Is it possible to gain while staying in calorie goals?

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sageandlavender
sageandlavender Posts: 4
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I recently had an emergency surgery, after which I dropped 15 lbs (not intended, just didn't feel well afterwards and slept most of the days away). This got me down to the weight I wished to be at. Now that I am at this weight… if I continue to eat the way I was eating (healthy, fresh foods and within my TDEE range), will I maintain this new weight?

I am SO petrified I am going to rapidly gain it all back, seeing I did not lose it "healthily". Edit to add: This loss was over 3 weeks, and I was still eating and hydrating, just not eating as much. I was on a liquid diet for 1 week, then regular eating habits, just lesser, for the last 2 weeks.

I am finally back at the gym after recovering, as well. So I am working out 4-5x/week, as before. The idea now is to maintain weight and gain strength.

Thoughts?

Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    If you are correct on your TDEE yes you will maintain your weight within a reasonable range.

    If you go up or down by over 5lbs you need to adjust a bit...

    Be prepared if you are back at the gym after 3 weeks tho that you will see an increase in the scale due to water/glycogen stores from the exercise, but it shouldn't stay around for more than 4-6 weeks.

    So eat at maintenance, lift heavy and you should be good.
  • Othelie24601
    Othelie24601 Posts: 21
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    If your calorie goals are correct, then you will not gain weight. Try it out for a few weeks, then readjust your calories if you're gaining.

    Good luck!
  • cl1971
    cl1971 Posts: 5 Member
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    Please explain TDEE to me
  • cajuntank
    cajuntank Posts: 924 Member
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    Please explain TDEE to me

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure...this is the amount of calories your body burns for the day (or week as most online calculators do to provide you your average daily) to exist. The number typically factors in height, weight, gender, and activity level to give you an approximation of your daily calories. You take it from there to eat at that level to see over a period of weeks if you are maintaining, losing, or gaining. One of those three scenarios will tell you what you should do to attain your goals (eat less, eat more, or keep it the same).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Well, they don't refer to maintenance calories as maintenance calories for nothing now do they....
  • sheltrk
    sheltrk Posts: 111 Member
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    OP: Losing 15 lbs in 3 weeks is a pretty significant weight loss, especially if this brought you down to your goal weight.

    Speculating now:
    Odds are pretty good that you lost some muscle mass (along with glycogen and fat stores) during this period. The consequence of losing some muscle mass is that your BMR has decreased a bit. Therefore, whatever you had previously calculated for your TDEE will now be a bit of an overestimate. How much? It's hard to say. But be prepared to adjust it if you want to maintain your current weight.
  • potluck965
    potluck965 Posts: 529 Member
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    I can't say what will happen for you, but personally I have found this kind of weight loss extremely difficult to maintain. My body seems to feel that if you don't do it right, you don't get to keep it.

    Just my personal experience. You might be able to fight and keep it off.

    Good luck :smile:
  • CorlissaEats
    CorlissaEats Posts: 493 Member
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    If you are gaining weight, then you are eating above your calorie goals. Goal numbers change, you have to adapt to ensure that you are eating your tdee or less.

    You said you were mostly on a liquid diet? You will gain some of it back in the form of replacing the "waste in your system" but that's not true weight gain. Not yet anyways. Expect to see some increases on the scale due to hydration, waste, etc- the normal bodily functions that cause those fluxs in any given day. Inches should stay the same unless you start eating at a surplus. Like others said, recalculate your TDEE. It is likely that you lost some muscle with those 15lbs, it wasn't all fat. Try to work those muscles so you keep them and not the fat deposits. Its my experience that weight lost quickly and unhealthily usually makes its way back on the scale slowly over time but that could be more my own lack of attention and effort to keep it off.

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