Help! Gaining on Maintenence Calories

OK. So, I've lost over 100 pounds . I did it by changing my outlook on food and exercise and lifestyle. I reached my goal in 14 months. Then I upped my caloric intake from 1200 to 1350 on the advice of the trainer at the gym to maintain.

I am working out hard 3 times a week and I was swimming the other 3 days. I had to drop the swimming due to the weather about two weeks ago.

I quit smoking two months ago. I have made it a point not to snack or eat more.

I have gained 6 pounds. I can't seem to lose it. Any advice would be more than welcome. Especially since I leave for vacation in 3 days!
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    OK. So, I've lost over 100 pounds . I did it by changing my outlook on food and exercise and lifestyle. I reached my goal in 14 months. Then I upped my caloric intake from 1200 to 1350 on the advice of the trainer at the gym to maintain.

    I am working out hard 3 times a week and I was swimming the other 3 days. I had to drop the swimming due to the weather about two weeks ago.

    I quit smoking two months ago. I have made it a point not to snack or eat more.

    I have gained 6 pounds. I can't seem to lose it. Any advice would be more than welcome. Especially since I leave for vacation in 3 days!

    unless you are about 3ft tall and weigh 99lbs i doubt 1350cals is your actual maintenance...

    how long have you been eatign 1350?
  • AverageUkDude
    AverageUkDude Posts: 371 Member
    OK. So, I've lost over 100 pounds . I did it by changing my outlook on food and exercise and lifestyle. I reached my goal in 14 months. Then I upped my caloric intake from 1200 to 1350 on the advice of the trainer at the gym to maintain.

    Sick of seeing this, your trainer is a moron who obviously knows nothing about nutrition.

    post your height/weight/age/sex and how many hours of what exercise you do a week and we can help more.
  • Kakalina2
    Kakalina2 Posts: 26 Member
    I am 63 years old. I now weigh 160 ( I started at 259). I am 5'6" tall. Female

    I upped my calories to 1350 about 3 months ago. My gym routine is 30 min on treadmill at 3.5 workout hills at level 3. Then 30 crunches, then 75 sit ups with 30 lbs of weight.
    Then 25 on each of the hip abductions with 30 lbs. of weight. Then the "express circuit". I then go to the adjustable cables and do 30 each tricep and bicep pulls with 40/20 lbs. of resistance. I then get the 5 lb. weights and do 3 sets of 20 reps. I don't know the term for the reps. I then do 40 pulls on the rowing machine with 30 lbs of weight.

    I finish off with some core exercises on the mat. It's about 90 minutes 3xweek.
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  • AverageUkDude
    AverageUkDude Posts: 371 Member
    Your tdee is 2106 calories a day.

    You sound like you need to start eating more, you may put some weight on during this period whilst your body adjusts, but give it a solid 4 weeks for your body to get shocked into processing correctly.

    Youll find you have more energy and a better mood, hormone balance is importance at your age for a woman, so make sure you arent doing any stupid low fat/low carb diets.

    Calculated your tdee here:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Some reading around eating a bit more can be found in this group:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

    Good luck!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I am 63 years old. I now weigh 160 ( I started at 259). I am 5'6" tall. Female

    I upped my calories to 1350 about 3 months ago. My gym routine is 30 min on treadmill at 3.5 workout hills at level 3. Then 30 crunches, then 75 sit ups with 30 lbs of weight.
    Then 25 on each of the hip abductions with 30 lbs. of weight. Then the "express circuit". I then go to the adjustable cables and do 30 each tricep and bicep pulls with 40/20 lbs. of resistance. I then get the 5 lb. weights and do 3 sets of 20 reps. I don't know the term for the reps. I then do 40 pulls on the rowing machine with 30 lbs of weight.

    I finish off with some core exercises on the mat. It's about 90 minutes 3xweek.

    there is no way you need to eat so little with all that exercise. so you have gained 6lb in 3 months, or did you gain 6lb as soon as you upped your cals 3 months ago?
  • westendcurls
    westendcurls Posts: 252 Member
    Did your trainer want you to increase your calories slowly say week by week but you haven't re-up because your scale weight was going up? Did you tell him/her?

