Avoiding initial maintaining "gain" with dense foods?

alexandrakendal · July 2015

Happy summer everyone,

So I know everyone says that in the process of increasing calories and reverse dieting, that one always gains some initial weight. And that they lose it after a week or so, plus more if they haven't been eating their actual tdee.

I was wondering if the bloat and gain come just from an increased volume of food, or if the calories in themselves are what do it? I would much prefer to include denser foods or full fat ones, if they don't cause those same problems. I'm a dancer and any bloat for me is painfully noticeable.

And Will I feel more energetic just by eating more calories? Like even if I just cooked with oil instead of without...

Thanks and happy maintaining!

myfitnesspale3 · July 2015

Increasing calories for maintenance makes your body take on more water to process them. I think that's the biggest part of the weight increase. The additional water may increase your feeling of bloat.

Regarding volume vs. calories of food - "bloat" to me means volume. You can eat a lot of fiber and "gain" a lot of volume without significant calories, and STILL you will increase weight because the fiber will retain water that you would otherwise discharge sooner.

Full-fat foods are usually better for appetite control, and for reducing total calories.

I find that carbs, salt and sugar make me take on more water, than if I eat the same calories in protein and fat, with "low" salt intake and "low" sugar intake.

As for "will you feel more energetic", that's a personal mystery. For me it is a magical formula of good sleep, regular bowels, caffeine and a blood sugar level that I do not yet know. Some days energy is good and some days not.

nxd10 · July 2015

I personally never gained any initial weight when I upped my calories. And I didn't really reverse diet - I just went from a 500 calorie to 250 calorie deficit and stuck there until I started losing weight (a year). Then I upped calories again.

Personally, I bloat and hold water if I eat too many carbs. So if I added the extra calories in with bread or baked goods - which I mostly dropped - instead of protein, that would have made me gain a bit.

choligeetu · July 2015

Our body is not a scale. It has the ability to adjust and balance. So i would believe one can keep well unless he/she eats way TOO much calories.

I've had an experiment on myself of 3500 calories per day for 2 weeks, but mainly natural products, such as peanuts, sesame, soy products, but I did not gain weight for that period of time.

alexandrakendal · July 2015

Hmm well I generally don't eat tons of carbs, though I don't avoid them either-- love oatmeal and fruits-- bug I guess I won't increase my Val's with bakery and pasta. I wonder if I ought to lose a little extra to account for that glycogen you guys mentioned, but perhaps a slow increase will do the same thing. Jealous of those who just upped calls straight away, with no issues!

GaleHawkins · July 2015

choligeetu wrote: »

Our body is not a scale. It has the ability to adjust and balance. So i would believe one can keep well unless he/she eats way TOO much calories.

I've had an experiment on myself of 3500 calories per day for 2 weeks, but mainly natural products, such as peanuts, sesame, soy products, but I did not gain weight for that period of time.

That supports the idea when we get healthy the brain can go back to managing our body weight like it did before something triggered us getting fat.

psuLemon · July 2015

If you maintained volume but just increase the density of foods, then you shouldn't see much if any weight increase when transitioning to maintenance. But if you did, lets say low carb, and then added a bunch of carbs (regardless of source), you will see an increase in weight due to glycogen stores being replenished. Having said that, I rarely notice increase in my weight when I got from a cut to maintenance as I tend to eat more calorie dense foods.

xLoveLikeWinterx · July 2015

I recently increased my cals 250 for my first week of sliding slowly into maintenance. Weight went up 1 lb after my 1st day of increase, stayed up for 4 days, then back down again plus a bit (obviously because I'm not at maintenance yet). I added in more protein and fats, so not much more volume but some (I like peanut butter and I'm eating more of it). Experiment a bit and see.

cwolfman13 · July 2015

alexandrakendal wrote: »

Happy summer everyone,

So I know everyone says that in the process of increasing calories and reverse dieting, that one always gains some initial weight. And that they lose it after a week or so, plus more if they haven't been eating their actual tdee.

I was wondering if the bloat and gain come just from an increased volume of food, or if the calories in themselves are what do it? I would much prefer to include denser foods or full fat ones, if they don't cause those same problems. I'm a dancer and any bloat for me is painfully noticeable.

And Will I feel more energetic just by eating more calories? Like even if I just cooked with oil instead of without...

Thanks and happy maintaining!

you put on some scale weight because you are now eating more...so you are replenish chronically depleted glycogen stores (this is a good thing) and you are obviously going to have more inherent waste in your system since you are ingesting more food...

alexandrakendal · July 2015

I'm getting conflicting answers about weight gain, but I guess the food density is t what's gonna cause it. I need some motivation to up my calories instead of losing some extra "safety" pounds first. I'll be honest: I have disordered eating habits and accidentally somewhat got to myself now to a bmi of 17.9. I love the way I look now, and so does everyone else, so I'm terrified of gaining weight.im gonna do at least a hundred fifty extra today.

MarziPanda95 · July 2015

alexandrakendal wrote: »

I'm getting conflicting answers about weight gain, but I guess the food density is t what's gonna cause it. I need some motivation to up my calories instead of losing some extra "safety" pounds first. I'll be honest: I have disordered eating habits and accidentally somewhat got to myself now to a bmi of 17.9. I love the way I look now, and so does everyone else, so I'm terrified of gaining weight.im gonna do at least a hundred fifty extra today.

You know you have disordered eating habits, and you know you're underweight, and you're worrying over a couple of extra pounds of water weight, and you're terrified of gaining weight. Maybe it's time to see a medical professional for some help for these issues? Please don't lose any more weight.

psuLemon · July 2015

MarziPanda95 wrote: »

alexandrakendal wrote: »

I'm getting conflicting answers about weight gain, but I guess the food density is t what's gonna cause it. I need some motivation to up my calories instead of losing some extra "safety" pounds first. I'll be honest: I have disordered eating habits and accidentally somewhat got to myself now to a bmi of 17.9. I love the way I look now, and so does everyone else, so I'm terrified of gaining weight.im gonna do at least a hundred fifty extra today.

You know you have disordered eating habits, and you know you're underweight, and you're worrying over a couple of extra pounds of water weight, and you're terrified of gaining weight. Maybe it's time to see a medical professional for some help for these issues? Please don't lose any more weight.

Yea, especially on the therapy.

OP, honestly none of us will be able to tell you if you will gain back a few lbs. But even if you gain some due to, glycogen replenishment, extra waste in the GI tract, additional sodium or whatever, you wont notice it. You cant see a difference of a few lbs on a person. You also have to remember that a person gains 5 to 7lbs + daily from eating food.

Avoiding initial maintaining "gain" with dense foods?

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