Can’t eat 1350 Calories

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Inspiration15
Inspiration15 Posts: 42 Member
in Getting Started
So I took everyone’s advice and ate 1300-1350 calories a day instead of 1200 and I gained back the three pounds I lost in a month. Sigh. Why? I weighed the food like I was told. I can’t eat more than 1200 a day. Now I am back to that. I am now 159-160 and I was down to 157-158. Trying for 140-145.

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  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    How long have you been eating the extra calories?

    Sodium can cause water retention, carbs bring some extra water with them, exercise causes water retention, TOM causes water retention. More food equals more waste going through the digestive system, which equals more weight. Three pound of fat would be 10500 calories over your maintenance calories. Did you eat that many extra calories?
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,126 Member
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    Water weight, and the weight of the food. Not a big deal. Relax.
  • Inspiration15
    Inspiration15 Posts: 42 Member
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    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    How long have you been eating the extra calories?

    Sodium can cause water retention, carbs bring some extra water with them, exercise causes water retention, TOM causes water retention. More food equals more waste going through the digestive system, which equals more weight. Three pound of fat would be 10500 calories over your maintenance calories. Did you eat that many extra calories?

    I started eating the 1300-1350 calories this week. Wham scale back up!!!
  • Inspiration15
    Inspiration15 Posts: 42 Member
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    musicfan68 wrote: »
    Water weight, and the weight of the food. Not a big deal. Relax.

    Trying. But it took a month for the scale to go down 3 pounds!
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    mgoldin50 wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    How long have you been eating the extra calories?

    Sodium can cause water retention, carbs bring some extra water with them, exercise causes water retention, TOM causes water retention. More food equals more waste going through the digestive system, which equals more weight. Three pound of fat would be 10500 calories over your maintenance calories. Did you eat that many extra calories?

    I started eating the 1300-1350 calories this week. Wham scale back up!!!

    It will settle, but you need to give it time, for all of the reasons I mentioned.
  • jondspen
    jondspen Posts: 253 Member
    edited September 2018
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    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    Three pound of fat would be 10500 calories over your maintenance calories.

    Correct 3 lbs * 3500 = 10500 extra calories. Worse case, you ate 1350 calories a day (150 over 1200) every day (30) for a month. 150 calories * 30 days is only 4500 calories. If by some miracle of metabolism you can't eat more than 1200 calories w/o gaining weight...you still would only have put on just over one actual pound (<1.3 lbs).

    Just so you know, I typically weigh about 1 or 2 times a month. This past week I weighed every day, just to see what the scales did. I fluctuated from 163.4 down to 162.4 back up to 163.8. Low day was after bathroom and morning run, so everything was out of system. High day was out of bed directly on the scales. I know I didn't lose a 1 lbs, then 2-3 days later put back on 1.5.

    Getting hung up on the scale measurement isn't a good idea. It's a good gauge, but so many things can fluctuate. Read today that pro fighters might shed 10-20 lbs of water before a fight weigh-in date.
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
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    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    How long have you been eating the extra calories?

    Sodium can cause water retention, carbs bring some extra water with them, exercise causes water retention, TOM causes water retention. More food equals more waste going through the digestive system, which equals more weight. Three pound of fat would be 10500 calories over your maintenance calories. Did you eat that many extra calories?

    All these things are important. You did not gain 3lb of fat by eating 1350 calories for less than a week.

    You need to get comfortable with weight fluctuations because they are completely normal and will happen throughout your weight loss. Otherwise you will drive yourself crazy.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    mgoldin50 wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    How long have you been eating the extra calories?

    Sodium can cause water retention, carbs bring some extra water with them, exercise causes water retention, TOM causes water retention. More food equals more waste going through the digestive system, which equals more weight. Three pound of fat would be 10500 calories over your maintenance calories. Did you eat that many extra calories?

    I started eating the 1300-1350 calories this week. Wham scale back up!!!

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    mgoldin50 wrote: »
    musicfan68 wrote: »
    Water weight, and the weight of the food. Not a big deal. Relax.

