When I first started maintaince, (first year or so), I felt pretty normal in regards to how satisfied I felt after eating and how hungry I felt. It just didn't seem to be a big issue. I also could maintain on around 1800-2000 calories a day. HOWEVER...this last year of maintaince has been pure H*LL. I am hungry ALL of the time, I've had to cut my calories down to around 1500 to maintain, and I feel as though I am physically starving all of the time.

I excercise the same as I did 2 years ago, I eat the same as I did 2 years ago...but darn it, I'm 2 years older, so maybe that has something to do with it. Maintenance is harder now than ever, but I will continue to fight until I take my last breath, because no matter how hard it is, being morbidly obese was much harder.

I went through a period of being hungrier than maintenace would allow for, so, after googling Leptin & weight loss maintainence, I did a Modified Leptin Reset breakfast each day (30 gms protein & 17- 20NC). After 6 weeks, I went back to how I'd been eating & maintaining, & I have not had to deal with being hungry since then. That was about a year ago. It worked for me.

This scares the crap out of me. I don't want to regain a lot of weight, but I'm so weak that I think I would rather weigh ten pounds more than I do now than eat any lower than 1800 per day.


I've never heard of "Leptin Reset." Is there a particular source you would recommend for information about this?

I'm interested in this as well... also, what do you mean by 17- 20NC?

I find that most of the time I'm not hungry and have trouble getting the calories I need. Every so often I'm just super hungry so I'll have a higher calorie day here and there.

I find that when I eat too much fruit I get hungry. I think I really need to limit myself to one piece a day (and I say this as I had a protein shake with a banana and a planned apple snack later on )

For me, I had decided I'd let my body pick my final weight based on calorie level (in and out) that I could live with rest of my life. Which ended up to be @ 1800-2000 calories daily in with @5 hours exercise per week. If I want to get my weight any lower, I do have to cut calories further to the point of annoying hunger which I've found triggers binges so for now I appear to be "stuck" in 165 range. While I'm happy to be 100 lbs less than I was and intellectually happy that I'm not fighting myself to get a better number, I do have to admit that I'd REALLY like to get that last 20 lbs gone.

I lost weight with the previous WW plan, and as I lost weight, my daily point allowance decreased. I did not find that a problem. My hunger levels were the same. So I think 2000 at the beginning of your weight loss journey and 1700 at the end will probably feel about the same.

With that said, now that I've been in maintenance for over a year, I've learned that different types of foods keep hunger at bay much better. With WW, you can eat anything you want. The down side of that is that you have to figure out for yourself what foods are most filling and keep hunger at bay. That has taken me over a year of experimentation, but I think I've about got it figured out. WW has its Simply Filling plan - I have to do that WITH whole fat dairy rather than without (I need more fat in my diet), basically.

Essentially I eat whole foods without ingredients I cannot stock in my kitchen. Most of the food I eat is made at home. The little prepared food I buy is usually from Trader Joes, where all the ingredients are stuff I could buy. I eat butter on my bread, and I eat whole milk yogurt, cheese, etc. Then I'm fine. If I waste my calories on junk food, I am very hungry and need a lot more food. I do not use sugar substitutes, nor do I buy anything that is low-fat or diet.

So 1) yes, you can get by on less food, and 2) it's easier to do that when you learn what types of food work best for you, which can require wholesale change to your diet. That's my experience, for what it's worth.

<<I've had to cut my calories down to around 1500 to maintain [from 1,800-2000]... I'm 2 years older, so maybe that has something to do with it.>>

Hmmm, two extra years of age shouldn't make THAT much difference. I just input my variables into a calorie calculator. If I make myself two years older, it tells me I can have 15 fewer calories per day; four years older, 30 fewer calories per day, and so on. I know these calculators aren't infallible, but the change in your maintenance requirements seems pretty drastic. I have to wonder if anything else has changed in your life/routine. Have you tried upping your calories just a little and seeing what happens?

