How to deal with calorie adjustments
Replies
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fitoverfortymom wrote: »Can you exercise more or do anything to increase your NEAT? Maybe just adding some quick walks throughout the day or standing while you work?
I actually DO have a standing desk at work, so that's helped some. Actual exercise is tricky... there's a fine line between eating back exercise calories and eating too many calories because I exercised.
But I do hit up Zumba classes a couple of times a week and swim laps on some off days. Very much more leaves me feeling munchier than when I started.
Yeah. I started running because it was a cheap and easy way to get more calories. No one told me about runger, and I've been losing the same 10lbs for two months.2 -
Take the timelines out of the equation. Your focus is creating and maintaining your deficits, not when the scale will move.
Also.. it is NOT easy to be keeping at a lb plus a week forever.
Look at your implicit TDEE. Are you trying for 25% or more? Switch to 20%
Also check on food optimization. Are your fats at least 0.4g per lb at normal weight? Protein at 0.8 to 1g at same? Fiber over 26g (at 2k I would be aiming for over 30 personally)?
Have you checked on any higher volume low calories optimizations (egg white concoctions, lots of veggies soups) or, the reverse, strategic fat infusions to keep you full longer (pan fried onions and/or garlic)?
Shorter eating schedule is also always an option. Personally I back load cause easier for me to be mindful during the day and looser in the evening and it is a pattern I've always had... so I followed it within the calories by delaying breakfast a bit.
When losing I would also preemptively eat without waiting to become extremely hungry. I.e. tried to stick to more of a schedule or have an apple (or half apple) or some 10-15g of almonds while preparing my food /30 - 40 min before eating.
Basically a bunch of "tricks" that might suit one individual more than they do others.
Also as your fat levels decrease and your weight loss gets slower and less predictably continuous, I sincerely hope that you're using a trending weight app to evaluate your progress...
All of this, and what Nony said about taking a midweek diet break (cheek out the refeeds thread), but I wanted to share something that happened with my weight loss that you might find helpful, and I've bolded the part Pav referenced that brought it to mind...
At various points over my initial 95 pound loss I had to juggle my macro balance and shift things around to enhance my satiety. Sometimes it was for no apparent reason. Sometimes it was because I added something to my exercise routine. All I know is that when I did this, it would work.
When I started, I was fairly sedentary and ate moderate carb, low fat, low cal. As I got more active, I upped my fats. As I got even more active, I needed to cut my fat and up my carbs. As I got even more active, I needed to up my starchy carbs. I always kept my protein around 100 grams or more. I kept juggling fat and carbs and to some extent, I still do whenever issues with hunger/satiety/satisfaction arise.
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I've found volume foods and finding foods that better satiate me has been somewhat helpful.
Finding fat vs carbs satiating is personal so this may not help, but I find it easy to replace some higher fat options with more voluminous/lower cal options. Eggs for example, I can eat egg whites for similar volume, but save some calories for something else. Peanut butter, cheese, fattier meats are all places I can save some calories by reducing fat. (We need to be hitting fat minimums of course, but for me those are calories that add up quickly and can often be reduced and replaced with something more filling.)
Bananas and oats would be another thing I would phase out (or reduce portion and add something like zucchini for more volume/less cals). Bananas aren't super high carb/calorie, but compared to berries or other fruits or veggies I find there are better options.
Eating frequently, before I get overly hungry also seems to help for me.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »At various points over my initial 95 pound loss I had to juggle my macro balance and shift things around to enhance my satiety.
In the realm of mutual resonation... I've noticed that at times switching things around does work. When I first started I reduced fats considerably and replaced them with protein and carbs, while replacing a lot of the carbs for lower glycemic load carbs.
As time has gone on things that previously were extremely satiating (a 650g tub of yoplait with some all bran buds for 300 Cal) became less so. Now I change the mix by adding 3g of cocoa and 9-12g of almonds ;-)
And at times the simple addition a little bit of fat would render a meal that was no longer as satiating significantly more so (egg white omelette with onions and green peppers cooked with no oil or butter vs cooking it with 5 to 6g of oil or butter).
