Eating 1700-1800 for maintanence and gaining? :(
allyyyson
Posts: 22 Member
I went from 176 to 131lbs. I have been eating around 1700-1800 calories a day. I would consider myself moderately active- my job has me on my feet all day plus I go to the gym twice a week (work schedule prevents me from more. In the last two weeks i went from 131.2 to 133.6. In the morning before eating etc and it has creeped up to that. I am 21 years old, I don't know if I may have an issue because some people LOSE eating that? Why would I be gaining? It makes me want to drop back to 1550 or so for maintanence which seems low. Is this normal? Is that too high for maintanence?
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Replies
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Perfectly normal when switching from weight loss to maintaining,
It is your glycogen stores replenishing. I got down to 143 and as soon as I went to maintenance I popped right up to 145 and have stayed around there for about 6 months.0 -
I went from 176 to 131lbs. I have been eating around 1700-1800 calories a day. I would consider myself moderately active- my job has me on my feet all day plus I go to the gym twice a week (work schedule prevents me from more. In the last two weeks i went from 131.2 to 133.6. In the morning before eating etc and it has creeped up to that. I am 21 years old, I don't know if I may have an issue because some people LOSE eating that? Why would I be gaining? It makes me want to drop back to 1550 or so for maintanence which seems low. Is this normal? Is that too high for maintanence?
Without knowing all your data it seems like it could be reasonable. You were right to wait 2 weeks and study the results.
Question: Have you seen the weight slowly creep up or did you recently step on the scale? If it was recent it could be waterweight.
If it was slowly creeping I think you need to either increase exercise or lower calories. MFP is not 100% accurate per person so some fine tuning is required (thought I heard on the forums that MFP will eventually adjust its calorie limits if you start to gain (so long as you don't keep adjusting your goals.)
That's all I have for you. I'm sure you already knew all that after losing 45.0 -
Thank you julie
So the gaining will stop? Should I cut back a bit (I was doing 1450, originally 1200) or is this good maintenece calories? I'm just paranoid... 0 -
Thank you brando Yeah it creeped up, but still gaining almost two pounds in two weeks eating 1800 seems extreme
I was eating 1200, then 1450 once I got into the 140s. I'll try and exercise a bit more... but still this does seem like a lot. Thank you. I ate 1800 today but I'll try and cut back tomorrow (which may be difficult because I'm going on vacation ) 0 -
Two pounds in two weeks, if it is indeed fat and not just some water gain, would equal approximately 500 extra calories per day. That doesn't sound possible so my guess is that most of it is just water.0
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You might want to lower your activity level from moderate to lightly active, and or how many calories you're allowed. Working out twice a week is really not that much. An old saying I remember " 3 times a week to maintain, 4 times a week to lose".0
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1700-1800 seems like a lot of calories unless you are excercising every day.
On those days that I do not exercise I am only allowed 1350.
This is only after I got to maintenance mode when I hit my desired weight. Before that it was 1200.
Now, on the days I exercise, I still am only allowed 1500-1700 depending on what exercises I am doing that day.
It might be a good idea to look/set your goals on MFP if you haven't already.
Best to you on the journey.0 -
Do you look good? If not, what needs changing? If yes, then bin the scales.
Right now, I have no idea what my weight is. It was about 73kg in January.0 -
1700-1800 seems like a lot of calories unless you are excercising every day.
On those days that I do not exercise I am only allowed 1350.
This is only after I got to maintenance mode when I hit my desired weight. Before that it was 1200.
Now, on the days I exercise, I still am only allowed 1500-1700 depending on what exercises I am doing that day.
It might be a good idea to look/set your goals on MFP if you haven't already.
Best to you on the journey.
1700-1800 is most certainly not a lot for someone in maintenance. That is what a female of 130Ibs or so is set to maintain on, when set to sedentary, as an example. It does not take much activity to bring a person's base calorie allowance, without exercise, up to around 1800-1900.
