How many calories should I eat to maintain my weight?

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Hi, I am 5'3" and 136 and desperately want to maintain my weight (meaning I do not want to keep losing weight) I have been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, however I am now weight restored. I went from 98 lbs to 154 lbs and now I'm 136. I have been eating a net of 700-1200. I know that is not healthy so please do not lecture me, remember this is a disease. I do want to get better, so how many calories should I eat a day to maintain this weight? I dance 4-5 days a week and do HIIT cardio and abs 3 days a week. I gain weight easily too. I'm just scared of being overweight again.

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  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
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    Set up your goals on here to Maintain weight. Make sure you have all your info entered in correctly. Based on what you said, I would say your activity level is most likely Active. MFP will give you a set number of calories to eat based off what you tell it. You want to eat as closely to that number as possible. Monitor your weight over several weeks. After 4 weeks if you have gained weight, try dropping your NET calories by 100 for a few weeks and adjust if needed. If you have lost after 4 weeks, up your NET calories by 100 few a few weeks and adjust if needed. Remember you want to keep about a 5 pound window (+/- 2.5 lbs) so don't be worried if your weight is not exactly on point every single day. That is normal and will most likely be water weight, not actual weight gain.

    By setting your activity level to Active, you are taking into consideration your dancing so I would not log that as exercise. I would recommend that you get a heart rate monitor for you HIIT cardio and log that. However many calories you burned, you should eat those back as well. If you are still worried, you can also look into getting a Fitbit or Jawbone Up or Body Media to further give you insight into what you are burning.

    Maintaining weight is a lot of trial and error. Don't beat yourself up if it takes you some time to find what works for you.
  • Maddienicole530
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    thank you! I do have it set up here but it says around 2,200 calories. Should I never enter my dance as cardio? Because that is whay I've been doing and it has been giving me a net extremely low. Should I only enter my circuit training?
  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
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    thank you! I do have it set up here but it says around 2,200 calories. Should I never enter my dance as cardio? Because that is whay I've been doing and it has been giving me a net extremely low. Should I only enter my circuit training?

    Since your dancing is something that you do almost every day, I would just include it in with your activity level. If you are including it then you would not log it because you would basically be counting it twice. If you would rather enter it in as exercise then reevaluate your activity level. Whatever you are taking into consideration when you set your activity level should not be logged as exercise. If you do not include it when you set your activity level then it's okay to log. And remember, you want your net calories to be as close to your goal a you can every day. Try to work more food into your diet.

    Also, from what you are saying about your excerise, 2200 calories sounds about right. I'm a little taller/heavier than you and work a desk job. I try to walk a combined 60 minutes (I have a fitbit) a day and usually end up burning around 2000-2100 per day.

    ETA: That 2000 or so calories I burn a day is total burn throughout the day, not just from what little walking I do. So sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day plus walking for about an hour ends up with me burning about 2000 calories. If you're dancing 4-5 days a weeks, you are going to be burning more than what I do.
  • No_excuses_nikki
    No_excuses_nikki Posts: 16 Member
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    Agree with everything Gothy has said!

    Are you using MFP for your Cals Burned or a HRM (HeartRate Montior) MFP gives out an incorrect cal burned, when I got my HRM I found MFP was off by at least 100. (My HRM would say 300 and here would say 400 or sometimes more) How much are you Eating Daily (Intake)? If you are using MFP as your Cal burned if the number says 300 i would drop it down to 200

    I wish you all the luck with your battle!
  • Maddienicole530
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    Thank you guys, this has been such great advice! And yes, I do enter my cardio with myfitnesspal, however, I have noticed that the burn rate is off as well. If i did like 30 minutes dancing then it would say I burned some ridiculous amount. So when I type in my cardio I just fix the burned calories to the correct burn according to past knowledge and other sites.
  • addean1
    addean1 Posts: 119 Member
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    2200 sounds about right, I'm 5'4 and weigh 136, and that's about what I eat each day. I've been maintaining since nov. I set mfp at maintain, and lightly active, and do log exercise and eat those calories back. But I do try for an average over the week, some days I'm hungrier than others, and some days I workout more than others.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    First, I assume you are working with a doctor and nutritionist and I suggest you set goals with them. In fact, I'm tempted to say no more.

    Second, if I were to say more I would say that in general, to maintain you enter your weight, age, current goals (0 weight change), sex, etc.

    You have two choices. Set yourself as active and don't log exercise. OR set yourself as sedentary and do log exercise. I would do which you think will be least stressful and most likely to succeed for you. If you continue to lose weight, eat more or exercise less. If you start to gain, log your exercise.
  • Maddienicole530
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    I am no longer working with a nutritionist, but since I am a minor, my mother monitors my weight and intake.
  • Maddienicole530
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    ok thank you! I will keep it set at active and continue to eat 2,200 without logging my exercises.