Maintaining, but still losing

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13

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  • sklebar
    sklebar Posts: 117 Member
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    Weight gain successful. Back up to just under 65 kg. today. So my last day of eating loads. It was getting tiring. Phew!
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member
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    I'm fighting with it too.
    I bumped my activity level up a notch, changed it to "gain 1lb a week" and still eat back my exercise calories. We'll see where that puts me next week.
  • KisaraKaiba
    KisaraKaiba Posts: 59 Member
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    I know this is an older thread, but I'm saving it since I'm now having a similar problem.
  • heypurdy
    heypurdy Posts: 196 Member
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    the same thing is actually happening to me. i've lost all the weight i want to but i keep losing and going down in pants sizes. really annoying since i have to keep buying new clothes! i'm not eating any less and i can't eat more than i am. not sure when i'll start to maintain a constant weight, but hopefully soon.
  • sklebar
    sklebar Posts: 117 Member
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    Well, I re-introduced things like bread back into my diet and also light sugary things into my diet when I have exercise days. I have been steady at 2000 calories, but still at the lower weight of 63 kg. and I just feel too skinny, so I'm ramping my calories up to 2,100 per day now, which is the maintenance calories for a 64.5 kg. woman at my age.

    I just need to eat more, so I really pack in a little more protein and all the carbs I used to avoid like bread or potatoes, but at a limit. That really stopped me from losing. I was trying that whole cheat meal thing, but it just seems stupid. Now I just have a pizza or a burger once a month with a little bit of a chocolate and that's about it. I feel ten times better eating healthy anyway.
  • Fivepts
    Fivepts Posts: 517 Member
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    Thanks guys. I ramped up my weight level to what I want it to be at 65kg. and at maintenance on slightly active. I over-ate a little on my calories last week and so far, it has now stabilised at 63 kg. I'm even eating back my exercise calories, so we will see. I think this is the calorie count for me now at 1,920 per day, 5 ft. 10 in., 36 yo female. I'll keep it at that for now. I'm not sweating it anymore and actually quite happy at this calorie count. Eating lots, eating healthier and still feel good.


    Wow. It's so complicated. Hoping to get to that point one day and saving this thread.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    This might be a dumb question, but have you readjusted your MFP settings and calorie goals to maintenance level?

    it's not a dumb question, however even if she has the number could be out by a lot. the number MFP gives me for maintenance is about 300-400 cals below the amount I actually maintain on, that's if I'm sedentary

    so OP just keep on adding more calories until you get to the point where your weight is stable. 100 cals/week is probably a good way to do it as it gives you time to see if your weight actually is stable and you're not thrown by daily fluctuations
  • ekaustin7
    ekaustin7 Posts: 185 Member
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    No need to panic. I went into maintenance 2 months ago and am only now starting to stabilize in weight. I think I lost an additional 7.5 pounds after I hit my goal weight, but that's because I increased my calories so slowly so I wouldn't experience a big gain right away. Your body will eventually find its equilibrium after being in maintenance for so long, it just takes a little time to get there.
  • CactusF1ower
    CactusF1ower Posts: 174 Member
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    Also, your lifestyle does not sound like lightly active to me.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
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    I'm 5'9, 145lbs and female, and I am maintaining on 2200 net calories. I'm trying to bulk but it isn't happening. I lift 2-3 times a week, do martial arts 2x a week, and sometimes run or bike once on the weekends. I eat all of those calories back.

    1900 calories is probably still not quite enough, but it depends what you log for exercise. I would listen to Sidesteel though. He knows what he is talking about. The 200 cal approach is a good one.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    You're adjusted TDEE depends on how much of a decrease in daily energy expenditure potential you've experienced from baseline by chronically eating sub-1400 calories to lose - I assume - 9 kg (20 lbs) in body weight. Although it's unknown what your original TDEE used to be prior to restriction, it was likely significantly greater than 2000 calories if your weight has yet to reach relative stability. Considering your experience, it's highly possible you sustained a large deficit - approximately 3-4x larger than need be - which is why you're having to spend so much time increasing calories by this wide margin.
  • Flab2Thin
    Flab2Thin Posts: 34
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    Bump. For future reference.
  • janettebishop940
    janettebishop940 Posts: 88
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    Bump.
  • cbfliz
    cbfliz Posts: 33 Member
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    I've been maintaining for around 6 months now, Thought I'd nailed it but weighed myself this morning and found I'd lost again. I log every weekday but have been giving myself weekends off for a few months now. Today I've decided to up my daily cals again and see where I end up. Really don't want to be losing any more, lower now than I ever intended to be.

    Stats:
    Female
    H: 168cms
    Age: 46
    C.W: 53.5kgs
    Ideal weight: 55kgs
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,984 Member
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    Yes, but then they say my calories should be at 1750 if I'm sedentary and 1990 if I'm lightly active. So I'm not sure, with my activity level, what I should do?

    Assuming you don't count that commuting (walking and stairs) as exercise that you log, I would think you are at least lightly activity. I selected sedentary when I started at MFP, because I have a desk job, but I have been losing a lot faster than my calculated calorie deficit would predict (for two and a half months, so not just water weight), so I recently reset it for lightly active (I also walk for part of my commute),
  • sklebar
    sklebar Posts: 117 Member
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    Yes, but then they say my calories should be at 1750 if I'm sedentary and 1990 if I'm lightly active. So I'm not sure, with my activity level, what I should do?

    Assuming you don't count that commuting (walking and stairs) as exercise that you log, I would think you are at least lightly activity. I selected sedentary when I started at MFP, because I have a desk job, but I have been losing a lot faster than my calculated calorie deficit would predict (for two and a half months, so not just water weight), so I recently reset it for lightly active (I also walk for part of my commute),

    Yeah, I tried lightly active and that's where I was losing. MFP has me on 1890 calories a day on "Lightly Active." I'm currently at 2,100 calories a day and that seemed to have stabilised the weight and will be having a cheat meal every two weeks rather than every four weeks from now. i.e. cheat meal means a burger and fries or a pizza. Other than that, I usually eat incredibly clean because I feel sick on sugary sweets or get a bad stomach from fatty foods, even with full-fat yogurt.
  • sklebar
    sklebar Posts: 117 Member
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    Just an FYI on how things are going. I haven't really had any cheat meals, except still once every four weeks, but the 2,100 calories are doing it for me. I'm steady at about 63 kg. and at least I'm steady and not losing. Once this seems to keep on working for me over the next three weeks, I'll ramp it up to gain a little weight and then go back down to a good level of calories. Plus, I feel fantastic eating so much veg. It was a slow introduction, but I just feel amazing now! I'm almost 37 and yet still feel like 25 years old!
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member
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    I put myself at "Sedentary" when I started. I had it there when I went to "Maintain" and kept losing.

    I stopped losing the weight when I changed it to "Active" and " gain 1 pound a week" Sounds kind of funny, but it works for me.
  • sklebar
    sklebar Posts: 117 Member
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    I put myself at "Sedentary" when I started. I had it there when I went to "Maintain" and kept losing.

    I stopped losing the weight when I changed it to "Active" and " gain 1 pound a week" Sounds kind of funny, but it works for me.

    Interesting. Well, I may very well have to do that. Will see how it goes. It is sort of going up and down within a pound, so at least I'm no longer losing, but we will see. I'm going to see how another two weeks goes on 2,100 calories and then weigh myself.
  • LGS1974
    LGS1974 Posts: 26
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    There is a good topic on here about TDEE and BMR - it will give you the magic number to maintain.

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