Is my calorie intake too high?

korpi
korpi Posts: 25 Member
edited November 17 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5'2" and in the last month gained 5 lbs. I'm coming out of an ACL tear and surgery - where I had lost 2 lbs, and I know some of the gained back weight is muscle, but not all of it. I'm really trying to stop gaining and lose at least 3 lbs to my normal weight. My normal range is 110 to 112 lbs, which I've maintained for years, and now I''m up to 116. I know it's not crazy weight gain, but I want to stop it!

I'm trying to eat at 1300 to 1400 cals a day, but I've been weighing my food and being honest, and I'm always a bit over, but only by 50 to 150. I work out 4 times a week for an hour. Anyone going through something similar or have some advice about where to cut?

Replies

  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    If you've just gotten back into exercise following your surgery it's likely fluid retention. Just stick with what you're doing and it will even out :).
  • korpi
    korpi Posts: 25 Member
    Thanks, I hope so, seems like I should be use to exercise by now, the surgery was 3 months ago. But ok:)
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Ah, right, I thought you'd only just started exercising again in the last few weeks.

    How often are you weighing? Like, is that a 5lb change from the last time you weighed yourself, or has it been going up each week?
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    if you're eating 1450-1500 cals a day and weighting and measuring everything you have not put muscle on. Muscle needs a calorie surplus to build it.

    What exercise are you doing?

    How long have you been at 116 - it could just be water retention from a salt heavy meal.
  • korpi
    korpi Posts: 25 Member
    I weigh in every day, but I have a Withings scale that shows the trend, so I can see the curve over weeks/months and since the last 4 weeks it's been steadily going up. I've been at 114-116 for about a week.

    For exercise I do 30 to 45 mins of cardio - elliptical, bike, and my physical therapist just allowed me to start running today (I'm very happy about that). Then I usually do 20 mins of strengthening exercises for my leg - lunges, leg presses, balancing/coordination, etc. and once a week yoga.

    I also drink 2 liters of water a day at work, so that should help water retention, if that were it.

    Thanks a lot for your responses:)
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    Odd are you are eating more that you think. you have two days in your diary that (I hope) are not filled in and you have entries like 1/2 slice of pizza.

    Do you actually weigh everything? 61.5g of raspberries, 33g of bread, 5.25oz of wine they all seem a very odd amounts.

    Also you are not building a lot of muscle with that exercise routine - sorry.
  • korpi
    korpi Posts: 25 Member
    edited April 2015
    No- im just trying to build back the muscle that I loss from the surgery- my doc measures the circumference and a lot has come back. But no, the weight isn't muscle.
    I use a digital scale, so yeah, the measurements are accurate. With half of my boyfriends pizza slice, it's obviously an estimate, but this is as accurate as I can really get

    On Friday and Saturday I went out to eat and didn't log- I know I eat relatively healthy, so I give myself normally a day a week not to log and just relax. But I hope one day off isn't ruining my weight.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    Since you lost 2lbs after the surgery its a good bet that you may have gained 2lbs back in muscle due to muscle memory - taking you back to your original weight. But you say you are now 4lbs over your maintaining weight pre surgery. And that weight has come on slowly over a period of 4 weeks so roughly 1/2-1lb a week.

    All things being equal you are eating too much, a hundred calories a day due to not logging correctly combines with a few hundred on your normal days can easily equal 1/2lb a week of weight with the extra couple of lbs being normal fluctuations.

    BUT ignoring the scale how do you look and feel. Are you happy with how you look? If so then stop weighing everyday - it's just a number, no one can see you're 2 whole lbs over your normal weight. If you are not happy with how you look, then yes - you will need to tighten your weighing.

    Not every apple is 100g, measure your glass of wine - I do when I'm cutting. At your size to stay within such a small range you need to be stricter - most people I know have a range at maintenance of 5lbs to account for natural swings in weight. Salt, hormones, food blow outs etc.

    (also you're not preggo are you?)
  • korpi
    korpi Posts: 25 Member
    haha, preggo no! hopefully BC pill is doing it's job. I guess you're right, I just hate the fact that I'm gaining with the same eating habits that I've always had. It's so frustrating that so little can have such a big impact. I do feel good, but some pants are tighter, and I'd rather they not be:) it's uncomfortable to wear tighter pants at work all day!
  • korpi
    korpi Posts: 25 Member
    and thanks again for the input. It's nice to have some support - I hate being frustrated about this, but I am.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    korpi wrote: »
    and thanks again for the input. It's nice to have some support - I hate being frustrated about this, but I am.

    No problem - it's so frustrating that it's so easy to add on the weight - esp when it creeps on slowly - that's how it get you, with a stealthy attack :wink:
  • SarahHowells1
    SarahHowells1 Posts: 132 Member
    If you were really eating 1,300 - 1,400 calories a day you would not have gained 5lb in a months. In fact you would have lost roughly 3lbs.

    Based on being a 5'2 female with an average of 30mins a day of moderate exercise (you said 4 x 1 hour per week), and 7 hours sleep per night, you should be able to maintain a weight of 112lb while eating 1,788 calories per day give/take 100 calories or so.

    Information from - http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced (this calculator is a very precise metabolic calculator)

    I would agree with Iron_Feline - get stricter on the measurements, don't take days off recording your intake if you want to lose weight - if you haven't yet you can get the MFP app on you phone, that way you can quickly record what you are eating when going out for meals.
  • korpi
    korpi Posts: 25 Member
    edited April 2015
    1788 is a lot! Thanks for the calculator - that's really cool! I have a fitbit, and it's already at 9 km and 12,300 steps at 5 pm, so I logged that as best I could (included gym session this morning, 4 hrs of standing at my desk today, etc.) - it says my base metabolic rate is 1283 and total energy expenditure so far is 2333- so in that case if I at 1800 cals today, I'd still lose, right?
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    korpi wrote: »
    1788 is a lot! Thanks for the calculator - that's really cool! I have a fitbit, and it's already at 9 km and 12,300 steps at 5 pm, so I logged that as best I could (included gym session this morning, 4 hrs of standing at my desk today, etc.) - it says my base metabolic rate is 1283 and total energy expenditure so far is 2333- so in that case if I at 1800 cals today, I'd still lose, right?

    In theory. Try it for 4 weeks and then adjust. You need a few weeks to let your body adjust to the change.
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