My maintanence cals can't really be less than 1450, right?!

mrsmcmo

Hey all,

So, I WAS 1lb away from my goal weight (last week). Stats: 5'2, f, 114lbs (as of Saturday morning weigh in - Friday morning said 115!), GW is 112lbs. Since last monday I have been eating about 1450 cals/day. I have been upping my cals by 50/week, in the hopes that I would still be slowly losing but it seems like I am either a) staying the same weight and having a couple lbs water weight fluctuations or b) gaining? I am lightly active, plus I log any "real" exercise I do (running, mostly). I know you guys are all thinking that maintenance weight is a "range", but I am really hoping that I am not at maintenance yet! I feel like 1450 is not nearly enough calories for me, yet I am not seeing the scale even stay the same... I was hoping to up my cals again tomorrow to 1500 (MFP has my maintenance cals set to 1650/day), but now I'm really afraid to do that. How long should I continue to eat at 1450 before deciding if it's too much? I am really not wanting to gain

ETA: I had no trouble losing the weight (started at 130lbs) so I'm sure I'm still weighing, measuring, logging accurately. Also I think my activity level is set to the appropriate level.

nxd10

A lot of people gain back a few pounds as son as they go to maintenance. That's especially true if they lost fairly quickly. If you slowed down a lot before stopping, that might not.

Give it a week and see how it goes. For myself, I go up and down around 3 pounds. Lots of people do 5.

mrsmcmo

Thanks, I will give it another week at 1450, but my point was that 1450 seems so low to be maintenance! I am on my feet quite a bit (I'm a stay at home mom, but during the day I do quite a bit of house work, running around, etc.) so I think sedentary calories wouldn't be enough. And I have been really slowly "upping" my calories, by only 50/week. I was hoping to avoid the few lb gain if I went up to maintenance slowly.

stuffinmuffin

I'm 5'3" and 110lb and maintain at around 2000 cals a day. Your body takes a while to adjust to maintenance so take it slowly by adding small increments of calories at a time, but I'm sure that unless you really spend your entire day and evening sat down doing nothing, you will maintain at higher than 1450.

Poods71

As someone else said it is just your body adjusting. I am 5' 2 1/2", I find if I have about 1600 during the week and a bit more at the weekend I maintain. I don't know exactly what that would even out at as I like to have a bit extra at the weekend.

sijomial

It's just a week! Patience is required, you will have weird weeks where the maths don't seem to make sense.

What calorie limit did you have during your recent weight loss and what rate of weight
loss did that deficit give you?
That's a pretty good guide to what your eventual maintenance calories will be rather than one week's results where you have made changes to your routine.

mitch16

I've seen the recommendation here to overshoot your goal weight by a few pounds and that way as your weight bounces around as it is stabilizes you don't freak out so much by being over your goal weight.

rosebette

The calorie requirements for a short person of relatively low weight is not that high. I'm around your size and a bit older, and my BMR sedentary is around 1200, active around 1500, so between 1400 and 1500 might indeed be your maintenance range.

RaspberryTickleChicken

rosebette wrote: »

The calorie requirements for a short person of relatively low weight is not that high. I'm around your size and a bit older, and my BMR sedentary is around 1200, active around 1500, so between 1400 and 1500 might indeed be your maintenance range.

+1

The hazard of being 'fun sized' I'm afraid.

For most - if someone is 6'1" maintaining on 2300 it seems logical that THAT amount of calories would not be the same for someone who is 5'1" (extreme example).

Whether you are a petite frame or muscular should also be taken into consideration. And the less you weigh the less calories you will need to maintain bodily function. So if your BMR @130 lbs was 1700 then your BMR @110 lbs would be less (random #s for example only).

I'm 4'10", petite frame, 44 yo. My BMR is 967 & TDEE of 1457 (working out 6x wk). My maintenance calories is half way between my BMR & TDEE. Have been maintaining for about 10 + mths now.

scrittrice

sijomial wrote: »

It's just a week! Patience is required, you will have weird weeks where the maths don't seem to make sense.

What calorie limit did you have during your recent weight loss and what rate of weight
loss did that deficit give you?
That's a pretty good guide to what your eventual maintenance calories will be rather than one week's results where you have made changes to your routine.