Whereas pasta was something I shied away from for a long time, now I am realizing that 100g of fresh pasta (270 Cal) with a quick and plentiful sauce of onion, garlic, celery, carrots, green pepper and canned tomatoes accented by only a few petals of parmesan and 5-7g of olive oil can be had for 500 Cal and be a good enough meal. My average calories eaten while losing more rapidly on MFP were ~2560 and while losing extremely slowly, or maintaining, have ranged between 2500 and 2900 depending on activity, so obviously 500 Cal does not mean the same to me as to someone on a 1200 regiment. Quantities may have to be adjusted accordingly.
Regardless, IMHO you have to not only experiment, but also to keep experimenting!3 -
I'm not nearly as experienced as others in the thread, but I'll add my 2cents. I've found that with the more weight I lose, the harder it gets to drop my calories. Somewhere, either in the forums or in my home page I came across this website. Since I can't bring myself to eat under 1700 cals, I have to accept that my rate of loss will slow, but I wanted to know just how much over time. I plugged in my stats and it gave me a breakdown of how my tdee, weight, and calorie deficit would change over time eating 1700 cals everyday for the foreseeable future. It's been on point for the last 2 months. May be worth exploring with 1800-2000 cals along with other suggestions.2
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Thank you everyone for your wonderful and insightful comments. I'm really taking a lot out of everything that's been said here. I've temporarily dropped my goal weight down to 1 lb/week (which bumped me up to 1750 cals) while I play around with the macros and timing of "cheat"/maintenance days throughout the week while sticking to a weekly deficit.
Went to Zumba tonight, so I guess the macro experiment starts tonight. I have never counted my macros, just my calories. I know that there are a lot of resources on My Fitness Pal and elsewhere to help me figure it out.
I think a lot of the suggestions here about carbs are spot on. No, they're not the enemy, but I don't stay as full for as long when I've had a carb heavy day. I'll probably be working on shifting some of the macro burden from carbs to protein but I think that's going to be somewhat of a struggle. Beans, tofu, eggs, and lean deli meats are good and well but I'm not actually a huge fan of meat. While protein shakes can really do in a pinch, I'd like to chew the limited number of calories I get daily.
Again, thank you all for the suggestions!0 -
bellaesprita000 wrote: »I'm not nearly as experienced as others in the thread, but I'll add my 2cents. I've found that with the more weight I lose, the harder it gets to drop my calories. Somewhere, either in the forums or in my home page I came across this website. Since I can't bring myself to eat under 1700 cals, I have to accept that my rate of loss will slow, but I wanted to know just how much over time. I plugged in my stats and it gave me a breakdown of how my tdee, weight, and calorie deficit would change over time eating 1700 cals everyday for the foreseeable future. It's been on point for the last 2 months. May be worth exploring with 1800-2000 cals along with other suggestions.
Thanks for the website link! This really helped me because I’ve got my last 20-25 to lose - ideally by my 60th birthday in Sept. It makes it look very doable at 1700 cals a day if I maintain working out 3-5 times a week. So sensible!!1 -
Just remember that there are a lot of combos to try food-wise for satiety and you may really have to experiment to find what works for you.
