How long does the body need to adjust to a calorie increase?

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  • chuckles9189
    chuckles9189 Posts: 343 Member
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    Just thought I'd share-- I've been upping my calories since January 1st, (I'm at 1700 now) and in the last two days the scale is lowering again :)

    Stuck at 158(ish) and this morning read 155.3.
  • Rachlmale
    Rachlmale Posts: 640 Member
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    I've had this problem too... I lost 4lbs when I upped them initially but for the last 3 weeks, nothing. I was tempted on going back to but from reading this it seems persistence is key.
  • tanyar23
    tanyar23 Posts: 47 Member
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    Paying attention to this thread. I'm not doing 1200 calories forever!
  • Valera0466
    Valera0466 Posts: 319 Member
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    Bump
  • jcjsjones
    jcjsjones Posts: 571 Member
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    I switched from 1200 to 1500+ about 5-6wks ago with the implementation of a weights program. I took measurements. In that time my weight has gone up about 2kgs, but i've lost 4cm of my waist and another 4cms off my hips. I really struggled watching the weight go up but its stabilised the last week.

    Measurements will get you through it!


    You just gave me a sigh of relief... why didn't I think of this?! But definitely glad to know that I'm not the only one mentally struggling with this lol. When you say stabilized, do you mean your weight went back to what it was pre-increase?

    I am having the same issues. I started lifing about 3 weeks ago and increased my calories. I was just saying to my husband that I was getting frustrated because the scale isn't moving. I've even gained a few pounds! Glad to know I'm not alone! Will be paying attention to the responses!!
  • daniellevidal22
    daniellevidal22 Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you so much for posting about this. I've been struggling with this for the past 2 weeks.
    I started doing the Insanity program and noticed that none of my weight was coming off AT ALL and I was even gaining now. I read and read and read over what the problem was and many people were suggesting that since my caloric intake was so low, that my body was holding onto anything and everything I ate. I know my intake was really low and I don't need a lecture on how unhealthy only eating 800 cal per days is. But that is what I was eating and i was dropping weight like crazy and then began working out on top of that. So, cut to about 2 weeks ago since I still wanted to tone my body and work out -- I decided i'd go for it and I upped my intake. I've been struggling with eating more since I'm so used to eating so little and its really just making me nervous that I'm going to keep gaining instead of just losing the extra few I needed to reach my goal!!! I'm about at my wits end, but I'll stick it out another week or two and really hope that my metabolism will catch up and the pounds will start coming off again. I'm in a constant battle with the stupid scale.
  • katg73
    katg73 Posts: 77 Member
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    Just thought I'd share-- I've been upping my calories since January 1st, (I'm at 1700 now) and in the last two days the scale is lowering again :)

    Stuck at 158(ish) and this morning read 155.3.

    That's great news! I'm happy to hear that for you; I bet it feels really good after not seeing the move for a while!

    Just a lil update on how I went about this after I originally posted this: I found IPOARM, did a metabolism reset by eating at TDEE for a week, gained 5 lbs, then went down -20%, lost those 5 lbs after one week of this. This put me back to pre-increase weight. I haven't lost anything since beginning the -20%, but I also haven't gained any weight either. I'm pretty much at a stall, but rereading back to others' experiences, it seems it can take up to 6 weeks before the body adjusts, so I'm hanging on for a few more weeks! I'll be posting back on here at about that time and hope to hear from the rest of you around then too!

    We'll have to be friends on here so we can keep each other posted! Hope we're all doing great and persevering!
  • chuckles9189
    chuckles9189 Posts: 343 Member
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    please do post back! I just upped my cals again since starting p90x. bagh. no change. but I also started a new program blah blah. I'm getting anxious because my next goal is soooo close and my treat is a bag that I REALLY want and have for a while now.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    It really depends on how steep the 1200 calorie intake was from your actual TDEE as well as duration of restriction. A shorter duration/smaller deficit will require a very short amount of time. Just realize the amount of water weight you were holding during restriction is generally less than what you hold during maintenance. Thus, most of the initial weight gain comes from water until your weight stabilizes.

    I was going to say the same thing. There are people that get into the low calorie spiral for a very long time and it may take just as much time to get back to normal as it did to cause the problem. A slow increase and the resolve to keep it up despite seeing some weight is probably the best course. Some people see the weight gain and panic but the majority is just water and the rest will come off once your body restores normal functions.
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
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    Just a lil update on how I went about this after I originally posted this: I found IPOARM, did a metabolism reset by eating at TDEE for a week, gained 5 lbs, then went down -20%, lost those 5 lbs after one week of this. This put me back to pre-increase weight. I haven't lost anything since beginning the -20%, but I also haven't gained any weight either. I'm pretty much at a stall, but rereading back to others' experiences, it seems it can take up to 6 weeks before the body adjusts, so I'm hanging on for a few more weeks! I'll be posting back on here at about that time and hope to hear from the rest of you around then too!

    We'll have to be friends on here so we can keep each other posted! Hope we're all doing great and persevering!

