Gaining eating maintenance calories

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joanne2208
joanne2208 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, please help!
For the last 2-3 years I was eating 1200 calories and on some days fasting. I weighed 60kg.
I was given advice to eat more so I did the calculators which said I should eat around 1600 calories to lose, 2200 to maintain. I've been eating around 1600-1800 calories for 5 weeks now, and I have gained 5kg!

Should I cut my calories lower? My clothes don't seem tighter but I can notice I have put on weight when I look in the mirror.
Any help would be appreciated!!
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Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    How do you know you are being accurate in your intake? do you use a food scale? You should weigh whatever you can weigh and measure everything else...obviously there are going to be times when you can't but most of the time you should be doing this. Calorie counting requires precision. You're probably eating more than you think you are.

    If you are being totally accurate then those aren't your maintenance calories. these calculators are a starting point...they aren't gospel. Nobody has a TDEE of exactly XXXX calories. They offer up numbers based on statistical averages of individuals of your similar stats and that's all...it's up to you to use your brains and make adjustments as per real world results.
  • tonynguyen75
    tonynguyen75 Posts: 418 Member
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    You're eating at a surplus if you are gaining that much weight and sustaining it.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    it sounds like because you went from eating 1200/maybe less to upping it drastically, you will initally gain. i have that same problem in recovery from an eating disorder, i gain wait eating over 1000 calories which most people would lose on but my metabolism is all out of whack.

    maybe try upping your cals a hundred every week or two until you hit your maintenance goal and your body should equal out and adjust. also your initial gain once your body is used to it will prolly even lose that weight and balance out. good luck!
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
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    Hi, please help!
    For the last 2-3 years I was eating 1200 calories and on some days fasting. I weighed 60kg.
    I was given advice to eat more so I did the calculators which said I should eat around 1600 calories to lose, 2200 to maintain. I've been eating around 1600-1800 calories for 5 weeks now, and I have gained 5kg!

    Should I cut my calories lower? My clothes don't seem tighter but I can notice I have put on weight when I look in the mirror.
    Any help would be appreciated!!

    Have you lost weight for the last 2-3 years?

    Are you logging correctly (weighing everything and only measuring the liquids)?

    Whilst starvation mode does not exist, if you chronically restrict without reefed periods your metabolism adapts somewhat, so it could quite well be that you require less then an average person of your height and weight. You could get your BMR tested or experiment with your calorie levels to see what works for you now.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Your metabolism is probably permanently lowered below what it's potential could be at your current size, so I'd give up on trying to raise it by just eating more.

    Just strength train so you have more muscle mass that needs more fuel if you just are tired of eating so little.

    But the only way to eat more is to increase daily activity in general. Only way out of it.
  • DanIsACyclingFool
    DanIsACyclingFool Posts: 417 Member
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    You're eating at a surplus if you are gaining that much weight and sustaining it.

    That.

    You've been at a low level for a long time. There is some amount of metabolic adaptation as a result. Were you losing or maintaining at 1200? Adding 500 cals a day = about a pound a week difference from what you were at before.

    There will be some weight gain in water/glycogen etc when you go from a low level to a higher one. If you continue to gain weight it's simply too many calories. Either don't add quite so many all at once or eat at your new level and raise your activity level a bit.

    This is one of the problems with sustained long-term 1200 calorie a day eating, eventually you either go to a higher level and have to wait for your metabolism to catch up or stay at 1200 forever.
  • Vivian06703188
    Vivian06703188 Posts: 310 Member
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    When you set up MFP how did you set it up? If you set it for anything other than sedentary and log your exercise. Go back out and change it to sedentary. When you do this it will reduce your calories. The if you exercise log that daily and it will increase your calorie amount. Follow this new plan for two weeks and see if you lose weight.
  • Mr_Excitement
    Mr_Excitement Posts: 833 Member
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    It sounds like you need to cut your calories back a bit. Whether you're measuring absolutely accurately right now or not, the amount of food you've had was a bit too much for maintenance.

    Having said that, I doubt that all the weight you gained is fat. If I eat at a deficit for awhile, and then switch over to some small surplus, like say, 200 calories... I'll be about five pounds heavier in a week. It's not fat-- I'm not eating nearly enough to gain that much fat. I've been told it's water, glycogen, etc... just your body sort of getting back to normal.

