QUESTION !! Please help:) maintenance calories

rachellebells
rachellebells Posts: 19 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hello Everyone :)
So, maintenance has been going really well!:) i actually decided I would eat a certain amount of calories every single day and accept whatever weight it made me and its been going well so far!
Unfortunately Sunday not so much, I went wayyyyy over( not sure how much,)
And my plan was to reduce a couple hundred calories for the next few days just to even it out a little bit, which is fine as I can easily do that without feeling like I'm restricting and still feeling satisfied.. But it made me think of something,
if i go over calories one day then go back to maintenance the next day will i gain weight or will it even out? What I mean is, say on Sunday I go over by 500+ cals, then instead of reducing the next couple of days I carry on eating maintenance cals, would I gain weight straight away and that weight would stay on me, or would I gain weight initially and then my body would lose it again gradually as I carry on eating the maintenance calories for my weight? This is just a general question as I've been reading about people eating at their maintenance cals to lose weight(slowly but surely!!) thank you !! Xxx

Replies

  • mel4bee
    mel4bee Posts: 225 Member
    Bump. I want to know the same thing as I'm starting maintenance
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    It should average out over the week. People's weight goes up and down for lots of reasons, and the weight gain from one day being over gets lost in the 'noise'. Salt and water retention have bigger one day effects.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Many people average their calories over the course of a week, it's a great way to fit in social events at this time of year!

    Bear in mind how much you would actually have to over-eat on one day to really add a pound of fat.
    Remember that weight does not equal fat - I was up and down 8lbs last week but I'm still maintaining!

    BTW - this bit doesn't make sense!
    "or would I gain weight initially and then my body would lose it again gradually as I carry on eating the maintenance calories for my weight? This is just a general question as I've been reading about people eating at their maintenance cals to lose weight(slowly but surely!!) thank you"

    Maintenance calories means not gaining or losing - you can't eat at maintainance to slowly lose weight, that would be eating at a small deficit not maintenance.
  • rachellebells
    rachellebells Posts: 19 Member
    Thank you for your replies!!
    Yes, sorry I know what I mean but can't explain things properly! Hah:)
    Basically, I read a few posts about people who say, eat around 2000cals daily and maintain their weight of 'x' lbs. Then instead of eating 1,200 cals daily to lose weight, they decide to eat, say, 1700 calories a day, which would be the maintenance cals for someone who is 'X' lbs and that's the weight they want to achieve. So they basically start eating those calories daily and they get to their target weight slowly but they get there in the end.. hope that explains it better? Sorry if not!:) thank you for your reply:)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Ah gotcha!
    Also known as a "soft landing" or reducing your deficit as you get closer to goal weight.

    In my opinion and experience it makes the transition from losing weight to maintaining weight far easier, no sudden jumps just a slow adjustment to calories.
  • rachellebells
    rachellebells Posts: 19 Member
    Haha, thank you!:) yeah it definitely makes sense!! Wish I came across it before!!!
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
    First of all, I would like to say, WOW what a beautiful body you already have...jealous much lol!

    I started on 1200 cals a day plus exercise. I have been maintaining for just over year at 1500 -1600 plus exercise.

    Just work up those cals slowly week by week.
  • ultraconvoy
    ultraconvoy Posts: 21
    You will be fine.