I agree--work backward from the data you've accumulated. Also, this:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1071202/why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut/p1

nxd10

I'm 5'10" and I maintained for a year NETTING 1430. I'm also 55. I actually could eat more than that because I use a fitbit and typically get another 300 calories from steps.

After a year I suddenly lost another 5 pounds with no change in activity and now I maintain at 1680 NET.

I go back to what I said before. This is all empirical. Give it a while. See how it goes. Find food you can love and not feel hungry on at that level. Get a fitbit or something similar to add exercise calories on top of that. The reason a lot of people gain weight is that they eat more than their bodies actually need.

mrsmcmo

Thanks for all the replies!

sijomial wrote: »

What calorie limit did you have during your recent weight loss and what rate of weight
loss did that deficit give you?
That's a pretty good guide to what your eventual maintenance calories will be rather than one week's results where you have made changes to your routine.

Well, when I first started out (weighing 130lbs) my first goal was to lose 1lb/week, and MFP gave me 1510cals/day for that. After I lost 10lbs, I went down to 1200/day which I maintained for about a month. After that, I slowly started upping calories by approx. 50 extra cals/day, for about a week (give or take a couple days), until I got where I am now, eating 1450. I started using MFP on July 28, and have dropped 17ish lbs since then, with not that much to lose so I guess it was rather fast for someone of my size.

Now, with all that being said, I have been giving myself a "treat" day about once weekly (sometimes every 10 days, just depends on plans etc.) when I don't log all my calories. I don't go insanely overboard, but I do eat more than my weight loss calories. But like I said, that is no more than once a week.

In other news, I weighed myself AGAIN this morning and the scale read 112lbs, on the dot, which is my goal. So I am guessing (?) that I have just been having a lot of water weight fluctuation. Regardless, I am going to stay at 1450 for this week and see what the scale says again on Friday or Saturday.

My original goal was actually 115lbs and I would probably feel okay bouncing anywhere between 110lbs and 115lbs, it just scared me to see 115lbs on the scale on Friday when I don't feel that 1400-1450 is enough to maintain this weight long term.

cwolfman13

You're going to gain some weight when you up your calories...this isn't necessarily fat...this is when it's important to have some understanding that your weight is made up of far more than just fat. Suffice it to say, when you eat more, you're inherently going to have more waste in your system...you're also going to retain more fluids...you also are going to replenish glycogen stores that have been at various levels of depletion since you've been dieting.

You're going to have to just watch things over the next few weeks...look at the trends, etc. Maintenance isn't static...you're going to fluctuate quite a bit. I fluctuate between about 180 and 185...my 18 month average is 183. As a general trend, I'm maintaining and average weight of 183.

mrsmcmo

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Suffice it to say, when you eat more, you're inherently going to have more waste in your system...you're also going to retain more fluids...you also are going to replenish glycogen stores that have been at various levels of depletion since you've been dieting.

This makes a ton of sense. I had read the "why you gain weight if you eat more than your cut" thread previously, so I was a little bit mentally prepared for a bit of weight gain, but for some reason, I had it in my mind that I wouldn't gain much if anything until I was closer to what I *thought* would be my maintenance cal range. I think what I'm going to do is stay at 1450 and just make that work for awhile, and hopefully I will continue to lose a couple more lbs. I will make my goal 110lbs, and then hopefully bouncing around between 110lbs and 115lbs won't be a big deal.

kdiamond

stuffinmuffin wrote: »

I'm 5'3" and 110lb and maintain at around 2000 cals a day. Your body takes a while to adjust to maintenance so take it slowly by adding small increments of calories at a time, but I'm sure that unless you really spend your entire day and evening sat down doing nothing, you will maintain at higher than 1450.

^^^ Exactly this. I am small but active, so I can stay at 112 pounds and still eat quite a bit. Just transition slowly.

laineybz

I'm 5"2, around 104lbs and have an office job. As i enter sedentary on MFP, it says my maintenance would be around 1450 calories. I eat exercise calories back and actually eat around 1570 a day.

mrsmcmo

That's motivational, thanks ladies! I was curious to know what other short girls maintenance is.

LivingtheLeanDream

I'm 5ft 2" - 134lbs and maintenance for me is 2200. I am very active though.