To increase or decrease Calories to start loosing again

SHBoss1673

sorry cutmd, I didn't see it.

I can tell you this though, I wouldn't stop the weight training. That happens all the time to people. When you begin a new, strenuous exercise type, and are working muscles in a different way then they are used to, often you gain some weight because of it. I'd be very surprised if it was more than 1 to 3 lbs of actual muscle mass though, more likely it's that previously dormant muscle fiber was activated by the new activity and when that fiber is activated, it requires more glycogen and water around it (dormant muscle fiber is partially dessicated because of lack of use), which will account for much of the new weight. Also be aware, at your weight and height and body fat % I would put your maintenance calories at somewhere around 1800, I would say having a deficit of 300 would be just about right for you, where as 500 might be a bit to much. Just be cautious to be very accurate in your food measuring, that can be a big problem when you're talking about small deficits. these are rough guesses mind you, to be more accurate we'd need to do more in-depth analysis and some trial and error (alas, weight loss is kind of a "soft science" in that respect).

Sorry to hijack this thread slightly but I'm in a similar situation (reached my goal, starting maintaining and lifting heavy, and put weight back on) and this is a question I have about my own calorie consumption. Do you mean cutmd's net cals should be 1800 for maintenance, even after exercise? Or she should just eat 1800 total calories a day? This is something I'm wondering about for myself and have been trying to find clarification on. I've been eating an average of 1550 net calories a day for the last two months (since I started maintaining), but most calorie calculators online put me at 1700+, which seems like a lot. So I just feel confused if that should be my net calorie goal, or just calories consumed per day regardless of exercise. I hope that makes sense heh.
Thanks in advance!!

If you're at maintenance, then eat maintenance plus exercise, but first be sure that is your true maintenance. If you eat maintenance plus exercise without any changes in workout for a while, and you maintain, then that's your true maintenance, if you lose or gain, then that's not your true maintenance and you'll need to tweak. Also you could go to a metabolic testing lab and have an indirect calorimetry test done, that will tell you your true maintenance as well. but that's a little expensive.

cutmd

I forgot to say thanks again, SHBoss, sorry about that. Since nothing else is working I'm going to try a week or 2 at 1350 and be super careful with my measurements

SHBoss1673

I forgot to say thanks again, SHBoss, sorry about that. Since nothing else is working I'm going to try a week or 2 at 1350 and be super careful with my measurements

that's fine, but just food for thought. here are some reasons why you could be not losing (just generic reasons, I'm not targeting you).

1. you're at maintenance

2. you're at the exact point where your deficit is to large for you, it's big enough that you're body is sending out the signals to hold onto fat and burn lean tissue, and slow down your metabolic rate (starvation mode) and when that happens, for a while, eating slightly more than that will actually stall you out because a) your body is panicking and b) you're actual maintenance calories are lower than they would normally be

3. A metabolically related disorder or illness is causing your body to burn less than it normally would.

4. you're overestimating or underestimating either your calories in or calories out. I.E. you've incorrectly reported your activity level, or your exercise calories, or you food calories or more likely a bit of all 3.

these are all things to take into account as possibilities. The only way what you're thinking of doing would work, is if you're in the first 1.