    How are your measurements? Are you watching your avrage weight or your scale weight? Your avrage will give you a much better idea of whats really going on. there are many apps for it.
  • Kakalina2
    Kakalina2 Posts: 26 Member
    Wow. I guess I am very uneducated. The trainer didn't tell me how much to add, just to eat more. I decided on my own that that was a good amount to add. Guess I was very wrong.

    I've been going by the digital weight watchers scale. For the last 3 months I've seemed to gain and lose the same three pounds over and over again. (sigh) Then this week I added 3 more. I figured it was because the swimming laps for an hour the other 3 days of the week stopped.

    As for the amounts of fat/carbs/calories I've just used the breakdown here under the adding food section.

    I appreciate all your replies, every single one. I will go calculate my tdee ( I guess I'll find out what it is LOL) right now. Again, thank you all.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
    1350 seems very low for maintenance...are you sure it's not higher like 1750 or 1850?
  • caminoslo
    caminoslo Posts: 239 Member
    Tell me your typical meal plan in a day what you eat
  • westendcurls
    westendcurls Posts: 252 Member
    I just bumped a post about glycerine stores. I cant link it on my tab but its really great info! Its in the general weight loss section, its called why gain if you eat more than your cut. Definitely give that a read it will exsplain whats probably going on.
  • Kakalina2
    Kakalina2 Posts: 26 Member
    sorry double post.
  • although its not 100% accurate you need to first find your BMR, then calc your TDEE, this is what i use as a base then alter some of the macros to my liking, for instance i dont consume 300g of carbs a day i do about 190, but my protein intake is far higher than their recommended at around 290-300 a day. like most said above me 1350 is no way your maintenence unless your metabolism has completely regressed. eat more protein and lift youll gain lean muscle

    * use this to calculate your BMR and TDEE http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
  • moment_to_arise
    moment_to_arise Posts: 207 Member
    also possible a muscle gain? muscle weighs more than fat. i have lost inches all over my body while maintaining roughly the same weight. take your focus off the number on the scale and take measurements of your body instead. you will see better results that way!
  • supermodelchic
    supermodelchic Posts: 550 Member
    I'd address the quitting of smoking, when you smoke your heart rate is accelerated from the nicotine , which can burn calories , when you quit you don't have that faster heart rate thing going on anymore. Just my opinion.. Hang in there keep doing what your doing add in more weightlifting, add more muscle...goodluck
  • Kakalina2
    Kakalina2 Posts: 26 Member
    I so appreciate all your suggestions. I did go to that site and did the calculations. If I want to maintain I should be at 1500 calories per day from what I can figure out. My BMR is 1308 and my TDEE is 2120.

    I made the adjustments to my goals on MFP and we will see how it goes. I have not gained any inches. I measure my inches about 2 x month and haven't seen any change for awhile.

    I also read where you burn 250 calories smoking a pack a day and I didn't allow for that change either. I also read the post on glycerine storage and that makes perfect sense to me.

    I also realized that unless I am at the gym I've slowed way down on drinking water since it isn't hot anymore. I need to watch that also.

    Once again thanks to all of you.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    1350 seems very low for maintenance...are you sure it's not higher like 1750 or 1850?

    At 5'6" and 49, my maintenance is only 1553.

    OP, please use the calculators provided. That should get you a good start at figuring out what you need to eat to maintain. Please be aware that you WILL gain 3 or so lbs in water weight when you increase to maintenance. This is normal. Don't fight for the rest of your life with those 3 lbs of water weight. Your body is replenishing glycogen stores.
  • FromHereOnOut
    FromHereOnOut Posts: 3,237 Member
    I'm not exactly in maintenance (still lots to lose), but I will tell you that I lose & gain 3lbs nearly daily. After a day of child-wrangling, walking all over the city, and a run, I come home to weigh 3lbs less. It is from loss of glycogen stores and water weight. It's also the big WHOOSH of weight loss that people get when they first go on a diet. The only reason that I gain it everyday is because I eat enough to replenish those stores. Now that you are eating more, you are doing that as well. But your daily calorie goal is far from where it needs to be, to be in maintenance.

    For a better explanation of that regular up & down, read this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/993576-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut



    Also, do you measure? Have your clothes gotten snugger? You are doing some muscle workouts, so eating more (but still so little) should help to maintain or build slightly muscle, which is a good thing. Do you really feel like you've gained FAT, or you just see the scale go up and assumed it was fat? Try measurements and photos and ditch the scale for a little while, it'll only mess with your head.

