Help! I've lost more weight than I intended to and need to think about maintaining.
sefajane1
Posts: 322 Member
Hi, I started out wanting to lose a few lbs before 2 holidays came up, so that I could enjoy my food (as per usual...then).
One holiday (10 day duration) has already passed and I regularly went over my maintenance calories but still ended up with a 2lbs loss.
Since then I'm still losing (5.2lbs in 14 days).
The next holiday (12 days duration) is coming up next week and I know I'll eat a lot more than the last holiday (I must, my family will know something's off if I don't!).
So, after this holiday I'd like to maintain whatever weight I'm at because I know that the weight I'm at at the moment is too low for my frame.
Do I (after the holiday) just set my goals to maintenance calories and stick with that or is there something else I should do?
If I'm losing faster than I wanted to when I'm set at a 0.5lbs/week calorie goal then maybe something's not right?
Stats-
Female
Age 50 (almost 51!)
5ft 4inches
Starting weight: 134.4 lbs - 27th Feb' 2019
Current weight: 122.2lbs - today (9th May 2019)
Goal set to lose 0.5lbs/week at 1200 calories/day
Activity: Sedentary
One holiday (10 day duration) has already passed and I regularly went over my maintenance calories but still ended up with a 2lbs loss.
Since then I'm still losing (5.2lbs in 14 days).
The next holiday (12 days duration) is coming up next week and I know I'll eat a lot more than the last holiday (I must, my family will know something's off if I don't!).
So, after this holiday I'd like to maintain whatever weight I'm at because I know that the weight I'm at at the moment is too low for my frame.
Do I (after the holiday) just set my goals to maintenance calories and stick with that or is there something else I should do?
If I'm losing faster than I wanted to when I'm set at a 0.5lbs/week calorie goal then maybe something's not right?
Stats-
Female
Age 50 (almost 51!)
5ft 4inches
Starting weight: 134.4 lbs - 27th Feb' 2019
Current weight: 122.2lbs - today (9th May 2019)
Goal set to lose 0.5lbs/week at 1200 calories/day
Activity: Sedentary
0
Replies
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It's possible you're not as sedentary as you think you are! 1200 is not a lot of calories for your stats. I'm 46, lightly active, 5'4 125lbs and I maintain at @ 1800 cals.
Set yourself to maintenance and eat those calories for at least 4 weeks. Know that when you start eating more, you will see weird water weight and digestive contents weight fluctuations for a few days. If it's a big calorie jump, you can ease into it over a couple of weeks. After 4-6 weeks, if you are still losing, add in more calories.
And have fun on your holiday!9 -
I'm set to sedentary and let my Fitbit adjustment sync, but I'd call myself lightly active. I get 7k - 8k steps per day, plus strength training 3x per week.
Keep in mind that the calculators are just estimating, there are plenty of folks who need to eat more or less than the calcs predict. If you're eating 1200 cals and losing say 1 lb per week, then your maintenance is @ 1700. Don't feel like there's something wrong with you if you need to eat more than you'd expect!4 -
I'm older than you (63), not much taller (5'5"), a little heavier (130s), and sedentary outside of intentional exercise. MFP significantly underestimates my maintenance calories (it thinks something like 1500 plus exercise; reality is more like 2000 plus exercise, based on nearly 4 years of logging data, 3 of which has been maintenance). That big of a difference from the MFP estimate is quite unusual, but it can happen.
Please understand: I'm not saying that your maintenance calories are the same as mine. I'm only saying that if your actual real-world results say that MFP under-estimates your calorie needs, that is a thing that's actually possible. As kimny said, MFP is just giving you a statistical estimate.
There's a thread here with discussion about different ways to figure out your maintenance calories:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level4 -
No pun intended - but you should write a book ! It will be a best - seller, maybe you found the answer to (consistent) weight loss? Please let me know!0
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neugebauer52 wrote: »No pun intended - but you should write a book ! It will be a best - seller, maybe you found the answer to (consistent) weight loss? Please let me know!
Well obviously I'm burning much more calories than I'm taking in. Nothing new about that 😁 I just haven't figured out how much more I should eat 🤔
What I'm doing now is;
Calculate my daily exercise calories.
Halve that number.
Add that figure to my BMR (1113).
Take 1200 (my MFP set calorie goal) from that and that's how many exercise calories I eat back.
Does that sound right? I don't want to add the exercise calories directly to the 1200 if my BMR is so much lower because that would mean an extra 87 calories/day - 609/week.0 -
neugebauer52 wrote: »No pun intended - but you should write a book ! It will be a best - seller, maybe you found the answer to (consistent) weight loss? Please let me know!
Well obviously I'm burning much more calories than I'm taking in. Nothing new about that 😁 I just haven't figured out how much more I should eat 🤔
What I'm doing now is;
Calculate my daily exercise calories.
Halve that number.
Add that figure to my BMR (1113).
Take 1200 (my MFP set calorie goal) from that and that's how many exercise calories I eat back.
