weight and cals

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i havent fully ever had a day where i let myself eat the 1900 cals that i am allowed to "maintain" my weight...its been about 3 weeks of maintaining... im still working out consistently but now im scared to eat the 1900 cals and stick to 1500-1600 because i am steadily staying at 135 lbs which was my goal weight... if i jump up to 1900 cals i am going to end up gaining weight at this rate!

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  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    i havent fully ever had a day where i let myself eat the 1900 cals that i am allowed to "maintain" my weight...its been about 3 weeks of maintaining... im still working out consistently but now im scared to eat the 1900 cals and stick to 1500-1600 because i am steadily staying at 135 lbs which was my goal weight... if i jump up to 1900 cals i am going to end up gaining weight at this rate!

    Sounds right. You maintenance calorie goal is just an estimate. If your weight is holding steady at 1600, then that is your correct maintenance count.
  • griersonwedding2015
    griersonwedding2015 Posts: 38 Member
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    okay good
  • moribunny
    moribunny Posts: 417 Member
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    You could still try moving up your calories in small increments (if you want, of course) and see where your weight is then. Like moving up 100 calories and do that for a few weeks to see where your weight is at that point.
  • griersonwedding2015
    griersonwedding2015 Posts: 38 Member
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    thanks!!! :) i had an awful eating day today definitely regretting it. gonna have to cut back to 1200 cals for tomorrow!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    i havent fully ever had a day where i let myself eat the 1900 cals that i am allowed to "maintain" my weight...its been about 3 weeks of maintaining... im still working out consistently but now im scared to eat the 1900 cals and stick to 1500-1600 because i am steadily staying at 135 lbs which was my goal weight... if i jump up to 1900 cals i am going to end up gaining weight at this rate!

    Sounds right. You maintenance calorie goal is just an estimate. If your weight is holding steady at 1600, then that is your correct maintenance count.

    This is not necessarily true. It's been three weeks. If she is at a tiny deficit still, it could take quite awhile for it to show. Same goes for being in a tiny surplus.

    Try upping 100 calories this week. I'm going through the same thing. I've been maintaining on 1800 for a month, I'm going to try 1900 this week.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    i havent fully ever had a day where i let myself eat the 1900 cals that i am allowed to "maintain" my weight...its been about 3 weeks of maintaining... im still working out consistently but now im scared to eat the 1900 cals and stick to 1500-1600 because i am steadily staying at 135 lbs which was my goal weight... if i jump up to 1900 cals i am going to end up gaining weight at this rate!

    Sounds right. You maintenance calorie goal is just an estimate. If your weight is holding steady at 1600, then that is your correct maintenance count.

    This is not necessarily true. It's been three weeks. If she is at a tiny deficit still, it could take quite awhile for it to show. Same goes for being in a tiny surplus.

    Try upping 100 calories this week. I'm going through the same thing. I've been maintaining on 1800 for a month, I'm going to try 1900 this week.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    bunnyxhime wrote: »
    You could still try moving up your calories in small increments (if you want, of course) and see where your weight is then. Like moving up 100 calories and do that for a few weeks to see where your weight is at that point.

    ^^ I would encourage this method too, worked for me :smile:
  • mikepink1955
    mikepink1955 Posts: 7 Member
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    Hi all. Some good advice given. I will be approaching my goal weight not too far down the road also and I am wanting to know more about maintenance. I understand what Grierson is saying. I am continually under my daily caloric intake, exercise and I too am wondering how I will slow or stop the weight loss and just keep it there. To just add a 100 or so calories more a day and watch and see is a start good. But I need calories and I am struggling to find them in a suitable form. I am limited on sodium and have to watch added sugars. Maybe just drink more protein shakes?
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    @mikepink1955 sure you could try protein drinks, to keep you feeling fuller for longer -or just add more in the form of chicken/steak/tuna/pork/nuts/beans etc.

    Some people bump their cals right away to maintenance calories and add 250-500 cals a day, the reason for the slower increase is to stop what looks like gain when really its only our glycogen stores replenishing and not a real gain.

    I don't like salt at all but preparing my own meals means its easy to eliminate the salt. Anything pre-made is inclined to be high on the sodium. The same goes for sugars, easy to cut way back on that when preparing food ourselves :smile:

    Its about trial and error and finding what works personally for you :smile:
  • mikepink1955
    mikepink1955 Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks for the help. :-)
  • griersonwedding2015
    griersonwedding2015 Posts: 38 Member
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    @RunRutheeRun so you think i should just slowly add in more calories and that maybe my slight gains are glycogen? wednesday-sat i was off from the gym due to being sick and i did eat more calories i never went over what my "maintain" calories says which since im lightly active it says to maintain i can have 1930 and i always stayed under that while being lazy and indulging while sick and today was first day back at gym and i was 135.4 on tuesday and today i was 136.8 im trying to not freak out and am gonna try and stay at 1500 cals this week. maybe even 1400! i just dont wanna end up gaining!!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited June 2015
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    @griersonwedding2015 yes, it most certainly is glycogen, what I did was upped my cals slowly, even then I was getting some gain but overall at the end of each month I was maintaining my weight range nicely. Be patient, don't panic over fluctuations and give it a few months. It took me 4 months of upping gradually to realise that I gained eating more than 2300 cals. Just give it time and enjoy eating the extra calories :smile:

    I don't think you need to go as low as 1400!! you don't want to get your body used to that, I would advise you to eat around 1700-1800 cals and no less. Give it a few weeks and then you could try 1900-2000.
  • griersonwedding2015
    griersonwedding2015 Posts: 38 Member
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    thank you so much for the input!!! @RunRutheeRun
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Being scared of eating, irrational fear of weight gain from a tiny surplus and trying to micro manage your weight day to day by over-reacting to normal fluctuations from diet or exercise is not a healthy or happy way to maintain your weight.

    Take a deep breath, stop looking day to day, stop thinking you to need to instantly cut calories tomorrow because you went over today.

    You have lost 54lbs!! That's wonderful - be happy not stressed, be vigilant not obsessed.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    weight fluctuates - you shouldn't have a goal number, you should have a maintenance range.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    Have a goal range rather than a goal weight so say 132-138lbs.

    Up your calories slowly over time. If your weight ends up consistently over 138 lbs for more than 3 weeks slowly cut your calories back down until it has stabilised within the range.

    Enjoy life ;)
  • 365andstillalive
    365andstillalive Posts: 663 Member
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    i havent fully ever had a day where i let myself eat the 1900 cals that i am allowed to "maintain" my weight...its been about 3 weeks of maintaining... im still working out consistently but now im scared to eat the 1900 cals and stick to 1500-1600 because i am steadily staying at 135 lbs which was my goal weight... if i jump up to 1900 cals i am going to end up gaining weight at this rate!

    You're micromanaging a bit too much, honestly. When most people hit maitenence, they identify a range, not a specific pound: something more like 132-138. Our bodies aren't going to be the same weight every day.

    You're scared, you're obsessing, and you're restricting unnecessarily; you need to move through it or see someone about it because those aren't healthy behaviours.
  • griersonwedding2015
    griersonwedding2015 Posts: 38 Member
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    thanks you guys! :)@TavistockToad @msf74
    this post was a little old. haha i have moved on and definitely havent been panicking about my weight @365andstillalive