I gain weight by eating more than 1200 calories a day

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stay_rad_xx
stay_rad_xx Posts: 11 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
So I got to my goal weight, 121 in march. And since then it's felt like an uphill battle. I want to manta in at that weight, but whenever I eat more than 1200 calories I gain. Or even if I just eat 1200. For example two days ago I was fine and 120. Then the next day, 123 and then today 124! How do I maintain if I can't even eat 1200 calories without gaining weight?

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  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
    edited May 2016
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    What is your TDEE? Since you are a light weight it might be lower now that you reached goal. You might want to update it. My TDEE is 1650. But sometimes I maintain at 1400 because I might have more sedentary days. It depends on your activity levels, height, and age. How tall are you?
  • stay_rad_xx
    stay_rad_xx Posts: 11 Member
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    DebSozo wrote: »
    What is your TDEE? Since you are a light weight it might be lower now that you reached goal. You might want to update it. My TDEE is 1650. But sometimes I maintain at 1400 because I might have more sedentary days. It depends on your activity levels, height, and age. How tall are you?

    My TDEE is 1,649. I didn't know what that was until you mentioned it in your comment. Thanks for showing me!
  • marm1962
    marm1962 Posts: 950 Member
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    yep, keep an eye on your sodium and water intake, also if you are not having a bowel movement everyday then you would have some weight gain
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    Your weight will fluctuate in a daily basis. On Monday I was 4lb (2kg) heavier that Tuesday - did I lose fat? No! The weight change was due to water retention.

    Weigh daily if you must but do not freak out if you see ups and downs on a daily basis. The weekly or even monthly trend is what you need to focus upon.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
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    stay_rad_xx wrote: »
    DebSozo wrote: »
    What is your TDEE? Since you are a light weight it might be lower now that you reached goal. You might want to update it. My TDEE is 1650. But sometimes I maintain at 1400 because I might have more sedentary days. It depends on your activity levels, height, and age. How tall are you?

    My TDEE is 1,649. I didn't know what that was until you mentioned it in your comment. Thanks for showing me!

    You're welcome! Keep in mind that will change depending on activity levels. Plus, as others mentioned there will be fluctuations in the scale because of other variables. I find that I stall when I eat refined flour or high sodium. Be patient and drink lots of water. Keep eating lots of veggies and your weight should stabilize at your TDEE calorie level when you average calories over time. If not then your metabolism or activity levels are a bit lower than predicted.
  • dramaqueen45
    dramaqueen45 Posts: 1,009 Member
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    I think the above posters are correct- you have to shoot for a range and expect some fluctuations in maintenance. I am still trying to figure out maintenance because MFP gives me 1460 to maintain a weight of 125 and I am fearful that I will gain on that. I had a goal of 125 and it took me a very long time to lose the last 5 pounds- I was eating about 1250 per day and I finally lost the last 5 pounds (at about a half a pound a week or a little more) when I stopped eating back exercise calories altogether (I had been eating half of them back). So I thought- well to maintain I should stay at 1250 and then just eat back the calories, right? Nope. I kept losing and am now going between 121-122. My plan now is to eat back the exercise calories during the week and relax my eating a bit more on weekends and go over a bit. So far I have been maintaining doing that for 3-4 weeks now, and I'm also weighing a bit more often than I did while I was losing just to keep an eye on things (but not obsessing over a pound or two fluctuation). I think the guidelines are pretty general and you have to tweak them to fit your own metabolism, age, etc. I'm 48 with hypothyroidism and so I know mine is a bit slower than when I was 25 years old.
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
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    If you believe you're gaining on 1200 a day, then what was your weight loss calorie intake????

    There is absolutely no way to tell that you're gaining weight over three days' time. Your weight isn't one static number -- it fluctuates constantly depending on how much and what you've eaten, your bladder and bowel status, TOM for women, etc. Perhaps it would be a good thing for you to use an app like Happy Scale or Trend Weight (or if you have an iPhone there's a weight tracker in the health app) that tracks trends over time rather than focusing on what the scale says on any given day. I'm post-menopausal so no longer have TOM weight fluctuations and my weight still jumps around quite a lot. My range seems to be from about 108.6 to 111. Sometimes I'll stay near the low end for a couple of weeks and then (for no discernible reason) go up near the high end for a week or two. And sometimes it bounces around from day to day. If you have the (mistaken) notion that you should weigh one exact number every single day you'll drive yourself nuts very quickly!
  • scmajm22
    scmajm22 Posts: 75 Member
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    I personally always have a fluctuation of water weight, being a woman is no fun! If you are sticking to your calories you will not gain. I have a Fitbit and have it synced with MFP. I find it helps me keep a great balance going. The more active I am the more calories I can allow myself for that day. So if I am going out to eat or I am going to have a piece of birthday cake that day it is a great tool for me to see what I am burning so I know what I can take in. Good luck! Maintaining is the hardest part!
  • benevempress
    benevempress Posts: 136 Member
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    stay_rad_xx wrote: »
    For example two days ago I was fine and 120. Then the next day, 123 and then today 124! How do I maintain if I can't even eat 1200 calories without gaining weight?

