High?low pattern of eating
 

I have a problem. I have a high/low pattern. Basically this means I eat well one day (yesterday I had just over 1200 cals, felt satisfied, and achieved a good balance of carbs fat and protein.) The next day (today - over 1900 cals and haven't had supper yet) is high. Not always this bad, sometimes jsut around 15 or 1600 cals. I've been journaling to help me figure out why the Craving Monster gets me and that is helping some. Does anyone else struggle with this? Apparently I can eat right, just not on consecutive days!
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I've got to beat this!

Sounds to me (and I am not an expert/professional) that you are eating too little on your low days and your body is just extra hungry the next day to compensate (this was a common pattern for me during earlier weight loss attempts). Maybe try a week of 1500 days to see if smooths you out? A lot of people love to zigzag calories, but maybe you could try 1300 for your low instead of 1200.

I agree with Glory. I know that on days where I eat too little, I am famished the next day (today is one of those days) -- I'd aim for somewhere a little higher. Once you've been at that calorie intake for a few weeks, you'll be able to tell if it's too much for you or not.

Good luck!

Hmmmm. Last year when I counted cals I stayed around 14-15-- a day and it worked... until major stress happened and I got sick of writing everything down. I'll try aiming a little higher and see if it helps. Thanks, ladies!

Some people believe that zigzaging calorie intake actually facilitates in weight loss. And even at 1900 you are still under your maintainance caloric intake. So, don't worry, you should be fine, even if you can't stay at the same number. Some days your body is just more hungry and other days less. Let it be. :)

I've been zig zagging purposely to lose this extra weight and its been working great for me. I need to eat more after one to three days of eating low because I really am famished. But I also notice I lose more when I eat lower (like 1200-1300) and then follow up with a higher calorie total (1900-2300) rather than always averaging around 1700 or so. My body must be majorly guessing because there's really no set schedule.

When I used to maintain my weight at my goal weight, I used to tend to eat a lot over the weekends and then purposely cut back during the beginning of the work week. That always worked to stabilize the extra pounds I would have packed on from all those weekends eating out, drinks and lots of boredom snacking. Back then I wasn't calorie counting but could just tell I had eaten a lot over the weekend and I'd look kind of bloated, so I'd get it in gear before things got out of control pounds-wise.

I would think you could keep up your same habit, which seems to be how you work best, but just cut down on the total calories on both your high and your low days. On second thought, you're eating pretty low it seems. Are you exercising? That's hugely important.