To the OP, a little gain happens to most once they go into maintenance from weight loss mode. There is even a post here somewhere about it. It is just glycogen and water, most likely and really, weight will fluctuate around a bit anyway, so it is best to have a range you consider to be maintenance, not a set number.0 -
Wait a month. But you might try getting a fitbit or pedometer or whatever, logging your exercise, and setting yourself to sedentary?
The model is a starting place. If after a month you're still gaining, you've got a slow body, underestimating eating, or overestimating exercise.
My maintenance calories are low , but it doesn't matter as long as what I log and what I eat keeps my weight stable.0 -
1700-1800 seems like a lot of calories unless you are excercising every day.
On those days that I do not exercise I am only allowed 1350.
This is only after I got to maintenance mode when I hit my desired weight. Before that it was 1200.
Now, on the days I exercise, I still am only allowed 1500-1700 depending on what exercises I am doing that day.
It might be a good idea to look/set your goals on MFP if you haven't already.
Best to you on the journey.
IDK where you got your numbers, but you might want to try re-working them again because I've never heard of anyone's maintenance calories being that low. My maintenance is at lowest ~1,700 for my sedentary days and as high as 2000 when I exercise. Maybe your numbers are lower than mine, but I don't believe they could be that much lower.
OP: I think you're fine. If you're concerned you can play around a bit with your intake and see what happens. But like others have said, if you like how you look, why worry? Ditch the scale. It can turn even the best of us into obsessive monsters.0 -
1700-1800 seems like a lot of calories unless you are excercising every day.
On those days that I do not exercise I am only allowed 1350.
This is only after I got to maintenance mode when I hit my desired weight. Before that it was 1200.
Now, on the days I exercise, I still am only allowed 1500-1700 depending on what exercises I am doing that day.
It might be a good idea to look/set your goals on MFP if you haven't already.
Best to you on the journey.
1700-1800 is most certainly not a lot for someone in maintenance. That is what a female of 130Ibs or so is set to maintain on, when set to sedentary, as an example. It does not take much activity to bring a person's base calorie allowance, without exercise, up to around 1800-1900.
To the OP, a little gain happens to most once they go into maintenance from weight loss mode. There is even a post here somewhere about it. It is just glycogen and water, most likely and really, weight will fluctuate around a bit anyway, so it is best to have a range you consider to be maintenance, not a set number.
Ditto. I'm doing 1700 now and have maintained for over half a year. OP, your weight will fluctuate a little but a couple pounds here and there is nothing to be concerned about. I have a range of about 2 pounds that my weight stays within, and I wouldn't be concerned unless I went up 4 pounds and stayed there. You did say you're 21, and around that age my metabolism slowed down from its adolescent rate so your body could still be changing.0 -
A two lb fluctuation is normal. My weight fluctuates by 5 lbs depending on whether I'm bloated or if it's my TOM or what have you.0
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I must be missing something...just re-set my goals and MFP is still only giving me 1410 calories. Is it age/height/weight possibly?0
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Maintenance is a range. This is what my last couple months look like in maintenance:
Week 30: +/- 0 (130.6 lbs)
Week 31: -3.2 (127.4 lbs)
Week 32: +4.2 (131.6 lbs)
Week 33: -1.4 (130.2 lbs)
Week 34: -1.0 (129.2 lbs)
Week 35: +0.6 (129.8 lbs)
Week 36: +0.6 (130.4 lbs)
Week 37: +1.8 (132.2 lbs)
Week 38: -2.6 (129.6 lbs)
With the info you gave, I'd be hesitant to make any changes just yet.
ETA: I'm 27, 5'5", goal is 132.4 lbs and 1800 net calories.0 -
I went from 176 to 131lbs. I have been eating around 1700-1800 calories a day. I would consider myself moderately active- my job has me on my feet all day plus I go to the gym twice a week (work schedule prevents me from more. In the last two weeks i went from 131.2 to 133.6. In the morning before eating etc and it has creeped up to that. I am 21 years old, I don't know if I may have an issue because some people LOSE eating that? Why would I be gaining? It makes me want to drop back to 1550 or so for maintanence which seems low. Is this normal? Is that too high for maintanence?