Freelance

Like everything else in weight loss/maintenance, this is really different from person to person.

I find that my hunger level is more directly related to how much food I ate over the past few days than anything else. If I eat huge meals for a few days, then I feel like my stomach has stretched out and it takes more food for it to feel full. If I eat less, then it takes less to fill me up like my stomach was shrinking. This is why for me at least if I need to lose a few pounds, the first two weeks are the hardest as I adjust to the lower calorie level. Once I've adjusted, I'm not any hungrier than I was before.

That's within limits of course. If I ate 1000 cals I would be hungry, regardless. It also depends where the calories are coming from -- I need fiber and fat to stay full so if I don't eat any I'll be hungry anyway.

I continue to eat whole foods and very minimal sugar. I continue to make healthy choices and eat an abundance of lean meats, good fats, veggies and fruit. In the last 2 years I have gone from a stay at home mom to working approx 36 hours a week at a very labor intensive job. I am basically on my feet, moving quickly, lifting, stooping, etc. for 7 hours a day with one 20 minute lunch break. When I get home, I work my butt off doing all the things I can't get done in the morning. I spend very little time on leasure anymore.

I finally land around 10:00PM and fall asleep pretty quickly. The only thing I can think of is that it is very stressful at times, and I need to be up at 4:30AM to get everything done at home before I start work at 7:00AM. I have gone from 8 hours of sleep to about 6.5 hours of sleep, every night. Maybe stress/lack of sleep has something to do with it. But trust me, I'm not eating 1500 calories worth of garbage every day, I eat very nutrient rich foods.

It's GOTTA be the sleep thing. I find that sleep has a HUGE effect on my weight. I can't get by on less than 7 hours a night; 8 is ideal.

I'm wondering if it is the additional stress. I've heard that stress can raise cortisol levels, which can lead to the body holding onto weight. The lack of sleep could also contribute to this. If that's the problem, I don't know what the solution would be other than to engage in some stress-reducing activities (e.g., light stretching, relaxing baths, etc).

The other thing ---and I hesitate to suggest this since it's almost a cliche----perhaps you actually need more calories. Maybe your activity level has gone up to the point where your body is crying out for more food and when it's not getting it, it is hanging onto every oz. of fat. So, the notorious "starvation mode" at work? I know, I know: I have my doubts about the validity of it. However, I must say that when I increased my calories back in October, all of a sudden, I noticed that I seemed to drop a lot of weight (I wasn't weighing myself, but clothes I had just bought a month before became loose). I think initially when anyone increases calories, the scale shows a gain simply because there is physically more food in the body. However, if one is actually eating the appropriate number of calories, that should level out over a couple of weeks.

I don't know if any of those suggestions will help, and I am certainly not an expert, but I'm just throwing out ideas (In fact, I feel like a student giving a teacher advice since you've been at maintenance for two years and I've just started).

Regarding Leptin Reset:

I don't remember the exact sites, except one low carb bulletin board, which I don't think I can mention here. I googled both "leptin" & "leptin reset" & found articles about how leptin levels effect appetite, especially after reaching a normal weight. Evidently, leptin is a hormone in the gut that gets all out of whack when you are overweight & then needs to be "reset" when you reach goal, or leptin's ability to increase hunger can 'do you in' while trying to maintain. I think there is also a Leptin Reset book, but I don't remember the author. I modified the recommendations I read about, because the advised 50 gms of protein at breakfast was just too much for me. My trial with the 30 gms worked for me, so it may be one of those YMMV situations. I am just very grateful that it worked for me & plan to use the strategy again if I find my appetite getting out of control in the future. Good luck to you all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/he...udy-finds.html

Found this interesting link when doing a search on leptin. Seems that studies are showing that indeed, my personal strggles are not all that uncommon in previously obese people.

Yeah, but did you see how low they had those poor people in the study eating? 500 to 550 calories per day! That would throw anyone's hormones and metabolism out of whack.

Jay