Recomp questions

trudie_b

Okay, so I'm still battling psychologically the maintenance/recomp process, and could use some reassurance/feedback. I think my main problem is, I've always either been on a diet or a total eating free for all - I've never successfully maintained my weight before (I don't think I've stayed the same weight for more than a couple of months since I was a teenager). So raising my calories out of deficit, however little, is freaking me out.

I'm currently eating 1900-2000 calories a day - does that seem excessive? I'm 41 years old, weigh 146lbs at 5'10", and I work out pretty much every day - 4 x 60 minutes weight training, 3 x 45 minutes cardio (HIIT style). Apart from that, I have an office job, so I'm pretty sedentary. Rather than eat back exercise calories (since it's hard to accurately measure the amount burned weight training), I set my profile to lightly active, and for maintenance MFP allows me 1970 calories.

I am seeing really great progress in my weight training, both in strength improvements (since increasing my calories I'm hitting PRs every time I lift) and in muscle development. And that's really important to me. But I do also want to lean out more, I'd like to get down to at least 20% BF (I think I'm about 22% right now). The harder I work out, the hungrier I am; I feel like my body is burning through the food so fast. I seem to be constantly eating! I've increased my protein by quite a lot, from 20% to 30%. I was eating 1700-1800 calories a day up to recently, so I've only increased by a bit, but my weight loss had slowed down a lot anyway, so I think I was already eating close to maintenance. My weight and measurements haven't changed, although I think I look a little leaner, maybe.

But I'm just not used to eating this much.......

ercarroll311

I totally get how you feel. I've always been on a diet or not, but gaining weight, since I was 17. I lost 60 lbs over about a year and a half, finishing around October. I moved to maintenance athen and couldn't believe I could eat the calories--but I am, and maintaining. The recomp part definitely takes awhile, but it's possible.

To tell you the exact number would be hard. I'm 27, 5'3", 117 lbs, and very active. I do weights 3x/week for 45 min-an hour. I run about 3x/week for 30 minutes, but each day I walk my dog 5-10 miles. I have Fitbit tell me what I burn, and aim to eat a bit under maintenance during the week and a little over on weekends. Right now I'm probably averaging 2300-2400 calories/day. When you're eating nutritiously, it's crazy to feel so satisfied without feeling like you must have overeaten.

I'd say what you're doing sounds right. See how a month goes weight-wise and make any adjustments you need to. Best of luck!

trudie_b

Thank you so much for sharing your details, that's really helpful.

My Fitbit says I burn, on average, 2150 calories a day. But I know it can't be relied on for calculating calories burned weight training - or HIIT either. So, for example, it says I burned 477 calories today, doing 75 minutes weight training. But I know that's inaccurate. Even though it was leg day and I worked really hard!

sijomial

I'm currently eating 1900-2000 calories a day - does that seem excessive?

Seems very low!
2000 is commonly quoted as maintenance for an average height / average activity female.
Your are both far taller and far more active than average.
MFP is also saying your maintenance is 1970 + exercise calories not just 1970.

You will gauge the accuracy of both your Fitbit (and/or MFP calorie level) and also crucially your food logging by eating at that level for a month and seeing what your weight does. That's really the only metric that matters long term. In the end all calculations/estimates need to be verified and adjusted from your actual results.

Good to hear your exercise performance has picked up with the extra calories. Exercise/strength/body comp goals are a great emotional replacement for not having a weight loss goal to spur you on and reward yourself.


BTW - you may find your hunger levels are very different from different intensities of exercise.
High intensity exercise (cardio intervals or weight training) make me far hungrier out of all proportion to the actual calorie burn. Steady state cardio seems to have very little impact on my hunger, even very long duration.
Did a 4hr mountain bike moderate intensity ride recently on water and a few sweets, skipped lunch and didn't even miss it.

lorrpb

You don't need to freak out because you have new skills you did not have before. Just as you used calorie management skills while losing, continue to put them to good use in maintenance.
You're eating 200 calories more now that you said you were eating while losing. That is not excessive, less than .5 lb per week difference. You might even have room to go up more, but I'd leave it there for a few weeks. Remember that maintenance is a range, most people set at least 5 lbs for fluctuations. If you get above the top of range, drop 250-500 cals for a couple weeks until you get back to mid range.
You also might want to consider weighing daily and using a trending app like Happy Scale or Libra. It will give you a moving average of 10 days or whatever you specify. That helps smooth out the daily ups and downs and you can see over a period of weeks/months if you are staying in range or steadily increasing.

trudie_b

Thanks guys, that's very helpful.