I'm still losing weight?

dave_in_ni
dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I decided to take your advice and stop dieting and try and build some muscle. My TDEE is around 2300 cals which I am eating close to but the weight is still dropping.

I am trying to do it clean so as not to gain a lot of fat and keeping my macros around 35% Protein/Carbs and 30% fat but as I stay I am still dropping weight.

Do I just try and up my cals more until the weight stays they same?

Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    If your weight is still dropping over time your TDEE is not 2300 but more

    Eat more
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Your weight loss is proving your TDEE is higher than 2300.
    Yes you simply have to eat more.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Eat more
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    I would say it depends. How long have you been losing weight at 2300? If it's only been a few days, you might just be dropping water weight, since eating at a deficit can cause water retention which can be dropped upon increasing calories. If you've been losing at that number of calories for a few weeks, then I'd agree that your true TDEE is higher and you should slowly increase your calories.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    lightenup2016 wrote: »
    I would say it depends. How long have you been losing weight at 2300? If it's only been a few days, you might just be dropping water weight, since eating at a deficit can cause water retention which can be dropped upon increasing calories. If you've been losing at that number of calories for a few weeks, then I'd agree that your true TDEE is higher and you should slowly increase your calories.

    how does eating at a deficit cause water retention?
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    I'm sorry, I've forgotten the biology behind it. You can google "dieter's edema" and find info there. Also, anecdotally, I've experienced it myself--anytime I increase my calories for a couple of days I end up a lb or two down. It seems to be a common phenomenon according to people on these and other forums. Also known as a "whoosh" (although there are other causes for a woosh as well).
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    lightenup2016 wrote: »
    I'm sorry, I've forgotten the biology behind it. You can google "dieter's edema" and find info there. Also, anecdotally, I've experienced it myself--anytime I increase my calories for a couple of days I end up a lb or two down. It seems to be a common phenomenon according to people on these and other forums. Also known as a "whoosh" (although there are other causes for a woosh as well).

    I think you are misinterpreting the "whoosh" phenomenon but as has been said above, you don't gain weight in a deficit.
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,130 Member
    Go up to 2400 for a couple of weeks and see where you are. If you are still losing, go up to 2500. You'll eventually be able to determine where your maintenance level it. It's all an estimate when you use online calculators.
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    lightenup2016 wrote: »
    I'm sorry, I've forgotten the biology behind it. You can google "dieter's edema" and find info there. Also, anecdotally, I've experienced it myself--anytime I increase my calories for a couple of days I end up a lb or two down. It seems to be a common phenomenon according to people on these and other forums. Also known as a "whoosh" (although there are other causes for a woosh as well).

    I think you are misinterpreting the "whoosh" phenomenon but as has been said above, you don't gain weight in a deficit.

    I'm not misinterpreting anything. I said there are other causes for a whoosh. This is only one of them. Also, you don't gain FAT at a deficit, but you can definitely gain water weight at a deficit.
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    A lot of people experience the opposite effect and put on a bit of edema when they increase calories. It usually backs off in a week or more. I'm still losing as I am settling into maintenance. As mentioned above, if you keep losing, be happy and increase your calories 50 to 100 every couple of weeks until losses stop. Also, weight isn't a static number, 5 pound fluxuations are the norm even when exactly the same (it that could even happen) calories are eaten. Many factors contriblute to a few pounds loss or gained, such as excersize, food weight, stress.

    Yeah, I think everybody agrees fat isn't gained by eating in a deficit.

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