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redbekah
redbekah Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay so I'm looking into starting to maintain my current weight or (or very soon to be current weight) of 55kg/ 121 pounds. I'm a female aged 19 and 162cm/ 5'3. I want to get actual peoples perspectives because MFP has calculated I should eat 1630 calories per day to maintain, but that seems like so much!

Maybe its just because I've been at 1200/1300 so long, but I just feel I would gain on 1630 calories. And this was having my exercise listed as sedentary too. But in reality I do some working out but I'm never sure how to class myself so I always put sedentary.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! =)

Replies

  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
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    It doesn't sound like much to me. My first reaction was that is was too low maybe.

    I'd say give it a go and keep recording your intake faithfully and doing your weekly weigh in. Stick with it for a full month then re-assess. If you are currently carring low water (thru reduced carb intake) you can expect to regain 1 kg to 2kg over the coming 2-3 days but then it should stabilise.

    If you observe you are still losing weight that increase by another 100Cals and keep doing that until stable.

    That's my opinion anyway :smile:
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
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    I went up to 1600 for maintenance and gained 4 lbs, so am back down to 1500 now. I would try it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. You can always lose a lb or so again if you start gaining.
  • mickipedia
    mickipedia Posts: 889 Member
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    You just have to experiment, MFP gives you a generic average amount to maintain.. all you can do is give it a go and see what happens :)
  • TiffaniBarrett
    TiffaniBarrett Posts: 369 Member
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    I wouldnt jump all the way up to 1600 straight away. Ive gone from 1200 to 1500 - this is my first week. If I dont gain this week, I will leave it another week and make sure I dont gain, and then I shall go up to what it actually says I should be on! xx
  • redbekah
    redbekah Posts: 35 Member
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    Thank you for all your ideas. =)
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    Okay so I'm looking into starting to maintain my current weight or (or very soon to be current weight) of 55kg/ 121 pounds. I'm a female aged 19 and 162cm/ 5'3. I want to get actual peoples perspectives because MFP has calculated I should eat 1630 calories per day to maintain, but that seems like so much!

    Maybe its just because I've been at 1200/1300 so long, but I just feel I would gain on 1630 calories. And this was having my exercise listed as sedentary too. But in reality I do some working out but I'm never sure how to class myself so I always put sedentary.

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated! =)

    What was your deficit to lose? To lose 1lb a week MFP gives a deficit of 500 calories from maintenance, so that would put your maintenance at 1700 ish. To gain, you would have to eat back the deficit to get you to maintenance, and then eat extra on top.

    If you need some confidence in the numbers, try a few other sites for comparison to see if it tallies - search for TDEE. (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/
  • Jools3809
    Jools3809 Posts: 2 Member
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    When you first up your calorie intake to the maintenance level you will gain a little. How much you gain depends on how quickly you lost the weight. After the initial gain your weight should then stabilize provided you stick to the maintenance claorie intake. As others have said, stick with the 1600 calories for a few weeks and monitor your weight. If it keeps on going up, reduce your calories a little and vice versa. For your age and weight 1600 calories sounds too low to me but well done on the weight loss and good luck!
  • dizzycoolbabe
    dizzycoolbabe Posts: 28 Member
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    That seem a high amount of calories, but then again you're young and may need more food intake to cope your youthly vigour! When I was younger I ate 1400 calories and maintained!
  • elsinora
    elsinora Posts: 398 Member
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    I went up to 1600 for maintenance and gained 4 lbs, so am back down to 1500 now. I would try it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. You can always lose a lb or so again if you start gaining.

    ^^ This. you really have to try it out first and see what works for your body. I am this same as this. My recommended maintenance level makes me continually put on weight, but I dropped it by 1500 and that seems to work
  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
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    Some interesting comments above. One other I would throw out is that you don't have to accept the MFP suggestion or otherwise guess because by using MFP you have hard data on YOUR individual caloric needs.


    By way of example using some rounded numbers.:

    You've been tracking your calories for some time now. You average 1300 a day, 7 days a week. You've been losing 1lb a week at that rate.

    1lb=3500Cals
    3500Cals/7 days a week=500Cals a day.

    So you've been calorie deficient by 500 a day. Therefore (for our theoretical person) 1800 a day should be your maintenance level.

    Make sense?
  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
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    I went up to 1600 for maintenance and gained 4 lbs, so am back down to 1500 now. I would try it for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. You can always lose a lb or so again if you start gaining.

    Very likely the bulk of this was water weight which you'd regain anyway when coming out of calorie defecit.

    Over how long did that 4lbs come back? I ask because if your Maintenance Metabolic Rate is truly 1500 and you were overeating by 100 that would take 140 days. (3500Cals X 4lbs / 100 Cal Daily excess= 140 days) - If it was less than that then you definately did not gain 4lbs of fat. Which is good :smile:
  • redbekah
    redbekah Posts: 35 Member
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    Wow so much to think about now! Thank you all.

    I have another question also. What are some generally 'safe' foods I can add into my diet to bulk up the calories without adding too much extra food? Like whole grains and things I know, but anything else?
  • redbekah
    redbekah Posts: 35 Member
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    I don't know how to embed photos but this is me now.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/photos/view/11915920

    This is a good weight to start to maintain or should I lose a little more first?
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
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    Stick with maintenance. You look great. :)

    You can always try adding some strength-training to your exercise regime while in maintenance if you want to continue working towards a goal. I know I've been working so long at body improvement that I'd feel a bit lost without some sort of goal.

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