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rachelmazour
Posts: 31 Member
5'3" female age 26, has baby 11 months ago. Just got down from 143.5 and now am 124 (woot woot)... I'm in a big deficit right now and quite nervous about upping my calories to find maintenance.. Worried I'll 'feel' fat/bloated with the extra calories. I'm thinking about dipping down to 118 and then having that wiggle room to ease my worries. Basically anyway I was wondering... For those of you going or having went from a calorie deficit to maintenance.. How fast did you start adding calories? I don't know if I worded that clearly. Like did you add x amount of calories and see where it goes by the week or two weeks? How did you start so as not to shock my body and being able not gain unnecessary weight? Thanks!
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You don't gain unnecessary weight. That's why it's called maintenance. If I'm 250 under maintenance I'll just add 100 back one week and 100 the next. If I'm at a greater deficit, say 400, I'll add 200 right away. It's not a big deal.2
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Oh yes, I meant by adding calories back too quickly and overestimating my maintenance while trying to find it:) and ok! Thank you!0
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I've never tried finding maintenance before and enjoying being this size right now so my mental game needs help
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Well how many calories have you been eating and how much have you been losing on average per week?
Just remember, when you add back 100 calories per week you're still in a deficit. You're easing your way into maintenance. A lot of people still lose weight during these weeks when they reverse diet.2 -
I'm at 1200-1250/day right now and losing about 1.5 a week on average. The thing I'm worried about is that I give myself a one meal a week cheat meal..and I love doing it that way so once I start upping calories, won't my weekly calories possibly be over and cause gain? I'm not sure how to word that. Basically I still want to eat my free meal a week but not sure how to factor that in.0
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I mean I guess since I'm doing that now and losing that I should be able to do it while upping calories. Wtf am I worried about. I don't know why I can't get my head into maintaining right now. Just feeling anxious about it and frustrated0
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You need to get out of that deficit. Why don't you try logging your cheat meal?0
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I am. It freaks me out when I log them but I try to anyway. Sometimes I'm only 200cal over goal and sometimes I'm like 800over so maybe I just need to pre log my cheats and make them consistent while I up my calories. Somebody back in another thread suggested leaning out a little more (guessing off my pics BF) and then maintaining instead bulking so that's the plan that made sense to me. I'm having trouble now knowing when I'm lean enough to start maintenance0
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Don't have a "cheat". Have a high day. I eat 1300 daily and 1800 once per week. At least I have consistent data. If everything is logged it's easier to start adding calories back and understanding how to get into maintenance. For me, 1800 IS maintenance, so I keep that high day there and start adding 100 back to the other 6 days. Then 100 the next week. Since you're in a bigger deficit you can add more right away if you want.
I saw your other thread. Did you post full body pics? I considered myself lean enough when I just couldn't take it anymore. Probably around 20% body fat. Bulked from there.1 -
That makes sense. Yep I put my pic on but they were deleted awhile after for some reason ha but a couple people guessed me at 20-22% I told myself 3lbs ago I'd start maintaining but I feel comfortable and would love to keep going down a bit lower but need to make sure I have a plan in place so that once I reach the new goal I don't keep trying to cut. For some reason my brain keeps tellin me that more calories will make me gain.. I know it's not true if not going over maintanance but it's a struggle trying to get my mind to believe that since this is new territory. Thanks for your input that helps.0
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I've gone to maintenance slowly.
I've gone to maintenance in one jump.
I've gone to maintenance by slowly tapering off my deficit - a "soft landing to maintenance".
And you know what? In a month's time it will have made zero difference whatsoever!
But would question why you are in such a big deficit now. You are just making the transition harder and compromising your training.
Think of your calories as a weekly allowance if that suits you better.1 -
rachelmazour wrote: »I'm at 1200-1250/day right now and losing about 1.5 a week on average. The thing I'm worried about is that I give myself a one meal a week cheat meal..and I love doing it that way so once I start upping calories, won't my weekly calories possibly be over and cause gain? I'm not sure how to word that. Basically I still want to eat my free meal a week but not sure how to factor that in.
You need to start upping your calories now. If you are thinking about maintaining, but still loosing 1.5 lbs/week, you are way low for maintenance. I would jump immediately up to no more than a 250 calorie deficit. That will still have you at a deficit, but at least get you used to eating closer to maintaining. You may see a slight gain from water retention, but trust your numbers. Good luck!
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I've gone to maintenance slowly.
I've gone to maintenance in one jump.
I've gone to maintenance by slowly tapering off my deficit - a "soft landing to maintenance".
And you know what? In a month's time it will have made zero difference whatsoever!
But would question why you are in such a big deficit now. You are just making the transition harder and compromising your training.
Think of your calories as a weekly allowance if that suits you better.
I actually started at 1350 cal/day. I wanted to cut my fat and honestly I don't know why I started doing the 1200cal.. I don't even remember. I'm very impatient so I'm assuming it was because the quick results on the scale satisfied me even tho I knew I was losing some muscle with it. Oh yes I remember. I hit my first plateau and the problem areas/fat that I wanted gone was still there/the last to go. I figured my metabolism had slowed up and I was at a smaller deficit if I was at a lower weight so wanted to increase my deficit for that reason.. I didn't want to go that low because I wanted to hang on to that muscle but once I saw how quick I lost inches, I suppose I got comfortable... And now I'm stuck because I'm comfortable but that wasn't part of the plan.
