How much to eat ??

[joshnwtassie]

Hi All. This is my first question so sorry if it has already been asked on this platform. 

I am slightly confused with the cal's in cal's out. 6 months ago I set out to loose 25 kg's and achieved my goal plus a few more. I now weigh 82.3kg's and am so happy with my progress. Being new to this and trusting the science behind intake and output has been a long journey for me and I am sure my lean muscle has taken a whack along the way. Fitbit tells me I am still overweight for my height 178cm and 38 YO male - BMI 25.7 and fat % of 20.7. I want to shed a few more kg's but I really want to build on or if not hold onto my muscle mass doing so. I walk most mornings with my wife (5klm) run Park Run on Saturdays (5klm) and love to cycle 2/3 times per week between 100-150klm in total. I lift a few weights at home on the home gym also 15 mins here/15 mins there. Originally I had a 1000 calorie deficit, and lately I have reduced this to maintenance weight. On average I burn anywhere between 3500-4000 calories for the day. I really struggle to consume the total amount of calories to hit 1000 calorie deficit let alone maintenance weight. If I try and eat more I just feel sick. I find protein powders helps bump it up mostly. My question is do I try and force myself to eat more towards the end of the day if I cant regulate so well during, and if not, do I need to back off on the exercise? I am scared to back off in fear of putting back on but a deficit is a deficit from what I understand. I have a pretty reasonable diet of most foods, and supplement with high protein powders to build muscle mass. I concentrate on trying to consume proteins first, carbs second and fat's last. I find it easier to regulate the recommended macro-nutrient intake on that theory. Just after a bit of help...Thanks 

[Dominique]

Welcome to the community, @joshnwtassie, and congrats for your impressive weight loss!

Someone who lost 25% of their starting weight during the past six months would normally feel super-hungry if not ravenous. This is because of the reduced metabolism induced by prolonged under-eating. It’s therefore highly unusual that your problem is eating enough to achieve maintenance, or even a 1000 calories deficit. Well, I’m sure many people would love to face such a "problem", so just enjoy it.

Maybe you should go easy on the protein. This would let you be less satiated and eat more. Protein is important for optimal body composition and muscle building, but there’s no need to go crazy about it.