Constantly eating over my calories and struggling to maintain a deficit. What do you guys do?! Help!

zichroni
zichroni Posts: 4 Member
edited May 2021 in Food and Nutrition
Hello people of MFP. I could use input on what I can do to maintain my calories or see if I'm doing something wrong.

About me: 28F, SW:181, CW:173, GW:150. My daily limit is 1400 cals/day but I'm averaging 1700 - and often eat closer to 2000. I do light jogging twice a week and on other days I walk an hour a day and do 30m pilates or barre workouts. At this point, I'm just eating back the calories I burn and then some.

What am I doing wrong?! How do you all maintain deficit without feeling like you're starving yourselves?

ETA: I'm 5'3"
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Replies

  • spyro88
    spyro88 Posts: 472 Member
    I really sympathise and don't have a huge amount of advice that common sense probably hasn't already told you :( It's really hard! But just in case you haven't already heard these...

    Try eating foods which are large in volume but low in calories. They take up space in your stomach and make you feel full.

    Also high protein foods will fill you up for longer. Try porridge or cereal with some protein powder added to the milk.

    Another thing to mention... How much do you think you ate before you were doing this?

    If you were eating 2000 a day before and you now aim for 1700, that's going to be a step in the right direction! I really think that part of the reason people fail with this is because they just aim too low. Set yourself a realistic target. 1400 calories won't keep many people full!
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
    I agree about the volume of food, and that 1,400 calories is not much. Try eating more vegetables at each meal or maybe try some soup to feel full.

    Set a timer and slow down your eating. I often eat so fast that I take a 2nd helping before I think. I'm always amazed at eating in a fancy restaurant and sometimes the portions look small but when you have several courses over say 30 minutes you fill up.

    Also are you weighing and measuring everything? Especially high caloric foods like peanutbutter, chips and cheese.

    Also are you waiting until you're famished to eat? I tend to overeat on those days.

    Good luck. Stay the course. It works.
  • zichroni
    zichroni Posts: 4 Member
    Thank you all for the responses! I appreciate your inputs! Cmriverside, thank you for the logging tips! That's really helpful.

    I know I was eating well over 2000 calories before starting, and I've been at this for a few months. I will try upping my calories. I think I need to pare down slowly, so that's a good point. I also try to wait until I'm hungry to eat and *do* eat fast. I've been working on taking more water breaks as I'm eating, but it's definitely something I can improve on.

    I don't weigh my food, but am considering a small scale, because I'm either over or under-estimating things and that's not doing me any favors. Thank you spyro88 and babeisfit!
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,039 Member
    edited May 2021
    What is throwing you over your deficit target? Sweets? Snacks? Portion size? Night eating? Why are you waiting until you are hungry to eat? A regular meal schedule may serve you better.

    An accurate food scale is a must. Please get one ASAP. Maybe try narrowing the time window in which you eat... perhaps nothing after 7PM. Are you pre-planning your foods or deciding as you walk into the kitchen? Are you logging after each meal or waiting until the end of the day?

    I've found pre-logging to be a major help. For example, tonight I made a delicious shrimp stir-fry over rice, ate half and will have the rest tomorrow. Pre-logging tomorrow's dinner lets me know exactly how many calories I have for front half the day - no Sunday pancakes for me! 😁
  • meeppeepneep
    meeppeepneep Posts: 56 Member
    Open your diary?
  • NVintage
    NVintage Posts: 1,463 Member
    What works for me is meal planning. I've just discovered it this past year, trying to figure out how I could make it grocery shopping just once every 3-4 weeks instead of 2or 3 times per week. It has saved me a lot of money, too! I plan for 1200-1300 calories(5'1.5 here), and so even if I have an extra snack or dessert I hardly ever go over enough to gain weight.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,386 MFP Moderator
    There are a few things that helped my hunger. 1. Volume foods, 2. Lots of protein and 3. Ketogenic.

    If you do a carb based diet, i have to include a lot of low calorie plants and lean meats. Things like dark leafy greens, low sugar fruits (berries, watermelon, kiwi, plums) and lean proteins, especially red meat like sirloin, chicken, rack of lamb and then i throw in lots of low fat dairy.

    When i do keto, i have to keep it rather clean and get my new carbs around 25g.

    Both methods are helpful to me for getting lean.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    zichroni wrote: »
    Thank you all for the responses! I appreciate your inputs! Cmriverside, thank you for the logging tips! That's really helpful.

