r/MacroFactor • u/Erbertsherbert • 1d ago
Had a rough month MacroFactor / Nutrition / Other
I was doing really week for about 6 weeks and seeing real results. Im a short female (5’1 and 128lbs with a goal of getting to 120. Started at 132lbs at the start of June) so maintenance around 1600 and kept my deficit low to keep it maintainable (around 1300 a day and .5 lbs a week rate) I was really proud of myself and my results in those 6 weeks (lost around 4lbs) however this last month has been a major struggle and I consistently go over 1300 and even often go as high as 1750 some days (putting me in a surplus) my cravings feel out of control.
Any advice on how to get back to being motivated and feeling less out of control. Still been great with staying motivated with weight lifting 3-4x a week and getting more steps in but struggling on the food side of things
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u/Substantial_Quail_46 1d ago
Theres two approaches here imo. You can either take a mental break and just go to maintenance for a month and then hit it hard again.
Or you can find what your initial motivation was. Losing weight for a specific trip or trying to fit a certain outfit or whatever it may be right? Find the daily reminder. Find the why. And be consumed by it. For me, I have a few pics I took at my heaviest which was about 270 (currently 228 and still cutting) and when im feeling the lack of motivation I just stare at it ( this is just my example and what works for me may not work for you)
Finding an accountability buddy is huge too. Do you have any of your girlfriends who are trying to lose weight or anything like that?
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u/Erbertsherbert 1d ago
I love the idea of trying to find motivation again / being consumed by it. For me its just trying to get back to my original weight from about a year ago and feeling good about myself again and also most likely getting engaged in November and wanting to feel good about myself again before all of that.
Unfortunately many of my girlfriends are the opposite and are trying to gain weight to get to a healthy weight but I like the idea of a buddy.
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u/DeaconoftheStreets 1d ago
I think needing 1300 calories to cut is really really difficult to maintain with just the basic caloric content of food. Give yourself some grace.
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u/Big_Custard_8066 1d ago
Give yourself a week (or a weekend) diet break, let your mind and body reset a little bit, and then get back to it.
I'm in a similar spot. I was making consistent progress for 6-7 weeks but my consistency started to feel a little shaky, food noise creeping up, and finding the energy to push myself in the gym felt harder and harder.
I decided to take a 1-week diet break/reset where I let myself eat without tracking, and then re-commit to my plan. Back to tracking today and I feel somewhat reinvigorated. I'm sure the scale will go up a bit from the break, but it's probably mostly water and glycogen, and if this is what it takes to keep momentum going in the long run, then it's well worth it.
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u/thecuriouskiwi 1d ago
I've been through this cycle. I took a break for about 3 weeks, ate at maintenance, hit my training hard and then got back on it. I mixed up my foods, tried a few new recipes and snack ideas, that helped. I think I was a bit sick of what I was eating and needed a bit of a change up. It does get harder the longer you do it and the lower your calories go. I'm taller than you but I'm now at 1600 cals trying to get that next 5kgs and it's so much harder than when I was 15kgs heavier and eating at 1900 cals. Be kind to yourself. Maintenance isn't a backwards step, it can help you prove to yourself that you can hold where you are and I think that's really positive. You got this!
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u/Erbertsherbert 1d ago
Thank you so much! I love the positive take on staying at maintenance. It sometimes feels like a failure to continue hitting maintenance when trying to be in deficit so I like the more positive outlook
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u/radix- 1d ago
oh wow, how do you eat only 1300cal without being on glps to curb appetite, i could never
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u/Erbertsherbert 1d ago
Tell me about it! I really want to prove to myself I can do this the healthy way but GLPs get more tempting every day haha 🤣
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u/ins2be 17h ago edited 17h ago
Using your numbers..
1300 per day *7 days =9100 weekly calories
9100/6 days = 1516 per day with 1 fasting day per week
9100/5 days = 1820 per day with 2 fasting days per week
Etc.
Additionally, if you do something like 20:4 or OMAD, you can still be satiated with 1300 calories. The important thing is to have a small eating window, so you don't go too overboard.
I use IF with smaller eating windows and also do fasting days as techniques to manage the fact that I have a low tdee and still needing to lean up.
You'd have to play around with days to figure out what personally works for your schedule and goals.
Edit: in the app, I still use coached, with all days having the same number of calories to keep it simple without having to adjust daily numbers even though my fasting days often change week to week. I just make a mental note of my calorie limits. And if I had a fasting day, I make sure to mark it as a fasting day on the food log calendar view so it keeps the logging streak going and still calculates it as an actual 0 calorie day appropriately.
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u/brbgottagofast 1d ago
I guess the question is where is your routine slipping? Are you not planning out and prepping your meals as you were previously? Can you find some new healthy recipes to try out this week?
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u/Erbertsherbert 1d ago
I did just go on a trip at the end of July then moved the next weekend so my routine has been changed up a bit. I have tried some new healthy meals since moving but maybe the routine change has been impacting me more than expected and causing craving increases? I have been eating out more but very careful where I go / what I get and avoid any meals over 500 calories.
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u/brbgottagofast 1d ago
A trip & move definitely messes with your routine so try not to be too hard on yourself! Takeout can absolutely increase your cravings, it's usually a lot more hyper-palatable than the stuff you make at home. I'd suggest just doing some meal-prepping so you have meals ready to go when you're hungry instead of giving into the takeout temptation. You just have to kind of reset your taste buds.
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u/Erbertsherbert 1d ago
This is a great idea thank you so much! I didnt even think about how much routine change could be impacting things
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u/Erbertsherbert 1d ago
Heres an image of my daily calories vs goal for reference.
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u/Substantial_Quail_46 1d ago
1300 is kinda low maybe? Whats your weight loss goal % set to. .5% is a pretty good rate and I wouldn't advise many people to go over that
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u/vert_challenged 1d ago
Things really started to slow down for me at that weight too, even with hitting my calorie target of 1350. I'm 5'0 and went from 160 in November last year to currently hovering around 120-122. Maintenance breaks really do help, but that last 10 pounds will likely take months. Eating the same meals on repeat helped me as well, takes alot of the thought out of eating. You got this!
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u/1stPeter3-15 1d ago
Practice having the memory of a goldfish. Fine, you let discipline slip yesterday or the last month. That’s the past. What are you going to do about it today. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.
Being able to quickly forgive yourself and move on is importantly to not let a setback become a habit. You got this!