Big weightloss- how to manage and maintain

schadenfreude8

Hi,
long time lurker looking for some advice.

male 6'5 abour 215lbs

lat year i lost 145lbs over 11 months and am currently trying to maintain the loss.

The problem is i get hungry, really hungry and nothing can satisfy me.

I was very very strict when trying to loose weight, now i dont have that main aim / goal i feel in my head i am letting it slip, i am having about 1500-200 cals a day and doing cardio most days also, it would be pretty low carb. i keep a food diary also still

Not sure what i am trying to ask, as this is all very new to me

but is over eating common after a large weightloss..?

thanks a million in advance

doctorwhogirl

Hey,
First off, congrats on the loss. That's amazing and in a relatively short space of time. I lost a large amount too, 40% of my bodyweight and have been maintaining for the past 3.5 years but I have to say, unfortunately, it doesn't get easier.

There's a really good video/documentary on youtube that gives a good explanation as to why it's verydifficult to maintain large weights loss when you're going from obese. Basically, in summation, we can't eat the same way a person who is the same weight as us but was never obese. We can only tolerate a certain amount of calories because our body is constantly fighting the loss. It thinks it is now starving or in a time of "famine" because it was used to making hormones etc... for a much greater amount of body mass. The documentary explains it really well.

It's depressing if you think about it too much but from the sounds of it you're doing what you need to do to maintain. there will be times when you will go above goal and below it. I've gone about 1.2 stone above my goal weight over the years with fluctuation but because I weight weekly and track what I eat most of the time I never let it get past the point of no return. Eventually it becomes habit. I'm not saying that I'll never put on the weight again, I don't know that. But, I'd like to think that no matter how my life circumstances may change I know enough about nutrition and exercise now that I'll make the effort no matter what.

For the hunger, make sure you are getting enough veggies and protein. I eat the BIGGEST dinners but they're usually around 300-400 calories because they're full of veg. Also, make sure you allow yourself the treats and the bit of an aul blow out the odd time. I was ridiculous over Christmas and put on about 6/7 pounds but got it off within the month. I kept exercising during that time and the bad days were sporadic.

Only other thing I forgot to say is 1500-2000 cals isn't a lot of food for a 6ft 5 male. At all. I eat about 1650-1700 daily and I'm a 5ft 4 female with a BMI of about 22/3. That's possibly an area to reevaluate. Use scooby calorie calculator (google) to see how much you should be eating for maintenance. As I said, that number will probably be higher than you can actually tolerate but you can mess around with the figures then. If you're only eating that much and doing cardio most days your calorie deficit will be too big.

Another idea, as you said you're struggling now because you don't have a goal? Maybe a fitness goal could be helpful? Working on getting your body fat down/ gaining strength/starting a new weights programme. Nutrition will feed into all that.

Again, congrats, it's really lifechanging isn't it?

metamorphosis

Hey OP

First off - well done on the loss. Congrats - it's not easy. Iv been down that road a few years ago so again, well done.

Okay - so a few things. That's a very large loss over a really short period of time. Not that that is always a bad thing but it spouts something to mind and that is whether you have dealt with the emotional side that may have potentially lead to your weight before. Not sappy pappy emotional stuff but from my experience and what I have seen through work is that there is usually an underlying cause beyond the weight. It was really easy to focus when you have an end goal and now is the learning part - maintaining and beyond for lifelong health.

Secondly - could up post up a typical days food dairy and a weekly idea of your fitness regime? A very typical one?

schadenfreude8

doctorwhogirl wrote: »

Hey,
First off, congrats on the loss. That's amazing and in a relatively short space of time. I lost a large amount too, 40% of my bodyweight and have been maintaining for the past 3.5 years but I have to say, unfortunately, it doesn't get easier.

There's a really good video/documentary on youtube that gives a good explanation as to why it's verydifficult to maintain large weights loss when you're going from obese. Basically, in summation, we can't eat the same way a person who is the same weight as us but was never obese. We can only tolerate a certain amount of calories because our body is constantly fighting the loss. It thinks it is now starving or in a time of "famine" because it was used to making hormones etc... for a much greater amount of body mass. The documentary explains it really well.

