Maintaining yet eating MORE calories than ever :)
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I think most people have the ability to eat more calories than they realise, especially when eating low calorie, they add a bit and they obviously gain slightly which is the body adjusting so they automatically drop the calories down again0
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I was 2oz off my goal last week, now maintaining eating 1400 cals I'm gaining again, so I dropped down to 1200 again. I do have under active thyroid and meds make me gain, and cardiologist I'm recently under thinks I have angina so exercing 4-5 days week but taking longer as constantly stopping. Still weighing food and haven't changed diet much. Day off today and treat day Monday...0
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@bfanny You're welcome and I'm glad
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Hm, stupid question here, but I'm a little confused: Are you guys NETTING 2000+ calories after including your workout into MFP, or do you not include your workout calories into MFP and taking in a TOTAL of 2000+ calories?
I burn between 500-600 calories (according to the machines) in my 50 minutes of cardio 4x a week, and lift weights for about 15-20 minutes as well. I'm sedentary and was working to lose around 2 lbs a week, so I had a net calorie goal of 1350 for the last 6 months or so. I would almost always eat back almost all of my calories (meaning i actually ate between 1600-2000 cals a day), but on days when I didn't work out at all I tried my best to stay under 1500 (sometimes it worked, sometimes it didnt
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I'm easing into maintenance now, and set MFP to lose 1 lb a week and it bumped my calories up to 1620 a day. This sounds reasonable to me, but I'm wondering if I should eat back all of my exercise calories still, or just use the 1620 number for my "off" days. Anyone have a similar experience/thoughts?0 -
@ribstabsheart when I talk about cals it's gross, most people mean gross cals
on the days you don't workout eat your 1600+ and eat most of your exercise cals back on others 0 -
RunRutheeRun wrote: »angelorodriguez_b1 wrote: »Hi guys!i am in my maintaining stage right now. After netting less than 1400 calories for one week, MFP gives me 2100+ calories to maintain my weight. I'm 27 yrs old, 5'5" and weigh 138 lbs. Is this just right? I just thought that 2100 calories is too many for me and afraid of wasting my effort in losing weight..
@angelorodriguez_b1 Its very likely that 2100 is indeed your TDEE a least but ramp up the cals slowly, say by 200 for a few weeks and all will be well
He's a young man, so that may be his pre-exercise calories. (I'm his height and weight and get 1800...but I'm a 50 year old woman). But yeah, bump it up slowly. MFP estimates are just that. Mine was a little low. Yours may be high.
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Bump!
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I think most people have the ability to eat more calories than they realise, especially when eating low calorie, they add a bit and they obviously gain slightly which is the body adjusting so they automatically drop the calories down again
Yep! You will hear a lot of women on mfp say they can only maintain on small amounts. They freak out from the fluid & glycogen build up that happens when you up your calories. They just don't give it a chance. They dont realise they can maintain on a lot more than they think!!
What they need to do is test the waters and slowly & gradually up their calories. For instance I think I can maintain on around 2300 weekly average with the activity I do but I'm not 100 % sure so when I get to maintenance I plan to up my calories slowly and push my limits. When I can see a definite gain in scale weight then that's when I'll know what number not to eat as I'll gain weight!
Once I have found my maintenance amount I plan to keep eating at maintenance for a good few months before doing a slow recomp eating just slightly below my TDEE say around 5-10% cut.
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I think most people have the ability to eat more calories than they realise, especially when eating low calorie, they add a bit and they obviously gain slightly which is the body adjusting so they automatically drop the calories down again
Yep! You will hear a lot of women on mfp say they can only maintain on small amounts. They freak out from the fluid & glycogen build up that happens when you up your calories. They just don't give it a chance. They dont realise they can maintain on a lot more than they think!!
What they need to do is test the waters and slowly & gradually up their calories. For instance I think I can maintain on around 2300 weekly average with the activity I do but I'm not 100 % sure so when I get to maintenance I plan to up my calories slowly and push my limits. When I can see a definite gain in scale weight then that's when I'll know what number not to eat as I'll gain weight!
Once I have found my maintenance amount I plan to keep eating at maintenance for a good few months before doing a slow recomp eating just slightly below my TDEE say around 5-10% cut.
So true about the water/glycogen bounce up freak out!
So few people have the patience for this game. It's taken me 26 years to get it!
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thanks for sharing everyone! at point where I am trying to figure this stuff out! 0
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TavistockToad wrote: »someone once unfriended me because i 'ate too much' and it made her jealous that with similar stats she couldnt eat as much as me... and that was only net 1700 cals...
ETA net 1700 to lose 1/2lb per week.
that's funny... yeah i eat a lot. i also run a lot. so be it!
i think it's great.