    The question you need to answer is, what kind of weight are you concerned about gaining/losing? Most of us are worried about gaining fat.

    Consider the math, please. Approximately 3,500 calories over your daily burn will result in a gain of 1 pound of fat. So if you gained four pounds in two days, you must have eaten 14,000 calories more than you burned, right? How did you eat 14,000 calories MORE than you burned when you only ate 2,400 total? Hopefully these questions make it obvious that you are not gaining FAT by eating 1,200 calories per day.

    As the other posters said, there are other factors that influence your weight on any given day and make it vary (both up and down) from day to day. Trying to weigh exactly the same every day will make you crazy because it just isn't possible. You may have more weight of food in your colon one day and/or your body may hold more water another day (or days) for a huge number of reasons. It is usually best in maintenance to have an acceptable weight range rather than a single number for exactly this reason.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    What was your calorie intake when you were losing OP? How accurate was your logging? How recently did you change to maintenance?

  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,089 Member
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    oh_happy_day wrote: »
    Even when you're maintaining weight it will never be an exact number - there's range of a few pounds. It's just normal fluctuations based on sodium, water weight, hormones etc. When you are weighing yourself daily like that you're not actually measuring any meaningful change. You're not gaining fat if you're only eating 1200 calories. You need to find a range that you can maintain and not obsess over normal, daily fluctuations.

    This
  • stay_rad_xx
    stay_rad_xx Posts: 11 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I was kinda confused (obviously lol) and I was eating 1200 to lose, not going under. I'm pretty new to this, so I'm glad it's just a fluctuation!
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    edited May 2016
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    stay_rad_xx wrote: »
    DebSozo wrote: »
    What is your TDEE? Since you are a light weight it might be lower now that you reached goal. You might want to update it. My TDEE is 1650. But sometimes I maintain at 1400 because I might have more sedentary days. It depends on your activity levels, height, and age. How tall are you?

    My TDEE is 1,649. I didn't know what that was until you mentioned it in your comment. Thanks for showing me!

    If your TDEE is 1600, there is no earthly or scientific way you could gain on 1200. It's just not possible. Because math. You could be eating more than you think, but more likely, those are just normal weight fluctuations. Because even if you WERE eating more than your maintenance, it's close to impossible to gain a full pound or more of actual body fat in a day. You'd have to be eating 3,500 calories in addition to your 1,600 a day.
  • Kettle_Belle14
    Kettle_Belle14 Posts: 246 Member
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    This may sound silly, but also look at where you place your scale. I can move my scale along the bathroom floor and get different weights each time (some +/- 2 lbs)
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
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    Pawsforme wrote: »
    If you believe you're gaining on 1200 a day, then what was your weight loss calorie intake????

    There is absolutely no way to tell that you're gaining weight over three days' time. Your weight isn't one static number -- it fluctuates constantly depending on how much and what you've eaten, your bladder and bowel status, TOM for women, etc. Perhaps it would be a good thing for you to use an app like Happy Scale or Trend Weight (or if you have an iPhone there's a weight tracker in the health app) that tracks trends over time rather than focusing on what the scale says on any given day. I'm post-menopausal so no longer have TOM weight fluctuations and my weight still jumps around quite a lot. My range seems to be from about 108.6 to 111. Sometimes I'll stay near the low end for a couple of weeks and then (for no discernible reason) go up near the high end for a week or two. And sometimes it bounces around from day to day. If you have the (mistaken) notion that you should weigh one exact number every single day you'll drive yourself nuts very quickly!

    Cute little Shih Tzu!

  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    OP are you weighing your food??
  • bellabonbons
    bellabonbons Posts: 705 Member
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    The only way you could gain weight on 1200 cal a day is if you have high sodium levels or you have a low thyroid issue.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    You're not giving it enough time eating more calories! you need to eat at maintenance for a few weeks and give your body time to adjust to the extra calories. If you are accurately logging your meals and eating at true maintenance cals (which can take a while to figure out) then you will not gain.
    Any so called gain to begin with is your glycogen stores being replenished (which can be up to 5lbs of water weight) - and perfectly normal.
    Up your calories to say 1300 for one week, then 1400 the next and so on.

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