Each person's maintenance calories are different. There are to many factors that go into that to compare yourself to what others do. But, gaining 2.4 pounds is hardly anything to be concerned about. You body could just be adjusting to the added calories. Again, other factors could be causing that. If after a three weeks or so you are still gaining one or two pounds a week then you should adjust your calories. Not by much though, maybe drop 150 and eat that for two weeks to see if it levels off. You will just have to find your maintenance calories at this new low weight. Congrats on the weight loss.0 -
That's a lot of calories. I weigh over 200 right now, and if I were maintaining, I would need to eat less than your calorie limit. A friend of mine is a personal trainer and went from 180 to 136. Her maintenance calories are about 1300 and she works out several hours per day. Sadly, once we've been big, we will usually need fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than someone who has been at that lower weight and never been big.0
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That's a lot of calories. I weigh over 200 right now, and if I were maintaining, I would need to eat less than your calorie limit. A friend of mine is a personal trainer and went from 180 to 136. Her maintenance calories are about 1300 and she works out several hours per day. Sadly, once we've been big, we will usually need fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than someone who has been at that lower weight and never been big.
What? 1700 isn't a lot of calories! If I sat on my butt all day and just did light walking is lose 1 lb a week on that intake and I'm 5'3.5" 119 lbs! !!
I maintain on around 2200 just light walking a few days a week 3 hours of weightlifting a week and taking care of my kids. ...0 -
That's a lot of calories. I weigh over 200 right now, and if I were maintaining, I would need to eat less than your calorie limit. A friend of mine is a personal trainer and went from 180 to 136. Her maintenance calories are about 1300 and she works out several hours per day. Sadly, once we've been big, we will usually need fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than someone who has been at that lower weight and never been big.
Wrong.0 -
That's a lot of calories. I weigh over 200 right now, and if I were maintaining, I would need to eat less than your calorie limit. A friend of mine is a personal trainer and went from 180 to 136. Her maintenance calories are about 1300 and she works out several hours per day. Sadly, once we've been big, we will usually need fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than someone who has been at that lower weight and never been big.
What? 1700 isn't a lot of calories! If I sat on my butt all day and just did light walking is lose 1 lb a week on that intake and I'm 5'3.5" 119 lbs! !!
I maintain on around 2200 just light walking a few days a week 3 hours of weightlifting a week and taking care of my kids. ...
This...I lose 3/4lb a week at 1700...
When I started using TDEE my maitenance was 1995...it is now between 2100-2250...and I started at over 200lbs...down 50+.
To the OP if you upped to maitenance without reverse dieting (slowly adding in calories)I would expect it to be water weight.
As I reversed up...I went a bit too fast myself and gained a bit...stayed at that level for 3 weeks and lost it plus. I am still reversing up and I hit maitenance 3 weeks ago...0 -
I must be missing something...just re-set my goals and MFP is still only giving me 1410 calories. Is it age/height/weight possibly?
a combination of all of them...including activity level.
but 1410 is without exercise...if you exercise and don't eat the calories back you will lose weight.
This is why a lot of us use TDEE...no guessing on burns.0 -
Sorry but the first part is a pure guess, the second part is plainly impossible and the last part Is a bit of a sweeping generalisation (it can happen but you can also do something about it).That's a lot of calories. I weigh over 200 right now, and if I were maintaining, I would need to eat less than your calorie limit. A friend of mine is a personal trainer and went from 180 to 136. Her maintenance calories are about 1300 and she works out several hours per day. Sadly, once we've been big, we will usually need fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than someone who has been at that lower weight and never been big.
OP - 2lbs is nothing, two large glasses of water! Set yourself a range and not a single number as you will go mad reacting to normal weight fluctuations. It takes a while to settle into maintenance and fine tune your calories.0 -
1,700-1,800 is not a lot for maintaining...actually it's nothing for maintaining. I'm cutting right now eating 1,500 calories loosing +1lb per week, thinking about going up to 1,750. My maintenance is 2,000-2,100. I'm female, 25 years old, 5'6" and 150 lbs.