Does that sound right? I don't want to add the exercise calories directly to the 1200 if my BMR is so much lower because that would mean an extra 87 calories/day - 609/week.
Forgive me for saying this, but you're making this WAY too complicated. You're losing weight. You don't want to.
Eat more.
Eat all the dang exercise calories.
Stop eating at a deficit.
One of three things will happen!
You will continue to lose weight which means you will need to eat even more.
You will stop losing weight and you be maintaining. This means that you're goldilocks!
OR, you will start gaining slowly. And guess what, it can't be a fast fat gain given that you are currently still losing and that your total adjustment based on what you're saying will be less than 500 Cal a day which at most can add up to a lb a week using the 3500 Cal per lb conversion.
So if you start gaining slowly you can adjust and back off a bit.
Just start eating all your exercise calories and all your maintenance calories and take it from there! Adjust based on your weight trend over a few weeks,,,9 -
neugebauer52 wrote: »No pun intended - but you should write a book ! It will be a best - seller, maybe you found the answer to (consistent) weight loss? Please let me know!
Well obviously I'm burning much more calories than I'm taking in. Nothing new about that 😁 I just haven't figured out how much more I should eat 🤔
What I'm doing now is;
Calculate my daily exercise calories.
Halve that number.
Add that figure to my BMR (1113).
Take 1200 (my MFP set calorie goal) from that and that's how many exercise calories I eat back.
Does that sound right? I don't want to add the exercise calories directly to the 1200 if my BMR is so much lower because that would mean an extra 87 calories/day - 609/week.
Forgive me for saying this, but you're making this WAY too complicated. You're losing weight. You don't want to.
Eat more.
Eat all the dang exercise calories.
Stop eating at a deficit.
One of three things will happen!
You will continue to lose weight which means you will need to eat even more.
You will stop losing weight and you be maintaining. This means that you're goldilocks!
OR, you will start gaining slowly. And guess what, it can't be a fast fat gain given that you are currently still losing and that your total adjustment based on what you're saying will be less than 500 Cal a day which at most can add up to a lb a week using the 3500 Cal per lb conversion.
So if you start gaining slowly you can adjust and back off a bit.
Just start eating all your exercise calories and all your maintenance calories and take it from there! Adjust based on your weight trend over a few weeks,,,
I know, I'm driving myself crazy with it! 😂0 -
Hi, I started out wanting to lose a few lbs before 2 holidays came up, so that I could enjoy my food (as per usual...then).
One holiday (10 day duration) has already passed and I regularly went over my maintenance calories but still ended up with a 2lbs loss.
Since then I'm still losing (5.2lbs in 14 days).
The next holiday (12 days duration) is coming up next week and I know I'll eat a lot more than the last holiday (I must, my family will know something's off if I don't!).
So, after this holiday I'd like to maintain whatever weight I'm at because I know that the weight I'm at at the moment is too low for my frame.
Do I (after the holiday) just set my goals to maintenance calories and stick with that or is there something else I should do?
If I'm losing faster than I wanted to when I'm set at a 0.5lbs/week calorie goal then maybe something's not right?
Stats-
Female
Age 50 (almost 51!)
5ft 4inches
Starting weight: 134.4 lbs - 27th Feb' 2019
Current weight: 122.2lbs - today (9th May 2019)
Goal set to lose 0.5lbs/week at 1200 calories/day
Activity: Sedentary
I've just noticed that my current weight is wrong! It should read *112.2* instead of 122.20 -
I wish I had this problem! Have fun on your holidays!6
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Hi, I started out wanting to lose a few lbs before 2 holidays came up, so that I could enjoy my food (as per usual...then).
One holiday (10 day duration) has already passed and I regularly went over my maintenance calories but still ended up with a 2lbs loss.
Since then I'm still losing (5.2lbs in 14 days).
The next holiday (12 days duration) is coming up next week and I know I'll eat a lot more than the last holiday (I must, my family will know something's off if I don't!).
So, after this holiday I'd like to maintain whatever weight I'm at because I know that the weight I'm at at the moment is too low for my frame.
Do I (after the holiday) just set my goals to maintenance calories and stick with that or is there something else I should do?
If I'm losing faster than I wanted to when I'm set at a 0.5lbs/week calorie goal then maybe something's not right?
Stats-
Female
Age 50 (almost 51!)
5ft 4inches
Starting weight: 134.4 lbs - 27th Feb' 2019
Current weight: 122.2lbs - today (9th May 2019)
Goal set to lose 0.5lbs/week at 1200 calories/day
Activity: Sedentary
I've just noticed that my current weight is wrong! It should read *112.2* instead of 122.2
Okay.
Eat.
Seriously, 1200 is way too low. Set your Goals to Maintain. Eat the Exercise calories. Do that for a month, minimum, and track your food and exercise.
You WILL see a slight bump up on the scale, but keep going, it's temporary and will not continue and to be expected when raising calories.
