Trying to maintain weight, gaining weight on low calories?

Ulwaz
Ulwaz Posts: 380 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
im female, 22 the end of this month
im 5 foot 10 inches

im about 56-57kg, i want to maintain my weight but my calories are low at the moment, which is causing me to gain weight?
Should i boost back up too 1800-2000 again?
I also do cardio daily and am pretty active

Should i eat back exercise calories?

Thanks :)

Replies

  • Ulwaz
    Ulwaz Posts: 380 Member
    bump
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    im female, 22 the end of this month
    im 5 foot 10 inches

    im about 56-57kg, i want to maintain my weight but my calories are low at the moment, which is causing me to gain weight?
    Should i boost back up too 1800-2000 again?
    I also do cardio daily and am pretty active

    Should i eat back exercise calories?

    Thanks :)
    Your post is confusing so not really sure what you are asking!

    " i want to maintain my weight but my calories are low at the moment, which is causing me to gain weight?"
    This doesn't make sense I'm afraid. If your calories are low (meaning in a deficit) you would be losing weight. Do you mean gaining weight over a period of days or weeks?

    "Should i boost back up too 1800-2000 again? "
    What's the significance of this number to you? What did it do for you before? It would be a 600 cal a day deficit for me...

    "Should i eat back exercise calories?"
    Are you following the MFP way (then yes) or TDEE method (then no).

    You really need to give a bit more detail to enable people to offer advice unless you just want the vanilla flavour advice (eat the right amount of calories so that you stay within an acceptable range of weight for example).
  • Ulwaz
    Ulwaz Posts: 380 Member
    im suffering from some form of ED, i want to maintain my weight, for me to maintain im supposed to eat about 1970 a day

    I do 20-40 mins of cardio everyday, im trying to get it so my weight just stables but i only manage 1200-1400 calories per day, which normally means im netting under 1200, which has actually been making me gain weight since im obviously not eating enough so my body thinks its starving, then again it could be that im struggling to go to the bathroom at the moment and getting alot of stomach ache I

    I have an active job as well working in a hospital

    So i need to boost my calories? or not?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Eating at a calorie deficit doesn't make you gain weight. Being constipated can!
    Your body doesn't "think" anything let alone think you are starving and make you gain weight from nothing - it's just a whole series of chemical and hormonal reactions and doesn't have any intelligence.

    You need to see your Doctor.
  • Ulwaz
    Ulwaz Posts: 380 Member
    probably, still need to boost my intake really
  • dedflwrs
    dedflwrs Posts: 251 Member
    If not eating enough calories causes one to gain weight then anorexics would be obese and we would easily find the solution to world hunger.

    Maybe you are just incorrectly counting your calories.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    probably, still need to boost my intake really

    If you need more calories, what about looking at calorie dense foods such as nuts, nutella, peanut butter, cheeses, etc?
  • foxsylph
    foxsylph Posts: 54 Member
    It sounds like perhaps constipation/water retention (or having lost water weight in the first place, and then gaining it back and thinking you've gained fat, when actually you have not*). I really would not have thought that on 1200 (and below) you'd gain weight, even if the scale seems to indicate you are for a time.

    *When I was eating low, I did sometimes appear to 'gain'. But, I think this occurred because I believed I was losing the weight faster than I was when I wasn't eating enough carbs, getting dehydrated and so as soon as I would have slightly more, I would gain that water weight back, not fat.

    People disagree over how much starvation lowers your metabolism, if at all. But from personal experience, I found it did for me. If my net calories were low for a really long time, I simply did lose weight slower. Either way, though, when I was recovering from an eating disorder, I found that from going from around the numbers you're eating at to 1500-1600, I only experienced a very brief period of weight gain and then began losing weight again, even though I'd been stuck before. So I'd say yes, if you are working on maintaining and settling at a weight - raise your calories, don't panic at the possible brief weight-gain and ultimately, over time if you eat below your needs you cannot but lose weight.

    In order to be gentle to your body and gain the least weight, I'd do it in at least two stages? Get your body and mind used to eating around 1500, perhaps wait till you seem to be losing weight on that amount again, and then gradually edge upwards till you are stable and eating enough.

    Sorry for the somewhat rambly reply and [+1] to the idea of seeing a doctor/nutritionist, if you can.
  • DianeinCA
    DianeinCA Posts: 307 Member
    im suffering from some form of ED, i want to maintain my weight, for me to maintain im supposed to eat about 1970 a day

    The part about having an ED makes this whole discussion trickier, and you probably need to talk to your counselor.

    That said: you're 5'10". You need way more than 1200 calories. 1970 calories sounds in the ballpark.

