Maintenance cals = slow weight loss. How much to increase by?

pinkteapot3

I lost 16lbs with my MFP-recommended cals for 1lb/week loss. I then switched onto maintenance at goal in May.

I'm 5'7, 136lbs and on 1,710 cals per day. I ate back all exercise cals while losing and have continued to do so on maintenance.

I'm slowly losing weight. I've lost 3lbs since May. I know 3lbs can just be daily water weight, but my weekly weigh-in is steadily trending down, very slowly. My scales measure to the quarter-pound, and there's just a very gradual downward trend. I do have daily water fluctuations, but this is looking at the overall trend for a couple of months.

Is that long enough to assess a trend? Are my MFP maintenance cals very slightly too low for me? Should I nudge my cals up very slightly? If so, by how much?

I did lose very slightly faster than I should have, so I suspect that for me personally, MFP-recommended cals are just a teeny tiny bit too low.

My logging is accurate. I weigh all food. The exercise I log and eat back is all cardio - running and bike-riding - and it's all measured with GPS apps so my distance/speed recorded is correct and I've always found the calorie burns accurate (for me).

SezxyStef

are you using a food scale for measuring food? Consistent and accurate logging isn't just for losing.

You could be over estimating your calories...

Otherwise add in 50-100 a day for a week or two and see how it goes

AsISmile

Perhaps your activity level is wrong, because it clearly sounds like you are not eating enough calories.
I agree with the previous posts to slowly up your calories, to perhaps 1900 ish. Then maintain and see what happends. You can always adjust upward or downward.

TimothyFish

Some people suggest going by two to three week time-frames, maybe even a month. So, since May should be sufficient time. At 3lbs since May, you may be eating as much as 250 calories per day below what you need to maintain. Don't increase your intake by that much all at once, because it could be less than that. Increase by 100 calories per day this week and then reassess after a couple of weeks or more. If you're still losing, add another 100 and reassess after a few weeks. Repeat until you see a trend of weight gain on the scale. Then start reducing by increments of 50 and reassessing until you see a trend of weight loss. I would stop there and call it good, because most of us tend to have some special days and weeks when we eat too much. But to fine tune it more, you would start increasing by 25 calories, until you see a weight gain, etc.

pinkteapot3

Wowser - 250 cals a day? I thought 3lb since May was a tiny loss and I'd get like 15 cals a day extra.

I do use a food scale for absolutely everything and have used it consistently through losing and maintaining. But, as I said, I lost slightly quicker than MFP said I would, and am now slightly losing on maintenance, so either MFPs cals for me are slightly off or my scale isn't accurate! It's a digital scale though - should be fine.

Re activity, I'm in as sedentary because I do a desk job. However, I only log "proper" exercise - running and bike-riding. I do a small amount of other activity - really small - eg walking from the car park at work to the office (few mins walk). Little bits of cleaning/gardening at home. I've never logged anything for these as I can't measure the calorie burn, but this is the most likely area that's making me go under my cals.

Thanks all for giving me the confidence to eat a bit more. I'll try 100 extra cals per day for a month and see what happens.

bmchenry02

I don't have advice but just wanted to say we're very much alike!! I'm 5'8 128 and just switched to maintenance calories two weeks ago when starting Jamie Eason's LiveFit program. My calculated average TDEE is about 1880. I'm going to take measurements soon and track my progress that way and how I generally feel/look.

Good luck! I find some days it's easy to eat at maintenance and others (like today) I've ore logged my meals and I'm 500 under but can't see being hungry...hopefully it all just balances out!

intangiblemango

This happened to me also. I don't think I had a specific system for adding more calories, but I ended up getting to eat several hundred calories more than what MFP thought I should be eating.

msf74

pinkteapot3 wrote: »

Is that long enough to assess a trend? Are my MFP maintenance cals very slightly too low for me? Should I nudge my cals up very slightly? If so, by how much?

1. Yes
2. Yes - it is a generic estimate after all. The right amount is the level your body responds to over time.
3. Yes
4. Try 100 cals a day for a couple of weeks and reassess

kailyw05

I would say your burning more than you think. Since I got my fitbit Charge HR in March I've noticed I will get a lot of extra calories from walking around, doing chores, yard work, etc. If it's in your budget I would highly recommend the fitbit as I have been eating back all my exercise calories the fitbit gives me since March and lost another 18 lbs doing so. I just switched to maintenance today and I'm hoping it will help me a lot through this phase!

Just to give you an idea, I have also set my stats to sedentary, but usually on an "active" Saturday when I clean the house, run errands, get groceries, walk the dog, do a workout DVD, go to a BBQ at a friend's house I will easily burn an extra 800 calories that day. My workout dvd may have burned 250 calories in 30 minutes, so the rest is all from moving around.

I have to literally sit all day if my burned calories are going to equal what MFP says I should burn being sedentary.

You could also just try changing your stats to lightly active. Might be enough to make up the difference.

coreytikkitavi

pinkteapot3 wrote: »

Wowser - 250 cals a day? I thought 3lb since May was a tiny loss and I'd get like 15 cals a day extra.

3 lb should equal about a 10,500 calorie surplus. May 1st to today has been 75 days.

> (3*3500) / 75 = 140

So you've been eating approximately 140 calories below TDEE.

AsISmile

coreytikkitavi wrote: »

pinkteapot3 wrote: »

Wowser - 250 cals a day? I thought 3lb since May was a tiny loss and I'd get like 15 cals a day extra.

3 lb should equal about a 10,500 calorie surplus. May 1st to today has been 75 days.

> (3*3500) / 75 = 140

So you've been eating approximately 140 calories below TDEE.

This

pinkteapot3

Thanks again!

kailyw05 - I'm always running round the house so suspect the lack of gaining any cals for this is why I've been eating slightly low both during loss and maintenance.

To the last two posters with the TDEE calc - thanks! This gives me even more confidence to try adding 100 per day.

Going away for two weeks on Friday - two weeks of hill walking! Most days will be around 10 miles with 1,000m of ascent so I get to earn loads and eat everything in sight.

Once I'm back and in normal routine I'll do a steady few weeks on the 100 cals per day more and see how it goes.

ps Will still be logging on holiday. Will take a while to log the amount I'll be eating while that active lol.

MamaBirdBoss

Try 100cal a day. But really, you'll find your new maintenance and stop anyway. It's not like you'll waste away. So it's up to you whether you care!

pinkteapot3

I have to keep logging. I lost 3 stone five years ago and maintained it until last year. I had medical treatment which left me miserable and eating all the junk food in sight, and I took my eye off the ball with logging. I need to log or I go over so I'll always care.

It's not emotional eating or any of that. Let's face it - wine and chocolate biscuits are just delicious.