Suppressed maintenance?
Wingg_
Posts: 395 Member
Someone told me that I may be having suppressed maintenance calorie level right now and saying that I can actually eat more without gaining any weight. I've been eating 1640calories for a few months and these few days gained a kg and most of the people say that it's water retention (I'm having sore muscle) so I think it's water retention which caused the weight gain.
I'm eating1640 calories (I don't eat back exercise calories because I think that it's not that vigorous and I don't know how much I burn). I'm a 19years old female, 159cm and 44kg(after gaining 1kg) and also when I was in school my weight was taken and it was 46.9kg(before gaining 1kg) but when I weigh myself using my scale it's 43kg(before gaining 1kg) which number should I be using?!
So have any one heard of suppressed maintenance? Because I was told that Im giving myself very small margin of error there. What if I'm get injured and can't work out as much. What if sick.
Also,with a suppressed maintenance, my body is going to be hard pressed to make improvements from exercise if it's already slowed things down because it doesn't think it's getting enough. At least compared to what it could be improving.
What should I do now? I'm confused. Because I wasn't losing weight eating 1640calories so I'm not sure about this suppressed maintenance thing. Can someone please help?!
I'm eating1640 calories (I don't eat back exercise calories because I think that it's not that vigorous and I don't know how much I burn). I'm a 19years old female, 159cm and 44kg(after gaining 1kg) and also when I was in school my weight was taken and it was 46.9kg(before gaining 1kg) but when I weigh myself using my scale it's 43kg(before gaining 1kg) which number should I be using?!
So have any one heard of suppressed maintenance? Because I was told that Im giving myself very small margin of error there. What if I'm get injured and can't work out as much. What if sick.
Also,with a suppressed maintenance, my body is going to be hard pressed to make improvements from exercise if it's already slowed things down because it doesn't think it's getting enough. At least compared to what it could be improving.
What should I do now? I'm confused. Because I wasn't losing weight eating 1640calories so I'm not sure about this suppressed maintenance thing. Can someone please help?!
0
Replies
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Maintenance is finding a balance, which will change over time. "Suppressed maintenance"? People have lots of weird theories.
The only way to find out if you can eat more without gaining is to try eating more and see if you gain. But you need to give it time.
1. Find a weight range where your body fluctuates - school or home scale doesn't matter. Just pick one. You'll probably fluctuate within a range of 3-5 pounds. That's your base range. You want to stay in that box.
2. Up your calories by 250 or so. Eat that for a month without weighing yourself. (If you're a nervous nelly like me, do it for two weeks without weighing yourself).
3. Then, one day when you're feeling good about things, weigh yourself. Are you in the box? If so, great, stay at that calorie level. Are you over the box? Drop back to a deficit until you're back in the box and then go back to your current calorie level.
Personally, I'd buy a fitbit ($39 or so) to estimate your calories and eat them back. I net 1480 but I eat more than that because some days I'm really active and some days I'm not. That varies a lot by season as well as by day.0 -
Maintenance is finding a balance, which will change over time. "Suppressed maintenance"? People have lots of weird theories.
The only way to find out if you can eat more without gaining is to try eating more and see if you gain. But you need to give it time.
1. Find a weight range where your body fluctuates - school or home scale doesn't matter. Just pick one. You'll probably fluctuate within a range of 3-5 pounds. That's your base range. You want to stay in that box.
2. Up your calories by 250 or so. Eat that for a month without weighing yourself. (If you're a nervous nelly like me, do it for two weeks without weighing yourself).
3. Then, one day when you're feeling good about things, weigh yourself. Are you in the box? If so, great, stay at that calorie level. Are you over the box? Drop back to a deficit until you're back in the box and then go back to your current calorie level.
Personally, I'd buy a fitbit ($39 or so) to estimate your calories and eat them back. I net 1480 but I eat more than that because some days I'm really active and some days I'm not. That varies a lot by season as well as by day.
The cheapest fitbit I've came across so far is $69 (Sg dollars). I think I will get a fitbit so as to be precise and I will not have to guess and wonder what's my maintenance calories. Do you eat different amount of calories everyday? Is fitbit accurate?0 -
I use a fitbit zip. I have two actually - I gave one to my husband. Used on ebay for $39. They list for $59 I think. Not fancy. but works well.