    Sounds like you are off to a great start! Hang on for a bit longer and you'll see the scale drop again. Let us know how it goes!
  • Mom0819
    Mom0819 Posts: 82 Member
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    bump
  • TallGlassOfQuirky
    TallGlassOfQuirky Posts: 282 Member
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    1) YAYYYYYYYY for eating more than 1200 calories!
    2) Bodies are weird. Some people have no problem with a sudden increase or decrease, but most do better to gradually adjust their intake (by around 100 each week or so).
    3) Did I mention YAYYYYYYYYY for eating more? :)
  • MariaChele85
    MariaChele85 Posts: 267 Member
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    I followed IPORM and I gained about 10lbs over 4 weeks. Then my body started to slowly adjust and I started to drop again. Don't get discouraged. It's part of the process. I do heavy weight lifting and there is no way 1200 cal is enough.
  • cindybpitts
    cindybpitts Posts: 213 Member
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    I've just started upping my calories too!!I'll keep a close eye on this thread!!
    Me too!
  • nomorechub68
    nomorechub68 Posts: 42
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    I can assure you that if I did not find these posts I would have probably been very very discouraged. I too was a member of the 1200 club for a long while. I lost over 50 lb since Aug 2012, but stalled out...OMG, I have been stalled for WEEKS. I have recalculated my BMR and TDEE and I should be at about 1700 so I increased or I am doing my BEST to eat that for the past 1.5 weeks or so. I also adjusted my macros (higher protein)...wow, that is really hard. I am finding that the only way I will be able to get 40% protein in each day is to do protein shakes. I am not a weight lifter...although I would love to....I am just a walker...yawn...boring, I know. I am SOOOOOO afraid to get on the scale.... I have 20ish to go....
    At any rate, thank you for all of your valuable input! I really needed it!
  • claireD82
    claireD82 Posts: 1
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    Thanks for this information, I only started in January and lost a lot of lbs in the 1st few weeks. I got dropped down to 1200 very quickly and weighing 114 kg I knew it wasn't enough as now I've not lost for around 3 weeks (although I've been no Angel food wise recently). Over the next few weeks I'm going to gradually up my calories. I've started today with 1410 and I'm going to try and increase weekly.
  • MrsTheunissen
    MrsTheunissen Posts: 44 Member
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    Hi all,

    For about 4 months I was on MFP's "suggested" 1200 calorie limit, and while I have lost a pretty good amount of weight, I started to notice my body needed more coz of all the lifting/working out I do (Cardio/lift 5-6x a week). That, plus a bunch of research have led me to do a calorie increase. I am now really wishing I never followed the 1200 limit as I feel like my body is taking longer to adjust to the increase. What I mean by this is that I've gained a couple lbs back. It's probably the muscle increase mostly, but I figured I'd ask here to make sure I'm understanding it correctly.

    Okay, in all honesty it's been about 2 weeks since the calorie increase, I just really want to know if it's still normal. At this point, it's more about dropping my body fat percentage and increasing muscle mass. Thanks to my awesome scale, I do know that my muscle mass is coming up.

    Any shared experiences are greatly appreciated :).

    I am in the same situation. I have for 2 weeks done TDEE-20% and cant say that I have seen or felt any change. I know it can take some time but my mind is doubting me :(
  • blably
    blably Posts: 490 Member
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    i srte dto ''eat more'' in the beg. of feb....i only lost 1kg, but lost almost 10 cm in my tights...crazy huh?


    but yea the scales arent good for motivation, get that measurment tape out, youll see results, i promise!
  • hilldiggity
    hilldiggity Posts: 166 Member
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    I'm following this plan for how many calories to eat:

    For fat loss, you want to aim for a range of daily calories that is calculated based on your bodyweight (in pounds) as well as other factors.

    To lose fat: 8 to 12 times bodyweight
    To stay the same, neither losing nor gaining (also known as maintenance): 13 to 16 times bodyweight
    To gain mass: 15 to 20 times bodyweight
    You will notice that these are fairly broad ranges. This is because the precise intake will depend on other factors besides your general goals.

    Aim for the LOWER end of the range if you are:

    female
    older
    less active
    starting out at a fairly high level of bodyfat
    Aim for the HIGHER end of the range if you are:

    male
    younger
    more active
    starting out at a lower level of bodyfat (e.g. only a few pounds of fat to lose, or trying to get from “normal” to “lean”)
    For example, let’s say we have a 150 lb. woman who is in her 20s, fairly healthy and active, and who just wants to lose a few pounds of bodyfat. Her intake might ideally be somewhere between 10 and 12 times her bodyweight.

    10 x 150 = 1500
    12 x 150 = 1800

    So, that means her daily intake of calories should be between 1500 and 1800 calories per day. Don’t forget to adjust intake downwards as your bodyweight drops. For most active women, probably somewhere between 9 to 11 times bodyweight to lose fat is about right. But feel free to tweak things up or down a little as you require.

    (more... http://www.stumptuous.com/part-2-learning-the-basics ...)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Think about how long it took you to stall....that's a metabolic adjustment...you can't expect your body to re-adjust in a couple of weeks. Generally 4-6 weeks for metabolic adjustment.

    Also keep in mind that with an increase in calories, your weight loss will be slower (which a lot of people get really pissed about) but it should be more consistent.

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