I upped my calorie intake & gained weight

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  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    I'm 19, currently 63.3kg (139.6lbs), and 5"7. I'm not sure about my bf%, sorry. I started my weight loss not really knowing much, I knew 1200 is the cutoff so I started off there, Sometimes I'd get to 1300 if I was hungry that day. Doing more research I found out there's your BMR, and mine is around 1500-1600 I think? It depended on the calculator. I was really trying to be more healthy and I've lost a bit of weight before and gained it back, probably because I wasn't doing it the healthy way.

    Right now I'm eating 1400 calories, maybe 1500 sometimes.

    Your bmr right now is about 1488 cal/day using Harris Benedict. If you use a sedentary activity factor, you are at 1786 cal/day to maintain your weight. I still don't think you really gained fat - I think it is more likely water weight and your body adjusting.

    However, I am also not really convinced you weren't eating enough before. Its all relative and highly dependent on how good you are at estimating your food, exercise, and logging it all. If you felt fine at 1200 calories and weren't feeling like you needed more food or energy, the weight loss you were experiencing during this time was actually a pretty healthy rate for your size. It could be that you were limiting yourself to 1200 calories, but actually eating more due to estimation. That is why all these numbers are just estimates to get you started, but you have to listen to your body, look at the results, and tweak them for you.

    At this point, though, you might give it some more time and see how it goes. You aren't gaining fat unless you are just wildly off on your calories.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    I agree with Gaucho. The fact that you're 139lbs at 5'7" means you aren't overweight by any calculation, and if you really want to lose FAT, you should be thinking in terms of body fat% and not just weight on a scale.

    I don't think I would jump to the conclusion that 1200 was "too low" for you. Are you doing a lot of heavy weightlifting? Bear in mind that the people who significantly up their calories for weight loss are the ones who are following a heavy lifting regime.

    1200 is also an "easy" number for people to follow so that they don't have to risk the often difficult process of experimentation. When you're not overweight, changing your body composition is more complicated, and it does take some patience and experimenting. That said, 1400-1500 calories a day will not add weight, in the form of fat, to your body. It just won't. Any weight you have gained is a water retention in response to a change you've made.

    I really do think that since you're a healthy weight now, but you want to lose fat, you should be looking at body fat%. You will probably get the best results with strength training and attention to your macronutrient ratios, rather than calorie restriction and scale-watching.

    Fat loss is no longer "weight loss" for you. Losing weight is a completely different game when you're not overweight.
  • flynnfinn
    flynnfinn Posts: 209 Member
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    I really do think that since you're a healthy weight now, but you want to lose fat, you should be looking at body fat%. You will probably get the best results with strength training and attention to your macronutrient ratios, rather than calorie restriction and scale-watching.

    Fat loss is no longer "weight loss" for you. Losing weight is a completely different game when you're not overweight.

    wow! THIS^^ is just genious! i am in a similar position where nothing seems to be working for me. i've upped my cals, i've lowered my cals, i've reduced my cardio, i'm strength training 2x a week. it's really frustrating because i'm already at a very healthy weight at 5'6"/127lbs. i really want to get down to 120lbs but that's not as important as trimming myself up. rather than losing weight, i'd prefer to tighten things up with the end result a more compacted/leaner version of myself. i'm already at 20% body fat so my goal right now is to get that down to 18%.

    i guess it's time to ignore the scale and start looking at the bigger picture!
  • IveLanded
    IveLanded Posts: 797 Member
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    If you're losing on 1200 cal a day, then stick with it. At a certain point your body will tell you that you need to raise your calories, but if it's working, keep at it. You gained cause you raised your calories. Pretty simple.
  • missworld95
    missworld95 Posts: 131 Member
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    I guess I can just start over. Thanks for the help everyone, I really appreciate it. I understand much more now.
  • nfgchick79
    nfgchick79 Posts: 89 Member
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    Your BMR is around 1400? You shouldn't eat below your BMR. I'm not sure why people are telling you to do that. You should calculate your TDEE and BMR and eat somewhere between those two numbers. I don't have a link to it right now but the "In Place of a Road Map" thread on MFP is a good place to start. Also I second the strength training since you aren't overweight (although I believe everyone should do strength training anyway because it's great for you).
  • kjw1031
    kjw1031 Posts: 300 Member
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    I gained it back in about 3 weeks.