    You can't be gaining weight while you're undereating. It's simply not possible, even with water retention. Gently increase your calories every day, 100 or 200 calories, until you get to 1600. After a few days there, continue to increase to 1900. Your body will thank you. I promise you: there's no way you can gain weight while consuming low calories.

    Please talk to your doctor or counselor about this.
  • amakayg
    amakayg Posts: 172 Member
    Definitely eat the calories that you burn from exercise. Your body needs them!
  • amakayg
    amakayg Posts: 172 Member
    It is possible to gain weight by not eating enough. Your body will start eating the calories from muscles to make up for what it's not getting and then your muscles will not work as effectively to burn fat.
    im suffering from some form of ED, i want to maintain my weight, for me to maintain im supposed to eat about 1970 a day

    The part about having an ED makes this whole discussion trickier, and you probably need to talk to your counselor.

    That said: you're 5'10". You need way more than 1200 calories. 1970 calories sounds in the ballpark.

    You can't be gaining weight while you're undereating. It's simply not possible, even with water retention. Gently increase your calories every day, 100 or 200 calories, until you get to 1600. After a few days there, continue to increase to 1900. Your body will thank you. I promise you: there's no way you can gain weight while consuming low calories.

    Please talk to your doctor or counselor about this.
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    I'm going to say this as nicely as possible, without coming across as brash or condescending.

    You are not gaining weight. No one gains weight on 1,200 calories. Especially if they are netting less. If the scale is going up, it is from the horrible (and I know how horrible it is, been there, got the t-shirt) constipation that a restrictive eating disorder causes. I have seen the scale jump up literally 5-8 lbs from nothing but constipation and bloating. Gallbladder disease and eating disorders are tricky, horrible things. You're not gaining weight. You are experiencing the physical symptoms that are an eating disorder.

    We cannot help you. If you are serious about recovering, you will need to seek help from professionals. And I encourage you to do so. Depending on how long you've been eating at a deficit and how much weight you've lost, you may need way more than 2k calories. Whether you're underweight or not is irrelevant to how many you need to recover, as you have to replace lost energy just as much as lost weight.
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    It is possible to gain weight by not eating enough. Your body will start eating the calories from muscles to make up for what it's not getting and then your muscles will not work as effectively to burn fat.
    im suffering from some form of ED, i want to maintain my weight, for me to maintain im supposed to eat about 1970 a day

    The part about having an ED makes this whole discussion trickier, and you probably need to talk to your counselor.

    That said: you're 5'10". You need way more than 1200 calories. 1970 calories sounds in the ballpark.

    You can't be gaining weight while you're undereating. It's simply not possible, even with water retention. Gently increase your calories every day, 100 or 200 calories, until you get to 1600. After a few days there, continue to increase to 1900. Your body will thank you. I promise you: there's no way you can gain weight while consuming low calories.

    Please talk to your doctor or counselor about this.

    Then please explain to me how I never 'gained' weight when I was suffering from an eating disorder.
  • Springfield1970
    Springfield1970 Posts: 1,945 Member
    It is possible to gain weight by not eating enough. Your body will start eating the calories from muscles to make up for what it's not getting and then your muscles will not work as effectively to burn fat.
    im suffering from some form of ED, i want to maintain my weight, for me to maintain im supposed to eat about 1970 a day

    The part about having an ED makes this whole discussion trickier, and you probably need to talk to your counselor.

    That said: you're 5'10". You need way more than 1200 calories. 1970 calories sounds in the ballpark.

    You can't be gaining weight while you're undereating. It's simply not possible, even with water retention. Gently increase your calories every day, 100 or 200 calories, until you get to 1600. After a few days there, continue to increase to 1900. Your body will thank you. I promise you: there's no way you can gain weight while constyuming low calories.

    Please talk to your doctor or counselor about this.

    OP, this first quote is a little misleading. The 3rd is getting there. You may find the doctors suggest 2500 plus calories per day and minimum exercise to get your body back to functioning properly. Lots of people here have done this, it's scary, but it works, and you can be happy and healthy (and gorgeous) again.

    If you aren't eating enough, you will lose weight. Calories in, calories out. Water retention, food in gut, glycogen may mask the loss, but it will happen, sure as can be. No dispute.

    You CAN catabolise (eat) your muscles, if you are in too much deficit, and or have no fat left to burn. You can also catabolise your organs, hair, skin, calcium from bones and teeth.

    Having muscle does make your metabolism slightly higher, not much, and your muscles don't tend to run on body fat. They like to run on adequate calories and about 1g of protein per pound of muscle per day.

    You need professional support.

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