I need help

At your size, gaining muscle is going to require eating more, or a very very slow recomp, which will take a lot of time (think months or years, not weeks).
That is a fair bit of activity to try and only eat 1200 kcal - perhaps your goal is a bit aggressive? Shooting for more like 1 pound/month may make the entire process a lot more tolerable! You don't get the insta-results, but with only a few pounds to lose, you should be eating pretty close to what will be maintenance for you, but losses will be very slow at that point and barely noticeable with day to day (scale) weight fluctuations.

(Oops, duplicate post.)

I’m curious what difference you think three pounds will make when you are already so small. Are you trying to get more visible abs?

yirara wrote: »

Yeah, what the others said: losing 3lbs won't really change your looks. Rebuild your muscles

agree with all these people. eat at maintenance and lift.

nicolletteleroux wrote: »

Great advice!!! Thank you!! I have added weight training and I am going to stick with it. Will 1500 calories be good then? And I am eating more protein!

Good plan, both the weight training and protein.

On the calorie front, what matters isn't theory, it's experience. Use your weight change averaged over whole menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles, to find the right calorie level. Working assumption, even though it's approximate: 500 calories per day is a pound a week, then use arithmetic for partial pounds. Keep monitoring: You might find that your calorie needs change over time.

I think most of us are recommending that you eat at least maintenance calories, i.e., the calorie level that keeps your weight more or less steady over those multi-week periods.

A small bit above maintenance calories would increase probability of muscle mass gain. That would mean weight gain, maybe even a very small bit of (temporary) fat gain, but not much.

(You could think of any small fat gain - which you know how to lose later if necessary, right? - as an investment in gaining muscle.)

Gaining a tiny bit of weight over the multi-week period - probably doesn't need to be more than about half a pound a week on average, could be less - that's probably good.

You can trust your own observations, as long as you're looking at that multi-week average: If you're getting stronger, looking more "toned" (muscular), and your clothes are getting very gradually looser or even fitting the same for a while as your weight creeps very gradually up . . . that should be pretty good.

Maybe start doing tape measurements at various points (making sure you have benchmarks to measure at the exact place), and front/side/back full-body photos in form-fitting clothing, as other checks on progress. (Tip: Don't do photos in undies. When great things happen long term, I'll bet you're going to want to share your progress photos. Maybe bikini, or sports bra and form-fitting shorts. You don't have to share them ever if you don't want to, but don't cut off the option by using clothes that would be unshareable!)

Body composition - muscle/fat ratio - is more important than the raw number on the scale, when it comes to appearance.

Just my opinions, though.

P.S. You might get some good reassurance or insights from people who participated in this thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

nicolletteleroux wrote: »

Hi Ann. Thank you for your comment. I am averaging between 1400-1600 calories a day now. Exercising with weights 5-6 days a week and walking 10 000 plus steps a day. I have gained 4lbs in the last week. But I did have salty food on the weekend, which I’m sure factors in. I am still seeing improvement in the way I look, even with the scale going up. I just don’t know whether I should be pushing for a calorie deficit now or not? I never used to even eat breakfast, now it feels like I’m eating more than ever to get all the protein in.

I'm sure you know that if you didn't eat 14,000 calories (cumulatively) above maintenance calories, there's no way you gained 4 pounds of body fat. If you ate 1600 gross calories every day (on average), you only ate 11,200 calories during the whole week. That math doesn't math.

If you recently started eating those increased calories, that would mean more food residue on average in your digestive tract on its way to being waste, and a bit more water retention to digest the additional food, either of which adds scale weight. Better odds that some things like that plus the salty weekend food would account for 4 pounds on the scale.

Especially if you're feeling better and looking better, I'd encourage you to ride it out on that routine for a full menstrual cycle, to compare body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different cycles. (4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles.) That will give you a better idea of the net average effect of the new plan on your body weight (and how you feel).

I wouldn't be terribly surprised if you still ARE at a calorie deficit (maybe a small one), if the 1400-1600 is gross calories. A small calorie deficit can even take longer than one menstrual cycle to stop playing peek-a-boo on the bodyweight scale with digestive waste and water retention fluctuations. (At one point when I was losing slowly, even my weight trending app thought I was maintaining/gaining for 4-6 weeks, but my past experience told me it was wrong. After another week or two, there was a sudden scale drop of a couple of pounds or so, and my weight was right where I expected to be.)