I eat back all my calories and have maintained since June. It works for me. I only log swimming and biking extra. Lifting weight it's not so good on, but I don't do that.0 -
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales?month=201401
Read the study for yourself.
Other name is metabolic adaptation, beyond what the body does by losing muscle mass and slowing your spontaneous activity down (NEAT).
I've been calling it suppressed maintenance as an easier to understand concept, because literally it's not just your BMR, your daily activity, even your exercise - burns less than it did and it would need to.
Metabolic efficiency is other term given to it.
It's real, and you don't have to be starving to get it.
Video on Weight of the Nation on HBO talks about another study finding the same thing. On Youtube in that case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A 0 -
FitBit is not precise - it's a potentially better estimate.
Guess what FitBit uses to calculate all calories for non-moving times?
BMR, based on age, gender, height, weight.
That can be off if you've lost muscle mass.
All moving time is based on weight and pace estimates.
But as those studies show, if you are burning less because of being more efficient, then the formulas used don't work, they'll be inflated.
But get it, spend 6 months eating at it's estimate of maintenance, and while you may gain, your system will hopefully come back.
The video study comments say it won't, but they only had a 1 yr study.0 -
I'm pretty sure that at 46/43kg you're underweight (what's your BMI?) so what is your motivation for losing more weight? 1640kcal is also a pretty accurate number, there must be a margin of error there. My opinion is that at 19 you should be able to maintain your weight on a lot more than 1600, if you can't maybe accept that that's not your body's set point and your 'natural' weight is higher (believe me I'm 30 and it took me a loooooooooong time to accept that given the 'skinnier is better' culture we inhabit).Someone told me that I may be having suppressed maintenance calorie level right now and saying that I can actually eat more without gaining any weight. I've been eating 1640calories for a few months and these few days gained a kg and most of the people say that it's water retention (I'm having sore muscle) so I think it's water retention which caused the weight gain.
I'm eating1640 calories (I don't eat back exercise calories because I think that it's not that vigorous and I don't know how much I burn). I'm a 19years old female, 159cm and 44kg(after gaining 1kg) and also when I was in school my weight was taken and it was 46.9kg(before gaining 1kg) but when I weigh myself using my scale it's 43kg(before gaining 1kg) which number should I be using?!
So have any one heard of suppressed maintenance? Because I was told that Im giving myself very small margin of error there. What if I'm get injured and can't work out as much. What if sick.
Also,with a suppressed maintenance, my body is going to be hard pressed to make improvements from exercise if it's already slowed things down because it doesn't think it's getting enough. At least compared to what it could be improving.
What should I do now? I'm confused. Because I wasn't losing weight eating 1640calories so I'm not sure about this suppressed maintenance thing. Can someone please help?!
If you want to look better, forget the scales and lift some weights. I log my food, exercise hard, eat back calories and stopped weighing myself months ago as it wasn't worth the aggro. I mean there were days when I gained 10lb overnight (yeah the period bloating was legendary). Now I just look in the mirror and go by my clothes fitting.0 -
My fitbit total calorie burn for the day must be pretty accurate. That's about what I eat and I've stayed in my weight box for 16 months.0
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I'm pretty sure that at 46/43kg you're underweight (what's your BMI?) so what is your motivation for losing more weight? 1640kcal is also a pretty accurate number, there must be a margin of error there. My opinion is that at 19 you should be able to maintain your weight on a lot more than 1600, if you can't maybe accept that that's not your body's set point and your 'natural' weight is higher (believe me I'm 30 and it took me a loooooooooong time to accept that given the 'skinnier is better' culture we inhabit).Someone told me that I may be having suppressed maintenance calorie level right now and saying that I can actually eat more without gaining any weight. I've been eating 1640calories for a few months and these few days gained a kg and most of the people say that it's water retention (I'm having sore muscle) so I think it's water retention which caused the weight gain.
