Calorie deficient but gaining?

NeuroticPixie

Quick backstory
I used to be 200 pounds, dropped down to 120 but put on 15 pounds again. Now I'm trying to get rid get back down to 120 or 115 but the scale keeps fighting with me and I don't know what to do. I exercise and drink lots of water/green tea, no soda and am Vegetarian. ( I have digestive issues with meat and dairy)

Ok so! Logically I know it doesn't make sense but it never seems to fail that if I eat over 1000 calories I will weight more the next day. Even if I just barely go over that. What gives?

decreasing_me

You answered your own question. You are calorie deficient.

lauren3101

The weight you are losing when you eat under 1000 calories a day is just water weight. If you've been undereating to that extent for a while, you will gain when you go over this.

Basically, you are eating at too high a deficit. It's impossible to help you with what you should be eating as we will need some stats. Height, activity level, age, etc.

NeuroticPixie

Well to my understanding you have to be to lose weight? "To lose 1 lb. of weight, you need to create an energy deficit of 3500 calories"

goodtimezzzz

ez...up your calories and move your ****ing *kitten*

goodtimezzzz

really:) When I consistently raise my calories week by week and include alot of activity..the body adapts to this and your weight comes off!

bekindi

I suggest you look at this thread/group.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

NeuroticPixie

The weight you are losing when you eat under 1000 calories a day is just water weight. If you've been undereating to that extent for a while, you will gain when you go over this.

Basically, you are eating at too high a deficit. It's impossible to help you with what you should be eating as we will need some stats. Height, activity level, age, etc.

5'1",
moderate maybe? I exercise at least three times a week which normally consists of running 2 miles and some basic strength toning stuff like crunches, push ups etc.
and I'm 21

auddii

I suggest you look at this thread/group.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Second this. You only are trying to lose about 15lbs you should be aiming for half a pound a week for loss. It's not a race, and as you've found, losing quickly is not sustainable.

thisismeraw

Why are you weighing yourself everyday?

If you are at a deficit you will not be gaining fat. If you have consistently been eating under 1000 calories a day of course you're going to gain weight when you eat more than that. Your body isn't used to it and so you will gain water weight.

Eating so little will only result in your losses being muscle and water with very little fat.

lauren3101

The weight you are losing when you eat under 1000 calories a day is just water weight. If you've been undereating to that extent for a while, you will gain when you go over this.

Basically, you are eating at too high a deficit. It's impossible to help you with what you should be eating as we will need some stats. Height, activity level, age, etc.

5'1",
moderate maybe? I exercise at least three times a week which normally consists of running 2 miles and some basic strength toning stuff like crunches, push ups etc.
and I'm 21

Personally, I would put you more lightly active than moderate, depending on what your day job is like. Strength training doesn;t burn many calories in comparison to cardio. I'll give you the stats for both, though:

Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) - 1966
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) - 2217

Those figures are a rough estimation of your TDEE. To lose 1lb a week, you need to cut 20% from that figure, so even if you go with the lower number, you need to be eating around 1572 cals a day.

I would suggest upping to that slowly (an extra 100 cals a day for a week, say, then 200 a day, etc) and be prepared for an initial gain. If you've been undereating for a while it can take your body some time to get used to eating normally again, and it's very normal to gain. But it will come off, and it will be worth it.

Try that for around 3 months and see how you go.

NeuroticPixie

Ok so the general consensus seems to be to start eating more and up my activity? Admittedly that seems kind of daunting (eating more not the activity. I love my workouts) but obviously I want my end results to be long lasting and what worked for the first 70 pounds is clearly not working now

Shionstewart

that was mean lol @goodtimzzzz

lauren3101

Ok so the general consensus seems to be to start eating more and up my activity? Admittedly that seems kind of daunting (eating more not the activity. I love my workouts) but obviously I want my end results to be long lasting and what worked for the first 70 pounds is clearly not working now

It's because you have less to lose. It's much easier to lose when you have a lot to go, and you can eat at a larger deficit and still lose weight. With only 15lb max to go, you need to cut that deficit to 10 or 20%, so 1/2 or 1lb a week. It also helps when maintaining. If you learn how to do it the right way, you can keep it off for life.

