Gained weight the first few days of eating back calories?

purplerose421 · May 2011

Hi everyone,

So, I'm new to posting on here but figured I could use all the help I could get! I've lost a total of 40 lbs from Weight Watchers over the last year, but I'm just not the biggest fan of the new program. Plus, I'd like to be able to lose weight and maintain once I get to my goal weight without paying their fees for the rest of my life!

Anyway, I've been using MFP for a while now. I didn't track or exercise for March and half of April because I was having health problems with my stomach which was later diagnosed as gastritis. Anyway, I started tracking again and working out again and wasn't losing weight at all. I finally stumbled on to the blogs and found out about eating back calories from exercise. I've been doing that the past few days and I got on the scale this morning and I had gained a little over a pound! I know it's not much, but it freaked me out! Before this, I was having somewhere around 700 net calories a day which I now realize is too low.
Is this my body's way of overcompensating for me not eating enough? How long should I try eating back the calories before I try to reevaluate my calorie goal?

BTW, I'm 5'2 and 178. I work out between 4-6 days a week for 45 minutes to an hour. 3 days out of the week I add in strength training to my regular cardio.

Thanks for the help! I sometimes get a little overwhelmed by the amount of information out there! :happy:

ladybg81 · May 2011

This is not quite the same but it might help. I reached my goal weight about 2 weeks ago and upped my intake by 200-300 per day. I gained 4 pounds but did not lower my eating. I got on the scale this morning and was back at my goal. It figure it was my body adjusting to the change. Maybe give it more time.

lisapickering · May 2011

A few days isn't long enough to figure anything out. Your body is probably hanging onto the calories because it's used to not getting enough. I would give it a couple of weeks before you make any changes.

RyonsLions2 · May 2011

Just try to keep your net cals at 1200 to 1250 everyday and stay at this for at least a week or two and you should start seeing loss. I am going to send you something that may help you jump start your metabolism. Also, a link to a site.

japhillips91 · May 2011

Yes, once you start consuming less than around 1200 Calories, your body goes into a sort of starvation mode where it tries to conserve that calories you are eating.

Daisy_May · May 2011

I gained the first couple of days I upped my calories, then had a BIG drop after a week. Wait it out is what I would suggest!

BeckyKSmith · May 2011

If this is a one time occurance, it could be water from that time of the month. Other things to think about...did you take Tylenol? That will put on a pound or 2 in 24 hours. How about sodium?
I find that I lose more when I eat my exercise calories. Another awesome concept you could try is zig-zagging. With that, you might "net" (be sure it is your "net" number) 1200 calories one day, then net 1500-1700 for a day or two and go back down to 1200 or even a little less. This keeps you metabolism "guessing" so it doesn't settle into getting used to the low 1200 calories we starve it with. When your body gets used to the 1200 calories, it lowers your metabolism to adjust to it. If you eat more (sometimes up to 2000 cal) every other day or every 3rd day, your body won't "settle" into the low calories by lowering your metabolism..............worked for me anyways.

The same goes for exercise. If you do the same exercise (ex elliptical) 3 times a week every week for a month, your body will get used to it and you won't burn as many calories doing it, you really need to switch it up. I heard that Turbofire DVD's and Insanity are great for that.

Good, luck....hang in there....I have done weight watchers for years and MFP has kept me on track much longer!!!

beth40n2 · May 2011

I have been using MFP since last May to keep track of my calories and my calories burned. For most of that time I only used my iPod touch and had never been in the forums. I had been eating between 1200-1300 calories a day. I got to a plateau and could not loose. When I went to see the doctor for my anual physical he said 1200 calories a day was way to low, your body gets used to it and your metabolizm slows down, then when you eat more, you gain. Also about the same time I came on here on the internet and started reading the forums, and heard about eating my calories back. I tried it several times, and each time, I gained a couple of pounds and stopped.

Finally after readying it many times and listening to my doctor, I decided I had to eat by my exercise calories and keep it up. It works. Actually eating more caloreis in the morning will kick start your metabolism and helps you to burn more calories per day. I also do most of my exercise in the morning, which meant getting up early, but there too, it gets your metabolism moving. I now average 1500-1600 calories per day and am loosing faster than I ever did before.

cjwilson57 · May 2011

I seem to be stuck also. I have 10 lbs to go. I'-m eating 1200 cals a day and running 30'-40 mins a day 4x week.

purplerose421 · May 2011

Wow! Thanks for all the replies! Why haven't I been using the message boards before??

I figured I needed to give it a few days, so I will!

Thanks again, everyone!

cee134 · May 2011

I'm not sure if anyone figures this in or not but the closer one gets to the target weight, the more one has to work to keep the weight off. That is to say, if one is 200 lbs the body will burn off more calories running 30 minutes then when one is 120 lbs doing the same exercise. So the weight and calories burned always needs to be reconfigured when weighting less. Hope this helps.

Gained weight the first few days of eating back calories?

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