Disappointing Realization of Maintenance Calories

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Replies

  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,997 Member
    Calculators only "estimate" what your cal limits should be to maintain your wt.

    Reality is somewhat different.

    Sometimes you go over and sometimes you go under and sometimes you have to adjust what the limit will be.

    You have full control over this by deciding what and how much you eat each day

    However, logging accurately everything you eat each day and weighing yourself daily is the key (at least for me) to make sure you maintain control over your wt whether you are trying to lose or maintain it
  • yuko0407
    yuko0407 Posts: 67 Member
    oocdc2 wrote: »
    I, too, found that my maintenance calories are around what my weight loss calories were.

    I'm probably going to get "Disagrees" piled on me, but IF really has made a difference for me. Same calories, nothing magical: I eat from 12:00 pm - 7:00 pm. This ensures two good-sized meals instead of three tiny ones with a lot of cheating at the end of the day, which I fell into for a while.

    I agree with everyone that exercise does allow more calorie consumption along with health benefits, but until you get into a routine, you may find having an eating window helpful.

    Same for me. I'm 52yo, 5'3", with a sedentary work and very gradually adding intentional exercice, after almost 30 years of no exercice at all. I'm a few pounds from my goal weight and (very slowly) losing at 1250 cal/day. I've found that eating after 2-3pm (except on Sunday, to have lunch with my family) makes a lot easier to be satisfied with such a low calorie allottement. I can snack when I come back from work, and have a good dinner with my family in the evening.
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Some people think they need to go at a punitive intensity every day to get benefits. That's the strategy that's most likely to be really exhausting. Start slowly, increase gradually, keep it energizing rather than exhausting: That would be my advice.

    Very good advice, imho. It's the approach I'm trying to use.

  • DogMom919
    DogMom919 Posts: 58 Member
    @AnnPT77 Happy Belated Birthday!
  • EmilyEnough
    EmilyEnough Posts: 67 Member
    I am not your age but I used to be a nutrition advisor in a weight-loss counselor (Im also a recovering food addict and I get both ends of the spectrum!).
    What I tried to encourage women over 50 and 60 was to really learn to enjoy their very most favorite healthy fat and high-protein foods for satisfaction and to feel full.
    So really enjoying a meal similar to say, a really thick homemade turkey burger with all the toppings but with a lettuce wrap.
    To do veggie noodles forever with meatballs and sauce.
    Carb slash: lettuce wrap sandwiches and tacos.
    Use avocado on crazy vegetable burrito bowls.
    Finding a way to make flavors amazing so you don't miss so many things.
    My strongest advice was to skimp on or give up pasta bread and crackers pretty much all together unless you really enjoy exercising, because there's such an easy thing to ditch when you want to dump carbs and cals. Unless its a keto recipe, bread isnt always the best "bang for your buck". My maintenance cals are only 1200 or so and doing it right was always a deliberate act, lol.
    Hope you find something that works for you!
  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    I am actually rather looking forward to the time when I will reach maintenance and eat according to that. I don't think I have ever done so, therefore this will be an entirely new experience - eating what my body needs to live properly and healthily, not what my brain wants!
  • ThinnerLiz
    ThinnerLiz Posts: 55 Member
    I know many of you may disagree with me, but I have to agree with Emily Enough, above, generally speaking.

    As an almost 60-year-old woman, it was hard to lose the weight that had slowly crept in over a few decades.

    The one thing that made the biggest difference was pretty much giving up alcohol in the weight loss phase (now I enjoy a bit in maintenance).
    The other was cutting waaaaaaaay down on grains/starches and eliminating any obvious sugar. So, bread, pasta, corn, potatoes....were had in very small portions—-maybe 1/4 cup serving—and instead I focused on non-starchy veg, protein, and healthy fats. (Olive oil, real butter, full-fat dairy, in measured amounts.)

    I believe whatever benefits there may be for a Ketogenic diet may be had with a lower carb diet.
    The biggest boon for me was satiety. I was/am rarely hungry because I don’t require a steady supply of carbs every few hours. This allows me to wait until I have good options to eat and a I’m not at the mercy of whatever is available.

    Personally, I would never be interested in things like OneMealADay made of low-quality lunch meats and pickle juice, as I’ve seen some do. Not for me. I like real, nutritious foods. Not going to waste precious calories on Easy-Mac and hot dogs unless I’m having a junk food treat, which I do on occasion.

    But a nice piece of wild salmon, or grass fed beef, with fresh veggies, and a bit of rice, topped off with a few teaspoons of olive oil? There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a perfectly healthy meal. Even if the fancy varieties are unaffordable, it’s still better than skrimping on pizza.

    I feel great eating this way, and my skin is glowing. No carb comas nor crashes, and my body composition is changing on its own without the bloat that too many processed carbs can bring.

    Carbs are not the enemy. But too many refined starches are just like sugar to the body. They drive up insulin, which causes the body to store fat. Exactly the opposite of what we want.

