Need advice on how to maintain my weight.

purple4sure05

I recently lost 25 pounds and am still losing. However, I would like to curb my weight loss and instead maintain my weight. I know there have been threads about this on numerous occasions, but for me personally, I could really use some specific suggestions. My caloric intake right now is pretty low. About 900 to 1000 per day plus a multivitamin. My doctor knows about my eating habits and verified that it wasn't causing any damage to my body and was much healthier for me than my previous nutrient-deficient eating habits. I've been losing about a pound and a half to two pounds per week.

If there's one thing I can say, it's that I still crave junk foods a lot, so I'm eager to start adding cheat meals back into my diet, since I've had only one in the past four months. Would you suggest adding 200-300 calories daily and then a cheat meal once a week? Or is there something else you might suggest? I'm nervous about gaining weight back after working so hard, as most people are, and I don't want to make any mistakes that will leave me disappointed.

I'm open to all your suggestions, as I really don't know anything about this subject. Thanks a ton for your input If it makes a difference, i'm 5'6" and 117 pounds.

ryry_

If you have a sedentary job but workout like 3 times a week, increase calories by 100 every week until you get to around 1900 calories daily...Eat that everyday and adjust as needed.

ETA: You need to add a description of yourself and maybe a photo, or else people are weary that you are trolling. Your two posts might indicate that I took the bait

purple4sure05

ETA: You need to add a description of yourself and maybe a photo, or else people are weary that you are trolling. Your two posts might indicate that I took the bait

What do you mean? I gave a description of myself, and I don't see how this post indicated that I am trolling at all. I just was looking for advice on how to up my calories and maintain without gaining... Thank you for your suggestion, though. I may try that.

michellekicks

If you're losing 1 1/2-2 lbs/week your deficit should be about 750-1000 calories/day or 5250-7000/week. You need to add those to your week to maintain. So, if you want a cheat meal once a week, estimate 2000 calories for that, so that leaves you about 3250-5000 to eat over the rest of the week. So up each day by 500-600 calories and have 1 cheat meal each week. That should do it.

Keep in mind, when you're in a deficit, your muscles are usually in a state of glycogen depletion. As you eat closer to maintenance, that storage system will fill back up to the tune of maybe 3-4 lbs. So if you increase calories slowly you probably won't notice it (i.e. you'll lose more fat/muscle as you gain glycogen/water), but if you add those calories in all at once you'll probably see the gain and sit at more like 120.

purple4sure05

Thanks! Thats a good thing to keep in mind. Probably would have worried me otherwise.

broscientist

At this point you should go by measurements. Just measure your waistline and monitor that instead of going strictly by the scale.

Like mrsbigmack said, you are probably in a state of glycogen depletion so you WILL gain weight (It's basically added water in the muscle).


Adding 100 calories a week is also very sound advice. (aka reverse dieting).

yrollam1013

Eating that little will cause to crave food and even leads to binging. I would at increase your intake to at least your BMR.

purple4sure05

Is about 3 pounds a good amount to expect because of the glycogen depletion?

Also, I do keep hearing the argument that eating low-calorie leads to binge eating, but I've been doing the same thing for over four months and I have yet to have any instances of binge eating whatsoever, or any close calls. Since my doctor said I was okay at about 1000 calories per day, I think I'm alright.

broscientist

Is about 3 pounds a good amount to expect because of the glycogen depletion?

Also, I do keep hearing the argument that eating low-calorie leads to binge eating, but I've been doing the same thing for over four months and I have yet to have any instances of binge eating whatsoever, or any close calls. Since my doctor said I was okay at about 1000 calories per day, I think I'm alright.

It's probably closer to 5 lbs if I had to guess. Depending on how "Carb" depleted your muscle are. Just being on a very low calorie diet in general will indicate that you are probably very depleted.

For me, I gain around 8 lbs on a carb refeed after going on a carb restriction diet. But, I am a male and fairly muscular.


The way carb depletion/replenishment works is that for every gram of carbohydrate in your muscle, your body will attach 2-3 grams of water. This is why when you go on a low carbs diet, you lose a lot of weight in the beginning stages (It's mostly water weight). The same thing happens when you reintroduce more carbs into your diet.


I always "look" better after a carb refeed even though I've gained weight. That's why taking measurement is probably more important. The "mirror" test is probably even better, I think you will see your muscle get "fuller" with your waistline staying the same (or just a tiny increase).

purple4sure05

I always "look" better after a carb refeed even though I've gained weight. That's why taking measurement is probably more important. The "mirror" test is probably even better, I think you will see your muscle get "fuller" with your waistline staying the same (or just a tiny increase).

Thanks for this! I'll definitely be sure to take my measurements before I start adding calories.