It's depressing if you think about it too much but from the sounds of it you're doing what you need to do to maintain. there will be times when you will go above goal and below it. I've gone about 1.2 stone above my goal weight over the years with fluctuation but because I weight weekly and track what I eat most of the time I never let it get past the point of no return. Eventually it becomes habit. I'm not saying that I'll never put on the weight again, I don't know that. But, I'd like to think that no matter how my life circumstances may change I know enough about nutrition and exercise now that I'll make the effort no matter what.

For the hunger, make sure you are getting enough veggies and protein. I eat the BIGGEST dinners but they're usually around 300-400 calories because they're full of veg. Also, make sure you allow yourself the treats and the bit of an aul blow out the odd time. I was ridiculous over Christmas and put on about 6/7 pounds but got it off within the month. I kept exercising during that time and the bad days were sporadic.

Only other thing I forgot to say is 1500-2000 cals isn't a lot of food for a 6ft 5 male. At all. I eat about 1650-1700 daily and I'm a 5ft 4 female with a BMI of about 22/3. That's possibly an area to reevaluate. Use scooby calorie calculator (google) to see how much you should be eating for maintenance. As I said, that number will probably be higher than you can actually tolerate but you can mess around with the figures then. If you're only eating that much and doing cardio most days your calorie deficit will be too big.

Another idea, as you said you're struggling now because you don't have a goal? Maybe a fitness goal could be helpful? Working on getting your body fat down/ gaining strength/starting a new weights programme. Nutrition will feed into all that.

Again, congrats, it's really lifechanging isn't it?

thanks for taking the time to post, it is life changing, but i can see it becoming life controlling also, i am in constant battle with food at the moment. it will be learning to maintain is the main challenege, i have started to set goals of running, starting off small with 5k's:D

schadenfreude8

thanks for the post also, i am not sure what was the main cause of my weight was really, i think beer was a main culprit with all the associated food that goes with it, taking it to excess most weekends, also portions were not realistic.

Typical food diary:

breakfast:
mixed fresh Fruit, 2 kiwi, apple, banana, water melon, plum, with natural fat free yogurt, cup of coffee with extra skim milk and sweetener.

Lunch: Either big salad with leaf, tomato, beetroot, carrots general salads really, i sometimes add tuna with brine, or quorn chicken pieces, i use low fat cottage cheese or lighter than light mayo, about a tbsp.
or
Home made soups, big bowl, usually have 2 ryvita or some finn crisp crispbreads.

Dinner: pan dried fried chicken fillet with loads steamed veg,
Veg stir fry with chicken or beef
Chili with extra lean beef mince with homemade sauce with basmati rice
Slow cooked stews with mixed root veg including potato.

doctorwhogirl

You definitely need more calories overall and more healthy fats. That looks like too little food for someone your height and weight with exercise.

Some snacks too!

schadenfreude8

doctorwhogirl wrote: »

You definitely need more calories overall and more healthy fats. That looks like too little food for someone your height and weight with exercise.

Some snacks too!

i feel i am eating far to much fruit, but i love it as a whole food not juiced or blended

i would have a snack now and again, half bag of malteasers or some carrot sticks or a fruit yogurt

or maybe slide or low fat cheese with some ryvita

i am not a fan of nuts at all and the only oil really i get is from 10ml olive if i cook that day..

i think its unrealistic what i am eating at the moment...wont be able to sustain it.. but i find even if i up the calories for a day or two, that week i could be up 2 lbs

seems i am on a very fine maintain line

doctorwhogirl

You can up calories gradually though. You may gain a couple of pounds but it'll settle down when you find your sweet spot. You're probably like me and hate any sort of gain on the scales but you'll be better of it in the long run. I upped my cals from about 1000/1200 to 1600/1700 over about a 3 month period without any major gain and in fact the scales went down after the first few weeks.

I agree about the fruit though. Fruit has a high sugar content so wouldn't be helping with your hunger. Why not have full fat cheese? it'll keep you fuller for longer and you can afford the cals.

If 10ml of oil is all you're getting of fats really that's seriously low. Do you use myfitnesspal? It'll show you a breakdown of the types of foods you're getting; fats/carbs/protein. Fats keep you full.