NeuroticPixie

that was mean lol

What was mean?

jmejiaa

Ok so the general consensus seems to be to start eating more and up my activity? Admittedly that seems kind of daunting (eating more not the activity. I love my workouts) but obviously I want my end results to be long lasting and what worked for the first 70 pounds is clearly not working now

1k calories sounds low, but if you are female and small I don't think it's THAT low. Here's a couple of things that come to my head.

1. Your body has changed with the weight loss, you now need less calories than before. You need to re-adjust based on that. This could explained why this worked before and not now.
2. If you weigh yourself daily, track a 7 day average. Daily weight fluctuations can be attributed to water or a big poop you just took.
3. The changes can be because when you are eating under 1k, you may have low water retention. If you eat anything outside of your normal diet chances are it'll be packed of sodium/carbs if it's from a restaurant and that will make you gain water weight.

IMO, if the 1k is too low I wouldn't do it too long. Especially once you are close to your weight goal. Find your TDEE and take 500-700 calories per day, weigh yourself daily ALWAYS at the same time but track the average.

As for TDEE I'd suggest setting it to sedentary and adjusting as needed. Or multiplying your total body weight by 12, that should give you a decent starting point. I work out 4 times a week, run/take my dog out for long walks and do yard work all weekend and my TDEE multiplier is barely lightly active.

NeuroticPixie

Ok so the general consensus seems to be to start eating more and up my activity? Admittedly that seems kind of daunting (eating more not the activity. I love my workouts) but obviously I want my end results to be long lasting and what worked for the first 70 pounds is clearly not working now

It's because you have less to lose. It's much easier to lose when you have a lot to go, and you can eat at a larger deficit and still lose weight. With only 15lb max to go, you need to cut that deficit to 10 or 20%, so 1/2 or 1lb a week. It also helps when maintaining. If you learn how to do it the right way, you can keep it off for life.

Yeah I remember when I first started losing it came off like crazy and now progess is so slow but your right, when you get lower in weight it gets harder and harder
I'm going to try uping my intake slowly and see how it goes from there. I had been avoiding that like the plague because I was scared of gaining weight back and thought maybe the answer was to just eat less but I don't want to screw up my metabolic rate and have to eat this way for the rest of my life.

GODfidence

1,000 calories a day is a good way to lose muscle and end up fatter.
Don't do it.

lauren3101

Ok so the general consensus seems to be to start eating more and up my activity? Admittedly that seems kind of daunting (eating more not the activity. I love my workouts) but obviously I want my end results to be long lasting and what worked for the first 70 pounds is clearly not working now

It's because you have less to lose. It's much easier to lose when you have a lot to go, and you can eat at a larger deficit and still lose weight. With only 15lb max to go, you need to cut that deficit to 10 or 20%, so 1/2 or 1lb a week. It also helps when maintaining. If you learn how to do it the right way, you can keep it off for life.

Yeah I remember when I first started losing it came off like crazy and now progess is so slow but your right, when you get lower in weight it gets harder and harder
I'm going to try uping my intake slowly and see how it goes from there. I had been avoiding that like the plague because I was scared of gaining weight back and thought maybe the answer was to just eat less but I don't want to screw up my metabolic rate and have to eat this way for the rest of my life.

I'm pleased to hear you are going to do it the right way - and don't be scared of the gain, it will happen, but it's not forever.

And yes, I have seen many people on here and people i know in 'real life' as it were, constantly stuck on the 1000 - 1200 calories they have been eating because they've been doing it so long, anything over that makes them gain weight and they are too scared to up their calories. It's not a nice way to live.

Good luck and feel free to message me if you need any help.

victoriannsays

when you eat below your TDEE for long period of time it can change your metabolism & make it slower. According to countless TDEE calculators mine should be in the 2300 area, but because I ate a deficit for a long period of time - its actually around 2,000.

Also - eating at a 1000 calories isn't a sustainable choice for weight loss. Calculating a certain # you believe to be your TDEE and eating below it isn't the end all be all of weight loss. It's something you have to experiment with.

Take averages of your daily intake & weight loss over a span of 4 weeks & see what the numbers say you to.

And remember - once you've become thinner, the weight does not come off as fast. .25 - .5 lbs a week if sufficient. Be patient.

andreabrabham

really:) When I consistently raise my calories week by week and include alot of activity..the body adapts to this and your weight comes off!