    But that wouldn't account for 10+ pounds, I wouldn't think. Sounds like you need to eat a bit less.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    but like others have said make sure you are eating what you think you are eating, also, 2200 may be a lot to maintain and maybe you only need 2000. try playing around untl you find a happy medium
  • joanne2208
    joanne2208 Posts: 5
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    Thanks for the advice everyone- I do exercise daily, including weight training. I've maintained weight on 1200 calories for years. Eating 1500-1800 daily is supposedly meant to be below my maintenence and should be for weight loss.
    I am sure I am counting my calories correctly- I use the log daily.
    To maintain the calculators say 2000-2200, I don't go near this amount.
    Again, thanks for any help I really appreciate the advice everyone has shared.
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
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    If you have only maintained on 1200 calories for years, why do you think you can add more? You've probably slowed your metabolism with years of not eating enough.
  • joanne2208
    joanne2208 Posts: 5
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    Figure by eating more I would speed up my metabolism seeing as I'm quite active. Have more energy eating more too
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Joanne,

    Something is not right. At 1,200 you have been eating below your BMR. Unless you are pretty short, it does not make sense that you would maintain on something below your BMR.

    I have been losing weight steadily, and I have been eating between 1,700 and 2,000 calories per day for weeks and weeks. I also exercise daily- weight lifting and running three days a week, elliptical and stationary bile on alternating days. In fact, I had to change my activity setting form lightly active to active because I was losing weight too fast on the alloted calories plus exercise calories. To be more specific, I had set my weight loss to .5 pounds per week and the last few weeks I've lost a pound and a half per week. I'm so close to maintenance that I need to lose the last few pounds slowly.

    Have you been to the doctor for a checkup? Maybe you need to have your thyroid checked.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    Thanks for the advice everyone- I do exercise daily, including weight training. I've maintained weight on 1200 calories for years. Eating 1500-1800 daily is supposedly meant to be below my maintenence and should be for weight loss.
    I am sure I am counting my calories correctly- I use the log daily.
    To maintain the calculators say 2000-2200, I don't go near this amount.
    Again, thanks for any help I really appreciate the advice everyone has shared.

    Because your metabolism has decreased a lot from starving yourself for years. I would personally keep eating what you're eating for another month or two to boost your metabolism a bit, then decrease to 1400... then you should be able to lose your extra weight, then be able to maintain at 1800 or something... but I'm not dietitian.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Can you open your diary? You may be eating more than you think.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Figure by eating more I would speed up my metabolism seeing as I'm quite active. Have more energy eating more too

    If you are quite active, then you didn't slow your metabolism down. At least not to a meaningful degree.
  • ciki90
    ciki90 Posts: 51 Member
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    Do you have a food scale? Do you weigh your food? You might be eating more than you think, honestly.

    Some of the weight that you've put on is probably from water/food/digestion/glycogen. Some may even be muscle if you say you've been strength training. Whenever you lift, it can sometimes be discouraging to measure your progress with the number on your scale. Have you tried going off of measurements alone? Whenever I started lifting, I gained about 10lbs and my pants fit the same! I was freaking out, but once I measured myself, I realized that my waist was 1/2 inch smaller, my chest was 1/4in larger, and my hips were almost an inch larger (which I wanted). This made me very relieved, and now I am trying to not give the number on the scale so much power.

    So, get a food scale and toss your body weight scale, trade it in for a measuring tape! You can track your foods more accurately and not stress about minor bodily fluctuations this way. :)
  • joanne2208
    joanne2208 Posts: 5
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    Point taken everyone! I probably am over eating. It's great to have everyone's advice. Will stay on 1300-1400 for next few weeks and monitor. Fantastic to have this formula. Ta again :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    You got to weigh your food or it doesn't matter.
  • blackwing666
    blackwing666 Posts: 8
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    I'm 5'9" 145 lb..workout 3 days a week, with 2 days cardio on non lifting day.. How much is my maintenance calories?? I think is around 2500-2700.. Am I right??

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