Calorie deficient but gaining?

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  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,265 Member
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    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
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    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
    NeuroticPixie Posts: 7
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    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
    pinkgurl87 Posts: 25
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    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
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    bumpity bump for later reading :)
  • stephaniethomas80
    stephaniethomas80 Posts: 190 Member
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    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
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    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
    CM9178 Posts: 1,265 Member
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    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
    BonaFideUK Posts: 313 Member
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    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.

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