Maintenance calories

ljcox7210

okay, so I'm very confused, I think my metabolism is shot to pieces, in the last 6 weeks I've gained 6lbs. I've been eating on average (fully calculated) 1645 calories a day. Meaning that my maintenance calories are only 1145 calories a day despite being quite active. I weigh all of my food and go by the packets not just what's on here and I count EVERYTHING. Is my maintenance really that low or is something going wrong?

Many thanks for your help!

crb426

Could your workouts be building muscle?

ljcox7210

crb426 wrote: »

Could your workouts be building muscle?

Maybe a small amount, I mostly do body weight exercises, however I have to move big boxes and things at work but is that really 6lbs of weight gain? And I should still be on a calorie deficit really... I'm sorry I'm just confused!

mattyc772014

You may be over estimating your exercise calorie burns?

mattyc772014

I really like this calculator for estimating calories to eat. Also consider the data collected already for what you respond too.

http://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

ljcox7210

mattyc772014 wrote: »

You may be over estimating your exercise calorie burns?

I don't include them really, but just to give you an idea I work in a fast paced environment working 8-10 hour shifts always on my feet and moving, lifting boxes/items normally around the 12kg mark 5 days a week...

I'm not trying to make excuses I'm just trying to give you information really, but is it truly possible for me to gain if I eat over 1145 calories a day?

ljcox7210

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

If you had a good deficit going, it's probably your glycogen restoring itself. I'm not good at explaining it, but here's an older post that gives a nice explanation of why you can gain weight when switching to maintenance. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/993576/why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut#latest

Glycogen stores can't make up 6% of my body weight though! I don't know, I was prepared for 2-3 lbs but not for 6! It's okay it's just I don't want to keep gaining at the rate I am and I don't know how to stop it without going back to dieting again!

mattyc772014

Maybe there is a certain food or meal that you are weighing wrong or measuring wrong? 1645 includes how active you are, so you maybe overestimating.

kimny72

First, don't panic. Your goal weight should be a range, not one specific number, because your weight will fluctuate all the time, forever, even if you are perfect. As HappyCampr1 mentioned, between replenishing glycogen stores and normal water weight fluctuations, I think 6 lbs is possible.

Is it your TOM? Have you been eating salty foods? How many calories were you eating right before maintenance? Did you add the extra calories back all at once? It might be taking your body a little longer to acclimate to the new plan. Maybe take your calories down 250 per day for a couple of weeks and if the gains stop or you start losing again, then you can drift slowly back up to find your maintenance level?

ljcox7210

kimny72 wrote: »

First, don't panic. Your goal weight should be a range, not one specific number, because your weight will fluctuate all the time, forever, even if you are perfect. As HappyCampr1 mentioned, between replenishing glycogen stores and normal water weight fluctuations, I think 6 lbs is possible.

Is it your TOM? Have you been eating salty foods? How many calories were you eating right before maintenance? Did you add the extra calories back all at once? It might be taking your body a little longer to acclimate to the new plan. Maybe take your calories down 250 per day for a couple of weeks and if the gains stop or you start losing again, then you can drift slowly back up to find your maintenance level?

Okay, no it's not Tom but it's right before, but I've been steadily gaining over 6 weeks, it has slowed down last week but it's still 6 lbs... Not eating salty foods and drinking plenty of water. I did do it all at once maybe that's the problem, I'll go down a bit then see if I can find maintenance, I think it's slight panic, I've lost 98lbs and am scared of going all the way back up, I had lost 104lbs but then I gained -_- I'd like to go back down 2 lbs so I've lost 100lbs again. Thanks for everyone's help, I really appreciate it!

kimny72

ljcox7210 wrote: »

kimny72 wrote: »

First, don't panic. Your goal weight should be a range, not one specific number, because your weight will fluctuate all the time, forever, even if you are perfect. As HappyCampr1 mentioned, between replenishing glycogen stores and normal water weight fluctuations, I think 6 lbs is possible.

Is it your TOM? Have you been eating salty foods? How many calories were you eating right before maintenance? Did you add the extra calories back all at once? It might be taking your body a little longer to acclimate to the new plan. Maybe take your calories down 250 per day for a couple of weeks and if the gains stop or you start losing again, then you can drift slowly back up to find your maintenance level?

Okay, no it's not Tom but it's right before, but I've been steadily gaining over 6 weeks, it has slowed down last week but it's still 6 lbs... Not eating salty foods and drinking plenty of water. I did do it all at once maybe that's the problem, I'll go down a bit then see if I can find maintenance, I think it's slight panic, I've lost 98lbs and am scared of going all the way back up, I had lost 104lbs but then I gained -_- I'd like to go back down 2 lbs so I've lost 100lbs again. Thanks for everyone's help, I really appreciate it!

Wow, congrats on that weight loss! Seriously, don't panic . You have learned far too much over this process to gain it all back. Just make small tweaks and see what happens, double check that there isn't one little issue in your logging you might have let slide without realizing, and hang in there.

R0asted

You've shot your metabolism with a prolonged caloric deficit. When we diet for a long time, especially on excessively low calories our metabolism slowly adjusts to keep us from, well, dying, in case the new caloric intake becomes the norm forever. Look up "metabolic damage", or at least I think that's the term. The good news is that the excessively low maintenance calories will not stay like that forever and your metabolism will slowly recover. The bad news is that there will be a bit of a rebound with weight gain. I'd say keep eating what you're eating for the next few weeks and your weight gain will slow and eventually stop as your metabolism recovers. Alternatively you can try reverse dieting where you drop down to eating like 1200 calories for a couple of weeks and if you don't see weight gain, increase to 1300, repeat, increase to 1400, etc. The idea is that you ease your body into eating more and more and your metabolism will slowly recover and adjust. Good luck!