Hang in there: Assuming your logging and estimates are even close to accurate, I think this plan will be better for your health and your goals in the long run . . . but it will take some patience and persistence.

Best wishes!

nicolletteleroux wrote: »

Thank you Ann! This is encouraging!

@nicolletteleroux, if you feel up to it, maybe let us know how things are going in a month or two, once the new routine has had time to settle in?

I'm cheering for great long-term results for you, but I know patience is easier mentioned than exercised. :flowerforyou:

nicolletteleroux wrote: »

Hi ya’ll! Just ean update - I am eating an average of 1600 calories a day. I eat enough protein and I exercise 5-6 days a week. I weigh 116 this morning. Which is making me stress, because it looks like the weight keeps creeping up. However, I look and feel better. I am very bloated and I believe that’s the increased protein intake’s doing. Still trying to figure out the constipation and bloating. When should I start cutting calories? Or shouldn’t I?

If you look and feel better, you're on the right track. Those things matter more than a number on the scale. No one but you even knows what that number is.

The constipation and bloating is a concern. "Bloating" is kind of a vague term, one people use to describe various actual symptoms, so it's hard to comment on that. I don't know whether you're perceiving water retention, an enlarged-looking abdominal area after eating (or in general), gassiness (like with burping or flatulence), or something else.

But constipation can certainly increase body weight while it's happening.

The things that tend to cause constipation:

* Food allergies or sensitivities
* Too little fiber in one's diet, or maybe even not the right types of fiber.
* Insufficient hydration.
* Insufficient fat intake (this may be particularly common in people cutting calories, since fats are calorie dense)
* A diagnosable health condition (can be ruled out bt y improving the other factors).

Two other things have some chance of helping relieve/avoid constipation: Exercise, especially exercise that moves the midsection; probiotic foods (like live culture yogurt/kefir, raw vinegar, live culture kim chi/sauerkraut, miso, etc.). Probiotic supplements are a potential, but it's usually best to get nutrients from food, and probiotic research is still a little young about what should be included in supplements, whereas probiotic foods are pretty time-tested.

I'd encourage you to try diagnosing/improving the bloating and constipation symptoms, since that could result in the weight gain (without being added fat). You may also still have some healthful water retention in the picture related to exercise among other possible causes.

It sounded like your goals were about health and appearance. If you're looking and feeling better, that's the key thing. But I can understand that you would feel better still if you could get rid of the constipation plus bloating to the extent that can be reduced through health-promoting means (i.e., not things like diuretics, unless prescribed by a doctor).

Best wishes!

Hi, Nicolette. I’m kinda late to the party so to speak, but thought I’d share my own experience.

I was so “successful” with weight loss, I didn’t know what to set as a goal, so decided to shoot for wedding day weight of 125 (at 5’7”). I got all the way down to 129, which was 20.2 BMI.

I mention this because we get weird ideas we should weigh a certain amount, based on a happier point in time, or what someone else or some chart says is “appropriate” or desirable for us.

When I was 25, being low BMI looked fine on me. I was just a skinny gal.

At age 59, though, similar low BMI/weight looked absolutely awful on me- even though I’d been weight training for a year

I know this is an extreme example, but if you’ve got a number in your head, constantly reevaluate it, from both an appearance and a health aspect.

I made to conscious decision to out some weight back on and ultimately ended up at a happy 142.

All those tiny clothes I bought at 129? Well guess what, at a more muscular 142, they all still fit (except a few narrow sleeves that couldn’t handle my “guns” 😇)

What I learned was that increasing weight wasn’t a cardinal sin, and that “extra” weight could actually sit better on my changing body - and look darn good, too. I was ultimately very pleased that I made the decision to add weight.

I think, based on what you’ve said here, you’re doing an excellent job of monitoring and evaluating. You’re showing wisdom, knowledge and grace towards yourself and your one and only wonderful body.

Don’t buy into a flat number. That’s a trick.

FWIW, I’m currently up ten higher than I’d like, following weeks of extensive travel and subsequent illness. You know what? While I’m “fluffier” than I’d like, those clothes still fit, and I’m back in my groove to reach my happy place again. Maintenance combined with age combined with good nutrition and good exercise, your shape is always a work in progress.

You are your own sculptor.