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RunRutheeRun wrote: »@ribstabsheart when I talk about cals it's gross, most people mean gross cals
on the days you don't workout eat your 1600+ and eat most of your exercise cals back on others
That makes sense! I end up eating back a good chunk of my calories most days (that's part of my motivation to keep going to the gym, lol), so I net between 1900-2200 most days when I'm able to log honestly. It's hard when I eat out, but I do my best to approximate and keep logging even on "off" days. 0 -
Very inspiring thread. I've well overeater several times in the last couple of weeks but my weight has stabilised and I'm sure I'm slightly recomping. I've been in a build phase of my triathlon training, and even though I've been eating every exercise calorie back, and more, I seem to be burning around the clock and probably repairing a lot too. And it's still cold outside.
I'm probably netting about 1850. Gross 1850-2500 depending on workouts. I'm keeping records and seeing how it goes, see if I stay steady.0 -
@RibStabsHeart I think being able to eat more is what motivates most of us to move, that and the fact it keeps us in great shapeRibStabsHeart wrote: »RunRutheeRun wrote: »@ribstabsheart when I talk about cals it's gross, most people mean gross cals
on the days you don't workout eat your 1600+ and eat most of your exercise cals back on others
That makes sense! I end up eating back a good chunk of my calories most days (that's part of my motivation to keep going to the gym, lol), so I net between 1900-2200 most days when I'm able to log honestly. It's hard when I eat out, but I do my best to approximate and keep logging even on "off" days.
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Springfield1970 wrote: »Very inspiring thread. I've well overeater several times in the last couple of weeks but my weight has stabilised and I'm sure I'm slightly recomping. I've been in a build phase of my triathlon training, and even though I've been eating every exercise calorie back, and more, I seem to be burning around the clock and probably repairing a lot too. And it's still cold outside.
I'm probably netting about 1850. Gross 1850-2500 depending on workouts. I'm keeping records and seeing how it goes, see if I stay steady.
@Springfield1970 I've been doing a lot of overeating myself in the past few weeks, meals out, a weekend away with food galore, averaged around 2400 cals a day gross but my weight stabilised too - for me its not likely its recomping though as I don't lift heavy, I do free weights and Pilates but mostly I run, my steps are always high - averaged 20000+/day (10 miles approx ) last week which gives me a high TDEE.
I seem to be always eating back most of my exercise cals too. Its still winter so with better weather on its way (hopefully) that'll see me being even more active as well
Keeping records is a great way to keep a handle on our progress. Thanks for your comment/reply
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Springfield1970 wrote: »I think most people have the ability to eat more calories than they realise, especially when eating low calorie, they add a bit and they obviously gain slightly which is the body adjusting so they automatically drop the calories down again
Yep! You will hear a lot of women on mfp say they can only maintain on small amounts. They freak out from the fluid & glycogen build up that happens when you up your calories. They just don't give it a chance. They dont realise they can maintain on a lot more than they think!!
What they need to do is test the waters and slowly & gradually up their calories. For instance I think I can maintain on around 2300 weekly average with the activity I do but I'm not 100 % sure so when I get to maintenance I plan to up my calories slowly and push my limits. When I can see a definite gain in scale weight then that's when I'll know what number not to eat as I'll gain weight!
Once I have found my maintenance amount I plan to keep eating at maintenance for a good few months before doing a slow recomp eating just slightly below my TDEE say around 5-10% cut.
So true about the water/glycogen bounce up freak out!
So few people have the patience for this game. It's taken me 26 years to get it!
26 years! patience galore eh lol I keep trying to tell my friends when maintaining to not stress over the scale going up when they increase their calories a bit but most of them just panic and cut again - its a vicious circle!0 -
eat_run_play wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »someone once unfriended me because i 'ate too much' and it made her jealous that with similar stats she couldnt eat as much as me... and that was only net 1700 cals...
ETA net 1700 to lose 1/2lb per week.
that's funny... yeah i eat a lot. i also run a lot. so be it! i think it's great.
@eat_run_play it is great 0 -
RunRutheeRun wrote: »Springfield1970 wrote: »Very inspiring thread. I've well overeater several times in the last couple of weeks but my weight has stabilised and I'm sure I'm slightly recomping. I've been in a build phase of my triathlon training, and even though I've been eating every exercise calorie back, and more, I seem to be burning around the clock and probably repairing a lot too. And it's still cold outside.
I'm probably netting about 1850. Gross 1850-2500 depending on workouts. I'm keeping records and seeing how it goes, see if I stay steady.
@Springfield1970 I've been doing a lot of overeating myself in the past few weeks, meals out, a weekend away with food galore, averaged around 2400 cals a day gross but my weight stabilised too - for me its not likely its recomping though as I don't lift heavy, I do free weights and Pilates but mostly I run, my steps are always high - averaged 20000+/day (10 miles approx ) last week which gives me a high TDEE.
I seem to be always eating back most of my exercise cals too. Its still winter so with better weather on its way (hopefully) that'll see me being even more active as well
Keeping records is a great way to keep a handle on our progress. Thanks for your comment/reply
Life's good! Food means a lot to me....glad I can have the best of both worlds, and it sounds like you've got a really great balance too!
