Maintenance Calories!

benharper9120

Hi all,

So I've just finished my weight loss goal.
Went from 245lbs in April to my current weight of 178lbs.

I've gained some loose skin as a result of that rapid rate which I'm planning on fixing by letting time take its course, whilst eating more to reach maintenance calories, or even a surplus if its necessary.

My rapid weightloss was largely attributed to working out and eating very very little.
I was consuming around 1000-1200 calories a day, whilst burning a minimum of 750 in the gym. All in all I had around a 2k or 2.5k daily deficit with a cheat meal once a week, but that cheat meal was like fried chicken and other unhealthy goodies.

I've stopped having such a insane deficit for two days now but I've struggled to be able to eat at a maintenance level.
From the fitnesspal app and its daily caloric burn prediction, I supposedly burn 2278 calories a day if I'm sedentary and I'm still working out, though not nearly as vigorous as before. I end at around 2800-3000 calories burnt by the end of the day.

But the problem is that I'm only managing to eat up to 2000 calories a day. That is for relatively healthy stuff.
I mean I can easily reach 3000 if I ate ice cream and all.

I wanted to ask if this is natural after a extended cut period and should I just slowly work my way back up to eating at a maintenance level?

foen_i

Same Problem. Especially on long run days I often end up with 2000cal to spare.
I fix it by making a fruit/joghurt smoothy with 50g of peanut butter and toss in 200g of cereals. That's about 1300cal.

But I am getting gradually better at adjusting my meals to get close to maintenance. I also found upping goal calories helped me to eat more cause I seem to subconsciously aim towards a specific deficit.

Just try diffrent things to find the strategy that works best for you.

AnnPT77

Many people find it easier to increase their calorie goal slowly, adding perhaps 100 per day, waiting a week or so, then adding another 100. When you think you're getting pretty close to the right maintenance calories, wait longer, maybe 2-4 weeks, so you can get a reading on whether your weight has stabilized (other than routine daily fluctuations) or is still decreasing, or has begun increasing.

For some, when they reach actual maintenance calories, there's a sudden jump of 2 pounds or more in scale weight from water weight, presumably due to glycogen replenishment. Don't let that freak you out if it happens to you. Adding a small number of daily calories will not cause that big a jump in weight from actual fat that quickly (100 calories over maintenance daily for 35 days = 3500 calories = roughly a pound of weight gain).

It takes time (weeks to months, potentially) to fine tune maintenance calories. Set yourself a goal weight range that's big enough to accommodate your typical daily weight fluctuations, and use that as a guide, too. (I use 120lbs plus or minus 3, for example).

Jezreel12

The above advices are right.

WinoGelato

Where did you get that maintenance calorie amount from? How tall are you?

I'm 5'2 , 120 and my maintenance cals with walking about 15k steps/day are 2100. Yours seems low.

In general it is best to slowly increase cals to get to maintenance, as others have said. Going from such a big deficit is going to be a huge adjustment for your body and for your eating habits. But also, nothing wrong with ice cream to help close the gap if you are eating a balanced diet with other nutrient dense foods.

sijomial

But the problem is that I'm only managing to eat up to 2000 calories a day. That is for relatively healthy stuff.
I mean I can easily reach 3000 if I ate ice cream and all.

Question for you - which is better for your general health:

1/ Eating a diet composed of a selection of "healthy foods" and failing to be able to maintain a suitable weight. Losing weight that you don't want to.

2/ Eating the same diet composed of a selection of "healthy foods" and topping up with ice cream (or anything else you enjoy) that you deem less healthy and being able to maintain your weight.