Do we burn more calories in summer?

Lately I have been so tired that I cant move around if i workout, I feel so drained. Not a very good feeling to have early in the morning. Also even at 1600 calories I am hungry and tend to cross my calorie limit every day. Help guys!! I am opening my diary.

That is usually a sign the you need to eat more. Have you tried putting your stats into a calculator to get a better idea of how much you should be eatting? I am 5'3" and eatting 1800 calories to lose weight, and that is at a 20% cut from my maintenance (just to give some perspective).

As far as taking a look at your diary, I think the one thing I would suggest is bringing in some more protein. You are often a little low on most days...and maybe also some more healthy fats (nuts, olive oil, etc...).

Most people move more as it gets warmer and daylight savings time kicks in - if that effected you, but longer days no matter what.

Yes, that would increase your maintenance or TDEE.

as mentioned, just add some more.

Remember the math, if you at 250 calories over your real TDEE, it would take 2 weeks to slowly put on 1 lb. And if good workouts, not even all fat.

Reread that, 100 extra would take 35 days.

You have nothing to fear testing for 2 weeks.

If you have fast water weight gain - then you actually were not eating at potential maintenance at 1600.
Except the water weight and enjoy eating more.
Test another 100, never know where you'll end up. May be able to plan on daily ice cream during the summer!

What kinds of foods are you eating? If you're eating a lot of sugar in the morning, you may be spiking your blood sugar and crashing later on. Even "healthy" foods can do this. This happens to me if I eat cereal, yogurt-- even fruit in the a.m. I had to change my diet to high-protein and complex-carbohydrates to prevent this energy drop. Think eggs, toast, protein shake, plain oats, even bacon! Also, try upping your vitamins. A B-vitamin complex works wonders for me!

I would love to eat more but I am kind of scared to put on weight. I am sleeping well too, in fact, sleeping more than usual as I am feeling very tired.

Fat gain happens very, very slowly. Try eating more for a while and see what happens. Note that you may gain some lbs of water weight, because if you are tired from eating too little, your glycogen stores will be depleted, and you gain water weight when they're replenished (this is a good thing btw, not to be feared!) so monitor inches as well as weight gain. Glycogen/water weight gain the weight goes on quickly then stops, and you don't gain any fat in the process (so inch measurements stay the same). Fat gain the weight creeps up slowly, and the inch measurements also creep up slowly.

It's important to understand the difference when you increase your calories because a lot of people when they start to eat more, they see a big jump in scale weight, think that they're eating at a surplus, and go right back to the lower calorie amount... but it's not fat, and it doesn't mean you're eating at a surplus, these water weight gains can still occur when you're eating at a deficit (i.e. less of a deficit than before but still a deficit)... to find out if you're eating at a surplus, maintenance or deficit you have to stick with the calorie number long enough for your weight to settle (i.e. these water weight gains to finish) then see if your weight is staying the same, creeping up or slowly going down.

No it doesnt! And the same goes for wearing more layers when you exercise sweating more does not cause fat loss just water loss! In fact the opposite is true it is actually cold that has a slight effect on calories when you body is cold it has to use energy to keep you at a constant temperature so realistically it is winter where you should eat more.

In summer if you do not rehydrate properly this could be the problem, being dehydrated will make you feel hungrier, tired and lethargic so try drinking more! Surprised no one has suggested this

She already said in her original post that she loves water and drinks 3-4litres of water a day. I don't think she really needs to go even higher than that?
Although you could look at what you're drinking. Plain water isn't always the best option for rehydration. Maybe some kind of sports drink?

Agreed with everyone who's suggested eating a little more. If it makes you gain weight, it will be minimal and easy enough for you to lose again, and if you don't gain weight then that's great, you get to eat a little more!

Have your iron levels checked if you can. Could be anemia or something else entirely rather than your diet.

^^^ good point.... although anaemia is diet related in most cases (i.e. insufficient iron).

