. Congratulations on the great loss by the way!3
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