Q and A: Hunger and Maintenance
10 11 2009Hi Kelly-
This is kind of a two part question, and I’m not sure if that’s allowed, but here goes!
I am 5′6″ and recently hit my maintenance weight of 128 pounds by eating an average of 1,700 calories per day. When I started my maintenance eating routine, I increased my calories to 1,800 per day and immediately gained weight. What gives? I work out every day (I run an average of 25 miles per week and do at least one day each of yoga and weight lifting per week), and according to my nutritionist I should be eating about 2,300 calories per day to maintain my weight. The other part is that when I eat intuitively (I’ve been trying to get rid of the calorie counting mindset), I eat only about 1,400 calories per day and feel satisfied, but then one or two days per week I feel absolutely famished and end up binging (e.g., eating about 5,000 calories per day). Why am I not so hungry some days and, despite eating to my satisfaction, famished others?
Thanks!
Justine
Food is weird. and the way our bodies respond to food is weird.
Your maintenance weight isn’t really the weight you decide you are happy at, and stop actively trying to lose. Your body has its own maintenance weight, usually referred to in magazines as “happy weight”, so your true maintenance weight is going to be a compromise of those two. 128 might not be the weight your body is naturally happy at.
That doesn’t mean that you have to weight more than that, because this is still a healthy weight, it just means you are going to have to work at it- guessing and checking and upping and lowering your intake- not drastically, but you are going to have to keep an eye on it to make sure you dont gain or lose weight.
Your “immediately gained” comment kinds of signals me that you went up a pound or two- anytime you change your routine, your body is going to react, and if you kept at the 1800, you would probably have gone right back down a day or two later. Rationally, adding a measly 100 calories can’t possibly cause you to gain fat, since one pound of fat equals 3500 calories.
If you are binging, I would be more likely to point the finger at that for any weight gain.
Binges dont have anything to do with hunger. Being hungry might spark one, but no one is truly hungry for 5000 calories worth of food (Im thinking this issue might be why you have a nutritionist?) I naturally eat a lower amount of food when I go by hunger instead of numbers, which is why I always have to do mental checks to see if I ate enough (and honestly, I think its fun when I haven’t had enough and get to have an extra intentional snack.) I think this is pretty much true for everyone. If you binge, its for a reason, and part of that reason is probably because you get hungry. When you allow yourself to get hungry, you are compelled to eat, like a normal person. But people with binging issues cant stop and continue to eat. You are hungry because you arent eating enough, but the reason you binge is something else entirely and to find the answer to that you are going to have to look at a lot of other factors besides food.
It sounds to me, and of course I can be wrong because I never get the full picture from these questions, like you have issues with food which is why you are so preoccupied with calories one day, but then can binge on over 5000 calories the next. My focus wouldnt be so much on maintaining your weight, it would be getting your eating under control, and coming to healthy place where it isn’t a constant struggle for you, and then you can safely manipulate your calories to worry about keeping a specific goal weight.
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pretty insightful kelly..not that i know this girl or the full extent of her issue but i can relate to the problem. great answer!
i’ve been lurking for a while but just had to commend you on this response. i completely agree with lisa - i identify with the asker and agree that your answer was spot on. there are control issues that arise (or are exacerbated) with diet and exercise that may need the help of therapy to overcome.
My biggest fear is glossing over a dangerous situation, or not recognizing one and giving harmful advice. I dont ever want o offend anyone by assuming they have more issues than they do, but there are usually some giveaways. generally a showing of great control, and then complete loss if it when it comes to food points to bigger issues though- some im very familiar with.
The answers to some of her questions are within the question itself. But, like her, I sometimes don’t look at the big picture. I would analyze each day in isolation from the others, not realizing the long-term effect of a weekend of partying because all I focus on is the days when I AM good.
Thanks for responding to my question! I feel like I’ve been found out, though; I do have some issues with food, but I’d say I “binge” at most once a month, and it definitely starts with hunger but I eat past the point of being full. I’m workin’ on it.
Also, I probably should have specified that I ate 1,800 calories per day for a week, and when I weighed myself after that week and found that I had gained weight, not that I ate 1,800 calories for one day and gained weight. That would be silly to worry about that.
* “… and when I weighed myself after that week I found that I had gained weight” is what I meant. I hate that you can’t edit comments.
Justine- lol, sorry to out you. A week is still a pretty short time, but I see your frustration. I still stand by my recommendation to tackle the binging first. If your nutritionist asked you to up your calories, I would def follow what they say- any weight gain wouldn’t be anything ridiculous, but if it starts to freak you out, or get out of control, or trigger you to binge more, I would turn my focus to exercise (in a healthy way!!!) try and add a day or two of strength training, as you are a little low- muscle ups your metabolism so can absorb them, but if you dont eat enough in the first place, your body wont function properly in order to do that.
This is the exact type of issue that I’M trying to work out with MY nutritionist! We’re working on listening to my body and dealing with my emotional relationship with food. It’s already starting to help.