I'm eating1640 calories (I don't eat back exercise calories because I think that it's not that vigorous and I don't know how much I burn). I'm a 19years old female, 159cm and 44kg(after gaining 1kg) and also when I was in school my weight was taken and it was 46.9kg(before gaining 1kg) but when I weigh myself using my scale it's 43kg(before gaining 1kg) which number should I be using?!
So have any one heard of suppressed maintenance? Because I was told that Im giving myself very small margin of error there. What if I'm get injured and can't work out as much. What if sick.
Also,with a suppressed maintenance, my body is going to be hard pressed to make improvements from exercise if it's already slowed things down because it doesn't think it's getting enough. At least compared to what it could be improving.
What should I do now? I'm confused. Because I wasn't losing weight eating 1640calories so I'm not sure about this suppressed maintenance thing. Can someone please help?!
If you want to look better, forget the scales and lift some weights. I log my food, exercise hard, eat back calories and stopped weighing myself months ago as it wasn't worth the aggro. I mean there were days when I gained 10lb overnight (yeah the period bloating was legendary). Now I just look in the mirror and go by my clothes fitting.
She is underweight. I commented on this in another of her threads. Her BMI is 17.4 when I calculated it.
I am surprised no-one else has picked up on this.0 -
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales?month=201401
Read the study for yourself.
Other name is metabolic adaptation, beyond what the body does by losing muscle mass and slowing your spontaneous activity down (NEAT).
I've been calling it suppressed maintenance as an easier to understand concept, because literally it's not just your BMR, your daily activity, even your exercise - burns less than it did and it would need to.
Metabolic efficiency is other term given to it.
It's real, and you don't have to be starving to get it.
Video on Weight of the Nation on HBO talks about another study finding the same thing. On Youtube in that case.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A
What can I do to reverse the suppressed maintenance now??0 -
FitBit is not precise - it's a potentially better estimate.
Guess what FitBit uses to calculate all calories for non-moving times?
BMR, based on age, gender, height, weight.
That can be off if you've lost muscle mass.
All moving time is based on weight and pace estimates.
But as those studies show, if you are burning less because of being more efficient, then the formulas used don't work, they'll be inflated.
But get it, spend 6 months eating at it's estimate of maintenance, and while you may gain, your system will hopefully come back.
The video study comments say it won't, but they only had a 1 yr study.
Does this means that heart rate monitor is a better choice?0 -
My fitbit total calorie burn for the day must be pretty accurate. That's about what I eat and I've stayed in my weight box for 16 months.
Do fitbit take into account for exercises like dancing?0 -
I'm pretty sure that at 46/43kg you're underweight (what's your BMI?) so what is your motivation for losing more weight? 1640kcal is also a pretty accurate number, there must be a margin of error there. My opinion is that at 19 you should be able to maintain your weight on a lot more than 1600, if you can't maybe accept that that's not your body's set point and your 'natural' weight is higher (believe me I'm 30 and it took me a loooooooooong time to accept that given the 'skinnier is better' culture we inhabit).Someone told me that I may be having suppressed maintenance calorie level right now and saying that I can actually eat more without gaining any weight. I've been eating 1640calories for a few months and these few days gained a kg and most of the people say that it's water retention (I'm having sore muscle) so I think it's water retention which caused the weight gain.
I'm eating1640 calories (I don't eat back exercise calories because I think that it's not that vigorous and I don't know how much I burn). I'm a 19years old female, 159cm and 44kg(after gaining 1kg) and also when I was in school my weight was taken and it was 46.9kg(before gaining 1kg) but when I weigh myself using my scale it's 43kg(before gaining 1kg) which number should I be using?!
So have any one heard of suppressed maintenance? Because I was told that Im giving myself very small margin of error there. What if I'm get injured and can't work out as much. What if sick.
Also,with a suppressed maintenance, my body is going to be hard pressed to make improvements from exercise if it's already slowed things down because it doesn't think it's getting enough. At least compared to what it could be improving.
What should I do now? I'm confused. Because I wasn't losing weight eating 1640calories so I'm not sure about this suppressed maintenance thing. Can someone please help?!