    Good luck
  • FromHereOnOut
    FromHereOnOut Posts: 3,237 Member
    Also, that vacation will be a good thing. You are working out much of the week. Taking a week off from working out will cause your body to expel some of the water it's been holding to repair muscles. Between that and the glycogen thing, that could be your 6lbs right there. Don't go crazy on alcohol or ultra-high calorie foods while on vacation, but eat well enough and rest and you'll probably end up at your true maintenance weight and can start to creep your calories up to where they need to be.
  • donnadondon
    donnadondon Posts: 16 Member
    I am 5ft6 female 136lbs just done first week of insanity on 1430 calories a day iam looking at maintenance after Christmas so was just looking for tips on how to make sure I dont gain and realax abit more with fod also how many calories I would be looking at to maintain :)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    1350 seems very low for maintenance...are you sure it's not higher like 1750 or 1850?

    At 5'6" and 49, my maintenance is only 1553.

    OP, please use the calculators provided. That should get you a good start at figuring out what you need to eat to maintain. Please be aware that you WILL gain 3 or so lbs in water weight when you increase to maintenance. This is normal. Don't fight for the rest of your life with those 3 lbs of water weight. Your body is replenishing glycogen stores.

    Do you exercise as much as OP though?
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    1350 seems very low for maintenance...are you sure it's not higher like 1750 or 1850?

    At 5'6" and 49, my maintenance is only 1553.

    OP, please use the calculators provided. That should get you a good start at figuring out what you need to eat to maintain. Please be aware that you WILL gain 3 or so lbs in water weight when you increase to maintenance. This is normal. Don't fight for the rest of your life with those 3 lbs of water weight. Your body is replenishing glycogen stores.

    Do you exercise as much as OP though?

    Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I either run or do kettlebells 6 days a week. Sometimes I do both on the same day. Runs vary from 4 to 6 miles at present.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
    1350 seems very low for maintenance...are you sure it's not higher like 1750 or 1850?

    At 5'6" and 49, my maintenance is only 1553.

    OP, please use the calculators provided. That should get you a good start at figuring out what you need to eat to maintain. Please be aware that you WILL gain 3 or so lbs in water weight when you increase to maintenance. This is normal. Don't fight for the rest of your life with those 3 lbs of water weight. Your body is replenishing glycogen stores.

    Do you exercise as much as OP though?

    Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I either run or do kettlebells 6 days a week. Sometimes I do both on the same day. Runs vary from 4 to 6 miles at present.

    ... because exercise affects TDEE?

    You haven't mentioned your weight--with that much exercise, even at 49, are you certain your maintenance is in the 1500s? What's made you deduce that number?
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    1350 seems very low for maintenance...are you sure it's not higher like 1750 or 1850?

    At 5'6" and 49, my maintenance is only 1553.

    OP, please use the calculators provided. That should get you a good start at figuring out what you need to eat to maintain. Please be aware that you WILL gain 3 or so lbs in water weight when you increase to maintenance. This is normal. Don't fight for the rest of your life with those 3 lbs of water weight. Your body is replenishing glycogen stores.

    Do you exercise as much as OP though?

    Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I either run or do kettlebells 6 days a week. Sometimes I do both on the same day. Runs vary from 4 to 6 miles at present.

    ... because exercise affects TDEE?

    You haven't mentioned your weight--with that much exercise, even at 49, are you certain your maintenance is in the 1500s? What's made you deduce that number?

    I'm sorry if I confused anyone. EatMorePizza posted a thread 'What is your actual TDEE' where we took our NET calories for over a month and averaged them together. Then subtracted or added calories based on weight loss. Since I went 30 days without losing or gaining and averaged a NET of 1553, I know that is my maintenance calorie amount, more or less.
  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
    I wonder if you are retaining water and that would be the reason for those extra six pounds. I would not be too surprised, since you live 90% of junk and processed food, which are all extremely high in salt.
    I also wonder, if you are not maybe actually eating more calories than you think and log......
    You obviously make a real effort to log everything and I am really impressed by your honesty in regard to the foods you eat. I also think that 1350 are too low for maintenance ( I am 66, 5 feet tall and my maintenance is higher than that ), but something does not make sense. If you are gaining weight it's either water, or you are eating more calories than you think, or you have a health problem only a doctor can help you with.
    My advise to start; eating a bit healthier with less salt and see if your weight moves down......
  • FromHereOnOut
    FromHereOnOut Posts: 3,237 Member
    It is from loss of glycogen stores and water weight.

