Ravenous at maintenance?
I am a 22 female, 5 foot, around 106-111lbs. Over the last year I lost 60 pounds. I was in an aggressive deficit for about 8-9 months. I reached a point in January where I was 103 and realized i should probably start eating at maintenance. Throughout my journey I have been consistently lifting 3-5x a week, walk about 4-12k steps a day (this really varies), I sleep 6-8 hours, work a very stressful job with long days and lots of changes. In April I took a break from the gym until June and allowed myself to eat freely and enjoy myself. I gained maybes 5-6 pounds. I’m still very satisfied with how I look, I’m still lean, muscles look great and I’ve definitely gained some muscle. In June I decided to get back to the gym and meal prepping and structure. I decided to start tracking again and I’ve been around 1550-1700 most days and usually one day a week around 2k or more. However I am STRUGGLING!! I feel extremely hunger and NEVER satisfied no matter how much I eat or what I eat. My Macros are good, 90-110g protein a day, 25g of fiber, 170-200g of carbs and have been working on getting my fats over 40g a day. I eat pretty clean, no supplements or much processed food. I enjoy my days out, traveling and have indulgent days but I’m starting to get to the point where I’m so hungry that those days I try to be really free from any kind of structure I lose control. I’m not sure if I’m not eating enough still. I’ve tried to increase daily cals a bit more and still struggling with the hunger. It’s so frustrating because I want to gain muscle (lost my whole bum when I lost weight) but I want to stay lean and keep my stomach relatively flat. I’m just having a hard time finding the balance. I know maintenance is a range and I’ve tried to let my hunger lead me some days and still no luck on feeling full and satisfied. I’m definitely a little scared to keep increasing calories because I’m 5 foot, the thought that my maintenance is higher seems a little iffy to me. I’m at the point where I don’t feel like I can keep feeling this way every single day but I don’t want to abandon my goals or hard work. I genuinely don’t know what to do or how to fix this. Idk why I feel like I’m genuinely starving still even with the increases I’ve been making. I’ve considered taking a month to just eat freely again and listen to hunger and see how my body responds but the problem is I’ve tried for a few days and it ends up being 2.5-3k calories. I know there’s a middle ground somewhere but I’m getting so discouraged and it’s definitely affecting my mental health. I just want to feel fueled, stay lean, and grow muscle. I’ve considered seeing a dietitian about this for sure. Any advice or shared experiences would be appreciated!