Worried...

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Opheliac_Xx
Opheliac_Xx Posts: 32 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Although I am a healthy weight I have gained a little and have been trying to lose weight the past month. I have been eating around 1200 cals a day (apart from some days, a couple at 2000, a couple more at 1600-800ish) and exercising most days, either walking or at the gym or both. When I go to the gym I do weight training too. I don't eat back all exercise calories but may dip into them by 100 or 200. So far I have been eating 1200 (give or take) for 29 days and have lost 3lbs.

I am worried that when I get to my goal and I start eating at maintenance (which according to a TDEE calculator is 1800 if I am moderately active and 1579 if I am sedentary) that I will gain weight back...

Can anyone offer any insight? Thanks :)

Replies

  • beach_chelle
    beach_chelle Posts: 221
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    When you only have a little weight (I assume you aren't trying to loose much) eating 1200 calls a day is a bad way to fail. Try upping your goal to loose 0.5-1 lbs per week this means upping your cals. As always drink that water.
  • Opheliac_Xx
    Opheliac_Xx Posts: 32 Member
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    Yeah, only about 8 more pounds. Why is 1200 going to fail? *confused* Thanks for the reply :)
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    well i dont know what your goal is...

    but seems to me you need to be more consistant with the calories every day. you really cant make up or eat more one day because you ate less the previous. our bodies run on a minute to minute basis. meaning you can eat 800 calories one day fine..you may burn a little tiny bit of fat that day to fuel your body (not in lbs though)..so you over eat the next and your body already has plenty of cals to function that day, so it stores the rest as fat..so oh looky there you've gained a little bit of fat.


    ya and i dont understand the 1200 cal failure thing. listen, as long as you've worked your activity level into your T.E.E. you shouldnt need to eat anything back. since all the exercise is accounted for as that activity level. My TEE is around 1750..i consider myself lightly active. I have never counted exercise into anything and i've never had any issues.
  • jogeog
    jogeog Posts: 1 Member
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    I took the failure thing to mean getting hungry then eating all the things! Which is what would happen to me if I did that. On days when I dont workout my cal goal is 1200 and always go over on those days.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    I took the failure thing to mean getting hungry then eating all the things! Which is what would happen to me if I did that. On days when I dont workout my cal goal is 1200 and always go over on those days.

    When you eat that little, your hormones that control hunger are thrown out of sync and one of the main reasons people regain weight when they stop dieting is because there are much higher levels of the hormones that cause hunger in them than somebody that hasn't dieted. By gradually slowing down your weight loss by eating closer to your maintenance, you help your body to adjust over time so when you DO stop losing weight, the hormone levels are as close to normal as possible to allow you to maintain.
  • momof3and3
    momof3and3 Posts: 656 Member
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    When you get to maintance, you don't just start eating all the calories...gradually add back the calories over the course of weeks. When you find the amount that keeps you at maintaning, than you know you are good...it isn't an exact science, so you will have to constantly monitor the amount you consume and tweak accordingly....

    Good for you for getting close to your goals and thinking ahead!
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Although I am a healthy weight I have gained a little and have been trying to lose weight the past month. I have been eating around 1200 cals a day (apart from some days, a couple at 2000, a couple more at 1600-800ish) and exercising most days, either walking or at the gym or both. When I go to the gym I do weight training too. I don't eat back all exercise calories but may dip into them by 100 or 200. So far I have been eating 1200 (give or take) for 29 days and have lost 3lbs.

    I am worried that when I get to my goal and I start eating at maintenance (which according to a TDEE calculator is 1800 if I am moderately active and 1579 if I am sedentary) that I will gain weight back...

    Can anyone offer any insight? Thanks :)
    Your concerns are warranted.
    The reason MFP makes its recommendations are to prevent this cycle as best we can expect.
    Losing weight slowly is the healthy route, so learn from this experience. Start fixing the problem now - not later.
    Set your weight loss goals for half a pound per week, and just give your body time to adjust.
    Progress might be stalled for a season, but don't worry about that.
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I took the failure thing to mean getting hungry then eating all the things! Which is what would happen to me if I did that. On days when I dont workout my cal goal is 1200 and always go over on those days.

    When you eat that little, your hormones that control hunger are thrown out of sync and one of the main reasons people regain weight when they stop dieting is because there are much higher levels of the hormones that cause hunger in them than somebody that hasn't dieted. By gradually slowing down your weight loss by eating closer to your maintenance, you help your body to adjust over time so when you DO stop losing weight, the hormone levels are as close to normal as possible to allow you to maintain.
    ^^^^^^
    THIS!
  • ashnm88
    ashnm88 Posts: 748
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    You've lost 3lbs so that's good. I don't see what the issue is?
  • Lolli1986
    Lolli1986 Posts: 500 Member
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    I wonder about maintenance level too... I have only just started learning about this, so am also confused. I started out here just logging what I normally eat (which has been causing me to steadily gain weight over the course of a year). However, I have never hit my maintenance level (just calculated it at ~1700) in this time, yet I ensure that I do not spend time hungry! In fact, usually my 'normal' consumption is around or under my goal (1350 - 1 pound a week)... however at that level I am maintaining, even gaining. If i ate 1700 a day, even building up to it slowly, that sounds like asking for rapid weight gain in my position.

