Help with maintenance please

jensiegel39

Hi All,

I reached my goal weight about a month ago and I've been up and down since then. I've been trying to figure out how much to eat and have been slowly adding calories. I try to eat around 1700 calories a day now (I was around 1200 this whole year and have lost 104 lbs. to date), but I work out a lot (at least an hour a day). I'm afraid to gain, but I don't want to lose anymore. People are telling me I'm looking too thin. I just fear if I let myself eat even more, I won't be able to stop! And I don't want to go back to bad eating habits (i.e.,cookies and fried foods). I'm just struggling to know what to do. On average, I burn around 350 - 600 calories a day with various workouts (running, biking, elliptical and Zumba mostly). I'm training for a 10K. What should I do to keep things under control food-wise but still maintain where I am? I feel like I'm eating all the time lately, and I'm still losing!

Thanks!

Jen

3laine75

Are you eating 1700 net or 1700 total? Unless you're really tiny, I'd say neither is enough for maintenance.

Use a few online calculators and MFP and take an average. Work up to that number gradually and you shouldn't gain any fat, you should find your performance is better too as you'll be getting the energy you need.

jensiegel39

MFP says I should eat around 1720 calories per day. Does this mean I am to also eat back my exercise calories? I feel like I'm eating so much already. I guess as others on other posts here say, I'm used to a certain amount of food and don't really want more. And if I do, then I think I'll go the other way and be hungry all the time and then revert to what I was. It's a fear, I think, because I never want to be so heavy again. Thanks for the responses!

jensiegel39

Also, what was shocking the last few days is that I gained with my TOM, but then I lost it all plus three pounds practically overnight! I was around 125 all week, and now I'm down to 118. That's a huge loss. I did take Pamprin, which I haven't really taken before, and I know there's a diuretic in there, but it helped with the bloated feeling. I've also been running a lot the last three weeks training for my 10K (suddenly, I just want to run all the time, which is weird), but that surprised me to lose so much in a few days like that. i've never lost that much so quickly. And I only took the Pamprin two or three times in a few days when I had bad cramps, so I don't think that could have done it. Who knows?
119.

mymodernbabylon

Have you checked out the Scooby Workshop calculator and figured out your TDEE? It's a good one for figuring out maintenance calories (you don't eat back exercise calories as it's worked into the equation). I'm 45 yrs old, 145 lb and 5'6" and I eat 2300 calories for my maintenance. You work your way up to it slowly - add 100 calories per week.

47Jacqueline

Change your activity level to very active and MFP will change your daily count. I'm 5'3 and at very active my goal is 1960. I usually do additional workouts so I'm regularly at least 2300

nxd10

I'm sorry, but are you logging all that fantastic exercise you're getting so that you are eating the right amount of calories? If you're losing you're not eating enough. It takes energy to do all that work and build those muscles.

There are a few good foods you can eat that have lots of calories. They're all the things I dropped when I started MFP.

Milk, cheese, dairy. Nuts, beans, legumes. Rice, wheat, corn.

All healthy, all calorie dense. You don't need to eat garbage to add calories to your diet. A big glass of milk and toast with butter is 500 calories. A cup of rice is over 200. Anything they built a cuisine around has a lot of calories with very little bulk.