Still losing weight (and not bragging)
localgrr
Posts: 99 Member
Hi there,
It's very odd I seem to be losing weight still after being on maintenance for a month. I'm 5'4 and on 1550 - do a 5k 3 X a week and some light cycling otherwise I am sedantry.
I'm a hypochondriac so my first thought is am I ill ? I don't feel ill / tired.
I saw other posts and perhaps I need to readjust my goals but I am warey.
Thanks,
Cliff
It's very odd I seem to be losing weight still after being on maintenance for a month. I'm 5'4 and on 1550 - do a 5k 3 X a week and some light cycling otherwise I am sedantry.
I'm a hypochondriac so my first thought is am I ill ? I don't feel ill / tired.
I saw other posts and perhaps I need to readjust my goals but I am warey.
Thanks,
Cliff
0
Replies
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If you are losing and don't want to be just eat more calories or cut back on your workouts. Nothing else will help you stop losing weight.4
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I've been in maintenance for almost 6 months and I'm still losing. I have emotional/stress/boredom eating habits that I'm working on stopping, so I try to only eat when I'm hungry. It means I have 300-400 calories left on workout days because I'm not feeling hunger. I can eat those calorie no problem, but I think it's better for me to go with hunger (or not hungry in this case). I do do tiny bits of boredom eating like my coffee beans spread out over the afternoon and the diet Mt. Dew.
If you're losing like a pound a week or more, I'd go see my GP and ask for testing.0 -
Just keep counting those calories and add 100 calories to your daily goal per week until you hit maintenance. As long as you don't add a bunch at one time you should be fine. Watching what you eat is going to be a life long journey, but you want to make sure you eat enough to stay healthy.7 -
Just keep counting those calories and add 100 calories to your daily goal per week until you hit maintenance. As long as you don't add a bunch at one time you should be fine. Watching what you eat is going to be a life long journey, but you want to make sure you eat enough to stay healthy.
Absolutely this. If you're losing weight, you're not "on maintenance", by definition. You're still at a deficit.
All the calorie calculators/estimators work from population averages. While individuals tend to cluster pretty closely around the population average, there is individual variation. Some of us require more calories to maintain than the estimates say, some of us require fewer. (I wish I could find the graphs I saw of the individual variations around a population calorie-needs average that I saw in a research paper.)
I, too, am one of the lucky people who require more calories than the calculators say, at least for now - if I used the estimates, I'd be losing, too. As @OODone sensibly suggested, I gradually added 100 or so calories per day to my goal, waiting a week or two to see if I was "there yet". (If your logging is meticulous, you can even use your loss rate to estimate how much you need to add.)
Eventually, my weight leveled off, a little bit below where I wanted, so I set a maintenance range (plus or minus 3 pounds) and gradually worked to be in the center of that range most of the time.
If you take this kind of approach, you won't suddenly gain a bunch. If you overshoot your desired weight in either direction, you can use moderate temporary calorie adjustments to get where you want to be. You already know that you can manage a controlled weight-loss process, so you'll do fine.7 -
1550 Cals/day, running 5k three times a week, plus additional exercise? Yes, I would expect you to lose weight.5
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Thanks you guys, always appreciate the love here
I guess the weird thing is that I'm losing at the same rate as when I was actually trying to lost, ha I could have been on maintenance this whole time ! 1 -
Often you subconsciously adjust your activity downwards in a deficit and raise it when you have more food - you feel more lively and energetic so do more. Which in turn means you need to eat more.Thanks you guys, always appreciate the love here I guess the weird thing is that I'm losing at the same rate as when I was actually trying to lost, ha I could have been on maintenance this whole time !
As other have said - just keep walking up your calories.
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Good advice already given. The only thing I'll add is that if you've only been on maintenance for a month, then maybe give it some time. Most people don't lose weight (other than water weight) in their first month, so you won't necessarily stop losing weight immediately, either. Our bodies need a bit more time to adapt then us impatient folks are used to.