    There is solid science behind it, and as a skeptic, I’m living proof. The idea that we need 6+ servings a day of grains is counterproductive, from a metabolic, weight-loss point of view. 200+ grams of carbs per day just keeps the insulin flowing.

    The only way to know if this works for you is to try it! Try a few days, or a month, with only fresh veg for carbs and see how you feel.
    Unless you’re a serious athlete just burning up those carbs like crazy, they may just be making your weight loss a lot harder than it needs to be, and we want everyone here to succeed.
  • ThinnerLiz
    ThinnerLiz Posts: 55 Member
    I should add here that my labs/bloodwork are, and have been, excellent eating this way. Lost fat and retained muscle, cholesterol and triglycerides are excellent.
    As are all my other bio markers for health at 59+.
  • ThinnerLiz
    ThinnerLiz Posts: 55 Member
    I do wonder what they're disagreeing with, exactly.
    That carbohydrates affect blood sugar? That insulin drives fat storage? That cutting down foods which spike insulin might be a reasonable weight-loss strategy?
    That you can be healthy while eating predominantly quality proteins and fresh veggies? That I had episodes of hypoglycemia on a high carb, low fat diet which resolved when I changed my diet?

    These are all facts, not opinions.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    I am similar to you though a little taller. I have been here seven years and don’t feel like I’m dieting at all. I learned to eat the food I love, stop eating when I’m full, and not eat food I don’t care about. I also learned high calories food to be mindful of. When I’m hungry I eat. Doing that I’ve stayed within 10 lbs of my goal and am at the weight I was at 25. BMI 23.

    Basically I choose what I love to eat first and don’t feel deprived. And I really focus on flavor and eat smaller portions.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    BUT it is a lot harder to stay slim now than it was when I was young.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    nxd10 wrote: »
    BUT it is a lot harder to stay slim now than it was when I was young.

    Interesting. I found it so when I had an office job and was more sedentary. I'm pretty sure it was the fact that I was far more active when I was young that made the difference. Since retirement, I am again very active. I am at the same weight I was at age 30 (now 68). I walk a lot and weight train 3 to 4 days per week. I am more conscious of managing my intake.

    More effort that when I was young? In some ways yes, and in some ways not really.
  • jwoolman5
    jwoolman5 Posts: 191 Member
    I got tired of finding the scale periodically to adjust the calorie budget. So I just set it for what I knew was my ideal weight, where my body naturally kept me without effort in my 20s and 30s whenever I was healthy. That kept weight loss at a safe level also, declining with my weight. Also no surprises at maintenance. I knew what I was going to need for calories at that point, because that's what I was eating all along. I've heard other people say they used the same approach, so it's an alternative to consider.

    I do look at weekly totals more than daily, so don't worry if I go over one day since I will likely be under another day.

    Eating a lot of veggies and some fruits can make a big difference when our bodies need few total calories - non-starchy veggies especially don't have many calories but have vitamins and minerals that we can absorb better than from supplements. Joel Fuhrman recommends in Eat to Live that we aim for 2 lbs of cooked or raw non-starchy veg/mushrooms per day... So I don't think most of us have to worry about overdosing.

    I often can't really get much out of the house for medical reasons, but one exercise I can always do more or less is walk in place. No extra time involved, since I'm reading or watching tv/videos or playing games. That can really add up and it can be done for short periods while waiting for something else to happen and does not require special clothing or equipment or sweating. I find a side step easiest most of the time, I don't do exaggerated marching up and down when I do the "marching" mode. I do have a Leslie Sansone mp3 for a 15 minute walk in place routine on my phone in case I get the urge for something more vigorous that works more muscles with a variety of steps, but usually I just do my own walk in place faster. So just moving that way whenever you can might help.

    Definitely I need to get a certain number of steps in per day either walk in place or regular walking in order to avoid certain physical problems, which is an incentive. Pedometers make it easy to see how I'm doing - the Misfit tracker picks up mainly regular steps but my Walker Lite on the phone picks up walk in place quite well, as long as the speed is high enough.

    Anyway, 1400-1500 calories a day is actually a lot of food once you figure out what portions are needed for you to enjoy your food without harm. We can't eat much junk at that level, but if you just cut up your favorite junky food into smaller portions - you can still enjoy it regardless. Half an ounce or less of anything is often enough for me now. The first few bites are best, anyway. Same goes for starchy veg and grains - just think smaller portion-wise. I find that 1/3 of a baked potato is a lot of potato for me now. Likewise half a cup of rice is enough rice.

    I freeze a lot of such portions so don't need to eat the same thing all the time, and also will portion out items stored at room temperature sometimes if I need some help keeping to one portion (also means I can't use the excuse that I have to finish it off before it spoils...).
  • goatg
    goatg Posts: 1,399 Member
    1- your stomach adjusts
    2- eat out/drink less often
    3- track macros/calories until you eat intuitively
    4- be more lightly active (walking, standing); it adds up


    I find maintenance super easy. It’s losing that’s damnation for me