    **Note: I can barely excercise due to an injury, or none of this would be an issue.

    Confused~ Sorry, hope I wasn't going totally off topic.
  • loopybec2002
    loopybec2002 Posts: 313 Member
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    I can only tell you what happened to me. I started dieting October 2010 and had lost 19lb I then stopped in November 2010 because I had got a new job and personal circumstances. I didn't think about weight loss and just ate as I wanted I don't go on binges but made sure I had 3 meals a day whatever I wanted. I just ate normal. I maintained the same weight for over a year. This was by accident I didn't mean to do it but Something had obviously got into my head. Most of my weight was gained when I was a teenager and hit pubity. I find when I exercise and drink water the weight comes off I dip my cals abit but try to treat my self as and when I feel like it but when I stop I do not gain weight. For me its a case of getting rid of whats their and not worrying about it going back on.
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    You've lost 3lbs so that's good. I don't see what the issue is?
    Because she knows her metabolism is stifled.
    Based on the math, more weight should have come off but did not.

    And when she gets back to normal eating, the weight will creep back.
    That's the typical pattern in those who overreach.
    I know of people much too far gone - still obese, and they eat less than 1000 calories per day yet can't lose any weight.

    It's a slippery slope.
  • Opheliac_Xx
    Opheliac_Xx Posts: 32 Member
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    Thanks for the advice everyone. So I should up my calories as I only have 8 more lbs to lose? My BMR is 1200ish, but set at losing 0.5lbs a week my intake has gone from 1200 to 1270.

    Should I increase my calories but exercise more the closer I get to my goal?
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Thanks for the advice everyone. So I should up my calories as I only have 8 more lbs to lose? My BMR is 1200ish, but set at losing 0.5lbs a week my intake has gone from 1200 to 1270.

    Should I increase my calories but exercise more the closer I get to my goal?
    Are you sure your BMR is 1200?
    What's your age, height and weight....

    Let's crunch those numbers....
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Thanks for the advice everyone. So I should up my calories as I only have 8 more lbs to lose? My BMR is 1200ish, but set at losing 0.5lbs a week my intake has gone from 1200 to 1270.

    Should I increase my calories but exercise more the closer I get to my goal?
    Are you sure your BMR is 1200?
    What's your age, height and weight....

    Let's crunch those numbers....
    Your BMR is 1322.2. - according to the calculator I like
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

    I think you need to set your goals for 1/2 lb per week, eat back exercise calories and track weight weekly for 4 weeks.
    Let's just see what happens.
    I had to experiment a bit, but because I was a taller, fat male, I had more to work with.
    Your numbers are tight.

    And at 108, your weight falls within "normal" BMI - 19.8
    http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

    I need to ask: what is it you seek to accomplish?
    Maybe you should focus on other goals besides weight.
  • Opheliac_Xx
    Opheliac_Xx Posts: 32 Member
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    Hmm, MFP have only given me 1270 calories when I have set my goal to 0.5lbs :( would setting my calories to 1320, and eating back some exercise calories still help me lose weight? I have been at this weight for a couple of weeks now so I'm guessing something needs to change.

    I just want to lose the weight I have gained recently and get back to 100lbs-ish, I think I might keep up my gym membership when I get there though as it's always good to work on being fitter! I was very unwell around this time last year and I lost a lot of weight (and I am guessing muscle) - I'm not sure if this will change much about my BMR, I'm guessing it might be slightly lower. But the last month all I have been able to think about is food so I am guessing I'm not eating enough.

    Thanks for your help! :)
  • Opheliac_Xx
    Opheliac_Xx Posts: 32 Member
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    Bump
  • Judgirl83
    Judgirl83 Posts: 12
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    MFP is a great site but some of their calcs can be off. I know the exercise calcs can be way off. It is best to visit a site that is for BMR to get your best number
  • josery1630
    josery1630 Posts: 205 Member
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    Calculating your BMR is tricky. I looked at the one above (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) and it gave me 1441 at the weight I'm at now. I looked at this one (http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html) and it gave me 1314. MFP gives me 1370. That's 3 different BMRs based on the exact same information.

    If it were me personally, I would change it to lose .5 lbs a week and that should get you closer to a more accurate BMR. JMHO.

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