Finding it hard to up calorie intake without feeling guilty

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redpath15
redpath15 Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Apologies in advance this is a longer post

So i've been on a low (~1250) calorie diet for a while now (at least 12 months, although not always logging) i've gone from 192 at my heaviest - about 2 years ago, to 134 now. I exercise usually 3 times a week, and always hit 10k steps per day. I work in an office so have set my level to sedentary and have a charge 2 for tracking activity.

I am at the point where I think I need to give my body a break from the low cal diet and switch up into maintenance mode for a while, I am finding that my hair is very fragile and breaks so easily now and I get head rushes when I stand up occasionally and have been told this could be down to not getting enough nutrients / protein in my diet. I am taking Bioten to try and help my hair become stronger

My problem is I have been on circa 1200 for so long that I feel extremely guilty when I go over, even on days that I play football (soccer) or goto training/the gym I still try and aim for around 1300. Occasionally i'll burn anything from 300-600 during a workout (fitbit) but won't eat any back.

The past few days I have eaten more than usual but even though I still don't go over what MFP says is ok I end up wanting to goto the gym for a run / some sort of work out to compensate (for example Sunday i only walked about 3k steps but we had eaten out on sat for lunch and then my OH had a lamb shish kebab for dinner than I had some of so I went to the gym and ran 9.5k)

Does anyone have any tips or advice about how I can get over feeling guilty about eating more than 1300 cals?

Most days MFP says I'll have anything from 300-1000 cals left however I don't ever eat back general walking etc when I get 10k. I feel like I am plateauing with weight loss despite being in a deficit and although I've lost a bunch of weight I still feel like I have a tummy so I think this contributes to my issues about not eating more.

Thanks in advance, oh and im 29F and 5'9" my diary is open

Replies

  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
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    Well, I'm sort of in the same boat. I don't feel "guilty" though, but I'm struggling because I'm afraid I'm just going to derail at the higher calories. I was at 1230-1400 and still losing (and I needed to stop losing) so I am now at 1600. I have gotten used to it, but I'm still worried if that makes sense?

    Also, for the head rushes when you stand up, that actually might be due to heart rate. When you lose weight, get in great shape, your resting heart rate goes way down. It's common for people who get their heart rates down to have that problem with standing. So it might not be do low food intake (but it might also). You are 5'9", young, and active so probably not eating enough.

    Try to ease into ramping up the calories so you can mentally get there. Start with 1400 for 2 weeks and then go up in 100 increments every week.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Try to find a way to take the emotion out of the equation. Food is not 'good' or 'bad'. It is fuel. Ignoring your health has negative consequences so that would be a mistake. You now need to find a way to transition from being weight loss oriented to health & fitness oriented. And to improve your health & fitness, you will need more fuel.
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
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    I didn't read the whole post but u based on title check reverse dieting. It basically is adding 100 cals every week until u are at maintenance calories. WARNING: there will be fluctuations in the scale but it all levels our. Check you tubers doing reverse dieting for more info
  • murp4069
    murp4069 Posts: 494 Member
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    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    Try to find a way to take the emotion out of the equation. Food is not 'good' or 'bad'. It is fuel. Ignoring your health has negative consequences so that would be a mistake. You now need to find a way to transition from being weight loss oriented to health & fitness oriented. And to improve your health & fitness, you will need more fuel.

    That's great advice. Based on your representation that your hair is breaking, you may already be suffering from negative consequences of not eating enough/not getting enough nutrients.

    A lot of us have been there with feeling guilty, but I really agree with the advice of trying to reorient how you think about your journey. It's not always easy but you can do it. And if you are really struggling with disordered thoughts about food or your body, consider talking to your doctor.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Food is fuel...calories are units of energy that fuel our bodies...part of being healthy and fit is adequately fueling activity...it's important to recovery, performance, and fitness development...it shouldn't make you feel guilty...it's fuel. Lean, healthy, and fit people eat and train...
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited January 2017
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    How many pounds per week have you selected as your loss? I ask this as that number will inform you of how many calories to increase before you hit maintenance:
    1/2lb per week: 250 cal deficit off maintenance
    1lb per week: 500 cal deficit "
    1.5lb per week: 750 cal deficit "
    2lbs per week: 1000 cal* deficit "

    * 1000 cal deficit on mfp may not be possible unless you're very active or have over 50lbs to lose. For many, selecting the 2lbs per week would result in calories well below 1200. MFP will not allow below 1200 for women and 1500 for men, so this is why many get 1200 for a 2lb loss and don't actually lose 2lbs. For example, my sedentary maintenance is 1700 calories, so I would have to eat 700 cals a day to lose 2lbs. This is not recommended (I would get quite sick, tired and very cranky eating that little...everyone would-it's not advised for health and nutrition reasons) so MFP defaults me to 1200 which would actually give me a 1lb per week loss.

    Once you figure out your maintenance, the guilt you have will diminish.
  • redpath15
    redpath15 Posts: 16 Member
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    Thanks guys, i think my main issue with the guilt is I don't want to eat more and then put the weight back on and undo the hard work I had put in in the first place, but I do think i've become totally obsessed with logging / cals etc.
    cerise_noir wrote: »
    How many pounds per week have you selected as your loss? I ask this as that number will inform you of how many calories to increase before you hit maintenance:

    Once you figure out your maintenance, the guilt you have will diminish.

    i've set it to lose 0.5lb a week since I don't have loads to lose I should try it gradually and it has me at about 1500 cals
    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    Try to find a way to take the emotion out of the equation. Food is not 'good' or 'bad'. It is fuel. Ignoring your health has negative consequences so that would be a mistake. You now need to find a way to transition from being weight loss oriented to health & fitness oriented. And to improve your health & fitness, you will need more fuel.

    You're totally right, i need to change my mindset from weight loss to healthy lifestyle. I think I have probably lost muscle instead of fat in this process too so my next step is looking into beginning some weight / strength training.

    Thanks again folks, appreciate your thoughts.

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