    Be patient. I did the same thing, I gained for about three weeks, and then it literally FELL off, plus more. Hang in there!

    Same here and it's still falling off. I lost 1.8 pounds this week eating an average of about 1500 calories a day. This is much more liveable for me than 1200.

    I'm losing every week now, so this is not a normal fluctuation for me after increasing my daily calorie intake, as someone else posted.

    And I'm 50 years old with a lower BMR than the OP!

    .
  • Kikilicious84
    Kikilicious84 Posts: 312
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    People mistakenly give this advice of eating up because they thought they lost weight when they ate more, but it was really just normal fluctuations. The bottom line is that if you have extra fat to lose and the TREND is not down on the scale then you need to eat less. Ignore exercise calories because they are over estimated. Most people underestimate calories so give it 10% less in the total. Also packaging will underestimate because legally they can put more not less so they will error on the more side. I learned this all from a book I describe below, written by someone with multiple PHD's and knows his stuff and I've had a chance to talk with the author.

    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale though: water retention, digestion, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose weight when they eat more because of these fluctuations.

    If you have a lot of body fat reserves you would be surprised at how little you can eat (unless you have emotional eating issues or disorders). The leaner you get the less your body has to draw from and then you have to taper up your calories. There is no such thing as starvation mode for women over 12% body fat or men over 6% body fat. I am a living breathing example of that. I went from obese to now under 12% BF and I've maintained for one year and built muscle the whole time. You don't BUILD muscle in starvation mode, so I proved everyone wrong.

    So did all these ladies ---> http://www.venusindex.com/transformation-contest/
    It costs nothing to read and listen to their interviews and it’s fun because they are real like you and I.

    If you want to learn the real truth invest in this. I gain nothing by it, but I am passionate about other people finding the same success I did and learning all the myths floating about in the diet industry that is designed to keep getting your money over and over.
    --- > http://www.anythinggoesdiet.com/no-diet-rules-allowed.php
    (This is NOT about eating junk food! It's about learning to eat for you own lifestyle, vegan, organic, whatever)

    My story here --> http://www.venusindex.com/roberta-saums-venus-index-transformation/

    Oh yeah and you can do this WITHOUT a personal trainer or coaching. Read the book, it explains the answers, done. Then just do it. Of course the superior designed workout helps as well.

    Awesome link and transformation stories. Reminds me of the Body For Life stuff.
  • Tuukkadog
    Tuukkadog Posts: 2 Member
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    My weight has been sitting the same for the past two months. I have started exercising more and eating better and nothing is happening. I cut my calories down to 1400 and stayed the same for 3 weeks. After, i figured that for how active I am I was maybe not eating enough. I upped my cals to 1800 and gained a lb- no problem ,,,three more weeks went by and still no weight drop! Last week I dropped down to 1725 cals and once again I have gained a lb. I know I am eating a lot of calories for a 31 yr old female but no matter what I do I can't seem to lose. Is it at all possible that I am still not eating enough? I am 179 lbs and I walk my dogs for about 2 hrs a day and I do cross fit 3 times a week for an hr each time. My job can be a lot of desk work or it can be quite active... any advice would be great.
    I am so lost at this point - am I eating too much or too little!!??? I can't exercise any more than I do and I seem to do more exercising than most people I know...I just want some pay off for all the work I am putting in. My BMR is 2462 and my TDEE is around 1300.
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
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    I gained it back in about 3 weeks.

    3 kg gained in 3 weeks? (For us Americans, 6.61 lbs gained in 3 weeks?)

    I don't buy that it was a fat gain.

    That would mean you are eating 7700 calories/week ABOVE your TDEE. Considering that you lost 4 kg in 4 months, you were on a deficit of about 276 calories per day (1929 cal/week). So, for you to have actually gained 3 kg in 3 weeks, you would have had to eat an extra 1376 calories/day (9629cal/wk). I don't believe you did that.

    This man speaks the truth.

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