1500 calories over weekend and gaining weight?

kirzz92 · July 2015

Hi friends..

So before everyone tells me I'm eating too little, here's the thing. I'm 23, only 151cm. So I'm small!!

I eat around 1200 during the week and I feel really good. I exercise 4 days a week and am very strict with regards to what type of food goes into my body.

Over the weekend, I tend to let loose a little.. I eat whatever I want but generally never go over 1500 calories... but I always gain weight!!
Is 1500 too much for my tiny frame??? I am pretty sedentary over the weekend...

arditarose · July 2015

Is that a current profile picture? It seems you should not be in a deficit at all.

brianpperkins · July 2015

Normal bodily weight fluctuations and water retention. You are not gaining fat if you are active and consuming 1500 calories ... period.

When you say you gain weight ... 2-3 pounds?

What do you currently weigh?

kirzz92 · July 2015

I currently weigh 44kgs... I'm not trying to lose weight but maintain... I usually pick up about 5 lbs. Was just curious as to the science behind it..
Just seemed strange because I know 1500 is not a lot so seemed strange that I'd weigh more

brianpperkins · July 2015

You should probably eat a lot more than 1200 if you want to maintain with the activity level you claim.

ninerbuff · July 2015

Weight can fluctuate 5lb easily. Realize that 5lbs of fat weight is a consumption of 17,500.

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kirzz92 · July 2015

Thank you... I've been trying to add things such as nuts n avo n shakes during the week to increase caloric intake.. I teach usually 9 hours straight with no lunch break.. so its hard to find time to eat. But I'm trying hard.

GeckoSupervisor · July 2015

Are you gaining weight consistently, or do you just see a couple pound increase on Monday-Tuesday? If there is not a consistent upward trend, then the extra weight is probably water (if you are eating salty foods you will retain a lot more water), and maybe even stool (extra food intake = more matter to digest).
If you are gaining weight consistently even at only 1200 cals with the occasional 1500 cal day, you might want to see a doctor or nutritionist, because even at your height, 1200 cals seems low for maintenance when you are also exercising.
(Actually, I just checked, and for a person who is 4'11", weighing 90 or so pounds, 1200 cals is actually less than BMR, so you may want to evaluate your intake and/or talk to a doctor.)

Annie_01 · July 2015

1500 should be your maintenance with activity level a lightly active. So eating at 1200 is slightly more than 1/2lb a week loss.

Sounds as if it is water weight on the weekends.

macgurlnet · July 2015

I'm the same height as you and even if I get a minimal amount of movement in, I maintain on 1400 calories. So 1200 isn't that far off until you start factoring in your activity.

With that being said, you're probably at least lightly active in your day-to-day life as a teacher - unless you're sitting for the majority of those 9 hours? That would probably mean you're looking at 1600ish calories to maintain, plus at least 50% of your exercise calories. Fuel your workouts - you may not feel tired now but it could catch up to you. Nuts are your friend as they pack a nice calorie punch for the relatively low volume; you might even be able to just eat them while you're teaching (not sure if the school has a policy that would prevent that?).

That aside...what are you eating on weekends? Higher amounts of carbs and/or sodium will mean you'll hold on to some extra water weight. My weight will fluctuate 2-4 pounds in that case. Drink lots of water and the weight will come right back off

~Lyssa

kirzz92 · July 2015

Thanks guys...
I actually do see a doctor with regards to my weight... I was 61 kgs last year but being 21 was drinking waaaaay too many cocktails. I quit drinking, started running and the weight fell off... people were worried because I looked really different. But in truth they were just used to me being a lot bigger and unhealthier.. I see a doc every 3 months or so and my weight stabilised around 43kgs. So even though it's low.. my doc agreed that's where my body seems happy at, I've had my bloods done regularly and feel great!!

It is strange to me that 1200 is maintenance and I exercise... its almost like I have a super slow metabolism, but I'm content and feel good at this amount.. its just scary for me to eat more as like I said, weekends I gain on 1500 and wasn't sure what the weight gain was from so was paranoid to increase during the week incase the weight gain just continues.

Being over weight was a very unhappy time for me... I had a very low self esteem and low energy levels

macgurlnet · July 2015

One more thing....

Are you using a food scale for your solids and measuring cups/spoons for all liquids? If not, it's possible you're eating more than you think you are - which in this case isn't a bad thing since you've found maintenance, more or less. But weighing things gives you a more accurate number, which can be very helpful

~Lyssa

kirzz92 · July 2015

macgurlnet wrote: »

One more thing....

Are you using a food scale for your solids and measuring cups/spoons for all liquids? If not, it's possible you're eating more than you think you are - which in this case isn't a bad thing since you've found maintenance, more or less. But weighing things gives you a more accurate number, which can be very helpful

~Lyssa

Hi lyssa,

Thanks for your feedback
I really appreciate it!
I'm pretty pedantic. I teach maths so numbers are my life lol. Everything gets measured and I won't usually eat pre cooked food as I'm not sure what's in it. I will only eat individual food if that makes sense, ie; fish. Vegetables. Potato.
never curry as I'm unsure of ingredients....
Perhaps on the weekends it's more though as I don't usually measure then!

macgurlnet · July 2015

kirzz92 wrote: »

macgurlnet wrote: »

One more thing....

Are you using a food scale for your solids and measuring cups/spoons for all liquids? If not, it's possible you're eating more than you think you are - which in this case isn't a bad thing since you've found maintenance, more or less. But weighing things gives you a more accurate number, which can be very helpful

~Lyssa

Hi lyssa,

Thanks for your feedback
I really appreciate it!
I'm pretty pedantic. I teach maths so numbers are my life lol. Everything gets measured and I won't usually eat pre cooked food as I'm not sure what's in it. I will only eat individual food if that makes sense, ie; fish. Vegetables. Potato.
never curry as I'm unsure of ingredients....
Perhaps on the weekends it's more though as I don't usually measure then!

Sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on your food intake, then. That's awesome!

If you haven't, I would recommend you check out the recipe builder on here - you can weigh out the individual ingredients raw as you go along and save the whole thing as X number of servings and divide it up after. Since I'm just cooking for me, I'll portion out the recipe into however many containers I need and call it good enough. Some may have more food than others but it evens out.

If you want to be more particular, some folks here will go a few steps further and weigh the pan the food will be cooked in before adding any ingredients. Then, after cooking, they weigh it again with the meal ready to eat and log that number of grams as the number of servings.

So, if the pan weighs 800 grams and the pan + food weighs 1500 grams after cooking, they'll log the servings as 700 (the difference between the cooked weight and the weight of the pan). From there, they can measure out their portion in grams and log it accordingly, with a 50g serving being logged as 50 servings.

I did a terrible job of explaining that but I really hope it made sense.

~Lyssa

1500 calories over weekend and gaining weight?

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