Sorry for the long explanation
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Wondering what to expect. If I want to find maintenance, why do I keep hearing to expect weight gain/water retention. Does that mean my weight might spike a little one week but drop back down the next? I don't know what timeline to go by.. If I gain water weight, how long until I know it was water weight or weight gain ? This is probably what I'm most nervous about. I don't know my maintenance. Different equations have me at quite different numbers. Also, if I want to dip into the 118-120 range and I'm 124, do I calculate what my goal weight would be for maintenance correct? I don't know why this stuff confuses me at this point. For me, dropping the weight was easy but this is a mind**** lol0
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The water weight bounce that some (not all) get is your body returning to a normal state where your glycogen isn't depleted - it's a good thing not something to be feared.
You will know mostly because it's a sudden gain out of proportion to your calorie intake. The earlier you start walking up your calories / reducing your deficit the less the effect will be noticeable. With an excessive deficit and low carb it's going to be more pronounced.
No-one really knows their maintenance until it happens, you can do all the calculations in the world but there are too many variables, including your logging accuracy which throws everything out.
You are in a bit of a funk! First trust the numbers/maths, then be prepared to experiment and then over time maintenance becomes fun and normal.
It's only as confusing as you want it to be but in the end it's devastatingly simple - eat the amount of food that results in you staying in your goal weight range.
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The water weight bounce that some (not all) get is your body returning to a normal state where your glycogen isn't depleted - it's a good thing not something to be feared.
You will know mostly because it's a sudden gain out of proportion to your calorie intake. The earlier you start walking up your calories / reducing your deficit the less the effect will be noticeable. With an excessive deficit and low carb it's going to be more pronounced.
No-one really knows their maintenance until it happens, you can do all the calculations in the world but there are too many variables, including your logging accuracy which throws everything out.
You are in a bit of a funk! First trust the numbers/maths, then be prepared to experiment and then over time maintenance becomes fun and normal.
It's only as confusing as you want it to be but in the end it's devastatingly simple - eat the amount of food that results in you staying in your goal weight range.
Ok thanks that helps a lot! Maybe I'll just approach it by easing up on my deficit since I still have a little to lose and then keep adding until I come to an eventual halt! Thanks for the input and support!2 -
I cut down to 116 from 137. 47 yrs old, 5'2" I stopped cutting when I got to probably about 20% BF and was happy with my weight. I had a whole day where I didn't log and ate a surplus, more carbs. My weight went up the usual 3lbs of water and I went right to maintenance calories after that. I figured I'd already gained the glycogen/water that come from coming off deficit. Since starting maintenance I've stayed within my 114-117 lb range. I have a high calorie meal once a week, too. I log it and fit it into my weekly calories. I've had no trouble with this. I use my Fitbit to add calories throughout my day to find my maintenance (I have MFP set to sedentary-maintain & eat the extra activity/exercise calories).0
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I upped my calories by 250 (I had had a 500 calorie deficit) and just ate what I was hungry for and left the rest there. Your body will know. When I started losing again, I upped up some more.0
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I cut down to 116 from 137. 47 yrs old, 5'2" I stopped cutting when I got to probably about 20% BF and was happy with my weight. I had a whole day where I didn't log and ate a surplus, more carbs. My weight went up the usual 3lbs of water and I went right to maintenance calories after that. I figured I'd already gained the glycogen/water that come from coming off deficit. Since starting maintenance I've stayed within my 114-117 lb range. I have a high calorie meal once a week, too. I log it and fit it into my weekly calories. I've had no trouble with this. I use my Fitbit to add calories throughout my day to find my maintenance (I have MFP set to sedentary-maintain & eat the extra activity/exercise calories).
Perfect thanks a bunch!!! So when I start my maintenance I should start eating back calories otherwise I will lose weight?0 -
rachelmazour wrote: »I cut down to 116 from 137. 47 yrs old, 5'2" I stopped cutting when I got to probably about 20% BF and was happy with my weight. I had a whole day where I didn't log and ate a surplus, more carbs. My weight went up the usual 3lbs of water and I went right to maintenance calories after that. I figured I'd already gained the glycogen/water that come from coming off deficit. Since starting maintenance I've stayed within my 114-117 lb range. I have a high calorie meal once a week, too. I log it and fit it into my weekly calories. I've had no trouble with this. I use my Fitbit to add calories throughout my day to find my maintenance (I have MFP set to sedentary-maintain & eat the extra activity/exercise calories).
Perfect thanks a bunch!!! So when I start my maintenance I should start eating back calories otherwise I will lose weight?
Exercise is part of the energy needs of your body - you can't ignore it, embrace it as exercise calories taste the best!
Either eat them back (MFP method on the day, different daily calorie intake) or rolled up as an average (TDEE method, same cals daily). Personal preference, they are different routes to the same place.0
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