Gaining Weight...Upped the Calories

norcaligirl72

So for the first month I lost 13 pounds. Been totally diligent in tracking (including weighing and measuring everything) and keeping it at 1200 as well as busting out the cardio at least five days a week for an hour. Now for the last week and a half I have put on four pounds as of today. I am thinking it might be some muscle gain but I have upped my calories to 1400 for the last two days. How long do you keep your calories up before you drop back to the 1200? Clothes feel loser so I am not freaked out but just wanted to know how others have pushed through this stall...

ritchiedrama

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

Might be useful for you if you've been dieting for a while.

ElliottTN

I usually don't sweat a loss or gain of +-5 pounds. It sounds like this is the first couple months correct? If you are just now getting your diet/macros/workouts in check then you will notice your water weight fluctuating like crazy with your workouts plus new sodium intake. Your body is also trying to figure out what the hell is going on with these changes so things like your cortisol levels may be trying to find its new levels of fluctuation during the day (eat big in the mornings btw).

If I were you then I would drop down to your 1200 again and hold it there for at least a few months and let your body adjust to the new changes. If you start hitting walls after 3 months or so then you can try a re-feeding to maintenance for 3 or so days or possibly try a intermediate fasting for a week to break back through.

Are you eating back your lost calories from the workout?

RGv2

If you can tell your clothes are fitting better/looser...water weight.

Did you up the intensity of your workouts, or change them at all?

QuilterInVA

You don't gain muscle eating at a deficiet and doing cardio. You need strength training to gain muscle. Eating too little can stall weight loss. Keep your calories up for a couple of weeks.

norcaligirl72

I have maintained a strict 1200 very healthy and balanced intake but have not eaten my deficient from exercise... I keep it at 1200. My cardio alternates between elliptical, treadmill and this torture machine called mountain trainer. I do a minimum at level 3 random on all and am up to level 6 on the elliptical burning a minimum of 400 calories per hour.

This my first month back on... yoyo dieter my whole life but finally seeing the "lifestyle" factor instead of diet.

I

I_Will_End_You

I have maintained a strict 1200 very healthy and balanced intake but have not eaten my deficient from exercise... I keep it at 1200. My cardio alternates between elliptical, treadmill and this torture machine called mountain trainer. I do a minimum at level 3 random on all and am up to level 6 on the elliptical burning a minimum of 400 calories per hour.

This my first month back on... yoyo dieter my whole life but finally seeing the "lifestyle" factor instead of diet.

I

You're supposed to eat back the calories from exercise. 1200 is too little when you're working out.

Also...you don't gain muscle from doing cardio. Some of your initial loss may have been water weight. It's common to drop a lot of water weight when you first start out.

dangerousdumpling

It's great that you are making healthy choices but 1200 calories is probably not enough fuel for your daily activities. You would think that creating a larger calorie deficit would make you lose more weight, right? That's what I thought, too. For some people it works and for some people the plan backfires and they don't lose any weight. That's what happened to me. I suggest you start eating back at least half of your exercise calories.

Graelwyn75

Wave goodbye to your muscle and any chance of a decent metabolism.
You are not on a lifestyle change, just another diet, basically.
1200 with exercise, is quite frankly, insane. Especially if you do not have a large amount to lose.

salladeve

I got stalled out at 1200 calories myself after almost 3 months. Last week I upped my cals to 1400 and I'm losing again. For me as I lost I was feeling better so doing more exercise, and not eating back the cals. So now that I'm moving more I do think that I'm needing more fuel, it seems to be working this week. It is easier for me to just up my cal goal and not log my exercise, just because it is mostly walking and moving more, not traditional exercise

You should give it a week or two and see if it levels out.

norcaligirl72

I was using Spark People before this and you don't eat more when you exercise... the calories remain the same. I think I will keep it at 1400 for a week or two and then go back to 1200. Richie... that article was great and made so much sense, especially for someone like me who needs to completely reset their metabolism.

ritchiedrama

I was using Spark People before this and you don't eat more when you exercise... the calories remain the same. I think I will keep it at 1400 for a week or two and then go back to 1200. Richie... that article was great and made so much sense, especially for someone like me who needs to completely reset their metabolism.

Glad I could try and help

And eating calories back is not a great idea, exercise burns a lot less calories than people think. Although, 1200 calories is a low caloric diet. There is plenty of females over at bodybuilding.com (you might wanna siign up there, there is plenty of female sections) you may find a lot of useful advice there and they are friendly!

norcaligirl72

Thanks... I will check it out. I just calculated my maintenance calories and it's 1930. That scares the hell out of me! It seems like so much but then again I am burning a minimum of 2000 a week in cardio.... I guess I just have to explore how my body reacts to this. I remember the body builders telling me when you have a plateau to bump up intake a little for a few days. It makes sense. Anyway, thank you!

ritchiedrama

Thanks... I will check it out. I just calculated my maintenance calories and it's 1930. That scares the hell out of me! It seems like so much but then again I am burning a minimum of 2000 a week in cardio.... I guess I just have to explore how my body reacts to this. I remember the body builders telling me when you have a plateau to bump up intake a little for a few days. It makes sense. Anyway, thank you!

Can I just ask where you are calculating them?

Calculators have a tendency to over-estimate by a bit, but you can always track at 1930 calories for a while and see what happens. That will give you the most accurate answer.

norcaligirl72

I am just using the maintenance thing here on MFP. I have ruined my body so much though I gain, if not exercising, on that much.

ritchiedrama

I am just using the maintenance thing here on MFP. I have ruined my body so much though I gain, if not exercising, on that much.

Personally I recommend working out what you need here: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

norcaligirl72

Big difference. Maintenance was 1655 and and fat loss 1512...

jess6742

I am just using the maintenance thing here on MFP. I have ruined my body so much though I gain, if not exercising, on that much.

Personally I recommend working out what you need here: http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

Thanks for the website! I like that one a lot better than some of the others. It doesn't seem to inflate the calories as much.

norcaligirl72

Hey Richie, thanks for the links to all the websites. It's been helpful and I seeing progress and feel totally full. It's time for me to start hitting the weights again.

Hezzietiger1

You will never lose weight unless you are at a calorie deficit and you will never gain weight unless you are at a calorie surplus. If you are at 1200 and gaining, you need to cut not increase.