maintenance for the holidays- realistic?

hecham

Hello all:
I upped my calories from around 1400 net to 2200 total (maintenance) about 3 weeks ago as the holiday festivities were starting. I did this because for one, I was finding it too hard to stay under my goal with all the Christmas parties, and secondly, I was not losing weight at 1400 net anyway. I thought upping them might just start a loss. Since then, I have been over maintenance a couple of days, but only by 300-400.

When I upped my calories I also started lifting heavy 2x per week in addition to my normal cardio/strength mix. I do 2 days of pump group fitness classes at the gym and then either go to cardio classes or walk/run on the treadmill the other days. I rarely have a day in which I do absolutely no exercise, even if it’s just a leisurely walk.

Since upping calories three weeks ago, I have gone from around 131 to 134 and now today I am up to 136! I’ve never been this heavy. I know I have probably eaten way too many salty and sugary foods due to Christmas parties. I have another birthday party tonight, a Christmas party tomorrow, then it’s Christmas eve and Christmas. Then a few days after that I have Christmas with the other side of the family followed by a new year’s eve party.

What should I do from here? Should I track calories and not weigh-in? Not partake in the Christmas foods? Enjoy and worry about it later? Will the weight continue to go up or will it even out? I have been very honest in my tracking and I don’t imagine that I’m off by more than 100-200 every day. Still not enough to see this big of a gain in 3 weeks.

I should mention my stats: I’m 5’3, 26 years old. GW of a toned and muscular 125-128lbs/size 4.

Any advice would be much appreciate. Thanks in advance!

khadijak17

if you counting everything and are sticking to maintenance i would say that alot of that weight is water weight......i suggest staying of the scale if your going to worry and enjoy christmas its only once a year and if your not going to be able to enjoy all the good food and socialising when will you? i doubt you've put on lbs when at maintenance so go have fun

Leeann1979

I am in the same position as you. Parties galore, chocolates and treats at work. You probably haven't gained much, if any, body fat. Its most likely sodium and whatnot. I too have decided to try to maintain for the holidays. Even if the scale goes up a few pounds, it wont take long to get rid of them once you go back to healthier eating. It takes loooooottts of calories to put on fat, so I wouldnt worry. Enjoy the holidays and be healthy the rest of the year!!

acogg

Yes, it's got to be sodium. I had two straight days of high sodium and I gained two pounds. I cut back on my sodium and promptly lost them again. I expect that after eating my Christmas ham and whatnot, I will gain several pounds again.

xsmilexforxmex

given that you also started lifting heavy I'm curious if you measure yourself? Your weight may have chnaged but with the lifting it could easily be water weight and muscle...

LorinaLynn

How are you clothes fitting? If they still fit fine, don't worry about it.

When you're close to goal and especially when heavy lifting, it's best to not focus on the scale. I just finished 12 weeks of stronglifts and took a week off from lifting. I immediately dropped a pound without trying just because my muscles aren't retaining fluid.

Car0lynnM

Step away from the scale for the next week. Drink plenty of water. Have some sensible meals, and then just enjoy the holiday meals. Fill up on some veggie and fruit and other healthy options, but enjoy your favorites. This is my plan, and I'm sticking to it.

hecham

I haven't taken measurements, but yesterday my usually comfortable size 4's were getting tight around the waistband, which is alarming to me. I've only been lifting for about 3 weeks so I know the weight is not muscle gain, but more likely water to repair the muscles. Also, today my rings don't fit properly so I'm thinking at least a little of the weight is sodium related. Thanks for the responses so far- any other advice or encouragement abot how to approach the holidays is welcome, please!

trophywife24

Step away from the scale for the next week. Drink plenty of water. Have some sensible meals, and then just enjoy the holiday meals. Fill up on some veggie and fruit and other healthy options, but enjoy your favorites. This is my plan, and I'm sticking to it.

Mine too. I'm taking a logging vacation until Wednesday... chug a lug the water and just enjoy the holiday and what it has to offer..... in moderation, of course. I can have 2-3 cookies instead of 8-10, ha.

HMVOL7409

While I don't agree it could be muscle gain from just 3 weeks of lifting its more than likely water retention from not only your increase in cals, your workouts and what your eating. That's quite a jump from 1400 to 2000+ and most who do jump like that will see a spike in weight but it will come off as your body adapts. It's up to you to decided what you want to do. An excess everyday over your maintenance which could also be off will result in a gain if you do it for awhile. If your someone who can brush it off and jump right back and get it off, that's awesome. Some say they can't bc it leads them to fall off the wagon. I saw your goals but not sure where you are at now. I'd throw in another lifting day personally and just keep working.

PetulantOne

Sodium, and adding weightlifting will both make you retain some water. Don't set yourself up for failure. I would just continue like you are and cut after the holidays. All the water weight will come off and you will be back to normal, or pretty close.

nxd10

Sounds like either your maintenance goals are too high OR it's really hard to accurately estimate portion sizes and calories in holiday foods. I know it is for me, because I'm eating more unusual foods and also am eating out more.

ON THE OTHER HAND . . .

I've been losing slowly lately because I'm close to my goal. I've hit every weekly goal since I joined but have had a few days when I am over for a day by 100 or so calories. Yesterday (solstice) is the big eating holiday for our family because we always travel on Christmas and Christmas Eve. Anyway, I was 630 calories over - probably the most since I've joined - although it was mostly from a yummy rack of ribs I had for dinner.

Anyway . . . I dropped two pounds last night. And that's not unusual. On the once very few months I go way over I invariably drop a lot the next day.

Weight loss is weird.

geekyjock76

Increased water weight due to weight training.
Increased water weight due to drastic and sudden increase in calories (especially carbs).
Increase in temporary weight due to more food eaten.
Increased water weight due to possible increase in sodium.

FYI: Any increase in glycogen pulls in an increase of water into the muscle. Each gram of stored CHO attracts about 2.7 grams of water. So if you consume 225 grams of carbs (which weighs 0.5 lb), you will hold onto an extra 1.35 lbs in water weight.

The opposite happens when people go on a low-carb diet. The muscle pulls in much less water, thus they lose a tremendous amount of water weight rapidly when drastically cutting carbs.

hecham

Thank you to everyone who has responded! How much should I cut to after the holidays? I was not having success with 1400 net, but I wasn't lifting then either. Should I ditich the scale completely and just focus on lifting since I'm so close to my target weight?

cwolfman13

If you're really close to your goal weight, it's pretty hard to lose...you should probably aim for .5 Lbs per week and see what happens. That way you'll be more regulated for when you go into maintenance. I agree with others that the spike you are seeing is due to a big jump in calories, practically over night...even going to maintenance, you're supposed to increase gradually when you get to that point.

nxd10

I am also close to my goal weight and have been losing steadily but very very slowly at this point. I log everything, stick to my calorie goals (I'm still at a pound a week), and figure I will slowly continue to lose until I finally hit what I want. More importantly, I won't regain, which is even more important to me.

You might want to change to .5 lbs (or maintainence) and not worry about the scale except to confirm you aren't gaining.

Lift and watch your measurements.

And congratulations on being so close!