How to maintain without gaining

I just hit my goal for weight loss and am now maintaining. I started by upping my calories by 100 per day but stuck with same exercise. I've gained back 1.2 pounds in 2 days. HELP!!

Replies

zoeysasha37

Are you still weighing all your foods ?

Also , my weight fluctuations are insane . I can go up 8 lbs in a day but I know its water weight and normal. I dont even sweat it because I know as long as I stay within my calorie range then it can't be a real gain.

MKEgal

If you're gaining weight, you're eating more than you're burning.
Make sure you're eating the same amount.
+1 on the normal fluctuation thing... chart for a month or 2.

macgurlnet

Your body isn't gonna have 1 static weight. Pick a goal range and stay within it.

The 1.2 jump is water weight. Don't panic, just keep logging and stick with it for at least a few weeks.

~Lyssa

arditarose

Well, if you're upping 100 per DAY you might see some water weight gain. I personally prefer upping daily calories by 100 each WEEK. I saw no rain this way and it was easier to see my true maintenance calories.

Francl27

To gain 1 pound of fat, you'd have to eat 3500 over your maintenance calories... I doubt that's what happened... it's water weight.

FitPhillygirl

Try upping your calories a little more slowly. Adding 100 calories every day may be too much. Stay where you're at now and if you haven't gained more than just the normal water weight, then you can add 100 more in a week.

Azurite27

1-2 lb from day to day is likely just water weight. Set a weight range for maintenance and you won't go so crazy.

Cortneyrenee04

Did you switch to maintenance the day you hit your goal weight? I think it's best to wait until you're consistently within a few pounds of your goal weight.

carliekitty

I'm going to gain 2 lbs today because today's my rest day! I sweat like crazy so my weights less on workout days from that. My weight also goes up from water by eating out or high sodium foods! There's no way you really gained a lb unless you ate 3500 above maintenance and then didn't move much! Take a deep breath your panicking over nothing.

AsISmile

Like the others have said, it is water weight.
But also glycocen stores that were low due to your calorie defecit that are now being replenished.
Furthermore, chances are that since you are eating more now, you are purting more food weight wise into your body.

If you just slowly increase your calories, you are still eating at a defecit untill you reach your maintenance calories, so you will still lose a little weight. Also, this is your body doing its job, it is recovering from being at a calorie defecit for a while.
So just increase your daily calorie allowance with a 100 and eat like that for a week or two and then up it with another 100 untill you reach maintenance calories. Once you reach that, stay at that for atleast a month to see if you need to adjust.
Keep in mind that weight fluctuation is natural. I can gain or lose a pound day to day.

bclarke1990

Unless you ate 4200 calories over maintenance in two days I don't think you have a problem

SherryTeach

You will also need to experiment a bit with what your maintenance calories are. Mine are only 200 calories more than my losing weight calories. I'm small and older; as unfair as that seems, that's just the way it is.

nxd10

You can't possibly have gained that much weight. It's a fluctuation. Measure. Make sure you didn't add all the calories in carbs, which can make you hold water. Go for a walk. Hold on for another week.

LivingtheLeanDream

Fluctuations are normal, its not real gain as above posters have explained already...

ExRelaySprinter

I agree with what everyone else has said......it's just water weight.
I wouldn't weigh yourself too often either.

Pinnacle_IAO

jenpretlow wrote: »

I just hit my goal for weight loss and am now maintaining. I started by upping my calories by 100 per day but stuck with same exercise. I've gained back 1.2 pounds in 2 days. HELP!!

I have maintained for nearly 3 years now.
Nothing much changes and maintenance is not easy.
I engage body recomposition where I eat to surplus on strength training days and eat with a deficit on cardio days.
It works.
The key to success in weight maintenance is having strong goals. The reason most regain their weight is a lack of passion to push on, because the journey ended for them. With new goals, the journey to become your best merely continues.
I call it sharpening the saw, and that's from the book 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People.
Consider:

set new goals
make a plan
take action
stay motivated

The keys to success are universal, and the above formula applies to every area of our lives.
Success is a choice.

Good Luck

msf74

jenpretlow wrote: »

I've gained back 1.2 pounds in 2 days. HELP!!

That's a normal weight fluctuation which can occur for many reasons.

Have a goal weight range of 3 lbs less than your goal weight and 3lbs more . If your weight consistently is above or below that range for 4 weeks then consider changing the amount you eat.

Otherwise just carry on.

