Got to goal weight but now I’m gaining

emtressa

I reached my goal weight and decided I wanted to stop counting the calories and just read my body’s hunger cues, being mindful of portions and continuing to work out (3x a week). However, it seems like my body naturally wants way more calories than my allotted 1550 maintenance (when I do log, the total is closer to 1800). Has anyone else experienced this? When I was cutting, I averaged 1350-1400 calories a day. I don’t want to go back to logging everything again (feels like I can’t enjoy life), but I think I’ve gained at least 2lbs in a month, and don’t want to lose all the hard work. Is there a reason why 1800 calories feels right vs 1550 for my body?

HDBKLM

I experienced something similar on a recent break from deficit—I'd been allotted about 1600 calories but was eating an average of at least 2000. I'm afraid I don't have an explanation of very much that is directly helpful to say, other than letting you know you're not the only one, though maybe you could exercise your way up to 'being allowed' 1800 per day? For me, I made a decision after the break that I'll be a lifetime logger, but if it feels like you can't enjoy life when logging then I guess that's another issue.

collectingblues

Three thoughts.

1) 1550 seems incredibly low for maintenance. What are your height/weight, and if you're using MFP, are you eating exercise calories back?

2) It's normal to gain between 3-4 pounds (or more) upon entering maintenance, because you're replenishing your glycogen stores, you've got more food weight in you, and you're likely keeping more water on board as well. So two pounds? Totally a normal fluctuation.

3. When you say you "think" you've gained two pounds in a month, have you actually tracked it from month-to-month, and seen that this is true? Or is something else feeling off?

PAV8888

collectingblues wrote: »

Three thoughts.

1) 1550 seems incredibly low for maintenance. What are your height/weight, and if you're using MFP, are you eating exercise calories back?

2) It's normal to gain between 3-4 pounds (or more) upon entering maintenance, because you're replenishing your glycogen stores, you've got more food weight in you, and you're likely keeping more water on board as well. So two pounds? Totally a normal fluctuation.

3. When you say you "think" you've gained two pounds in a month, have you actually tracked it from month-to-month, and seen that this is true? Or is something else feeling off?

Every single thing said ;-)

Especially the tracking of the weight and the low "official target" maintenance number which does not sound like it could including activity or exercise beyond the sedentary level.

It also sounds to me as if the OP is within normal weight fluctuation levels.

That said I really think that the OP would benefit from understanding how one's weight changes on a day to day basis and how to look at their weight level over time using a trending weight app.

There are numerous discussion threads on the subjects of scale weight, restaurant meals, time of the month, water retention, exercise and how these might not be the same as a continuous month over month increase of one's trending weight level that also corresponds to measurement increases.

geltner1

At least keeping weighing yourself 2-3 times per week and see if this alarming trend continues. If you do continue to gain, you really have to go back to logging your meals. Think how depressing it would be to gain back all you lost!!!!

emtressa

Thanks for all the thoughts. My maintenance is so low because I am only 5 feet tall, female, age 36, and weigh 108 lbs. (I got down to 105 lbs before going maintenance). I’m a stay at home mom (so I put myself as lightly active.)

I do eat my exercise calories back (I run 3-4 miles three times a week, about 240-310 calories per run.) on those days it makes sense my maintenance is more like 1800 vs 1550.

Weight wise, I’ve only been on maintenance for a month, so I’ve been weighing in once every wk and the scale has gone up 2-3 lbs. I know it might be water weight, but I guess I’ll have to see in another month or two if it continues to go up.

Its just been alarming that unless I eat about 1800 calories a day (vs 1550), I feel so hungry all the time. Thanks again for the insights!

LivingtheLeanDream

Give it another month and then see how your weight is doing, its early days yet. If you're hungry all the time try and eat more filling/satiating foods - protein/fat/fibre.

I don't log my food any more either, but I have had times in the last few years when I saw my weight creep up a few pounds and stay that way for a few months, the only way I got round that was to log again until I was back at my happy weight. When we're not logging its easy to think we're only eating xxxx amount when we could be eating a bit more which obviously does cause weight gain if we consistently eat over our TDEE.

I'm 5ft 2, 48 and lightly active, I maintain on 1950-2000. You could well maintain at 1800 calories even at 5ft, time will tell.

Just keep stepping on the scales regularly and in another 4 weeks then you'll know for sure if your weight is a true gain or just a fluctuation.

In regards to logging, I just can't be bothered logging my food any more but if I saw I was gaining over a period of time I want to stay slim badly enough to go back to logging if necessary. If you did see your weight keep spiking up you'll have to ask yourself how much you want to stay at goal weight too and if you will do what it takes to keep you there.

collectingblues

emtressa wrote: »

Thanks for all the thoughts. My maintenance is so low because I am only 5 feet tall, female, age 36, and weigh 108 lbs. (I got down to 105 lbs before going maintenance). I’m a stay at home mom (so I put myself as lightly active.)

I do eat my exercise calories back (I run 3-4 miles three times a week, about 240-310 calories per run.) on those days it makes sense my maintenance is more like 1800 vs 1550.

Weight wise, I’ve only been on maintenance for a month, so I’ve been weighing in once every wk and the scale has gone up 2-3 lbs. I know it might be water weight, but I guess I’ll have to see in another month or two if it continues to go up.

Its just been alarming that unless I eat about 1800 calories a day (vs 1550), I feel so hungry all the time. Thanks again for the insights!

Actually, it's not all that surprising. I ran your stats through the Scooby calculator, and with that level of exercise (I figured 3-5 hours a week), it gave me 1712 for maintenance for you.

I wonder if you would still feel hungry if you *consistently* ate that 1700, rather than feeling hungry at 1550, and then uneasy at 1800.

If you can accept these few pounds as a normal fluctuation (which they might be -- or it might be true gain, which seems unlikely unless you've eaten an extra 10,500 calories over the past month), it might be worth the experiment to see how you feel if you consistently eat 1712-1750 or so. It also might be worth weighing more frequently to get more data points instead of assuming that these three pounds are true gains. I know I have days where I weigh higher than others -- I struggle with fluctuations, too, but I'd be more upset than I usually were if I happened to weigh only on the days that are normal high fluctuations. Plus, as I said before, it's *normal* to have a jump of that amount after coming out of a deficit. Frankly, you can't do anything about it, unless you had aimed for a lower goal weight than you actually wanted to maintain at.

spiriteagle99

You might also look at what you are eating. When I regain weight after losing it, it is always for the same reason: those foods that were only occasional treats while I was losing weight become more and more frequent. Instead of ice cream only after a long hike, I start eating it several times a week. Instead of pizza once a month, it becomes a weekly treat. Instead of an occasional beer on a longer run day, I'm having one (or two) on a regular basis. Dessert became pudding and a cookie instead of pudding or a cookie. I know that you can keep your weight stable without logging everything, but it takes a lot of vigilance. Frankly, I find it easier to keep on logging so that calorie creep doesn't happen without me noticing.

emtressa

Super insightful, thanks for all the tips. Maybe the higher calorie range will help me feel less deprived—1700 vs 1550. Although I definitely have been overdoing the extra treats with thanksgiving and having too many desserts on hand, so I know that’s not helping.