If you want to look better, forget the scales and lift some weights. I log my food, exercise hard, eat back calories and stopped weighing myself months ago as it wasn't worth the aggro. I mean there were days when I gained 10lb overnight (yeah the period bloating was legendary). Now I just look in the mirror and go by my clothes fitting.
She is underweight. I commented on this in another of her threads. Her BMI is 17.4 when I calculated it.
I am surprised no-one else has picked up on this.
I'm sure I'm not underweight I've just checked my bmi on using the Singapore government's bmi calculator and it says that my bmi is 18.6. If I'm underweight I'm sure my teacher would've pointed that out. It's www.hpb.gov.sg0 -
[
[/quote]I'm pretty sure that at 46/43kg you're underweight (what's your BMI?) so what is your motivation for losing more weight? 1640kcal is also a pretty accurate number, there must be a margin of error there. My opinion is that at 19 you should be able to maintain your weight on a lot more than 1600, if you can't maybe accept that that's not your body's set point and your 'natural' weight is higher (believe me I'm 30 and it took me a loooooooooong time to accept that given the 'skinnier is better' culture we inhabit).
If you want to look better, forget the scales and lift some weights. I log my food, exercise hard, eat back calories and stopped weighing myself months ago as it wasn't worth the aggro. I mean there were days when I gained 10lb overnight (yeah the period bloating was legendary). Now I just look in the mirror and go by my clothes fitting.
So you mean I can actually eat more calories without gaining?0 -
You need to TRY it. It's an empirical question.
Dancing counts as steps, unless you tell fitbit you're dancing, in which case it may up the calories.0 -
44kg sounds underweight to me. Don't know if you seen this link, posted in a thread a few weeks ago,
http://skepchick.org/2014/02/the-female-athlete-triad-not-as-fun-as-it-sounds/
Try upping your calories gradually till you find, what may be, a healthier maintainance.0 -
You need to TRY it. It's an empirical question.
Dancing counts as steps, unless you tell fitbit you're dancing, in which case it may up the calories.
Alright! It seems like heart rate monitor is more precise though... It's hard to choose among the two.0 -
bump0
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44kg sounds underweight to me. Don't know if you seen this link, posted in a thread a few weeks ago,
http://skepchick.org/2014/02/the-female-athlete-triad-not-as-fun-as-it-sounds/
Try upping your calories gradually till you find, what may be, a healthier maintainance.
I weigh different using different scale so I'm not really sure which is the correct weight.
I'm not as physically active as the athlete in the article so I'm not sure if it's applicable to me but I've certainly learned a lot from the article!
How will I know if it's a healthy maintenance for me? Because I'm not gaining/losing eating 1640cal (not forgetting that I'm short) so I don't know what's a healthy maintenance anymore. If I'm not gaining nor losing but its not a healthy maintenance...0 -
I just think it sounds like a low maintainance level - and I think you do too or you wouldn't be asking the question?
Try upping gradually, like I say, say by 100 (or even 50, if 100 is too scary). Try it out for a good few weeks before passing judgement e.g. You might have a gain the first week that could sort itself out the next week. If that works out well for you, try raising it again and so on.
Yes, I'm not as active as the girl in the article either but I certainly found it an eye opener.0 -
I am wishing you well but fear with a bmi of 18.6, was it, you are at the lower range of advised BMI rather than at an average for range. I have noticed here in the UK the recommendation is to not go lower because it can cause other system issues within young women. Cultural pressure here and in the US is increasing for girls not to have any curves.0
-
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales?month=201401
Read the study for yourself.
Other name is metabolic adaptation, beyond what the body does by losing muscle mass and slowing your spontaneous activity down (NEAT).
I've been calling it suppressed maintenance as an easier to understand concept, because literally it's not just your BMR, your daily activity, even your exercise - burns less than it did and it would need to.
Metabolic efficiency is other term given to it.
It's real, and you don't have to be starving to get it.
Video on Weight of the Nation on HBO talks about another study finding the same thing. On Youtube in that case.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i_cmltmQ6A
What can I do to reverse the suppressed maintenance now??
Do fitbit take into account for exercises like dancing?
Does this means that heart rate monitor is a better choice?
