Help! Gaining on Maintenence Calories
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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?0 -
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.0 -
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?0 -
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.0 -
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......0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
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
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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!0 -
Liftallthepizza's post said: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.
"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+TDEE0 -
How I gained on maintenance calories was to have one high calorie day above maintenance. I dont know if I could otherwise.0
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After upping your calories to maintenance, you can expect to gain glycogen and water, which can be up to around 5lb, sometimes more. After this stops, the weight should be stable. This can even happen when switching from a big deficit to a smaller one, i.e. the weight stabilises after the glycogen stores are replenished, then you carry on losing weight at a slower rate.
You need to wait a few weeks to see if your weight is consistently going up, or if it's water weight gains etc. If you're slowly gaining over a period of weeks, then you're not eating maintenance calories, you're above maintenance. If your weight goes up for a bit then stabilises, you're at maintenance. If your weight goes up for a bit, then starts slowly going down again, you're still at a deficit.0 -
"1350 calories can't possibly be maintenance. The PT is an idiot."
For a 63 year old woman, yea it can. Scooby's calculator for exercising 3x a week assumes a level of intensity that a young to middle aged person can put forth. As people age, they can't exercise as vigorously and daily energy requirements decrease. I ran the scooby calculator and came up with 1867 cal/day for 'light exercise 1-3x/week' because if you want to call what a 63 year old is physically capable of anything more than light exercise you're way off.
Also, the PT probably wanted OP to slowly up the eating instead of just binging for a week and undoing all the progress that she made. Speaking of which...OP, are you tracking food the same way as before you started eating more? Are you sure you aren't slipping/relaxing/not counting snacks now that you've 'made it?'
"It could be glycogen/waterweight."
Not 6 lbs worth for a 160 lb female. At that weight, you're talking about a pound or two. She gained 6. Something else is contributing to the weight gain.0 -
"It could be glycogen/waterweight."
Not 6 lbs worth for a 160 lb female. At that weight, you're talking about a pound or two. She gained 6. Something else is contributing to the weight gain.
I'm a 140lb female and my glycogen/water weight changes have been as much as 5-6lb. I lost this much in 2 days of no food (due to illness), followed by regaining it over a period or 3-4 days.0 -
Erm... am I the only one thinking that if your measurements have stayed the same you are, in fact, doing an excellent job of maintaining, despite what the stupid and deceptive scales are saying? You've done a brilliant job, continue what you're doing, maybe try eating a bit more, and as long as you're happy with the tape measure tell the scales to get lost! :drinker:0
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Did she say that she was sick and ate nothing for two days?"It could be glycogen/waterweight."
Not 6 lbs worth for a 160 lb female. At that weight, you're talking about a pound or two. She gained 6. Something else is contributing to the weight gain.
I'm a 140lb female and my glycogen/water weight changes have been as much as 5-6lb. I lost this much in 2 days of no food (due to illness), followed by regaining it over a period or 3-4 days.0 -
I agree that 1350 cals to maintain could actually be correct and not too low. When I was at my goal weight of 140, I had to eat 1200-1400 a day and do tons and tons of cardio to maintain. No lie. I was very precise. If I went over 1500 a day. the scale would creep up. I then got injured (stress fracture) and laid off the exericse but stuck to 1200 cals a day religiously. I maintained my weight. You'd think I would have lost on that, but I didn't.
But the main thing here is the quitting smoking. I read that it can slow your metabolism by 10%. So, assume that is what it is. Take the 6 pound gain--or even 10 pounds, until your body adjusts -- and then see if you can coax it off slowly. But at age 63 for a female, I am afraid 1350 cals might be the sweet spot for maintenance.0 -
Your training put you on a too low calorie diet. Meaning now, when you up your calorie intake, you will gain weight because you were starving yourself before.0
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I agree that 1350 cals to maintain could actually be correct and not too low. When I was at my goal weight of 140, I had to eat 1200-1400 a day and do tons and tons of cardio to maintain. No lie. I was very precise. If I went over 1500 a day. the scale would creep up. I then got injured (stress fracture) and laid off the exericse but stuck to 1200 cals a day religiously. I maintained my weight. You'd think I would have lost on that, but I didn't.
You must be quite tiny!0 -
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
This is false. A non smoker will be able to push themselves longer which will in turn burn more calories. A smokers heart rate may be higher at a random speed/pace but will be short lived and the smoker will tire long before a non smoker. I was a smoker for 15 years before I quit 6 years ago and i can you from experience that my cardio was nowhere near what my cardio is now 6 years later.0
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