Did anyone gain from their Maintenance allowance?

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keiraev
keiraev Posts: 695 Member
I am having my first weigh in tomorrow after having a week on Maintenance.

I am allowed 1690 net calories to maintain, but some days I have been eating over 2000 after eating back exercise calories!

I went over my maintenance by 100 yesterday but all the other days I have been very slightly under, and I will make up for yesterday by being under today.

Did anyone actually GAIN weight in their first week of maintenance based on the calories MFP gave you?

I was on 1440 a day before I started maintaining and was losing 0.5 a week.

Replies

  • keiraev
    keiraev Posts: 695 Member
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    Well my worst fears were confirmed this morning- gained 1.5 lb in 7 days and I've only been eating an average of 1635 cals a day (my maintenance is 1690).

    I can't believe this has happened, I am definitely not sedentary so I refuse to accept that my calories are too high.

    I have changed them to 1500 now but as I was losing on 1440 calories I am just really confused.
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    I really wouldn't worry about it and I do think it's your body just getting used to things. It takes ages to settle into maintenance whether it's still losing or getting odd gains, and remember it's only a reflection of one day in a week, one heavy sodium day for me and that's nearly 2lb gain on the scales the next day....but the following one it's gone.

    Are you weighing strictly weekly or taking sneaky peeks through the week? When starting maintenance I was on the scales every morning but only paying 'real' attention on Thu/Fri (my MFP weigh-in days). As I overeat at weekends Monday might see a 3lb rise but it would be gone by mid-week so I really don't think you should worry as I know your routine is fab. xxxx
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I would say give it a bit longer than a week, let your body get used to the cals. i know its hard when you have seen a gain, but its not necessarily 'proper' weight it might just be a bit of water retention etc!
  • keiraev
    keiraev Posts: 695 Member
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    I really wouldn't worry about it and I do think it's your body just getting used to things. It takes ages to settle into maintenance whether it's still losing or getting odd gains, and remember it's only a reflection of one day in a week, one heavy sodium day for me and that's nearly 2lb gain on the scales the next day....but the following one it's gone.

    Are you weighing strictly weekly or taking sneaky peeks through the week? When starting maintenance I was on the scales every morning but only paying 'real' attention on Thu/Fri (my MFP weigh-in days). As I overeat at weekends Monday might see a 3lb rise but it would be gone by mid-week so I really don't think you should worry as I know your routine is fab. xxxx

    I do sometimes check midweek- around Wed when I always seem to have a slight gain coz that's when I do most of my exercise. Friday is nearly always a loss - but this week obviously I was just hoping it was neither a loss or gain.

    I was only planning on doing this for a couple of weeks anyway to give myself a break before I concentrate on losing the last 2lbs - but now I feel like I haven't given myself a break at all and have made myself more stressed lol

    I have reset my goal to 1500 calories, in the hope that my real maintenance is somewhere between that and the 1690 I had hoped for.

    :flowerforyou:
  • HowardRose
    HowardRose Posts: 138 Member
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    I gained a little initially, but i've since lost that gain and more. I've been adjusting my calories intake to try to find my own balance point. My current intake is about 200 below MFP's calculated goal. I think I need to add a bit more, last week I lost .5 lbs.
  • jayb0ne
    jayb0ne Posts: 644 Member
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    Relax... Allow 4 or 5 lb either way of goal weight. Don't think of it so much as losing to goal weight and then maintaining, more like an ebb and flow of gaining a little, losing a little - but maintaining within a weight range. Do mini cuts every 5 weeks maybe. Gain 5lb, lose 5lb.

    The trick is to ensure your goal weight allows for 5lb over. If your goal weight is your maximum weight to be happy with where you are, lose 5 more lb so you're happy at the top end of your maintenance weight.

    Jay
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Relax... Allow 4 or 5 lb either way of goal weight. Don't think of it so much as losing to goal weight and then maintaining, more like an ebb and flow of gaining a little, losing a little - but maintaining within a weight range. Do mini cuts every 5 weeks maybe. Gain 5lb, lose 5lb.

    The trick is to ensure your goal weight allows for 5lb over. If your goal weight is your maximum weight to be happy with where you are, lose 5 more lb so you're happy at the top end of your maintenance weight.

    Jay

    i would agree with this, i have a 4 pound range. i'm quite lucky that i dont fluctuate a great deal, but as long as i dont go over the top of the range for more than a week i dont worry.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
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    Relax... Allow 4 or 5 lb either way of goal weight. Don't think of it so much as losing to goal weight and then maintaining, more like an ebb and flow of gaining a little, losing a little - but maintaining within a weight range. Do mini cuts every 5 weeks maybe. Gain 5lb, lose 5lb.

    The trick is to ensure your goal weight allows for 5lb over. If your goal weight is your maximum weight to be happy with where you are, lose 5 more lb so you're happy at the top end of your maintenance weight.

    Jay

    i would agree with this, i have a 4 pound range. i'm quite lucky that i dont fluctuate a great deal, but as long as i dont go over the top of the range for more than a week i dont worry.
    ditto. extra food mass will skew the scale anyway...so 1.5 pounds could be POOP in your system. If you keep gaining then react but 1.5 pounds isn't necessarily a "gain" at all. Stick with it.
  • MJ7910
    MJ7910 Posts: 1,280 Member
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    i am concerned about this too but my advice is to increase slowly. maybe don't do that much at first. stick to around 100 over what you were doing when you lost weight. your body will adjust and then you can go a little higher. if you find you are gaining weight 3 consecutive weeks, then think about what you could do differently. that is my plan. i am 3lb away from where i want to be.