    I have a cheat meal once a week. On Sunday actually lol and I eat over 1,000 calories that I don't add to my macros.
    I'm still losing weight :)
  • s10c69
    s10c69 Posts: 2 Member
    It's actually good to "stagger" your calories for losing weight or to maintain your weight. You don't want your body to get "comfortable, you want to continue to trick it, so it keeps your metabolism up. As long as your calories even out over the week to match your maintenance calories, you should be fine.
  • s10c69
    s10c69 Posts: 2 Member
    Same here, 1200 calories, plus exercise. Maintaining for me is 1500-1600 per day as well. It's easy to eat too much and start gaining it back, if you don't add slowly, while keeping your habits the same.
  • rachellebells
    rachellebells Posts: 19 Member
    Twinketta, That is so kind of you to say thank you so much!!:) and for your reply as well!
    Thank you ultraconvoy and s10c69 that's so reassuring!!
    I don't mind cutting a couple of calories for a few days this week to make up for it but its good to know that I might just be able to get away with the odd overindulgence and not have to cut back the days after ;);) I'm such a piggy.
  • MACnificence
    MACnificence Posts: 419 Member
    I was actually wondering the exact same thing ! I'm still trying to find maintainance calories but if you were to eat maintainance 6 days out of 7 and have one day that went over would you start gaining weight again , I know it takes 3500 over maintainance to gain a pound so it's not likely I'd be eating that much over on a weekly meal out but over time would the weight creep up
    Just curious cause I see friends who eat / drink out most weekends and don't restrict during the week to compensate and their weight seems to stay stable enough apart from normal fluctuations
  • AddyB80
    AddyB80 Posts: 8
    I would think this could provide a flexible way to hit your cal and weight target. It will also depend upon your energy expenditure, and lean body mass also. Perhaps you can keep us updated on a monthly or two monthly on cals in v weight and be a live guinea pig?? Would be really interesting to know if this works for you.
  • rachellebells
    rachellebells Posts: 19 Member
    Ah well im glad I'm not the only one who was wondering this!:) Basically I eat 1640 cals every day apart from Thursdays where I eat between 500-600 cals ( I have a protein day as I've been on the dukan and successfully completed it) and the rest of the week I eat everything I want as long as I stay at 1640 cals and its been going great for me maintaining my weight like that! What's great is that i include 'treats' every single day:) my plan was to take away calories on other days if I did go over 1640 to maintain a stable weekly intake. as we are not robots, we do tend to overindulge at times (some of us!!) so maybe I should just give it a go but I like to stay in control if I can. It's scary to feel out of control!!! Live guinea pig, I like that! Haha xxx
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    It's actually healthy to have a 'cheat' day once in a while. going over your calories one day won't make you gain weight. What you want to monitor besides weight is how your clothes fit. My weight tends to fluctuate as much 3-4 lbs in a day, and if my clothes still fit the same, I know it's because I'm retaining a bit of water. Then I'll have a day where I can't stay out of the bathroom and I see my weight is back down to normal. If you have a cheat day and consume a lot of sodium, don't weigh yourself for a couple of days after, because the sodium will cause you to retain water, and you might freak out thinking your one day made you gain weight!
  • MACnificence
    MACnificence Posts: 419 Member
    What are your stats for maintainance at 1640 calories ? Does that include exercise ?
    I would say your one low day would counteract your high day easily enough , even 1640 seems like a low number for maintainance
  • rachellebells
    rachellebells Posts: 19 Member
    I'm a little over 5'4 and 46kg. I'm happy being this weight and maintaining this weight for now although I'm slowly aiming to reach higher, just stabilising my weight with those cals and aiming to add a little more to gain about a kilo when I feel ready to do so:) I don't actually exercise!! I just walk around a lot, I'm pretty active in my daily life so i guess that counts?
  • sarahg148
    sarahg148 Posts: 701 Member
    Thank you for your replies!!
    Yes, sorry I know what I mean but can't explain things properly! Hah:)
    Basically, I read a few posts about people who say, eat around 2000cals daily and maintain their weight of 'x' lbs. Then instead of eating 1,200 cals daily to lose weight, they decide to eat, say, 1700 calories a day, which would be the maintenance cals for someone who is 'X' lbs and that's the weight they want to achieve. So they basically start eating those calories daily and they get to their target weight slowly but they get there in the end.. hope that explains it better? Sorry if not!:) thank you for your reply:)

    I've actually just changed my daily goal to be at where my goal weight calories will be...2100cal/day. I hope that this will make me a little less obsessive and allow the weight to fall off. I know it will be very slow...but I can live at 2100 cal/day. I may have days where I stay under or go over, but as long as the average is 2100...think I'll be okay. I've only got about 15 lbs or so to lose realistically...so 1/2 lb a week will be fine!!!
  • rachellebells
    rachellebells Posts: 19 Member
    That's awesome that you're doing that!! Would love to know how you get on:)
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
    What are your stats for maintainance at 1640 calories ? Does that include exercise ?
    I would say your one low day would counteract your high day easily enough , even 1640 seems like a low number for maintainance

    It really depends on the person,height, and age. I'm 41, 5'8", 132 lbs. and my maintenance calories before exercise are 1660.
  • salvyhead
    salvyhead Posts: 66 Member
    Counting per week is a lot better for maintenance (psychologically) than counting per day IMHO. Then you can make up for cheats and as long as your weekly no. is OK your weight should theoretically stay stable.

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