Having a difficult time maintaining, so confused.

Entaro

Indeed I am male.

Not to sound weird, but why not post a photo of your new, fit body! Wear it proudly!

Generally I don't post my picture on the internet, it can lead to some iffy situations and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Brandolin11

Indeed I am male.

Not to sound weird, but why not post a photo of your new, fit body! Wear it proudly!

Generally I don't post my picture on the internet, it can lead to some iffy situations and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Fair enough. :happy:

Any thoughts on the TDEE calculation? (above)

Entaro

Indeed I am male.

Not to sound weird, but why not post a photo of your new, fit body! Wear it proudly!

Generally I don't post my picture on the internet, it can lead to some iffy situations and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Fair enough. :happy:

Any thoughts on the TDEE calculation? (above)

I'd love something like that to be true, but from what I've experienced over the past few months it doesn't hold up. Being able to eat 3,200 calories a day for maintenance would be amazing, but right now I'm doing 2,000 and fluctuating, so increasing it in any way feels terrifying.

wilsoje74

Indeed I am male.

I mean, I don't know what to say about the 9.9% body fat. I went to the hydrostatic weighing, got tested for breathing, dunked in a tub, weighed multiple times, and got a whole official neat-oh paper telling me about the 9.9% calculation and result.

are you very muscular with very little fat? Because 9% is low, not that I don't believe you but at only 5'8" you must be pretty muscular and lean. My husband is 6' and 165-170 lb and I don't think he's that low,

dieselbyte

Firstly, congratulations! That's a lot of hard work and dedication to get to where you are from where you were.

Depending on how long and how agressively you cut will play a large role in weight gain once you increase calories. 4 hours of cardio wasn't necessary, and definitely isn't necessary in the long term, but the damage was already done. If you cut to 1000 calories and 4 hours of cardio right away, that is extremely aggressive. As was posted earlier, at some point your metabolism adapted to that amount of cardio and few calories. Upping your calories to 2000 and 3000 on the weekend, coupled with a decrease in cardio, is kind of like overload for your body and metabolism. All of a sudden you introduce all this extra energy - energy (calories) that your body didn't have before. Your metabolism is used to 1,000 - where is the extra 2,000 calories going to go? Our bodies are extremely efficient and want to maintain energy balance. If you don't use it, or have adapted to using lower energy, those extra calories will be stored.

However, also understand that in maintenance, you will have weight fluctuations. Water weight, food weight - anywhere from a +/-10lbs swing is possible, even more depending on other factors.

Slowly upping your calories every week, while slowly decreasing cardio is recommended. You have to ease your body into it and slowly increase your metabolic rate. Weight training, while not necessary, will help tremendously in the process as well.

Also, just saw your TDEE as I posted this. You unfortunately aren't there yet - its just an estimate but doesn't take into account how you arrived at your weight. You CAN get there, but you will need to take it slow.

felonebeats

Great job on your weight loss,amazing.I'm 183lbs and around10-11% bf and my maintenance is about 3200 calories.I train 5 days a week with no cardio so I'd imagine you'd be around the same give or take

likitisplit

Indeed I am male.

Not to sound weird, but why not post a photo of your new, fit body! Wear it proudly!

Generally I don't post my picture on the internet, it can lead to some iffy situations and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Fair enough. :happy:

Any thoughts on the TDEE calculation? (above)

I'd love something like that to be true, but from what I've experienced over the past few months it doesn't hold up. Being able to eat 3,200 calories a day for maintenance would be amazing, but right now I'm doing 2,000 and fluctuating, so increasing it in any way feels terrifying.

Your weight will level out if you eat more. And don't be afraid to gain a little back. 9% is awesome and if you gain 5, it's not going to be hard to take off at all. MUCH easier than losing it the first time. Your muscles will probably use it right up anyway.

Brandolin11

Indeed I am male.

Not to sound weird, but why not post a photo of your new, fit body! Wear it proudly!

Generally I don't post my picture on the internet, it can lead to some iffy situations and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Fair enough. :happy:

Any thoughts on the TDEE calculation? (above)

I'd love something like that to be true, but from what I've experienced over the past few months it doesn't hold up. Being able to eat 3,200 calories a day for maintenance would be amazing, but right now I'm doing 2,000 and fluctuating, so increasing it in any way feels terrifying.

Actually, fluctuating is totally normal. I'm on maintenance and can "lose" 4 lbs overnight. The "needle" on my weight stats goes up and down and up and down in all sorts of increments. If you were to look at my MFP chart over the course of 3 months or even 6 months you'd see that it looks like a heart monitor. But if you look closer, you would see that, on the average, that heartbeat-like line stays within the 128-131lb range. This is my "safe zone" and when I start to get out of it, I adjust a little lower for awhile and regain control. Been doing this now for 1.5 years.

I'm no nutritionist, nor a doctor, so you should totally take my advice with a grain of salt. Ultimately you will have to figure out what calorie range is best for you and this takes trial and error when you are newly on maintenance. I had to do that myself. I just wanted you to see the numbers when done with a traditional TDEE calculator so you wouldn't feel so confused.

That being said......I think the real issue here is the terrifying feeling you're experiencing, not the weight fluctuation. This is completely understandable considering you are so young and were 400+ lbs to start with. I, and many others here, know all too well the horrible spectre that was our life as an obese person. We know the "addiction" to eating, the hours spent bingeing, the money wasted, the life that's passed us by, the people we hurt, the potential we had when we were younger that we cannot reclaim.... We know what "going back there" will cost us and we'll do ANYTHING to protect it.

