Eating more but still losing weight.

The calorie recommendations on here are just that, recommendations. There are a lot of factors involved in why some people need fewer and some more calories to maintain. Things as simple as how active you are, a nurse that is constantly on his feet and walking is active, a construction worker on her feet and constantly doing heavy lifting is also active: these two are both active, but one is much more active than the other. Other things include small nuances: how far you park your vehicle from the store going shopping. Do you make laps in store because you shop by recipe, or have a shopping list and just make one run through. Do you swing your arms and how much when you walk. Do you fidget? All of this combined may only add up to 100 calories a day, but in a year that's about a 10lbs weight difference.

If the plan is working for you: stick to the plan.

That totally happened to me. My initial goal was about 175 and I reached it and didn't change a thing - think my calories were around 1600 then??? Kept losing weight. A number of things happened, including a heart attack and started cardiac rehab and the extra exercise kept me losing weight. I decided that I wanted to get to a normal BMI and that I would just keep doing what I was doing until my weight loss stalled. Ended up settling around 140 and have been there for about 4 years. Now set my calories around 2200/day which works since I am very active.

I've been in maintenance for nearly a month, and I've lost an additional 2lb since then. I don't mind though, as I still have a bit of stubborn fat that I wouldn't be sad to lose!

This is actually the concept behind a "reverse diet". And, it makes no sense to a lot of people. It is indeed counter intuitive - at first glance.

There is something called your basal metabolic rate and then there is something called your active metabolic rate. There is also something called your maintenance caloric intake.

You basal metabolic rate is what your body needs to simply survive. Were you to just lay in bed all day long and not do a dang thing you still need caloric intake. The body is a bunch of systems and each of these systems is indeed working. Each process that happens needs energy. Enter 'Basal Metabolic Rate'. There is a formula for this that is roughly 100 years old. It is tried and true. But, it is a formula. It is a great starting point. You are not a formula, but a living human being. So, it will likely be close, but may be a little bit off. That formula is (for men):

BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

Maintenance calories are the amount of calories that you need to consume to neither gain weight nor loose weight. The suggestion there is to weigh yourself on the same scale everyday right after you wake up (and use the bathroom) and then take the weekly average as your measure for gain/loss. You, naturally, would need to do this each week to be in a position to say that you have gained / lost / maintained. The body is going to fluctuate some. And, everyone is different so that fluctuation will be different - possibly - for everyone. That is why we look at the weekly average. So, pick a "official weight day" - say Wednesday - and start the "Daily Average" on that day.

The body adapts to what it is given. In other words, your metabolism adapts. It is **NOT** damaged. It has simply adapted. You were giving it less, so it adapted down.

Be very careful of getting too low. Especially, of getting below your Basal Metabolic Rate. That can be dangerous.

There are ways to guide your metabolism. Again, you are guiding the adaptation of your metabolism. Metabolism does not get "damaged".

And, this really is 'trial and error', as someone stated. You start with a formula....or experience. You do the "weigh myself every day, take the average for the week, possibly adjust caloric intake - if necessary - based on current goals, rinse and repeat". Over time you will figure out what works for you.

And, scale is not the complete picture. How much you weigh may be a good indication of your progress but it may not be. How is your body composition? Has it changed?

And keep in mind that caloric intake is the most important part. Try to stay within 5% - plus or minus - of your daily caloric intake goal. Macros (Proteins, Carbs, Fats) are second in the pecking order. Try to stay within 10% - plus or minus - of your daily macro goals.

Also, protein intake should be pretty consistent. So, if you weigh 170lbs then you will likely be consuming around 170g of Protein a day. That would be 680 Calories (each gram of Protein has four Calories). The rest of your caloric budget is - generally, as a starting point - 60% Carbs and 40% Fats. With Fats making about 25% of your total caloric intake. Roughly. Again, a starting point. Everyone is different so everyone is going to respond differently. Find the % that work best for you. What works for me is totally not important to you as we are likely very different.

Make sense?

My maintenance calories are about 150 more than what mfp gives me.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

My maintenance calories are around 500 or so higher than what MFP estimates . . . which is like 30%. It happens, though it's relatively rare. Experimentation is g required.


https://examine.com/nutrition/does-metabolism-vary-between-two-people/

yep - I'm maintaining on approx. 2700cal (being that its peak tri season) which is why I use TDEE rather than their recommendations, but even when I did - I think it had my maintenance at like 1600+workout cals (and I rarely would workout enough for 1100cals - which is about a 3.5hr bike ride for me)