Wild appetite

Svhmaddison
Svhmaddison Posts: 17 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss


Hi everyone, I regularly read on here and take a lot from the advice and insights you all share. So I was wondering if you’d be able to help me out a bit.

I’ve recently switched to maintenance for a bit as of 21st September. I’ve gone from 243lb to 166lb since starting April just gone. I’m a 5’6” 27 year old female, I’m now eating around 1800-2100 calories a day depending on how active I am. I’m aware my BMI is still not healthy but considering I was category 3 obese I’m happy for the time being, I might reevaluate my goal as time goes by.

My appetite is absolutely wild since starting maintenance! My main meals seem to be be filling me fine but once I eat a treat like chocolate (which I always incorporated into my calories, even whilst in deficit) I just feel like I could keep going and eat allllll the treats in the house.

I feel like my appetite wasn’t this much whilst I was in a deficit, so why now I can eat more do I want more food than I should have? I could quite happily overeat and unhappily regain all the weight I’ve lost.

Replies

  • Fitforevermore
    Fitforevermore Posts: 399 Member
    I'm no expert but I've read or seen on TV that when you lose weight your body tries to return to a 'set point' so it's a continuous battle to stay at the lower weight. But for on personal experience, I have similar stats to you, I think it eases after 6 months to a year and a lower weight becomes your 'set point'- now if I could just get mine in the healthy range!!!
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,962 Member
    Fitforevermore wrote: »
    I'm no expert but I've read or seen on TV that when you lose weight your body tries to return to a 'set point' so it's a continuous battle to stay at the lower weight. But for on personal experience, I have similar stats to you, I think it eases after 6 months to a year and a lower weight becomes your 'set point'- now if I could just get mine in the healthy range!!!

    I don't believe in set points myself. But I have read that appetite can increase at maintenance and that it takes a while to normalize.
  • phoenixrb35
    phoenixrb35 Posts: 23 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    Fitforevermore wrote: »
    I'm no expert but I've read or seen on TV that when you lose weight your body tries to return to a 'set point' so it's a continuous battle to stay at the lower weight. But for on personal experience, I have similar stats to you, I think it eases after 6 months to a year and a lower weight becomes your 'set point'- now if I could just get mine in the healthy range!!!

    I don't believe in set points myself. But I have read that appetite can increase at maintenance and that it takes a while to normalize.

    It does take a while to normalize. Keep at it with strong determination for about three weeks or so, and your appetite will start to feel better at your lower, healthier weight. Also, FYI, just from my personal experience, if I eat very high sugary foods, like a whole Lindt milk chocolate bar without blander food items like a sandwich and unsweetened hot tea or coffee with milk and no sugar (since I'm getting the sugar from my candies and deserts), I tend to stay very hungry for a long period even after eating. The higher my sugar intake, the more hungrier I get. So I try to cut down on excessive amounts of high-sugary foods, otherwise I'll just have to ride the waves of internal cravings with unsweetened hot teas/coffees with milk/cream and drinking lots of water for a couple of hours following my indulgences until I come down from physical discomfort of intense and seemingly insatiable cravings.
  • Svhmaddison
    Svhmaddison Posts: 17 Member
    phoenixrb35 wrote: »
    Lietchi wrote: »
    Fitforevermore wrote: »
    I'm no expert but I've read or seen on TV that when you lose weight your body tries to return to a 'set point' so it's a continuous battle to stay at the lower weight. But for on personal experience, I have similar stats to you, I think it eases after 6 months to a year and a lower weight becomes your 'set point'- now if I could just get mine in the healthy range!!!

    I don't believe in set points myself. But I have read that appetite can increase at maintenance and that it takes a while to normalize.

    It does take a while to normalize. Keep at it with strong determination for about three weeks or so, and your appetite will start to feel better at your lower, healthier weight. Also, FYI, just from my personal experience, if I eat very high sugary foods, like a whole Lindt milk chocolate bar without blander food items like a sandwich and unsweetened hot tea or coffee with milk and no sugar (since I'm getting the sugar from my candies and deserts), I tend to stay very hungry for a long period even after eating. The higher my sugar intake, the more hungrier I get. So I try to cut down on excessive amounts of high-sugary foods, otherwise I'll just have to ride the waves of internal cravings with unsweetened hot teas/coffees with milk/cream and drinking lots of water for a couple of hours following my indulgences until I come down from physical discomfort of intense and seemingly insatiable cravings.


    Thanks for sharing that, I think that’s maybe where I’m going wrong. The extra calories earned from maintenance I find I’m spending on more chocolate and sweet stuff, which is making me want more of it. Yet when I was spending it on more meat, cheese, eggs I felt satiated.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,222 Member
    I think it is normal for your appetite to increase moving into maintenance. I do eat sweets, and I find that if I have a small amount of something sweet as a dessert at the end of my meal it is more satisfying than if I am hungry and eat something sweet as a snack. For some reason a small piece of cake at the end of the meal is more satisfying to me than a large piece of cake by itself. That may not work for everyone, but for me that is the best way to work sweets into my diet.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,055 Member
    Svhmaddison wrote: »
    phoenixrb35 wrote: »
    Lietchi wrote: »
    Fitforevermore wrote: »
    I'm no expert but I've read or seen on TV that when you lose weight your body tries to return to a 'set point' so it's a continuous battle to stay at the lower weight. But for on personal experience, I have similar stats to you, I think it eases after 6 months to a year and a lower weight becomes your 'set point'- now if I could just get mine in the healthy range!!!

    I don't believe in set points myself. But I have read that appetite can increase at maintenance and that it takes a while to normalize.

    It does take a while to normalize. Keep at it with strong determination for about three weeks or so, and your appetite will start to feel better at your lower, healthier weight. Also, FYI, just from my personal experience, if I eat very high sugary foods, like a whole Lindt milk chocolate bar without blander food items like a sandwich and unsweetened hot tea or coffee with milk and no sugar (since I'm getting the sugar from my candies and deserts), I tend to stay very hungry for a long period even after eating. The higher my sugar intake, the more hungrier I get. So I try to cut down on excessive amounts of high-sugary foods, otherwise I'll just have to ride the waves of internal cravings with unsweetened hot teas/coffees with milk/cream and drinking lots of water for a couple of hours following my indulgences until I come down from physical discomfort of intense and seemingly insatiable cravings.


    Thanks for sharing that, I think that’s maybe where I’m going wrong. The extra calories earned from maintenance I find I’m spending on more chocolate and sweet stuff, which is making me want more of it. Yet when I was spending it on more meat, cheese, eggs I felt satiated.

    Yes, I have to be careful about when I add treats. For me it is safe to add them after dinner, especially one that had a good amount of protein and fiber.

    But if I add treats in the afternoon I will be snacky all day long. YMMV.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    Sweet treats, especially at the end of something like a meal, the day, etc., just make me hungry! Once I start, I have difficulty stopping. If you feel you must have a chocolate candy a day, try doing it just before lunch or supper as its own special treat. Then, after you've enjoyed it for awhile, you are getting a meal anyway.
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