Mars Bar

Definitely way too much fruit there IMO.

What about eggs for breakfast? 2 scrambled eggs, 2 slices of grilled bacon (not fried) and some beans.

silverharp

agree with post above, breakfast needs to have protein in it. for a long time I got on with either an egg based breakfast, egg and linseed pancake or occassional fry. any of those will get you to lunch without thinking about food. I only eat tropical fruit at the weekend and would stick to small amounts of fruit during the week and include fruit like frozen blueberries. if i need a treat after lunch or late in the evening a spoon of peanut butter hits the spot.

seamus

schadenfreude8 wrote: »

thanks for the post also, i am not sure what was the main cause of my weight was really, i think beer was a main culprit with all the associated food that goes with it, taking it to excess most weekends, also portions were not realistic.

You just fncking loved eating.

I don't scoff at the "you must have an underlying emotional issue" explanation for over-eating, but I think it's far too widely given as a cause. In the vast majority of cases, people overeat because they like to eat.

We are genetically pre-programmed to seek out food, and doing so gives us a chemical rush. So the more you eat, the more you get to enjoy it. Without any kind of regulating reason to not eat, you will eat because you enjoy it. You're probably also not very discerning; picky eaters tend to not overeat because they only enjoy certain foods. Whereas you will probably pretty much eat anything that's placed in front of you and you'll enjoy it.

Unfortunately the problem is that this basically never goes away. In the same way that most former alcoholics find it easier to just keep away from drink, you will spend the rest of your life shutting up the little man inside your brain that's telling you to order a big dirty bag of greasy chips, with a triple-decker burger and onion rings to start.

But the good news is that now you know what you're doing, you have another little guy in your head who is telling you not give into the overeater. Sometimes the overeater will win, but so long as he's not winning a majority of the time, you will be fine.

There are physiological issues that you're fighting too. In the time it took you to gain all that weight, you ate increasingly large meals. Your stomach expanded over time to accommodate these meals. A little bit here and there, barely perceptible. Every time you felt satisfied but a little bit too full, your stomach was expanding a little. You do this constantly over a long period and you find yourself able to eat enormous amounts in a single sitting.
The converse is also true; eat less over a long period and you will eventually find yourself unable to eat huge meals. But it takes time, a lot longer than the year it takes you to lose weight.
There is quite a bit of debate about this mechanism, and whether it's an actual contraction of the stomach walls, or just an hormonal/chemical response to "fullness". But it does occur, it just takes a long time. And you will struggle with hunger.

The one thing I can advise is to try and stop obsessing about food. Counting calories and keeping food diaries is tiring. The longer you do it, the more likely you are to throw your hands in the air. Transition to a place where you're not counting calories; where you're not even keeping a running tally of what you ate today instead, you're just eating sensibly. Don't try to eat low-carb. Just try not to load your meals with carbs; probably the biggest thing I had difficulty with.

Exercising also helps, a lot. If you just exercise, and forget about how many calories you may or may not be burning, it helps smooth out the transition to weight maintenance by taking care of any excess calories you may consume.

schadenfreude8

doctorwhogirl wrote: »

You can up calories gradually though. You may gain a couple of pounds but it'll settle down when you find your sweet spot. You're probably like me and hate any sort of gain on the scales but you'll be better of it in the long run. I upped my cals from about 1000/1200 to 1600/1700 over about a 3 month period without any major gain and in fact the scales went down after the first few weeks.

I agree about the fruit though. Fruit has a high sugar content so wouldn't be helping with your hunger. Why not have full fat cheese? it'll keep you fuller for longer and you can afford the cals.