If you're feeling tired, there's a good chance you aren't eating enough. I plugged your stats into a couple of websites to see what it came out with, and they all came out at pretty much the same:

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1559
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1786
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2013
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2241
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2468

Obviously these are just a guideline, but they say you are eating enough for a sedentary person, which going by your activity level, you aren't. There's certainly no harm in upping your cals by a couple of hundred.

would suggest blood work. could be low iron, B12, D, or other vitamins or minerals.

Do you take a multi-vitamin?

Could it be depression related. more sleep and lathargy go hand in hand with it.

The best thing you could do is visit a doctor and have him check up your blood, cause an iron deficit could be the case but I'm not claiming anything

I tend to move more in the summer because there are so many more options for outside activities. Also, I feel more motivated to go out and do things when it is sunny as opposed to being overcast.

It isn't just how much you eat, but what you eat. Raw Vegans maintain at 3000 calories of fruit while others on a less healthy diet can maintain at 1500. If you eat fruit to up your intake, you shouldn't gain weight so long as the extra 200 calories aren't fattening foods. 1600 sounds low for a metabolism but you are petit so that could be correct. Just make sure!

this is not true. calories from fruit don't magically disappear or stop you from gaining weight if you eat more calories than you burn off. You can get fat overeating on fruit just as you can overeating on anything else. The difference between 500 calories of fruit and 500 calories of gummy bears* is that fruit also gives you fibre, vitamins and minerals. Gummy bears* only give you carbohydrate and nothing else, so if you tried to get all your calories from gummy bears and nothing else you'll get kwashiorkor, rickets, scurvy and other nutritional deficiency disease. But if you are eating more than you burn off, the excess is going to be stored as fat whether it comes from fruit or gummy bears or any other food.

*to use any random example, nothing personal against gummy bears in moderation so long as you're getting all the nutrients your body needs as well!

also, if raw vegans really need to eat twice as much food as non-raw-vegans to maintain their bodyweight, this suggests that they're not absorbing most of the nutrients they're eating and that's actually a very bad thing from a biological perspective, because malabsorption of nutrients is a sign of serious problems. Thriving people (and other animals) absorb their nutrients well and don't need to eat twice as much to get the same amount of nutrition. ..............But I suspect that what's really happening is that they're mistaken about how much they're eating and how much they're burning.

First I would see a doctor--besides anemia there are other things; I have low thyroid. I have a friend whose female hormones were so messed up that she was exhausted and forgetful and getting worse (older than you!). Don't be scared silly of gaining weight--pursue your health first and then your weight will take care of itself.

On the summer/winter thing--yes, if you are actually cold it takes some calories to keep warm. But your ability to gain weight also increases! Or at least this is true in cattle and chickens--feed efficiency is much greater in cold weather. The animals have to eat more to stay warm but also grow faster--enough faster that they actually gain more weight on the same feed than in hot weather. Personally, I notice that I can lose weight "better" meaning I feel better and lose weight more easily in the hottest part of the summer. It takes some calories for your body to deal with heat too, and heat suppresses appetite. But I doubt most folks actually are out in the weather enough for any of it to matter.

She already said in her original post that she loves water and drinks 3-4litres of water a day. I don't think she really needs to go even higher than that?

Appoligies I missed that paragraph when I read but 3-4 litres whats that about 6-7 pints? If so then yes why not a little more especially if exercising and depending how hot the weather and what else is being drunk. That amount of water is roughly what is advised per day supposedly! (8 cups) if the op is exercising then she will want more for certain. And in hot weather this is more important. In the UK its not that hot but I will still drink 5+litres per day (including my hot drinks) and more if I am exercising (can get through 2litres in one gym session)

um no - 4 liters of water is dang near 1 GALLON, or DOUBLE the (ridiculous) "advised amount per day"

I agree the usual advice to drink 8 cups of plain water is silly, what is important is getting enough water but that can include plain water, soft drinks, tea, etc. However, 3-4 litres is not that much, especially if you are active. I'm sure on an average day I probably drink 3+ litres of drinks. I need even more if is hot and I have been outside e.g. going for a long run, gardening. After a 60 minute run in the sun I can drink 1 litre before I stop feeling thirsty!!!