Great advice, that helps me

CM9178

Well to my understanding you have to be to lose weight? "To lose 1 lb. of weight, you need to create an energy deficit of 3500 calories"

Yes, but that deficit is based on how many calories you burn in a day. Everybody burns a different amount.
Plus, you have less to lose, so 1 lb of weight per week is probably way too much at this point.

neandermagnon

Quick backstory
I used to be 200 pounds, dropped down to 120 but put on 15 pounds again. Now I'm trying to get rid get back down to 120 or 115 but the scale keeps fighting with me and I don't know what to do. I exercise and drink lots of water/green tea, no soda and am Vegetarian. ( I have digestive issues with meat and dairy)

Ok so! Logically I know it doesn't make sense but it never seems to fail that if I eat over 1000 calories I will weight more the next day. Even if I just barely go over that. What gives?

the gain is not fat, it's water and glycogen. When you undereat, your body uses up glycogen, which is a carbohydrate that the body can store in the liver and muscles. It's stored along with water, so when you lose glycogen, you lose water too. When you start eating a normal amount of calories again, your body starts storing glycogen again, along with water. YOu can see a big jump in scale weight, just from water and glycogen, like 7lb or even more.

That's what gives.

You need to overeat by 3500 cals to put on 1lb of fat in one day. That means 3500 cals over and above all the calories you burn off, so if you're burning off 1800 cals/day, you'd need to eat 5300 calories in one day to put on just one pound of fat overnight... and that's assuming that your body doesn't use any of the surplus to replace glycogen stores, which it very likely will.

SO I can promise you if you're eating over 1000 calories and putting weight on overnight, it's water weight. So please don't stress about it. Many people get stuck in this rut, thinking that they can't eat above a particular number of calories, which is very low, without gaining weight... it's not fat that's being gained, it's water.

After undereating you will see gains on the scale for a short time when you start eating properly again... what you need to do is carry on eating more until your weight settles down, i.e. your body's replenished all your glycogen stores, then you will start to lose weight again, if you're eating less than you burn off.

The "in place of a road map" thread explains how to calculate how many calories you need to eat to feed your body enough, yet still less than what you burn off, so that you can lose fat slowly, steadily and sustainably. You need to stick it out through the initial water weight gains though, and give your body a chance to replenish all the glycogen and get back to a point where you will start losing weight again, and this time it should be just fat that you're losing.

NeuroticPixie

ok so based off all the calculator links and such it seems I should be eating around 1500 a day so like I said before, I'll start slowly uping my intake.

pinkgurl87

Ya so true, I used to be anorexic and ate less then 1000 calories a day and now I have gained so much weight since then like more then doubled in size, I was way skinner before I started dieting then I am now, eating under 1000 calories isn't worth it

LivingtheLeanDream

bumpity bump for later reading

stephaniethomas80

I had a similar problem too. Mfp sets calories ridiculously low. I had to change my goal to .5 lb a week and eat back every single exercise calorie to get out of a plateau once my weight reached 120's. It takes time but its very worth it

TavistockToad

I had a similar problem too. Mfp sets calories ridiculously low. I had to change my goal to .5 lb a week and eat back every single exercise calorie to get out of a plateau once my weight reached 120's. It takes time but its very worth it

you can always set your calorie goal manually?

CM9178

I had a similar problem too. Mfp sets calories ridiculously low. I had to change my goal to .5 lb a week and eat back every single exercise calorie to get out of a plateau once my weight reached 120's. It takes time but its very worth it

Yup, if you tell MFP that you want to lose 2 lbs per week, it will set you a goal as low as 1200, no matter who you are or what your stats are. It won't go any lower than 1200 but for the majority of people, 1200 is way too low, and 2lbs per week is probably too much too fast.
I lost 40 lbs in a year using the MFP too low goal and then stalled for 3 months.
Now I'm using the correct deficit - 17%, and I'll be losing slower, but it is worth it in the end to do it the right way. It will take me over a year to lose the remaining 40 lbs but I don't care.

BonaFideUK

Eating under 1000 calories is a terrible idea. You will just lose muscle and water weight. When you then eat over it your body will be shocked and will probably store everything as fat. You need to eat a realistic number of calories (like 300-500 under maintenance) and exercise to lose fat.