Thus, any weight gain you feel you might have would be a terrifying prospect.

I would highly advise a couple things for you right now (as you explore this stuff):

1.) Think about sitting down with a good counselor who works with issues of obesity and compulsion and vent your fears. Even if just for a couple sessions. Just get it out, explore the mental and emotional side of this stuff. It's real, very real. And if you don't grieve it, get it out, and deal with it, you just might find it coming back to haunt you later. In fact, I almost guarantee it.

2.) Relax, breathe, and learn to give yourself some grace and slack as you experiment with your calories, exercise regimen, etc. Trust that you have been doing this weight loss thing, this caring-for-yourself thing, for a LONG time now. Trust the process. Rest on your discipline. Remember that you will be okay. You will not "lose it all" in a few days. The more fearful and upset you become the greater the temptation to either restrict, overeat, or binge exercise....neither of which is helpful for your continued future success.

If you feel comfortable sticking w/2,000 during the week and 3,000 on the weekend, record your progress over time so you can measure your AVERAGES (not your day-to-day fluctuations), and discover that it all shakes out just fine, then stick with it! If you find you're gaining large amounts of weight then perhaps it's time to visit a doc or nutritionist, because that math would not add up and there may be a medical issue going on. But only time, and experimentation, will tell. Good luck!

farfromthetree

Indeed I am male.

Not to sound weird, but why not post a photo of your new, fit body! Wear it proudly!

Generally I don't post my picture on the internet, it can lead to some iffy situations and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Fair enough. :happy:

Any thoughts on the TDEE calculation? (above)

I'd love something like that to be true, but from what I've experienced over the past few months it doesn't hold up. Being able to eat 3,200 calories a day for maintenance would be amazing, but right now I'm doing 2,000 and fluctuating, so increasing it in any way feels terrifying.

I agree with Brandolins calculation,(Love your advice...you always know just what to say) if you put in a lighter activity level which is moderately active (exercise 3-5 times a week), it goes down to 2884. Does that seem less scary to you?

I just went on maintenance and I know the feeling of being nervous about upping your calories. I am by no means an expert but, may I suggest still going out to eat on the weekends by still staying on goal? At 2800 calories(or whatever you set for yourself) , it should still be enough to eat a nice big breakfast then possibly lighten up on the dinner..? In my opinion, consistency is key. Then you truly know how the daily calories are effecting your weight. Good luck!

felonebeats

At 180lbs and doing as much cardio as you are you will lose weight quite quickly on 2000 calories I'd say.That's not enough

danasings

Firstly, congratulations! That's a lot of hard work and dedication to get to where you are from where you were.

Depending on how long and how agressively you cut will play a large role in weight gain once you increase calories. 4 hours of cardio wasn't necessary, and definitely isn't necessary in the long term, but the damage was already done. If you cut to 1000 calories and 4 hours of cardio right away, that is extremely aggressive. As was posted earlier, at some point your metabolism adapted to that amount of cardio and few calories. Upping your calories to 2000 and 3000 on the weekend, coupled with a decrease in cardio, is kind of like overload for your body and metabolism. All of a sudden you introduce all this extra energy - energy (calories) that your body didn't have before. Your metabolism is used to 1,000 - where is the extra 2,000 calories going to go? Our bodies are extremely efficient and want to maintain energy balance. If you don't use it, or have adapted to using lower energy, those extra calories will be stored.

However, also understand that in maintenance, you will have weight fluctuations. Water weight, food weight - anywhere from a +/-10lbs swing is possible, even more depending on other factors.

Slowly upping your calories every week, while slowly decreasing cardio is recommended. You have to ease your body into it and slowly increase your metabolic rate. Weight training, while not necessary, will help tremendously in the process as well.

Also, just saw your TDEE as I posted this. You unfortunately aren't there yet - its just an estimate but doesn't take into account how you arrived at your weight. You CAN get there, but you will need to take it slow.

^^good advice. Best of luck, OP.

whitebalance

@Entaro, suggest you read this... I think it may help you get a handle on the changes you've seen and reduce your stress level a bit...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/993576-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut

Yoshirio

I can't get past the four hours of cardio.I need a nap just from reading that..Good luck op!:flowerforyou:

Entaro

Slightly curious if anyone could help me with something related to this: When I was a kid I had hyperinsulinemia and when I met with doctors about it they told me I had a "thrifty genotype," and a slow metabolism.

Is there a good way to gain an accurate measure of my basal metabolic rate? I worry about putting any faith in calculations without knowing about other factors that may be affecting them.

nxd10

Your body has gotten accustomed to extreme cardio just to maintain... Once you cut back on the cardio, your weight will start to climb... I would replace any reduction in cardio with increases in weight training.....you need to build muscle to increase your metabolic rate...

This sounds like good advice. You have done fantastically well. I am surprised that you can maintain that low a body fat without serious lifting. Those are VERY low calories for your activities. I think building that muscle will help with the stability. However, I am willing to bet that even if you ease into it, your body will bounce around with the adjustment.

Might it make sense to stick with your calorie plan, do a baseline on your measurements, increase your strength training and drop some of your cardio and STOP WEIGHING FOR A MONTH? If you watch your measurement and your calories, nothing horrible will happen to your weight in that time period.

I would also think about getting a very well recommended trainer who can work with someone like you. Can you get one through your insurance or your doctor, given your weight loss? Even if they don't pay for it, they may recommend one.