If 10ml of oil is all you're getting of fats really that's seriously low. Do you use myfitnesspal? It'll show you a breakdown of the types of foods you're getting; fats/carbs/protein. Fats keep you full.

thanks for responce
i really dont like eating cooked food for breakfast, i find 30-40g porridge wont really fill me till lunch, i have tried cottage cheese and boiled eggs, but i ended up putting chili flakes ont hem and it was horrible..

i will have to find something other than fruit as it getting crazy, i had 3 grapefruits yesterday alone... along with at least 4 bananas:o

schadenfreude8

silverharp wrote: »

agree with post above, breakfast needs to have protein in it. for a long time I got on with either an egg based breakfast, egg and linseed pancake or occassional fry. any of those will get you to lunch without thinking about food. I only eat tropical fruit at the weekend and would stick to small amounts of fruit during the week and include fruit like frozen blueberries. if i need a treat after lunch or late in the evening a spoon of peanut butter hits the spot.

thanks for your time

i am not in the fry for breakfast place at the moment, but i will have to move away from this. I might try boiled eggs and grilled tomato.. but rashers, not yet.

schadenfreude8

seamus wrote: »

You just fncking loved eating.

I don't scoff at the "you must have an underlying emotional issue" explanation for over-eating, but I think it's far too widely given as a cause. In the vast majority of cases, people overeat because they like to eat.

We are genetically pre-programmed to seek out food, and doing so gives us a chemical rush. So the more you eat, the more you get to enjoy it. Without any kind of regulating reason to not eat, you will eat because you enjoy it. You're probably also not very discerning; picky eaters tend to not overeat because they only enjoy certain foods. Whereas you will probably pretty much eat anything that's placed in front of you and you'll enjoy it.

Unfortunately the problem is that this basically never goes away. In the same way that most former alcoholics find it easier to just keep away from drink, you will spend the rest of your life shutting up the little man inside your brain that's telling you to order a big dirty bag of greasy chips, with a triple-decker burger and onion rings to start.

But the good news is that now you know what you're doing, you have another little guy in your head who is telling you not give into the overeater. Sometimes the overeater will win, but so long as he's not winning a majority of the time, you will be fine.

There are physiological issues that you're fighting too. In the time it took you to gain all that weight, you ate increasingly large meals. Your stomach expanded over time to accommodate these meals. A little bit here and there, barely perceptible. Every time you felt satisfied but a little bit too full, your stomach was expanding a little. You do this constantly over a long period and you find yourself able to eat enormous amounts in a single sitting.
The converse is also true; eat less over a long period and you will eventually find yourself unable to eat huge meals. But it takes time, a lot longer than the year it takes you to lose weight.
There is quite a bit of debate about this mechanism, and whether it's an actual contraction of the stomach walls, or just an hormonal/chemical response to "fullness". But it does occur, it just takes a long time. And you will struggle with hunger.

The one thing I can advise is to try and stop obsessing about food. Counting calories and keeping food diaries is tiring. The longer you do it, the more likely you are to throw your hands in the air. Transition to a place where you're not counting calories; where you're not even keeping a running tally of what you ate today instead, you're just eating sensibly. Don't try to eat low-carb. Just try not to load your meals with carbs; probably the biggest thing I had difficulty with.

Exercising also helps, a lot. If you just exercise, and forget about how many calories you may or may not be burning, it helps smooth out the transition to weight maintenance by taking care of any excess calories you may consume.

i do love food and still do, i have tried to reverse engineer some of my favourite foods with healthy basic ingredients to get the taste and feeling of great food without all the added muck that is put in. its been great learning about raw ingredients and herbs spices etc but I am not paranoid to the point where I won’t eat out if I don’t know exactly how the meal was cooked or what exactly is in it…


I dont think i could handle the large portions of the past and in time i am sure my cravings will subside, but i will have to let go now and again, but i feel if i let one meal slide its just a slippery slope. so i think i have to have a tighter than tight control over the food i consume.

ford2600

schadenfreude8 wrote: »

i do love food and still do, i have tried to reverse engineer some of my favourite foods with healthy basic ingredients to get the taste and feeling of great food without all the added muck that is put in. its been great learning about raw ingredients and herbs spices etc but I am not paranoid to the point where I won’t eat out if I don’t know exactly how the meal was cooked or what exactly is in it…


I dont think i could handle the large portions of the past and in time i am sure my cravings will subside, but i will have to let go now and again, but i feel if i let one meal slide its just a slippery slope. so i think i have to have a tighter than tight control over the food i consume.

Have a read.

http://eatingacademy.com/books-and-articles/good-science-bad-interpretation