Messing up when I'm nearly at my goal

NovusDies wrote: »

ashley_mullo155 wrote: »

Really starting to mess up a little bit these days I've lirutally only got a stone to go untill I've reached my goal but for some reason I'm so hungry everyday for junk food I just want chocolate, crisp, cookies, more food than my calorie intake a day I've been doing it a year and I think my body is feeling the stress of counting calories everyday that's taken over my life its just become hard it was so easy up untill now, what can I do to start getting myself back into it I still do an hour workout everyday but I just eat over my calories these days carnt seem to stick too my limit

How fast are you currently trying to lose weight? My tolerance for a calorie deficit is much smaller now that I have lost most of my weight. If I make a mistake and eat too little for a few days I am ravenous.

Have you taken a diet/deficit break?

^^^ This.

OP, you may find some useful information in this thread, about what could be provoking your cravings, even if you don't want to take a maintenance break right now:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

If you still have a stone (14lbs for the other ignorant murcans like me) to go, you should be losing at 0.5 pounds a week, or 1 pound a week *at most* now. If trying for faster, that may be part of the problem (doubly so if you've been trying for something like 2 pounds a week, and not eating back your exercise calories - though I don't know if you are, or not).

I think your first priority would be getting your cravings under control. A diet break at estimated maintenance calories for a couple of weeks could be a good thing to consider.

Depending on how you're doing nutritionally, sub-ideal nutrition could also be in the picture. Is your protein consistently close to or above your MFP protein goal? Fat goal? (They should be at/over, or at least close.) Are you eating plenty of varied, colorful veggies and fruits? Some people find weight loss at smaller portion sizes of their former way of eating to be a good formula for weight loss, but if cravings increase and that eating is relatively high in foods that are calorie-dense but not nutrition-dense, it helps some people to move toward more nutrient-dense calorie-sparse foods (like veggies, fruits, whole grains, etc.).

Consider other factors, too: Have you be telling yourself you can't have certain desirable-to-you foods while dieting? If so, that can create pent-up cravings that will come out, at some point. If you want to maintain a healthy weight long term, and haven't been doing this previously, those last few pounds are definitely the time to start figuring out how you are going to eat permanently *and happily* to stay at a healthy weight for life. Build a gradual on-ramp to successful weight maintenance.

How is your stress level? Hydration? Sleep? Any of those can increase the probability of cravings. Stress is cumulative, and any of those factors (and more) can ramp up physical and emotional stress. Calorie deficit itself (any size deficit) is a physical stress. At a certain point, cravings may be the expression of cumulative stress, as the body tries to fight stress with energy intake. So, consider the big picture, and what you might do to reduce stressors in your life, or manage them in non-food ways.

Best wishes!