I ran what information I have of you: 21 years old, female, 131 lbs (guessing the extra two is water weight), I entered an average height of 5'6" which I know may not be correct, exercise two days a week and I get the following numbers for maintenance....listing multiple options because I don't know exactly how physical your job is considered.
1.) Exercise 2 days a week and job considered NOT physical = 1,651
2.) Exercise 2 days a week and job considered LIGHTLY physical {OR} Exercise 3 days a week and job considered NOT physical = 1,926
3.) Exercise 2 days a week and job considered MODERATELY physical {OR} Exercise 4 days a week and job considered NOT physical = 2,064
4.) Exercise 2 days a week and job considered VERY physical {OR} Exercise 5 days a week and job considered NOT physical = 2,202
Honestly, I think you're job would be considered lightly physical. Definitely more physical than my job sitting in front of a computer screen all day but not as physical as a mover, stockboy, farmer, etc. So you're probably looking at #2 with maintenance calories around 1,926. I'm betting the first two pounds was just water weight. When I bumped from 1,200-1,500 (still in a deficit) I gained 4 lbs of water weight that didn't go back to normal for a week so by midweek it still looked like an extra 2 lbs.0 -
Not much new to add, but just additional encouragement:
You're likely just replenishing glycogen. (If you want to maintain at a lower weight, maybe lose 3-5 more pounds, then transition to maintenance again, at which point you'll restore glycogen again and level out where you want to be.) I'm in maintenance, and I've had a few days where I've fluctuated up to 3 pounds within 2 days. So it could just be normal too and you'll bounce up and down a bit where you are. 1700-1800 calories shouldn't be too much based on your lifestyle. I wouldn't cut back from that unless you do end up seeing a continued upward trend in your weight for a month or so.0 -
I love biology so here is what happens, your body goes "hey we are losing our fat stores, what happens if there is a famine, we need our fat stores" When women get pregnant they put on 7 pounds for the same reason, of course it would be more appropriate for mid-evil times since I doubt KFC is closing, but our body does what it does. I'm not sure if riding it out until you body accepts your new "set point" your current weight, changing what you are eating or pushing it further to lose more by dropping more calories is the correct answer for you. Less calories may make you more hungry. Reading the other comments joining an exercise group or gym and increase your calories requirement may be best of all. I do know at your age if you get into good physical condition it will benefit you forever. Muscle burns calories and getting calcium into your bones before 30 is much easier and done through impact activities. Addendum: muscle is heavier than fat which freaks some women out, measure yourself. A tones 130 will look way better than untoned 125.
Best of Luck0 -
Wow, I would starve on that amount. I am 140 pounds, male, and 5'10, and I eat 3000-4000 depending on activity level. This site seems low for my calorie needs, so I use this one and it seems to be dead on : http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced0
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That's a lot of calories. I weigh over 200 right now, and if I were maintaining, I would need to eat less than your calorie limit. A friend of mine is a personal trainer and went from 180 to 136. Her maintenance calories are about 1300 and she works out several hours per day. Sadly, once we've been big, we will usually need fewer calories to maintain a lower weight than someone who has been at that lower weight and never been big.
Wut? I lose on that amount. In fact I lost gakf a pound last week while average just over 2000 calories a day (and that's with workout calories factored in. I actually ate between 2200-2300 a day)
Even on days I literally do nothing I get 1550 to maintain on.
1700 for a woman who works out is not a lot0 -
I'm losing on 1800 calories per day. I can't imagine how people survive on 1200, or even 1400. I'd probably kill someone.0
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I could eat 2K/day without doing anything. You need to give yourself some time to adjust to the calorie increase.
OP, you need a maintenance range not a number. My range is 125-129. If I hit 130, I think I might be overdoing the food.
There are days where my husband fasts and the next day his weight is higher. Weight changes don't always have to make sense which is why you need a range that you feel comfortable in without getting upset about it.0
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