To keep it brief - Over 2023 I set out to loose about 50lbs and cut down to 7% body fat, while lifting enough to get a lean, muscular build. I did exactly this, then I cut down the amount I lift and run until slightly above enough to maintain the muscle I have, and slowly started introducing more calories into my weekly diet until about 8 weeks ago, when I began to eat at maintenance.
I lost it. I hit my goal. I'm satisfied with how I look. I can't emphasize this enough - I love the lean build I have - and I only want to maintain it. I don't want lifting and dieting to be my only focus anymore.
And I can do that for lifting - I don't love it, but I can take the time out of my week to workout. What I'm struggling with, though, is the diet. I constantly feel like I'm starving. I spend a majority of my day thinking about my next meal. Even if my stomach is full, I never feel satiated. Seriously - on Thanksgiving I stomached about 4500 calories worth of food in one sitting, and for hours after all I could think about was how badly I wanted more. I say this with no exaggeration, my current 2300 calorie daily intake leaves me feeling as hungry as I felt when I was still dieting and eating half that. For someone trying to return to "normal" - that's a huge issue. I'm at the point where I can't much focus at work, and I keep trying to go to bed early knowing that I'll wake up and eat sooner.
I thought it might be a lack of good macronutrients, but I'm absolutely sure I'm getting enough protein, and I follow the rule of having a minimum of 80% of my meals coming from "healthy" sources. I also eat a ton of oats which should give my energy slowly over time. I thought it might be that 2300 is just too low for maintenance for me - but it was just barely enough when I was running 6 days a week. Now that I've halved my workout regimen, the scale says I've slowly been gaining - and on paper that's correct for my build and gender. All that's left that I can think is my mind hasn't quite adjusted to not being on a diet and is "rubber banding" and demanding that I eat, or that I'm just... too lean, and my body is panicked.
Has anyone been through anything similar, or know anything about this? I don't want to feel like I'm starving the rest of my life, if I can't expect this to be temporary, I'd like to eat up to a higher weight now and save myself the constant headaches later. This feels like a bit of a gut punch after how hard I've worked, and I'm absolutely lost on what to do.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/187dbwl/starving_at_maintenance/
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