    ^^^
    AND.
    WATER.
    WEIGHT.

    (as in, glycogen binds water; and also the water that is being held in muscle repair, that I mentioned in my 2nd post)



    To be honest I don't know why some people don't experience the fluctuation until they enter maintenance. As I said, I'm not at maintenance, but I experience the up & down nearly every day (to the tune of 3lbs, but sometimes as high as 5lbs--and that's even if I am drinking water--it can still go down that much, but then back up again after dinner). It just seems that others either do not experience it or do not report it until after they are in maintenance, which is why there are always these threads like this one.
  • Kakalina2
    Kakalina2 Posts: 26 Member
    I wonder if you are retaining water and that would be the reason for those extra six pounds. I would not be too surprised, since you live 90% of junk and processed food, which are all extremely high in salt.
    I also wonder, if you are not maybe actually eating more calories than you think and log......
    You obviously make a real effort to log everything and I am really impressed by your honesty in regard to the foods you eat. I also think that 1350 are too low for maintenance ( I am 66, 5 feet tall and my maintenance is higher than that ), but something does not make sense. If you are gaining weight it's either water, or you are eating more calories than you think, or you have a health problem only a doctor can help you with.
    My advise to start; eating a bit healthier with less salt and see if your weight moves down......


    What point is there in doing this if you are not honest with yourself. I log every bite that goes into my mouth. I don't miss anything. I am hypothyroid and take medication for it but that is my only problem health wise that would/could affect my weight.

    I am trying the new calorie regime and after I get back I will come back and tell how it goes.
  • Quitting smoking can cause you to gain weight, not because you're eating more but because nicotine affects the way fat is stored in the body, but even if you put on a few pounds focus on how much healthier you are. Additionally I totally agree with what most people are saying, your maintenance cals definitely aren't 1350 :)
  • FromHereOnOut
    FromHereOnOut Posts: 3,237 Member


    Water bound in muscle repair?

    Source?

    Never heard of it.

    People severely injured will swell as the capillaries become leaky and will require fluids, but after an exercise workout?

    Show me some science.

    I'm surprised that you've never heard that muscle-building exercises tear the fibers and of course water/fluid is retained in most (or all) bodily repair, even those tiny little muscle fiber tears.

    But if you're really into science, maybe look at the DOMS section of this article. http://www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.10.4247

    Getting a little off-topic

    .

    OP, I wish you the best. Congrats on the loss!
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    1350 seems very low for maintenance...are you sure it's not higher like 1750 or 1850?

    At 5'6" and 49, my maintenance is only 1553.

    OP, please use the calculators provided. That should get you a good start at figuring out what you need to eat to maintain. Please be aware that you WILL gain 3 or so lbs in water weight when you increase to maintenance. This is normal. Don't fight for the rest of your life with those 3 lbs of water weight. Your body is replenishing glycogen stores.

    Do you exercise as much as OP though?

    Not sure what that has to do with anything, but I either run or do kettlebells 6 days a week. Sometimes I do both on the same day. Runs vary from 4 to 6 miles at present.

    ... because exercise affects TDEE?

    You haven't mentioned your weight--with that much exercise, even at 49, are you certain your maintenance is in the 1500s? What's made you deduce that number?

    I'm sorry if I confused anyone. EatMorePizza posted a thread 'What is your actual TDEE' where we took our NET calories for over a month and averaged them together. Then subtracted or added calories based on weight loss. Since I went 30 days without losing or gaining and averaged a NET of 1553, I know that is my maintenance calorie amount, more or less.
    Liftallthepizza's post said:
    "Take the amount of calories you ate in a 28 day period, and add 3500 for each pound you lost during that period (or subtract 3500 for each pound gained) and divide that total by 28." so you should've been adding your gross calories up and dividing them, not your net.:flowerforyou: For example, if I eat 2500 calories a day for month and neither gain nor lose... My TDEE is 2500.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1141259-what-is-your-actual-tdee?hl=Actual+TDEE