    I know I was eating well over 2000 calories before starting, and I've been at this for a few months. I will try upping my calories. I think I need to pare down slowly, so that's a good point. I also try to wait until I'm hungry to eat and *do* eat fast. I've been working on taking more water breaks as I'm eating, but it's definitely something I can improve on.

    To the bolded: If you figured out that that's best for you by experimenting with it, I wouldn't suggest doing otherwise.

    However, if it just seemed like a good idea, you might experiment. People are very individual, and some of us (me!) can even be weird. If I start to feel a little hungry and have a small snack (usually a protein-y one), it turns out I arrive at the next meal not feeling so ravenous, and this makes portion control easier for me.

    What you eat can be important for satiation (which macros, what specific foods, overall sound nutrition), and so can the timing of eating. Much of satiation is *very* individual: I've seen people here who say they do best on anything from one meal a day (OMAD) to pretty much all-day snack-sized grazing, as an eating strategy. Whatever schedule is sating for you, and practical, is a good eating schedule. Within the boundaries of decent overall nutrition, whatever foods/macros keep you full is a good way to eat.
    I don't weigh my food, but am considering a small scale, because I'm either over or under-estimating things and that's not doing me any favors. Thank you spyro88 and babeisfit!

    Bonus: If you've been using cups/spoons, weighing food can also be quicker and easier. (And if just eyeballing, I'm reasonably confident using a food scale will be less fussy and time-consuming than you may be thinking.) Also, a scale is inexpensive, usually available for $20 or less. This thread (despite the joking clickbait title) has tips for using a food scale efficiently/quickly, for people who've decided to use that approach:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10498882/weighing-food-takes-too-long-and-is-obsessive#latest

    Best wishes!
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    I had to play "this for that". Essentially it's an easy substitution game to maximize the use of your calorie allowance. So instead of 2eggo waffles and log cabin syrup I choose 1 gluten free Van's brand of waffle, 2eggs no additives like milk for scrambling and 90% less calorie log cabin syrup. The goal is reduced inflamation, better use of the calories you have and better hydration. It gets easier with practice. I also found it easier to up my allowance to 1720 calories and walk 5miles a day without eating back my exercise calories. Most days I eat under now that I'm used to maximizing my food volume. I also rarely consume liquid calories aside from protein drink meal replacement.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 865 Member
    I used a TDEE calculator to calculate your total daily energy expenditure (I used 'sedentary' as the lifestyle multiplier since IDK what your job/activity is like).....and to maintain your weight you would need to eat ~1780 cals/day (estimate).

    So...if you are eating 1400...it just sounds like your deficit is just too high - especially if you are adding in intentional exercise burning calories. That would make your deficit even bigger.

    So, if I were you - I'd bump up your daily net goal to like 1550/1600, be sure to measure/weigh your food (until you get a better idea of what amounts are what...then you can transition into more intuitive eating), and log your cardio exercise and eat back like between 50-100% of those cals.

    This *should lead to fairly consistent (but maybe slow) weight loss. But it'll be easier and you won't blow your daily calorie goal bc you won't be so hungry all the time.
  • Kupla71
    Kupla71 Posts: 1,106 Member
    I found going low carb really helpful at reducing my appetite. I don’t go as low as keto. Just between 99 and 120 grams a day. Eating this way I rarely go over my calorie goal because I’m just not hungry. Most days I struggle to eat enough! I hope you find something that works for you!
  • lukejoycePT
    lukejoycePT Posts: 182 Member
    my advice would be to stop seeing your calories as a daily thing and seeing it as weekly total. Cycle your calories. If you are hungry on a wednesday log it and eat less on the thursday and friday. if you stay in a deficit over the course of 7 days you'll still meet your weekly goal.
  • Kereru44
    Kereru44 Posts: 28 Member
    Maybe you could also try fasting as well. That way you have a smaller window to eat your calories and may not eat as much.
  • judswi
    judswi Posts: 73 Member
    I decide what I am eating for the whole day and track it. I do not eat anything else that day that is not tract and I also weigh amounts.
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    One thing I do when recalculating my calories and lower them is I use natural appetite suppressants. Apple cider vinagar, cinnamon and ginger are my go to. Apple cider vinegar in the morning before teeth brushing. Tea with added ginger at lunch. Then hot cocoa 2 cups with water and 2 scoops of ovaltine and added cinnamon. For suppressing appetite hot beverages work better for me than cold ones.

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