    Trying. But it took a month for the scale to go down 3 pounds!

    3lbs in a month is a good rate of loss... gaining 3lb in a few days is water weight, not fat.
  • labyrinthinesq
    labyrinthinesq Posts: 1 Member
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    mgoldin50 wrote: »
    So I took everyone’s advice and ate 1300-1350 calories a day instead of 1200 and I gained back the three pounds I lost in a month. Sigh. Why? I weighed the food like I was told. I can’t eat more than 1200 a day. Now I am back to that. I am now 159-160 and I was down to 157-158. Trying for 140-145.

    like everyone is saying, it's most likely waste/water weight.

    waist measurement is a much better way to track progress. there have been times the scale showed i gained a pound, but i had lost half an inch on my waist. take your measurements in the morning after using the bathroom like you would your weight :)
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    Your weight is usually a reflection of the water in your body (as you know 60% of your body is water). It fluctuates constantly. Don't expect it to reflect your fat stores. Use a trending app like Libra or Happy Scales to monitor your weight trend.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    edited September 2018
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    lesdarts180 wrote: »
    mgoldin50 wrote: »
    So I took everyone’s advice and ate 1300-1350 calories a day instead of 1200 and I gained back the three pounds I lost in a month.
    Who is "everyone" and what do they know about you?
    Check your BMR and think about how much exercise you can do, and make up your own mind.
    Personally, at 68 years old and only just over 5ft tall I wouldn't lose weight if I used 1300 cals per day as a goal.
    That said I agree with everyone else here - don't let one rogue weigh-in discourage you, it will balance out again.

    I'm assuming OP made another thread where people asked her a lot of questions including things like height, weight, age, activity levels, and goals. Based on those answers she was likely guided to increase her calories. 1200 is generally only appropriate for those who are older and sedentary. If she's younger, more active then she needs more calories. She may have also mentioned other issues such as fatigue, decreased bowel movements, hair thinning, etc. I don't know I haven't seen the other thread, I'm just going off what typically happens around here.
  • hippysprout
    hippysprout Posts: 1,446 Member
    edited September 2018
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    Inspiration15 wrote: »
    musicfan68 wrote: »
    Water weight, and the weight of the food. Not a big deal. Relax.

    Trying. But it took a month for the scale to go down 3 pounds!

    You need to step back and think about this realistically. If eating at 1200 had you losing, then 1700 (ish) is maintaining for you. Eating 1350 can't possibly make you gain. It's the nature of the roller coaster that is weight loss - water weight, TOM, bowel movements, weight of the extra food, the ever fickle human body. Relax, trust the process and get outside of your own head.

    BTW: a month to lose 3 pounds is perfectly reasonable when you have so little to lose. In fact, I'd say this rate of loss is a touch on the quick side. Most people shoot for about 2 pounds a month when they are that close to the goal, so instead of feeling bad about a 3 pound loss in a month, you should be overjoyed.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,387 Member
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    lesdarts180 wrote: »
    mgoldin50 wrote: »
    So I took everyone’s advice and ate 1300-1350 calories a day instead of 1200 and I gained back the three pounds I lost in a month.
    Who is "everyone" and what do they know about you?
    Check your BMR and think about how much exercise you can do, and make up your own mind.
    Personally, at 68 years old and only just over 5ft tall I wouldn't lose weight if I used 1300 cals per day as a goal.
    That said I agree with everyone else here - don't let one rogue weigh-in discourage you, it will balance out again.

    Yeah, I'm 62, sedentary outside of intentional, separately-logged exercise, not big (5'5, lower 130s pounds) and 1300 (net, not gross) calories would put me in a hospital bed (starving) in under a year. I believe and support your lived experience, yet it's not any more relevant to OP than mine.

    OP, @jondspen's detailed analysis is spot on, as are those who say you're seeing meaningless water weight fluctuations.

    Patience: You're gonna be fine! (Give it 4-6 weeks. Really.)

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