One month, you'll feel so much better, honest.6 -
Thank you for responding 😊
I plan to try to eat to my maintenance calories during the holiday (will probably go over though with alcohol added 😉😂).
I'll give myself a week after eating the same as I do know just to get back on track and then eat at maintenance after. That's the plan anyway.0 -
Thank you for responding 😊
I plan to try to eat to my maintenance calories during the holiday (will probably go over though with alcohol added 😉😂).
I'll give myself a week after eating the same as I do know just to get back on track and then eat at maintenance after. That's the plan anyway.
Did you not say that you over-shot your downward journey by quite a bit?
Why do you think you need to get "back on track" afterwards instead of just continuing with maintenance?
Let's look at a flip side hypothetical!
I want to gain up to 10 lbs on a deliberate bulk.
OOPS! I overshot!
I've gained 20 lbs instead.
eeek. I love my strength gains but I'm not as happy with that bit of an extra paunch!
Hey, I will go on a hard cut during my vacation!
I will cut 8 lbs which will put me closer to my originally intended target.
Then I will come back home and regain 3lbs to get back on track before settling into maintenance.
Sounds a bit off as a plan, doesn't it?
And, I have to say, you sound incredibly close to wanting to continue losing weight even when your stats say that you probably shouldn't be.5 -
I certainly am confused with your posts as they are conflicting. You have said that your weight is already too low for your frame, yet you insist on eating at a deficit until the holiday. Up your calories now. You can do this in increments or in one hit. Eat at maintenance on holidays and continue to eat at maintenance when you return. Otherwise, you will continue to lose weight.
Psst I too overshot and lost more than intended, after going through a difficult time last year when I lost my appetite. I am now eating at a surplus to regain some to that. I am currently just under 95 pounds and 4'11. At sedentary I maintain my weight on around 1600 calories before exercise and about 2100 afterwards.5 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »I certainly am confused with your posts as they are conflicting. You have said that your weight is already too low for your frame, yet you insist on eating at a deficit until the holiday. Up your calories now. You can do this in increments or in one hit. Eat at maintenance on holidays and continue to eat at maintenance when you return. Otherwise, you will continue to lose weight.
Psst I too overshot and lost more than intended, after going through a difficult time last year when I lost my appetite. I am now eating at a surplus to regain some to that. I am currently just under 95 pounds and 4'11. At sedentary I maintain my weight on around 1600 calories before exercise and about 2100 afterwards.
I can understand your confusion, I'm the same! I didn't want to lose this much weight but, now that I have, I think to myself "well, that's more calories in the bank to spend on holiday", if you see what I mean? 😏
Anyway, I've only got until Tuesday and then I can relax and enjoy my food 😊
I hope that you're feeling better now and that you'll soon be back to normal 💐0 -
Halving your exercise calories and adding them to your BMR is under-eating. BMR calculates calories required to keep you alive if you were lying in a bed all day. It doesn't include the calories you burn from getting up and doing stuff. Eat more.4
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Lillymoo01 wrote: »I certainly am confused with your posts as they are conflicting. You have said that your weight is already too low for your frame, yet you insist on eating at a deficit until the holiday. Up your calories now. You can do this in increments or in one hit. Eat at maintenance on holidays and continue to eat at maintenance when you return. Otherwise, you will continue to lose weight.
Psst I too overshot and lost more than intended, after going through a difficult time last year when I lost my appetite. I am now eating at a surplus to regain some to that. I am currently just under 95 pounds and 4'11. At sedentary I maintain my weight on around 1600 calories before exercise and about 2100 afterwards.
I can understand your confusion, I'm the same! I didn't want to lose this much weight but, now that I have, I think to myself "well, that's more calories in the bank to spend on holiday", if you see what I mean? 😏
Anyway, I've only got until Tuesday and then I can relax and enjoy my food 😊
I hope that you're feeling better now and that you'll soon be back to normal 💐
You're a smart lady.
You ought to know that you can already relax and enjoy your food at maintenance.
Today.
Your current mindset--no doubt nudged by your larger than expected deficit--has pushed you back into scary thoughts territory.
No winkies. No emojies.
There is nothing funny about any of this and about where you're finding yourself to be.
What is NORMAL is people being relaxed and enjoying their food.
Contemplating restriction and over-eating, depending on whether this negatively affects our lives, is what is potentially not normal.
I hope that you enjoy your holiday and that you allow yourself to become weight restored and ready to move on afterwards.6 -
If you are consistently losing a lot of weight while eating enough calories, you could have a medical condition and should see the doctor to rule out any possibilities for that.2
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For anyone still following this thread, it's day 3 of my holiday. I went way over maintenance calories (by 480! 😨) on the first day, yesterday I was 100 under so not too bad really.
I'm hosting dinner today and have prepped most of the food already. Most is made from scratch so I've been able to calculate roughly how many calories I'll have today. It works out to just under maintenance and that includes a few beers 😉😂
I weighed and measured myself this morning; 1.8lbs up but my measurements are down a tiny bit so I'm quite pleased so far 😀2
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