Keep track of what is working and what is not and just figure it out as you go along.4 -
How much do you weigh?0
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Good advice already given. The only thing I'll add is that if you've only been on maintenance for a month, then maybe give it some time. Most people don't lose weight (other than water weight) in their first month, so you won't necessarily stop losing weight immediately, either. Our bodies need a bit more time to adapt then us impatient folks are used to.
Keep track of what is working and what is not and just figure it out as you go along.
It took me a almost 5 weeks to get out of loosing weight when I moved or was trying to get my numbers right. It is just like loosing for me, it takes 3 - 4 weeks for that to start working and so did the maintenance..
OP, like all others, creep up the calories about a 100 calories to your daily goal, perhaps do that for a week and keep adding.. I know it is a pain, but to stop the loosing you gotta up the cals and/or cut back on the exercise calorie burns.
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1550 calories sounds like maintenance for a 5'4" 36yo female who weights 120lb and is sedentary. You run a 5k 3x/week and cycle, which probably means you need to eat at least another ~150 calories/day.
How fast are you losing weight per week right now? Multiply that by 500 and that will tell you how many more calories you need to eat per day. Work your way up to that amount and check again.
Also, be aware that water weight can fluctuate pretty far. I was 175lb 2 days ago and I weigh 172lb today. So, make sure you aren't just looking at a small window of time (1 week is small).0 -
currently 122lbsSabine_Stroehm wrote: »How much do you weigh?
I guess I'll give it a few more weeks and see where I am, thanks all!
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You sound just like me. I'm the same height and was right around the same weight when I hit maintenance. I increased calories to 1500-1550 and kept losing. I didn't believe for a second that I needed more than that amount. I actually maintain at 1700.2
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I'm the same height, weigh 126, and maintenance for me is about 1800 without including exercise... I'm in a slight deficit to slim up a few lbs for summer, but I would say slowly increase your calories to find your sweet spot.2
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This is all great news ! Although I fear I will just spend the extra calories on Haribo
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How much have you been losing lately? Suppose it's half a pound a week... If so, 250 extra calories a day would cancel that out. (250 * 7 = 1750 which is roughly half a pound of fat). That should be easy to get by adding one rich snack or dessert to your daily meal plan.1
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If you're still losing weight then you aren't eating maintenance calories.... time to up your calories again.1
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Um how is 1500 plus exercise maitenance? I am your height and weigh very little and do the same amount of exercise and I maintain on 2100-2600. You can eat more
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Like others have said, if you are still losing, you are not eating @ maintenance.
Up your calories and/or lower your exercise time0 -
It took me a good month after reaching maintenance to stop losing weight. For me though it took me coming to the understanding that I was sub-consciously under eating and underestimating because I couldn't see the changes yet (Every one else could, but my mind hadnt caught up yet). Increasing my calories was a major struggle for me, and I still have to check myself that I'm not subconsciously trying to lose more weight again. You'll get there, just try to be accurate and honest with yourself 1
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I'm 5'5" and 121lbs. I jog/run for about 500-560 cals a day, 5 days a week. My TDEE is around 22XX.
What I would probably do is set your activity level to lightly active and then add in exercise. I have mine set to this which estimates around 1760ish a day with no exercise. If I add in my exercise, I get the about 22XX number that seems to work for me based on my experience. I am a desk jockey at work, besides all the running I do during my breaks/lunch. I have read that sedentary was developed for people who are in a near coma, barely get out of bed, etc. The reason it is so heavily pushed on MFP is what is the downside if you are wrong and you desperately need to lose weight? You lose weight faster? You didn't get to stuff your face with an extra Oreo for the day? Boo hoo, I guess.
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I had/have the same problem. I went to see the doctor and dietician and I am on 2000 calories per day and it's still iffy. I run, walk approx 12K per day swim to strength/core/step and Tai Chi.
I am 5'4" and 138 lbs and 62 years old. I wear size 6 pants and small tops. I am sturdy still but want to be strong and healthy as my goal. She recently upped me from 1900 to 2000 and I eat every 3 hours lol to get enough food and calories in. It's tricky since I have type 2 diabetes and there are only so many carbs I can tolerate at one time without horrible blood sugar implications..I feel your pain. See a dietician if you can. I have a great plan from her!0
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