Bry_Fitness70

I have been in maintenance for over two years. My weight is generally within a range of about 165lbs plus/minus 4-5lbs, depending on a lot of factors, but mostly due to exercise variations and sodium intake. I don't think anyone stays at a precise weight without any fluctuations.

TimothyFish

Since it is only 1.2 pounds, don't worry about it. Just keep doing what you're doing. If you get more than two or three pounds from your goal weight, then adjust your eating and exercise accordingly.

jen73fit4life

Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »

Did you switch to maintenance the day you hit your goal weight? I think it's best to wait until you're consistently within a few pounds of your goal weight.

Yes I did. MFP switched me from 1200 calories to 1670. I was normally eating 1100 a day. So the day it switched to maintenance, I ate 1250 or something like that. I'm worried that because I normally ate 1000-1100 a day I put my body into starvation mode and anything more than that, I'll gain. Yesterday I ate 1050. I'm just not sure what to do.

jen73fit4life

SherryTeach wrote: »

You will also need to experiment a bit with what your maintenance calories are. Mine are only 200 calories more than my losing weight calories. I'm small and older; as unfair as that seems, that's just the way it is.

I'm small and 41. My BMR is 1215.

jen73fit4life

Thank you everyone! If you could add me as a friend here that would be amazing. I didn't even eat my new calorie range which was 1670. I was eating 1100 a day or so. I guess I'm worried I was eating 1000-1050 that maybe I went into starvation mode? I hear all these stories about it. The two days where the weight gain happened-- I upped my calories by about 100-150 those two days. I'm too scared to all of a sudden eat 1670! Yikes!

FitPhillygirl

jenpretlow wrote: »

Thank you everyone! If you could add me as a friend here that would be amazing. I didn't even eat my new calorie range which was 1670. I was eating 1100 a day or so. I guess I'm worried I was eating 1000-1050 that maybe I went into starvation mode? I hear all these stories about it. The two days where the weight gain happened-- I upped my calories by about 100-150 those two days. I'm too scared to all of a sudden eat 1670! Yikes!

It can be scary to up your calories in maintenance and then suddenly see an increase on the scale. Don't panic as that happens to everyone at some point. Just stick with it for a while and I think you'll find that in a few days your weight will be back down again. If the fluctuations from everyday weighing start making you anxious, try weighing less. Perhaps every other day or twice a week instead.

mymodernbabylon

And definitely give yourself a range of weights or you'll go mad.

DoreenaV1975

Do you exercise?
I ask because that makes a difference as well in holding on to water weight.
Yesterday I ate at deficit but went to the gym and did some cardio and strength training.
Despite my deficit, I woke up 1 pound heavier.
Since I ate a deficit there is no way in h*ll I ate an additional 3500cals (3500cals = 1 pound), so I know it's from the workout...
It will disappear in a couple of days (max).

DoreenaV1975

mymodernbabylon wrote: »

And definitely give yourself a range of weights or you'll go mad.

THIS^^^ I have a 4 pound range that way if my weight goes up, it is still w/in my goal weight range and I don't freak out until it's over that amount.
So far, since I decided on the range goal, I have not been over my original goal weight, despite scale fluctuations, so it's a lot less depressing/scary to see the scale move up a bit!

jen73fit4life

DoreenaV1975 wrote: »

Do you exercise?
I ask because that makes a difference as well in holding on to water weight.
Yesterday I ate at deficit but went to the gym and did some cardio and strength training.
Despite my deficit, I woke up 1 pound heavier.
Since I ate a deficit there is no way in h*ll I ate an additional 3500cals (3500cals = 1 pound), so I know it's from the workout...
It will disappear in a couple of days (max).

Yes I do! I usually alternate between P90X and running although P90X is newer to my routine.

FitPhillygirl

jenpretlow wrote: »

DoreenaV1975 wrote: »

Do you exercise?
I ask because that makes a difference as well in holding on to water weight.
Yesterday I ate at deficit but went to the gym and did some cardio and strength training.
Despite my deficit, I woke up 1 pound heavier.
Since I ate a deficit there is no way in h*ll I ate an additional 3500cals (3500cals = 1 pound), so I know it's from the workout...
It will disappear in a couple of days (max).

Yes I do! I usually alternate between P90X and running although P90X is newer to my routine.

Those are great workouts and will definitely give you some extra calories for the day.

hstylesishot

ok that's water weight..
don't worry. Just listen to your body's hunger and fullness cues. REALLY focus on them and you will not overreat. Monitor your weight daily, but try not to confuse actual permanent weight gain with water weight gain. Weight is affected by SOOO many different factors and is constantly fluctuating.