How could I possibly be gaining?

fevre
fevre Posts: 60 Member
edited September 25 in Food and Nutrition
I hit 133 a couple of weeks ago and since then have plateaued and gained 2 pounds. I have been keeping to my diet pretty well (1300 calories) and if I have gone over, it's been by less than 100 calories. So how on earth am I gaining if I am DEFINITELY eating under 1500 calories a day?

Part of me sees all those threads on here about eating too little and slowing down the metabolism, but since my only exercise is living in New York City (and thus walking everywhere) it seems impossible to me that 1300-1350 calories/day could be too little! Is it really possible that I could have to eat less? I'm so close to my goal weight, but I'm afraid that I'll reach it and have to keep eating 1300 cal/day just to maintain!

Replies

  • amycal
    amycal Posts: 646 Member
    I am in a similar situation - lost 24 pounds and then jumped up 2 or 3 in the past week UGH. I have been trying to calorie cycle and even eat a little more every day. I have the Body Media which shows I burn close to 3000 calories on my high activity days so I am afraid I might have been eating too little. Also I tried Body Combat twice this week which is a new class for me. I know you walk a lot but try to add in something else - even a little jogging and/or stair climbing to do intervals of intensity and then go up and down on calories.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,330 Member
    I need more information. How tall are you. What is your BMR (a calculator to estimate it is on the TOOLS secton). If you are getting close to your final goal that means more calories, not less. Maybe slowly go up to your BMR over the next week or two, and see what happens, say add 100 calories a week or so to your calories allowed. See what happens, but if your weight starts to go up, you will want to know it quickly, and don't go over your BMR for now.
  • Meggie_pooh
    Meggie_pooh Posts: 316 Member
    I actually had this problem 2 weeks ago, so I upped my workout time from 30 minutes a day to 60 minues a day and my calories allowed went from 1340 a day to 1260 a day. Now I am losing steadily again :bigsmile: I also went from drinking 6 glasses of water to 9 glasses of water a day. Hope this info helps!
  • fevre
    fevre Posts: 60 Member
    I need more information. How tall are you. What is your BMR (a calculator to estimate it is on the TOOLS secton). If you are getting close to your final goal that means more calories, not less. Maybe slowly go up to your BMR over the next week or two, and see what happens, say add 100 calories a week or so to your calories allowed. See what happens, but if your weight starts to go up, you will want to know it quickly, and don't go over your BMR for now.

    I'm 5'8" and I see now my BMR is 1,436. I'll try raising my goal to 1400 and not going over it, and I'll see what happens.
  • GypsyRoaddog
    GypsyRoaddog Posts: 80 Member
    i gained 4# my first week here & was under my calorie intake every day! I think it's not a concern as long as we stick with the plan --look at people's tickers~it definitely works-- for me, I reduced my daily calorie intake. I give no advice; others whom have been here longer will know better what to say, but I know it's not uncommon to gain a bit, even at first. I have been involved in healthy eating and nutrition for years, tho' and I can say with certainty that the keys are balance and consistency.

    Keep Your Eyes On The Prize! (Dr. MLK quote:>)

    gyps
  • fevre
    fevre Posts: 60 Member
    i gained 4# my first week here & was under my calorie intake every day! I think it's not a concern as long as we stick with the plan --look at people's tickers~it definitely works-- for me, I reduced my daily calorie intake. I give no advice; others whom have been here longer will know better what to say, but I know it's not uncommon to gain a bit, even at first. I have been involved in healthy eating and nutrition for years, tho' and I can say with certainty that the keys are balance and consistency.

    Keep Your Eyes On The Prize! (Dr. MLK quote:>)

    gyps

    Well my concern is that the diet was working amazingly for me at first - I was well ahead of all of my weight goals, until suddenly I plateaued and started gaining with no changes made to my diet!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,330 Member
    Sometimes it is just a matter of shaking things up. I have found as I get closer to my goal, that I have to slow down the weight loss with higher calorie amounts so I keep losing. The other advantage of this ramping up is that it prepares you for maintenance time when you are done with the losses.
  • antisocialista
    antisocialista Posts: 17
    I kept the same calories per day but readjusted what I was eating to bump up the protein. I also significantly increased my water intake. This helped me a lot with reversing minor gains/stalls and made a major difference overall.

    Make sure you are getting at least 60g protein per day and try drinking 3 liters of water every day.
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