Trouble maintaining

Mserun
Mserun Posts: 7
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I'm 5'4 and am 117. During thanksgiving I was 110 and was maintaining that fine with a net 1200 calories per day. I was just interested in maintaining. However, between Thanksgiving and mid December, I seemed to have put on 7 pounds, and am unsure how if I have kept my calories around 1200. Even if I had underestimated my intake a little each day, it would not have amounted to 7 pounds in 3 or 4 weeks. I also run regularly between 5-9 miles on a given run. Any idea as to what caused this 7 pound jump?

Replies

  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    If you open you diary it may be easier to help answer your question.
  • Mserun
    Mserun Posts: 7
    oh thanks, I did not realize it was closed
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    oh thanks, I did not realize it was closed

    No worries - I think it is the default setting.

    Do you have what your weight has done over the last 4 or 5 weeks, in weekly increments

    I also noticed a lot of days that were quite a bit under 1,000 calories. Are these accurate or did you not finish logging? Final question - do you weigh your food where possible or eyeball?
  • Mserun
    Mserun Posts: 7
    No, I haven't weighed myself for a few weeks haha. I hopped on over Christmas and saw the increase.

    I finished logging but since I run a lot I'm not really sure if I am burning as much as the app says I am.

    Also, I just eyeball.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I would recommend weighing everything for a few weeks at least to see how much you are really eating. It is amazing how much we can underestimate (and how pathetically small serving sizes are for some things).

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    1200 for maintenance is terribly low. And you run? Something's not right there.
  • Mserun
    Mserun Posts: 7
    I've been eyeballing this whole time which is why the jump is surprising hmm. Also I've tried to eat more than 1200 since that number seems low and I would be gaining as well, perhaps this comes down to the weighing food though
  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
    You might not eat enough and that would have slowed down your metabolism.

    Do you know your BMR and your TDE?

    If not then just calculate it with this site: (and no this is not an ad!)

    http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/

    Just use the right hand column to calculate the two numbers.

    If you eat under your BMR than the chances are very high that your metabolism has slowed down and that your body is in starvation mode. It will cling to fat.

    1200 sounds very low to me! This is pretty much what my BMR is. Once I reach my goal weight (2 more kgs to go) I will have to eat closer to 1700 cals a day to maintain my weight.

    Hope this helps.
    Stef.
  • Mserun
    Mserun Posts: 7
    It says my BMR is 1250 and tde 1550. So eating below that caused a 7 pound increase in a few weeks? That's interesting, though somewhat surprising and confusing.
  • Mserun
    Mserun Posts: 7
    Over the summer I tried to keep 1500 to maintain, however I kept gaining so I thought hat meant 1500 was too much. I was 107 before college and never tried to maintain. Now that I'm trying it is not working in my favor. I guess my body is just changing ha.
  • Vorenus85
    Vorenus85 Posts: 112 Member
    It says my BMR is 1250 and tde 1550. So eating below that caused a 7 pound increase in a few weeks? That's interesting, though somewhat surprising and confusing.

    No, it's not possible to gain eating below your TDEE. It's more likely that you were really eating more than you thought. As the user above said, weighing things really puts portion sizes into perspective.
  • Mserun
    Mserun Posts: 7
    Also, all my clothes fit alright, is it possible this is water related?

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