Do you gradually add back calories?

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Running_and_Coffee
Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I belong on this board--I've pretty much been within the same weight RANGE my whole adult life minus pregnancies-never lower than 129, never higher than 141, and usually somewhere in the middle. 135 is my goal weight and I just spent the past 4 months slowwwwwly getting back to that weight after I had found myself closer to 140 after the holidays, and this morning weighed in at 133. Yippee.

So THIS time around, I don't want to creep past 137 and am aiming to lose another 5 lbs to get to the bottom of my range so I have more of a buffer zone. But I'd really like to know how many calories I should eat so that I stay in the bottom half of the 130s going further. My pattern has been to reduce calories and lose, maintain for about 6-8 months, then something like a vacation or a stressful event or whatever will make attention to my calorie intake less important, and then I creep back up until I get uncomfortable, and then the cycle starts all over again.

If you were me would you just slowly add 50-100 calories until you saw the scale swing in the wrong direction? (After I lose a few more pounds for that "buffer"?). Thanks in advance!

BTW, am very active, a mid-to-long-distance runner, and can't really add more exercise, so that isn't an option.

Replies

  • Luna3386
    Luna3386 Posts: 888 Member
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    I'd look into reverse dieting and building muscle. More muscle means more calories you burn in a day, which means you can maintain on more food.
  • moonstroller
    moonstroller Posts: 210 Member
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    I would add 100 to 200 calories back and give it a few weeks to see how your body adjusts. When you reach a steady weight then you'll know that's the caloric intake to maintain that weight. Continue adding or subtracting calories until you figure out what you need to consume to maintain the weight you want. When I reach my goal that's what I'm planning on doing so I know how many calories I'll require to maintain.
  • glassofroses
    glassofroses Posts: 653 Member
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    Just gonna second reverse dieting. Basically you add in 100cals to your daily intake for a week. If you're still losing, add another 100 or 50 and so forth. It's a slow process but you'll know exactly where you need to be. I don't find MPF's maintenance caloric intake for me to be very accurate so I reverse dieted to the point where I know exactly what I need to make my body run.

    How are your macros? I find that having good macros, or just getting in my protein mainly, helps me to keep a level weight.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    In 6 months time it won't matter if you added back calories slowly or fast. If emotionally it's easier to add slowly then do it that way.

    You also don't have to wait until you get to the bottom of your intended weight range/buffer zone to start the process of adding back calories to reduce the deficit / speed of loss.

    There's bound to be an element of fine tuning. Remember to try and find the trend rather than react to short term fluctuations or spikes. Changes in fat are slow, changes in water are fast....
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
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    glassofroses wrote: »
    Just gonna second reverse dieting. Basically you add in 100cals to your daily intake for a week. If you're still losing, add another 100 or 50 and so forth. It's a slow process but you'll know exactly where you need to be. I don't find MPF's maintenance caloric intake for me to be very accurate so I reverse dieted to the point where I know exactly what I need to make my body run.

    How are your macros? I find that having good macros, or just getting in my protein mainly, helps me to keep a level weight.

    I had to go higher in protein/lower in carbs to lose the last stubborn few pounds, but before that I had been maintaining/extremely-slowly-losing following the split MFP recommends in its default setting. I would like to get back to that split because I like carbs. :-) Might try adding back 100 calories a day/week with those coming from carbs (like now I eat a half a bowl of oats every morning and would love to go back to a full cup serving. A half is like eating two bites of someone else's oatmeal!!) Will see what happens!

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