I kept trying to increase my protein for satiation and it wasn't working and was very frustrating. I have found that fiber and fat generally seem to be a good combo for me to focus on for satiety, but others can work as well. I have to eat a minimum of protein, or I find I can be ravenous the day after a low protein day, but increasing it to large amounts does nothing for me. So, just experiment and give things a try. For instance, I found simply adding half an avocado to my lunch every day makes a big difference to my satiety. If I have a serving of beans, half an avocado, and a tortilla and/or a serving or two of greens for lunch, I'm not ravenous for dinner or needing an afternoon snack.3 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....2 -
I started at 225 and have been losing on 1690 calories a day. I eat back my exercise calories and go over some days I'm eating for 200 pounds at the moment because I didn't want to change my calorie intake to reflect 225. It might work for you to pass that up and down thing. I'm at 221 now. MFP says I'll be somewhere between 213-215 in 5 weeks.0
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I’m sure you’ve already gotten lots of suggestions. I skip breakfast and eat only lunch and dinner and just make myself follow this “no snack” rule and it helps. As long as I’m full at bedtime I’m ok. I also eat more on weekends. So it is easier for me to stick to my deficit during the week when I can look forward to taking breaks on the weekends. I’m not too concerned about losing my weight in any particular amount of time.0
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »At various points over my initial 95 pound loss I had to juggle my macro balance and shift things around to enhance my satiety.
Regardless, IMHO you have to not only experiment, but also to keep experimenting!
Bingo. What worked three months ago might not work now, for some odd reason, and sometimes a few grams of almonds sprinkled on your yogurt instead of Grape Nuts (or vice-versa) can make all the difference in the world.
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Thank you everyone for your wonderful and insightful comments. I'm really taking a lot out of everything that's been said here. I've temporarily dropped my goal weight down to 1 lb/week (which bumped me up to 1750 cals) while I play around with the macros and timing of "cheat"/maintenance days throughout the week while sticking to a weekly deficit.
Went to Zumba tonight, so I guess the macro experiment starts tonight. I have never counted my macros, just my calories. I know that there are a lot of resources on My Fitness Pal and elsewhere to help me figure it out.
I think a lot of the suggestions here about carbs are spot on. No, they're not the enemy, but I don't stay as full for as long when I've had a carb heavy day. I'll probably be working on shifting some of the macro burden from carbs to protein but I think that's going to be somewhat of a struggle. Beans, tofu, eggs, and lean deli meats are good and well but I'm not actually a huge fan of meat. While protein shakes can really do in a pinch, I'd like to chew the limited number of calories I get daily.
Again, thank you all for the suggestions!
I'm not a fan of meat either. In fact, I don't eat it. Can you have dairy? Cottage cheese goes with a lot of meals that would surprise you. Greek yogurt is another dietary staple for me.1 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Thank you everyone for your wonderful and insightful comments. I'm really taking a lot out of everything that's been said here. I've temporarily dropped my goal weight down to 1 lb/week (which bumped me up to 1750 cals) while I play around with the macros and timing of "cheat"/maintenance days throughout the week while sticking to a weekly deficit.
Went to Zumba tonight, so I guess the macro experiment starts tonight. I have never counted my macros, just my calories. I know that there are a lot of resources on My Fitness Pal and elsewhere to help me figure it out.
I think a lot of the suggestions here about carbs are spot on. No, they're not the enemy, but I don't stay as full for as long when I've had a carb heavy day. I'll probably be working on shifting some of the macro burden from carbs to protein but I think that's going to be somewhat of a struggle. Beans, tofu, eggs, and lean deli meats are good and well but I'm not actually a huge fan of meat. While protein shakes can really do in a pinch, I'd like to chew the limited number of calories I get daily.
Again, thank you all for the suggestions!
I'm not a fan of meat either. In fact, I don't eat it. Can you have dairy? Cottage cheese goes with a lot of meals that would surprise you. Greek yogurt is another dietary staple for me.
I definitely can, and do. If you flip through my diary, I'd be surprised if you didn't see Greek yogurt on at least half of the business days!0 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Thank you everyone for your wonderful and insightful comments. I'm really taking a lot out of everything that's been said here. I've temporarily dropped my goal weight down to 1 lb/week (which bumped me up to 1750 cals) while I play around with the macros and timing of "cheat"/maintenance days throughout the week while sticking to a weekly deficit.
Went to Zumba tonight, so I guess the macro experiment starts tonight. I have never counted my macros, just my calories. I know that there are a lot of resources on My Fitness Pal and elsewhere to help me figure it out.
