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

If you switch to maintenance, how many calories do you get? Starting out I set my goal to high, realized I wasn't going to eat 1200 calories a day and set my goal to maintenance and aimed to eat 300 calories below that, but the real goal was not go above it.

Sometimes it's just making sure you save your calories for habitual eating. I habitual eat at night between 9pm and 11pm. So I make sure I save calories for that time. I'm NOT a big morning eater at all so I don't worry about eating in the am and normally don't feel hungry at all.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Beverly2Hansen wrote: »

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.

Just because someone mentions the dreaded ACV doesn’t mean they’re proposing it as a diet plan.

Absolutely hot beverages work for me, too, regardless of weather.

I enjoy two spicy chai lattes, with lovely mounds of frothed skim milk, liberally doused in cinnamon every afternoon. 37 calories apiece. These luxurious, satisfying treats are a very important element in holding my appetite off between snacks or before bedtime.

Hot drinks can’t be drunk quickly, so being forced to slow down and savor them is very effective.

Btw, I love ginger, too. I put a cube of thawed Dorot frozen ginger cubes (available at Trader Joe’s and Lidl) in my pumpkin pudding every night, along with a shedload of regular powdered ginger. It really amps up the flavor.

Beverly2Hansen wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

Beverly2Hansen wrote: »

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.

Just because someone mentions the dreaded ACV doesn’t mean they’re proposing it as a diet plan.

Absolutely hot beverages work for me, too, regardless of weather.

I enjoy two spicy chai lattes, with lovely mounds of frothed skim milk, liberally doused in cinnamon every afternoon. 37 calories apiece. These luxurious, satisfying treats are a very important element in holding my appetite off between snacks or before bedtime.

Hot drinks can’t be drunk quickly, so being forced to slow down and savor them is very effective.

Btw, I love ginger, too. I put a cube of thawed Dorot frozen ginger cubes (available at Trader Joe’s and Lidl) in my pumpkin pudding every night, along with a shedload of regular powdered ginger. It really amps up the flavor.

I appreciate that you didn't jump to assumptions. I am an emotional eater and I struggle with binge eating. To adjust to 1720 calories after I've been not logging my food and eating say 3,000+ calories is very hard the first 2 weeks. I studied both mental health resources like weightloss meditation and appetite suppressants that are safe as tools to stop food addiction behavior and form healthy habits. I do not aim to lose more than 7lbs per month and sometimes only lose 4lbs. There are times I start to slip into bad behaviors of over eating and recommit using audio weightloss meditation and safe appetite suppressants. I do not go below 1500calories because I'm active and don't eat exercise calories back. Some of us need extra tools to break food addiction behavior or poor impulse control especially in the beginning 2 weeks of a deficit. Writing a diary helps a lot of people too. Yes people with disordered eating can abuse natural appetite suppressants but they are many cultures utilize these things to promote health and most people use them in moderation in a way that doesn't hinder their health at all. I can say my physical, mental and emotional health are improved by these things.

I think you are doing what I did. I started here at 1470. I don’t even know where I got that number. It just “sounded good”. The weight fell off, but several months in, my dietician recommended increasing it.

It is hard to increase. My “reward center” responded so positively to the weight coming off, and I was terrified of stalling out or even gaining. I had to force myself to add a couple hundred calories. You get used to it really quick, though.

Three months after that I started with a personal trainer and the first thing she did was insist I bump it up yet again. Rinse and repeat with the mental handwringing.

Same as you, I stuck with a flat calorie plan slightly above TDEE, and didn't eat my exercise calories back. It was just easier mentally for me to have a line in the sand. I also eat the same foods over and over, because I enjoy them, am a bit OCD, and because I can be more confident in knowing where my calories stand at any point in the day by doing quick math in my head.

I still don’t eat my exercise “back”. I try to stick with a daily of 2200, giving me room once every week or so to have some cookies, extra pizza, or that unexpected pack of graham crackers I scarfed down the other night. I’m currently averaging about 2500 per day.

I think by “safe appetite suppressants” you’re referring to are the natural ones you mention like the ACV, and ginger products? For me, it’s hot drinks. If I have a two or three hour gap between meals or snacks, I fill it with chai. That’s my suppressant. It’s meditative to make, too hot to be swilled down quickly, and tastes wonderful, of course. Plus it forces me to sit down with a book, magazine or MFP and relax fir a few minutes mid day, which I no longer do otherwise.

Interesting you mention diarying. I’ve only done it once, during a thirty day yoga challenge, and to my utter and complete amazement I broke two deeply held lifelong habits. For me, it worked crazy well, and led to permanent change. I think that posting here on the boards has fulfilled some of the same function as the diary and kept me out of trouble with food.

You’re not under eating, you’re exercising, you’ve researched and got a handle on this. I can only compare to my very similar trajectory, but FWIW I think you’re doing great. You do what works for you, and much success to you. Hope you’ll be a long-hauler. I plan to be!

I had to slow down my eating and also decide, am I truly hungry or am I just overthinking about it? A lot of times I would review my calorie intake for the day and typically have some water...flavored water also makes it feel more like a treat.