You aren't availing yourself of available information - read the blog, even if you don't fully understand, the bottom part comments on it.
Dancing is step based usually, but I suppose you could be so smooth and flowing as to barely register movement. But I doubt that kind of dance.
None of the activity monitors take in to account any specific exercise.
They are watching for motion, and trying to accurately assess how far you are going.
HRM might be better for specific exercise only, that means HR above 90, below 150-170, and steady-state aerobic where it doesn't change for 2-4 minutes. That's it.
And even that requires a HRM that allows you putting in your stats like VO2max and HRmax, and you have such stats to accurate degree.
In case it's not coming through clear - your ability to accurately, like within 5%, figure out your calorie burns - is useless.
You may luck out, you may not.
But results trump estimates, when they body is burning full and bright - which I'm pretty convinced yours is not based on your history and low weight already.
You may not like where you have fat now, but if it seems you have excessive fat based on weight, it's likely because you lost muscle mass from prior dieting, and retain more fat. It will now be much harder.
You lose weight now - you'll just be a smaller fatter version of what you see now.
Usually not desired.0 -
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If you are Singaporean (Asian?) maybe it is 'normal' to weigh a bit less (on average Asian women appear to be smaller than Caucasian and Afro-Caribbean women) but 18.6 is still rather low and I wouldn't be trying to lose more.
As people have said you'll just have to experiment. Heart rate monitors can be inaccurate especially if you do lots of interval training or weights.
Bump your calories up a small amount weekly, reassess over a suitable period of time (NOT daily weigh-ins as too many fluctuations) and see.
My view is that if you eat more your body learns to exist on more and you can raise your BMR. I could be wrong.0 -
Singapore Gov BMI calculator must differ then because the one on mfp makes you 17.4 BMI.0
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My view is that if you eat more your body learns to exist on more and you can raise your BMR. I could be wrong.
No, you are correct. And in fact, just for BMR, not the exercise.
So just opposite of underfeeding, which affects everything.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/44/6/718.abstract
"Some metabolic effects of overeating in man", Am J Clin Nutr. 1986
Overfeeding caused a variable increase (1-18%) in basal metabolic rate but no change in metabolic rate during light exercise.0 -
I just think it sounds like a low maintainance level - and I think you do too or you wouldn't be asking the question?
Try upping gradually, like I say, say by 100 (or even 50, if 100 is too scary). Try it out for a good few weeks before passing judgement e.g. You might have a gain the first week that could sort itself out the next week. If that works out well for you, try raising it again and so on.
Yes, I'm not as active as the girl in the article either but I certainly found it an eye opener.
I will up my maintenance calorie once the water retention weight go away thanks for sharing the article with me!0 -
I am wishing you well but fear with a bmi of 18.6, was it, you are at the lower range of advised BMI rather than at an average for range. I have noticed here in the UK the recommendation is to not go lower because it can cause other system issues within young women. Cultural pressure here and in the US is increasing for girls not to have any curves.
Thanks for the concern. I'm far from not having any curves. I will definitely not allow myself to go lower because I don't want any system issues!0 -
If you are Singaporean (Asian?) maybe it is 'normal' to weigh a bit less (on average Asian women appear to be smaller than Caucasian and Afro-Caribbean women) but 18.6 is still rather low and I wouldn't be trying to lose more.
As people have said you'll just have to experiment. Heart rate monitors can be inaccurate especially if you do lots of interval training or weights.
Bump your calories up a small amount weekly, reassess over a suitable period of time (NOT daily weigh-ins as too many fluctuations) and see.
My view is that if you eat more your body learns to exist on more and you can raise your BMR. I could be wrong.
Yes I'm Asian~ I'm gonna try bumping my calorie up once the water retention go away~ thanks for the advice!0 -
Singapore Gov BMI calculator must differ then because the one on mfp makes you 17.4 BMI.
There should be no difference in calculations, whether she's using a Singapore calculator or otherwise. The only difference is the interpretation of results - for SE Asian body types, suggested healthy weight range is still from 18.5 but cuts off at <23 rather than <25.
She's kidding herself when she says that she got 18.6.0
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