Eating Over Maintenance But Not Gaining

cgchow
cgchow Posts: 10 Member
edited February 2016 in Food and Nutrition
Hello! This has been stumping me for a bit now. I m a 22 y/o female who is 5 4". About a year ago, I had a depressive episode that caused me to lose about 10-15 pounds of weight due to severely decreased appetite. I still remained very active (60 min cardio probably per day and super light weight training). I look horrible and feel pretty bony and gross-- and my friends have commented. It s awkward when size 0 jeans are sagging on me. Anyway, I got on a new therapy route, and things in my home life are getting much better. I m starting to relax more and the appetite is definitely back. Here s the thing: I m eating well over maintenance (according to all of the calcs and equations) and have been for a month or two now. I ve also cut back on cardio to about 2-3 times per week, and usually steady-state under an hour. It seems like I should be gaining, but I m not. Are all of these calculators completely wrong? Or is my body still adjusting? Thank you so much for taking the time to read this novel haha!

Replies

  • jleach033
    jleach033 Posts: 1 Member
    edited February 2016
    There's a chance you're hyper metabolic. It is pretty common when initially increasing your caloric intake after a long period of restricted calories.
  • cgchow
    cgchow Posts: 10 Member
    jleach033 wrote: »
    There's a chance you're hyper metabolic. It is pretty common when initially increasing your caloric intake after a long period of restricted calories.

    That's a thing?! So do you know about how much I should be eating if that's the case?

    Thanks for the response :)
  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    jleach033 wrote: »
    There's a chance you're hyper metabolic. It is pretty common when initially increasing your caloric intake after a long period of restricted calories.

    nah lol
    your maintaining level is just higher
    The calculators are all estimations

    You are probably more active than you think or calculated for. So be happy lol you can eat even more than you thought you would ended up with ;)

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  • BurnWithBarn2015
    BurnWithBarn2015 Posts: 1,026 Member
    edited February 2016
    btw i have the same thing
    Given maintaining level around 1800 to 1850 TDEE but i eat well over 2000
    And maybe even losing on that


    Slowly but still i lost a pound last month So now waiting what will happen.
  • cgchow
    cgchow Posts: 10 Member
    BurnWithBarn2015 wrote: »
    btw i have the same thing
    Given maintaining level around 1800 to 1850 TDEE but i eat well over 2000
    And maybe even losing on that


    Slowly but still i lost a pound last month So now waiting what will happen.

    Thanks for the responses! Keep me updated on how your progress goes.
    All the calcs say my maintenance is around 1600, but I'm definitely hitting around 1800 or more... I think I lost a bit initially, too. Now just maintaining. I want to get away from being under 100 lbs though
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    cgchow wrote: »
    Hello! This has been stumping me for a bit now. I m a 22 y/o female who is 5 4". About a year ago, I had a depressive episode that caused me to lose about 10-15 pounds of weight due to severely decreased appetite. I still remained very active (60 min cardio probably per day and super light weight training). I look horrible and feel pretty bony and gross-- and my friends have commented. It s awkward when size 0 jeans are sagging on me. Anyway, I got on a new therapy route, and things in my home life are getting much better. I m starting to relax more and the appetite is definitely back. Here s the thing: I m eating well over maintenance (according to all of the calcs and equations) and have been for a month or two now. I ve also cut back on cardio to about 2-3 times per week, and usually steady-state under an hour. It seems like I should be gaining, but I m not. Are all of these calculators completely wrong? Or is my body still adjusting? Thank you so much for taking the time to read this novel haha!


    Your body tells you what your maintenance level is

    Not calculators which provide estimates, based on averages, with margins of error of up to 20%

    I have to eat over my weekly calorie allowance from MFP/ Fitbit and my HRM by 1500-2000 to stay in a maintenance range

    Just keep judging against your body over time a
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    jleach033 wrote: »
    There's a chance you're hyper metabolic. It is pretty common when initially increasing your caloric intake after a long period of restricted calories.

    ROFLOL!

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    cgchow wrote: »
    jleach033 wrote: »
    There's a chance you're hyper metabolic. It is pretty common when initially increasing your caloric intake after a long period of restricted calories.

    That's a thing?! So do you know about how much I should be eating if that's the case?

    Thanks for the response :)

    No that's not a thing

    That's a "you what now?"
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
    Don't use online calculations as an exact measurement. Your tdee is just higher than your intake. If your not eating enough you'll lose weight and vice versa
  • cgchow
    cgchow Posts: 10 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    cgchow wrote: »
    Hello! This has been stumping me for a bit now. I m a 22 y/o female who is 5 4". About a year ago, I had a depressive episode that caused me to lose about 10-15 pounds of weight due to severely decreased appetite. I still remained very active (60 min cardio probably per day and super light weight training). I look horrible and feel pretty bony and gross-- and my friends have commented. It s awkward when size 0 jeans are sagging on me. Anyway, I got on a new therapy route, and things in my home life are getting much better. I m starting to relax more and the appetite is definitely back. Here s the thing: I m eating well over maintenance (according to all of the calcs and equations) and have been for a month or two now. I ve also cut back on cardio to about 2-3 times per week, and usually steady-state under an hour. It seems like I should be gaining, but I m not. Are all of these calculators completely wrong? Or is my body still adjusting? Thank you so much for taking the time to read this novel haha!


    Your body tells you what your maintenance level is

    Not calculators which provide estimates, based on averages, with margins of error of up to 20%

    I have to eat over my weekly calorie allowance from MFP/ Fitbit and my HRM by 1500-2000 to stay in a maintenance range

    Just keep judging against your body over time a

    That sounds logical. Guess I'll just keep increasing my intake and see what happens.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    You're eating over what some calculator says is your maintenance based on population statistical averages...if you're maintaining then you are not eating over maintenance...these calculators are just reasonably good estimations to start with...you have to make adjustments as per your actual results...these calculators aren't some kind of gospel or anything like that.
  • cgchow
    cgchow Posts: 10 Member
    edited February 2016
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    You're eating over what some calculator says is your maintenance based on population statistical averages...if you're maintaining then you are not eating over maintenance...these calculators are just reasonably good estimations to start with...you have to make adjustments as per your actual results...these calculators aren't some kind of gospel or anything like that.

    So I'm hearing! Starting to think it's the diet industry in cahoots with the government looking to capitalize on us... ;)

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