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@Springfield1970 you sound like me, I LOVE my food and don't ban any foods and yes, life is good! long may that continue
btw Absolutely cracking body, be proud, you've earned it 0 -
UPDATE - 10 March 2015 (also have posted this reply to my first maintenance post http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10069411/maintenance-findings-4-months-on#latest
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It turns out I can't eat as many calories as I thought!!
I'm now at 6 months into maintenance and after upping gross calories to 2100 mid January, for 3 weeks now my weight has consistently stayed at the higher end of my goal range which I don't like.
I have had to re-evaluate my intake and think about what was the overall cause of this small gain... and its simply that on Saturdays, which is what most of you would call my cheat day, I eat whatever I want - it turns out I have been eating up to 3000 cals!(its hard to log take away accurately) yep! And I do this every week! Now 3000 isn't too bad for someone as active as me, but when I upped my overall calories throughout the week in January to 2100/day, that meant my deficit became non- existent, in fact I was eating a little too much!
Anyway, I have adjusted my intake now to reflect my one high day as I enjoy having a day when I don't have to think or worry about calories. The other days I will eat at 1900 and that will leave me in deficit overall by 1000 calories each week.
Maintenance continues to be a learning curve!
Watch this space!
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Thanks for the helpful update.
I'm about to hit reality too. I think I've gained half a pound in the last week or two, at maintenance now and averaging out every 7 days, every day so will know in a few days whether it's water weight or fat.
I hope I haven't though, it's been so much fun!
But my cycles tend to go like this, fun, then reigning it in. I don't spend a lot of time cutting though, because I jump on gains within a week or two.0 -
This is always going to be a moving target... I move a lot less in winter than summer. Some weeks I go way overboard sometimes not so much. I use my weight just to be aware - if I am up a pound or two over a week, I just be more conscious and cut back the following week a little. If I am under, I am a little freer the next week or so. There is no one number that will work every week all year for me, but I have a good range I know I can bounce between and stay pretty consistent in weight. I know if I have been extra active that day/week I am not so concerned with the calories, if I have been a slug and not gotten out of bed most of the weekend, I eat more salads those days.0
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@Springfield1970 1/2lb I wouldn't worry about....its when it's more like 3lbs (which is my reality! Boohoo!) that I start thinking I'm on the slippery slope! I don't wanna be the curvy one ever again! Yet I love to eat, today I've had almost 1900 cals and I'm fighting the urge to not eat more! Think I'll go to bed so I won't feel hungry lol
I have cycles too, it was going so sweetly and all of a sudden I feel my body has slapped those 3lbs on me out of nowhere - or more like maybe it took a while for the scale to catch on I was eating as much as I was!! Bah humbug lol0 -
@asflatasapancake you can go a whole month without a cheat meal! Hats off to ya I try not to let weight get to me, most days I succeed and others I have major rants lol
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You are living the dream 0
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RunRutheeRun wrote: »Am I among the seemingly few who want to eat as MANY calories as possible yet maintain my weight?
I was thinking about a post I made on my newsfeed last night about eating 2200 calories that day, yet still being hungry (it was a high cardio day). I realised to some that I really must sound like a greedy gorb (and maybe I am! lol)
I have become very active since I started my journey with MFP in May 2012, its been a huge factor in me being able to stay trim.
I know for everyone its different, but do people like restricting themselves so much IF they don't actually need to?
For me its fabulous to be able to eat more calories and maintain
(ps I have been reverse dieting for the past 5 months and having incredible success - btw I'm 5ft 2", 45 yrs old, active and maintain currently on 2100-2300 calories.)
Penny for your thoughts?
I'm more likely to unfriend someone if it seems like they're restricting themselves too much. I work a very active job & I run around 35 miles/week. My maintanance calories are set at 2200 & I eat back most of my exercise calories. I'm 5'5", 114lbs & I'm 33. When I don't eat enough, I can't function! Keep doing what you're doing if it works for you. I'm not going to starve myself. But that's just me.0 -
@goosebeartalk thank you for your reply, well done on maintaining and I'm glad others are like me and fuel their bodies accordingly 0
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I am trying to figure out what my maintenance calories and while I am not done figuring it out, I am eating a lot more than I thought I could.
I am 5 feet no inches, 102ish lbs., 40 years old. I just raised my calories by 100 yesterday:
cardio days: 1,800 - 1900
strength days: 1,700-1,800
no workout: 1.600 - 1,700
Weeeeeeeeeee! I am upping my calories again! I am seeing slightly under 100 on the scale here and there.
cardio days: 1900 - 2000
strength days: 1800-1900
no workout: 1700-1800
I see lots of talenti salted caramel gelato in my future 0 -
I pretty much want to eat all the things, all the time. So, the most I can and maintain, once I hit maintenance, that's what I plan to do!0
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