I think a lot of the suggestions here about carbs are spot on. No, they're not the enemy, but I don't stay as full for as long when I've had a carb heavy day. I'll probably be working on shifting some of the macro burden from carbs to protein but I think that's going to be somewhat of a struggle. Beans, tofu, eggs, and lean deli meats are good and well but I'm not actually a huge fan of meat. While protein shakes can really do in a pinch, I'd like to chew the limited number of calories I get daily.
Again, thank you all for the suggestions!
I'm not a fan of meat either. In fact, I don't eat it. Can you have dairy? Cottage cheese goes with a lot of meals that would surprise you. Greek yogurt is another dietary staple for me.
I definitely can, and do. If you flip through my diary, I'd be surprised if you didn't see Greek yogurt on at least half of the business days!
Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are my JAM!!! I eat them almost every single day.0 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!0 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
I walk a good amount and I started because I also found it increased the amount I could eat and it didn't drive hunger like more intense cardio did. I think it is viable if walking (or whatever lighter cardio you choose) is something that you find sustainable. I walk 20 minutes or so on my lunch break and, when weather allows, I walk to and from work.
Like any exercise, if it's something you hate doing or struggle to make time for regularly, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. I don't think of it as trying to "out-exercise my diet" because I'm still keeping my calories in calibrated to my estimated calories out. I'm not just eating as much as I want and then hoping the walking is going to balance everything out.4 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
I have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia on top of my already existing medical conditions. The main symptom that's been getting to me with it is fatigue.
But anyway, one of the things that started this whole episode that was part of what led to the diagnosis is that I was not recovering from my workouts, and I found that I needed to scale back my activity.
Now, I have a couple of other autoimmune diseases that also have fatigue as symptoms, and I've learned the hard way that staying active is the best way to fight fatigue. Sitting around and giving into it just worsens it.
Anyway... I'm rambling to tell you about my TDEE.
I used to run and lift weights. I had to stop because I wasn't recovering.
I now walk. I walk a lot. I can walk a lot more than I could run. I do bodyweight strength training.
My TDEE has not changed and my appetite is just fine and here's the best part. Weight lifting used to make me so hungry. None of this makes me hungry.
Now, I have an indoor treadmill, but before I had the treadmill, I paced our hallway and burned calories. It worked.3 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
This strategy works for me. It probably works better for some than others, pointing back to the "keep experimenting" idea.1 -
I personally find that when I do lower intensity workouts I can increase the amount I burn without increasing my hunger a ton. I walk a lot because it gives me enough exercise calories that I can eat a little extra without wiping my entire deficit.
After losing 100 lbs what honestly worked for me was setting myself to a sedentary maintenance level of calories for me MFP says 1910 and then using my exercise calories as my deficit.... I lose .3-.8 lbs a week depending on how much I'm able to get up and move around or exercise obviously and I get to eat 1900 calories. Plus it's a motivator to exercise more to create my deficit and continue working.
I've accepted it will be slower loss during the winter because I'm not outside walking around as much and not walking my dogs as much but at the very worst case scenario I'll eat 1900 and maintain all winter until I'm able to be more active....
I'd be curious to know what others think about this. Is this a generally viable strategy or is it like trying to out exercise a bad diet?
It's such a simple change to one's mind set but I think it's kind of brilliant!
I've just started doing this exact same thing. I just set my calories to maintenance yesterday. I had been going over on them most days, and was starting to despair a bit, and then I realized that I'm in no big hurry and I'd be happy to maintain for a few weeks. So I'm now set to sedentary maintenance and any exercise I do will create the deficit.
This is essentially what I did before, though, just the flipside of doing it. Before, I was set for 1lb a week, which gave me 1440 calories. I really don't do well on less than 1800 minimum, so I would have to work every day to get those calories into the green. I'm not exercising quite as much with the cold, but I somehow feel better knowing that I'm not "going over" every day, even if I'm not in a deficit. It's all the same thing, just a different way of looking at it.1
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