Advice would be much appreciated!!

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emmahartley2015
emmahartley2015 Posts: 3 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi all! Thanks for taking the time to read my post! Basically I am 4lbs away from reaching my target weight of 8st 7lbs (15 weeks ago I was 11stone) I have lost the weight by eating I would say on average 800-900 calories a day and am now worried what to do when I do reach my goal?! I have calculated I need 1500 calories a day to maintain my weigh (more when I exercise). Do I just increase my calorie intake straight away or do I do it gradually?!

Thanks again
Emma xxx

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Start eating 1200 calories a day right away, reaching your protein targets every day to avoid unintended consequences of extreme weight loss. Then I suggest increasing your calorie count by 50 calories a day until you find your "sweet spot". Expect your weight to fluctuate as much as ten pounds a day on water weight, so don't panic back in to extreme calorie reduction until you go outside your "range".
  • JenAndSome
    JenAndSome Posts: 1,908 Member
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    How long have you only been eating 800-900 calories a day and why so low?
  • sjohnson__1
    sjohnson__1 Posts: 405 Member
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    800-900 cals a day.. you're bound to put some back on... I would consider eating at less of a deficit as posted above. 1200 cals, starting today. Keep this until u hit your goal, and then slowly reverse into maintenance.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    it is time to start reverse dieting...add in 50-100 calories a day each week until you hit maintenance...

    but get to 1200 as quickly as possible and expect your glycogen stores to increase making it look like you have gained a couple pounds...

    but don't worry it does go away.





  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I personally would not start with 400 or 500 calories increase right off the bat. That seems extreme to me. I would make sure you start at 1000 for a week and make sure you do go ahead and weigh every day. I then would add 100 more each week until you are not seeing any weight gain and feel comfortable and you will have to sort out the increase in exercise, water retention, and if you will be adjusting your macros (protein,etc..) for the increase in the exercise...etc..

    No one's body is the same and a slow increase would be the best approach. I like to try things out before I dive in and do something that will take me backward 10 steps.
  • sjohnson__1
    sjohnson__1 Posts: 405 Member
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    gia07 wrote: »
    I personally would not start with 400 or 500 calories increase right off the bat. That seems extreme to me. I would make sure you start at 1000 for a week and make sure you do go ahead and weigh every day. I then would add 100 more each week until you are not seeing any weight gain and feel comfortable and you will have to sort out the increase in exercise, water retention, and if you will be adjusting your macros (protein,etc..) for the increase in the exercise...etc..

    No one's body is the same and a slow increase would be the best approach. I like to try things out before I dive in and do something that will take me backward 10 steps.
    Dipping below your BMR is very dangerous. Im guessing OP's BMR is not at 800-900 cals. Jump back up to AT LEAST 1200 ASAP.

  • emmahartley2015
    emmahartley2015 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks for all your feedback everyone. I appreciate that 800-900 calories seems very low I am only 5ft so when I was 11stone I was a uk size 14/16 and in the higher end over overweight on the BMI scale. I did a lot of research after having my 2nd child in August last year as I had returned to the gym and reduced calories to 1300 per day and only lost 5lbs in 3 months! To me I was very unhappy and just wanted to lose the weight as quickly as possible. I had read on the NHS website (national health service in the uk) about the vlc diet (very low calorie) which suggested 800 cals per day and decided to give it a go. Have been eating 3 healthy meals per day and taken multivitamins so I feel I have done it as responsibly as I can.

    Following your comment I am gradually going to increase my cals by 100 per week till I get to 1200 as I want to do as much damage control as possible.

    Thanks again
  • decotterell
    decotterell Posts: 47 Member
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    I just adjusted to what MFP recommended right away. The first week, I gained two pounds, but at the end of three weeks was back down to where I was when I started maintaining. Three weeks later, I had lost another couple pounds. I wasn't eating the extra calories when I exercised though. Weigh yourself every couple weeks, (not too often because our body weight normally fluctuates) and do small adjusts after that as needed. If I have lost more when I weigh in again, I will start eating the extra calories for exercise.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited April 2015
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    sjohnson__1 wrote: »
    gia07 wrote: »
    I personally would not start with 400 or 500 calories increase right off the bat. That seems extreme to me. I would make sure you start at 1000 for a week and make sure you do go ahead and weigh every day. I then would add 100 more each week until you are not seeing any weight gain and feel comfortable and you will have to sort out the increase in exercise, water retention, and if you will be adjusting your macros (protein,etc..) for the increase in the exercise...etc..

    No one's body is the same and a slow increase would be the best approach. I like to try things out before I dive in and do something that will take me backward 10 steps.
    Dipping below your BMR is very dangerous. Im guessing OP's BMR is not at 800-900 cals. Jump back up to AT LEAST 1200 ASAP.

    I understand that. I do not have the stats on OP nor do I know if this eating has been for a year or a week or a month. I also do not want to overwhelm the OP, to just do this gradually starting at 1000 calories right off the bat. then increase to 1200 then up it..

    Maybe the question to the OP is are you feeling OK? Are you having symptoms of low bood sugar, etc...

    :D:D
  • yapdog
    yapdog Posts: 33 Member
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    Pu_239 wrote: »
    Yeah increase calories by around 100 every week.

    Frankly, I don't get posts like these. You're also assuming you haven't suffered from metabolic issues from eating so low, your maintenance might be around 1,300 calories now due to to the damage done.

    Question:)
    Would there be much damage done and if so, would it be reversible to get the metabolism back to normal?

  • yapdog
    yapdog Posts: 33 Member
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    Would there be much damage done and if so, would it be reversible to get the metabolism back to normal?
  • rontafoya
    rontafoya Posts: 365 Member
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    Resume eating a normal diet, except this time, count your calories. Weigh yourself every morning nude. By doing this daily you will discover your "break even" number of calories. The number of calories you need to eat to neither lose nor gain weight. If you are gaining weight, shave a few hundred calories off. If you are still losing, go ahead and eat a bit more. In my case, break even is about 2500-2600 right now, so I eat about 2300 for a very slow but steady weight loss. Figure out what will work for you by tracking both your weight and caloric intake on a daily basis, instead of picking an amount of calories out of thin air.

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