Eating more calories plateau question

tarotlou

My weight has come off nice and steady, I have been around 11st for about 3 to 4 weeks. I read on here that a lot of people increase their calories to help break a plateau. Now my weigh in day is tomorrow but I couldn't resist and I've put on a couple of pounds. So my question is do I go back to 1200 cals or stay at 1300, I will open my diary and I know a lot of times I've gone under because I couldn't quite eat all my excercise cals back and I know my food isn't clean. My tdee minus the 20% says I should be eating around 1700 I'm just a bit confused. Any advice would be welcomed.

grimendale

When you eat at a deficit for a while, you burn through your glycogen stores. Glycogen is bonded to water, so the water drops off too. This is the early water weight loss everyone sees in their first week or two. When you up your calories again, you replenish some of your glycogen and water gets retained. This results in an apparent weight gain, but not a fat gain. A lot of people see this gain when they up their calories, freak out, and drop them back down. Give it a couple weeks at the higher calorie level and see if the fat doesn't come off again. Are you tracking body measurements? If not, you should be. Fat loss sometimes shows up on a tape measure even when it doesn't show on the scale. Case in point: since I upped my calories and started insanity 2 months ago, I have gained a little over 2 lbs. In that same time period, I have lost 3 percentage points of body fat and 4" off my stomach. I'm heavier, but I'm leaner. Be patient; it can take time. Good luck.

tarotlou

When you eat at a deficit for a while, you burn through your glycogen stores. Glycogen is bonded to water, so the water drops off too. This is the early water weight loss everyone sees in their first week or two. When you up your calories again, you replenish some of your glycogen and water gets retained. This results in an apparent weight gain, but not a fat gain. A lot of people see this gain when they up their calories, freak out, and drop them back down. Give it a couple weeks at the higher calorie level and see if the fat doesn't come off again. Are you tracking body measurements? If not, you should be. Fat loss sometimes shows up on a tape measure even when it doesn't show on the scale. Case in point: since I upped my calories and started insanity 2 months ago, I have gained a little over 2 lbs. In that same time period, I have lost 3 percentage points of body fat and 4" off my stomach. I'm heavier, but I'm leaner. Be patient; it can take time. Good luck.


Thank you so much for your reply, I completely forgot about water weight, your suggestions and experience are very helpful, I will continue with the upped calories for a couple more weeks and see what happens, I measure my waist that still remains the same but who knows tomorrow is my official weigh in and measurement day and a miracle might happen :bigsmile:

Bootjockey

Hi there!

I actually just talked about all this on another forum, where the topic was fasting.

I'll copy and paste that post below, because I think it's relevant...you're welcome to Friend or message me if you have any questions...

-David / BootJockey
-257 pounds

---

Ultimately, I think everyone has to do what is right for them, and I don't necessarily believe in one-size fits-all solutions.

So, when I did a Google search a few minutes ago to see if I could find that exact statistic (which I know I did find before), could I find it? No. Thought it is quarter-to-four in the A.M., and I'm a little tired. :-)

That information is consistent with conversations I've had with my nutritionist, my own calorimetry tests, my own experiences, and (I believe) the experiences my wife has had.

I'm a firm believer in a healthy diet, and in eating regular meals, and in NOT fasting. I routinely eat my meals, daily, at 8-9am, 1-2pm, 7-8pm, and almost always, have some sort of light healthy snack in the late evening (11pm or so.) It's very regimented, I know, and requires more pre-planning and more focus than some can or are able to give. It's part of the lifestyle choice I've made that works best for me.

My own calorimetry tests, as done by my nutritionists office (done using a KORR Ree/Vue Indirect Calorimetry device...a promotional YouTube video link is shown below), have been consistant, and showed over multiple tests my metabolic increase. I have this test done annually, in December.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQwBTuAryn4

Compared to a similar person of my gender, age, height and weight, my metabolic rate is 46% higher than average. These numbers are for me, from my last test last December:

Resting Energy Expenditure: 2,851 calories
Lifestyle & Activities: 855 Calories
Exercise: 296 Calories

That means for me, my "Weight Maintenance Zone" is 2,851-3,706 calories per day. My weight loss zone is 2,281-2,851 calories per day (1-2lbs per week), and that it is not recommended that I eat less than 2,281 calories per day at all.

The first time I had this test done, I was stalled in my weight loss. I had lost 170 pounds or so (my starting weight was just over 450), and I had lost about 170 pounds or so, with my weight hoving around 270 or so. I had this test done, and found out that my metabolism, according to this test the first time, was about 23% higher than average (for my gender, age, weight and height.) I also found that I was actually under-eating by approximately 800 calories per day.

I know it sounds crazy, but, I followed my nutritionists advice. I added about 500-600 calories per day to my diet, and on days I exercised, I added in about 3/4's, about 75%, of the estimated calories I burned on my workout, back into my diet (on THOSE days). Over the course of the next year, I lost another 50 pounds or so after doing that. I also lost another 20 or so in the months after that year, following the same advice, until I got down to about 207, which is what I had considered my "final goal weight." That's been an excellent weight for me.

I continue to faithfully eat my healthy meals, 3x a day (plus I often have a small healthy snack around 4pm, as well as my small healthy snack at 11pm). I, personally, do not follow the "mini-meals 5 or 6x per day" routine a lot of people do.

My wife, bless her, has lost a lot of weight herself. But she fairly regularly skips meals and her protein intake is comparatively low. She struggles a lot more than I do to keep/maintain or lose weight. She also has had the same metabolism test, on the same piece of equipment I have had it on in my nutritionists office, and her metabolic rate came back at about 25% below average for her gender, age, weight and height.

I'm not saying it works for everyone. I know what works for me, and I do believe that following something similar would work for most, but, everyone has to educate themselves, I think, and find out what works for them.

I'm happy to answer any questions, if I can. I have a Facebook page that I sometimes talk to people on, about stuff like this. If you (or anyone) "Friends" me, and sends me a PM asking for it, I'll share a link to that (but I don't want to put it in the post, I know that's against the rules, and I sometimes forget that...but I remembered it this morning!) :-)

-David / BootJockey
-257 pounds

tarotlou

Hey David that is awsome thank you for the advice and link I shall be rereading your post again as it takes a while sometimes to sink in. I don't do Facebook but thanks for invite. I will definitely pm you if I have any questions because your weight loss is inspiring so I think you know what your doing.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply to my question:happy: