problems after upping my calories

Mission2Me
Mission2Me Posts: 208 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
ok recently I upped my calorie intake. I am now eating about 2060 calories a day. am I supposed to gain weight at first?? It has been over two weeks. weighed myself on a random scale today and I was up two pounds! Its driving me insane. I did recently do a three week course of prednisone, but i thought if I maintained my calories while taking those I would be fine and wouldnt gain any. also I have been eating more clean than I have in a long time. I also upped my protein and I try to keep my carbs lower. Thoughts??
«13

Replies

  • dmoses
    dmoses Posts: 786 Member
    I'd love to know the answer to this also. I have increased my calories by a couple of hundred, and all I've done is gained. It has been over a month, so I'm just waiting for that magic moment to happen when the scale starts to go DOWN instead of up!
  • aj_31
    aj_31 Posts: 994 Member
    Yes I believe after upping calories most people will see a gain for a while but then they will drop back down. It takes a while for your body to adjust.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    2060 calories sounds like a lot of calories to me. Are you sure that is leaving a deficit?

    Prednisone can cause weight gain but if you maintained your calories while taking it, it should come back off once you stop taking it.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    Op: that seems like way too many calories for a woman. What are your stats? Age, weight, height, or skip those intrusive questions, and say your bmr from mfp. How much do you workout? What types of exercise? Sedentary job?

    Same to the next person. So many people on here have found success in eating more calories because they were severely under eating. If that isn't true in your case, eating more will only cause a gain or maintenance.
  • three36love
    three36love Posts: 38 Member
    I gained a TON of weight on prednisone.. and as soon as I stopped taking it, all that weight just fell off with literally no effort on my part.. I think it's water weight. If you're doing everything else correctly, I'd give it time.. that prednisone totally SUCKS.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    Op: that seems like way too many calories for a woman. What are your stats? Age, weight, height, or skip those intrusive questions, and say your bmr from mfp. How much do you workout? What types of exercise? Sedentary job?

    Same to the next person. So many people on here have found success in eating more calories because they were severely under eating. If that isn't true in your case, eating more will only cause a gain or maintenance.

    I agree with this. I had success with eating more to lose more twice along the way: once because I was undereating at 1200 calories when I started out. The second time I needed to change MFP to a 0.5 lb/week loss when I got to the last 10 pounds. You still need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight.

    Are you estimating calorie burns as accurately as possible? Also, as the person above noted, more info is necessary. We need at least your BMR, or ideally that plus full stats of heigh and weight if you don't mind posting them.
  • vipergts223
    vipergts223 Posts: 114 Member
    Prednisone will def. make you gain weight.
  • Mission2Me
    Mission2Me Posts: 208 Member
    ok I am 27.

    I am 5.5 feet tall

    I weight 291 ( according to the scale today)

    I havent worked out much the last few weeks. I have been pretty sick...hence the 3 weeks of prednisone and month and a half of antibiotics. I have done a bit of working with my resistance band when I felt ok and a little bit of wall push ups and squats. so I am pretty sedentary.

    I wasnt losing anything when I was on lower calories. It took me since december until march to lose the 6 pounds (now 4 ugh)
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    Yes most people do gain at first after upping cals. Give it a good solid 4-6 weeks to even back out. It's not pure fat gain, it's mostly glucose/water gain. I assume you got your TDEE? I assume you're highly active? If you've recently increased activity that will also cause water gain. It's not uncommon for women to eat 2000 cals and lose. I eat 1800-2100 cals everyday. Burn 500-800 and I lose 1-2 lbs every week. I'm primarly losing fat, maintaining muscle and building strength because I fuel myself to do so.

    ETA: I just saw your 2nd post and even with sedentary with your stats I think your cal intake is ok. You weren't where you wanted to be before so what's it going to hurt to try something different. You can alway readjust but do give it ample time before doing so. Good luck!
  • juicemoogan
    juicemoogan Posts: 994 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

    ^^ Join the group.. it will answer all your questions..

    yes a weight gain at first is normal.. If you have calculated your BMR and TDEE right and are eating at a cut of 15 or 20% after a few weeks of your body readjusting to being fed it will go down..

    Just make sure you have your calculations correct and are following the method correctly.

    Go check the threads in the group.
  • ShawnaCurley
    ShawnaCurley Posts: 82 Member
    That does seem like a lot of calories.
  • amculver1
    amculver1 Posts: 36 Member
    bump
  • alharbour
    alharbour Posts: 116 Member
    Different scale might be the reason. I used to just weigh on whatever scale, but now only weigh on my scale because the readings can vary be several pounds.
  • swisspea
    swisspea Posts: 327 Member
    I'm going through the same thing. I was on 1500, which I know may sound like a lot for some people, but for me, this felt really restrictive, and led to me "cheating" far too much than I'd like to admit. I've changed my preferences to losing 1 pound per week, which has upped my calories to 1800. This feels GREAT, but I've totally stalled, and the scale hasn't moved at all in the last 2 weeks. Logically, it has to go down sometime soon.
  • Julcandoit
    Julcandoit Posts: 9 Member
    This post is really helpful on upping calories. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521728-upping-cals-what-to-expect-why-you-need-patience. Also, the Eat More to Weigh Less group is very informative. Hang in there :-)
  • faithstephenson
    faithstephenson Posts: 280 Member
    I agree, it can take some time to see the results. But also, you said you weighed yourself on a random scale. You really need to weigh yourself consistently on the same scale, at the same time of day, wearing the same clothes (or without) to really know how you are doing. Different scales will be calibrated differently, and 2 pounds would probably fall in that level of uncertainty.
  • Mission2Me
    Mission2Me Posts: 208 Member
    thanks for the link!

    and I normally weigh on the scale at the doctors office. It is the analog scale with the parts you move by hand. I like that kind better. the one I weighed on today was an digital one In the hall of the hospital. I hope the scale is off. I feel like my pants are more loose than before.
  • Mission2Me
    Mission2Me Posts: 208 Member
    also I weighed once without shoes and once with shoes...it gave me the same weight with shoes. shouldnt it have been a bit different with those on.
  • jemachharo
    jemachharo Posts: 144 Member
    " weighed myself on a random scale today and I was up two pounds! "

    Random scale. I have two in my house and they give me different weights. Only be concerned if your normal scale shows a change. Also water weight and TOM cause fluctuations.
  • rmac18
    rmac18 Posts: 185 Member
    ok recently I upped my calorie intake. I am now eating about 2060 calories a day. am I supposed to gain weight at first?? It has been over two weeks. weighed myself on a random scale today and I was up two pounds! Its driving me insane. I did recently do a three week course of prednisone, but i thought if I maintained my calories while taking those I would be fine and wouldnt gain any. also I have been eating more clean than I have in a long time. I also upped my protein and I try to keep my carbs lower. Thoughts??

    First of all you can't trust a random scale and you also have to pay attention to the time of day. I guess it depends on the shoes but they weigh something and if the scale doesn't reflect this then it may not be very accurate. Weight can fluctuate 3-4 pounds over the course of a day and it's just water. I always weigh myself first thing in the morning on the same scale (I use the Wii Fit board as my scale). I have no idea about prednisone but I think it's the net calories that matters and 2,060 is pretty reasonable if you are also exercising a fair amount to end up with a net that matches your weight loss goal. For me, it's 1,370 net calories a day to lose 2 lbs per week. A few months ago it was closer to 1,500 net calories per day but as you lose weight you readjust the calories to continue weight loss.
  • lirby10
    lirby10 Posts: 12 Member
    Yes the meds can cause problems with weight. If you want to kick start your motabolism to lose weight, uping your calories to over 2000 is not the answer. I have heard this over the years and have never heard of anyone supper successful with this concept unless they were only eating 500 to 800 calories a day and their body thought it was starving it's self. Eating 5 x a day (3 slightly larger and two small snacks) is better. Most professional trainers "the good ones" will tell you that you need to alternate your calories and fuel your body at least 5x a day. If MFP has you set a 1200, you should have a day slight below, a day right at and a day you are slightly high. If you stay at the same calories too long, your body adjust. Try to figure out a way to up your exercise just a bit. It is not all about calories. Take a look at your sodium and sugar grams. I was struggling to break a weight point and when I started eating 5x day and lowering my sodium and watching my sugar grams. (I'm 25-38 sugar g and 1800 to 2500g sodium. Eat lost of veggies and whole grain. I know this sounds hard but after 30 days it will be like second nature and the weight started falling off. I know it won't be easy and you may only lose 1-2 lbs a week but how much is that after 90 days. Focus on how good you feel eating healthy and exercising. I'm 46 years old and I started at 145 lb. Today I'm 129.6. I have been over 140 for several years. Good luck.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    ok recently I upped my calorie intake. I am now eating about 2060 calories a day. am I supposed to gain weight at first?? It has been over two weeks. weighed myself on a random scale today and I was up two pounds! Its driving me insane. I did recently do a three week course of prednisone, but i thought if I maintained my calories while taking those I would be fine and wouldnt gain any. also I have been eating more clean than I have in a long time. I also upped my protein and I try to keep my carbs lower. Thoughts??

    You need a deficit and that amount of calories is often maintenance for a teenage girl.

    I don't know about gain weight at first, if I upped mine to that amount I would not only gain weight at first, I would continue to gain until I had put all the weight I had lost back on.

    I am not a fan of upping calories to lose weight to be honest, if upping calories made me lose weight, I would never have put on weight in the first place.
  • Mission2Me
    Mission2Me Posts: 208 Member
    Ok I think what a few of you are misunderstanding is that I am not 180 pounds. I am 291. that means that even maintenance for me would be higher than yours if you are a lot smaller than me. as I lose pounds the amount of calories I can intake will drop accordingly. there are many other ways to calculate how much to eat, but for a loss of 1 pound a week MFP has me at 2060 or so. to lose two pounds a week the had me at around 1500 calories a day. MFP and every other calculation I have done has me at a 2000 or more caloric intake and says that I am at a deficit at that mark already.


    I am also really confused by the teenager remark. I am 27. 28 in oct. (GO LIBRAS!)
  • jemachharo
    jemachharo Posts: 144 Member
    you are doing great. Just hang in there and stick to it - you will see results.
  • Mission2Me
    Mission2Me Posts: 208 Member
    I am certainly trying. I now have to make sure that I am even eating the correct amount of calories. because I have had issues moving the scale even when I was exercising....so I am going to keep researching and figure it out.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Ok I think what a few of you are misunderstanding is that I am not 180 pounds. I am 291. that means that even maintenance for me would be higher than yours if you are a lot smaller than me. as I lose pounds the amount of calories I can intake will drop accordingly.

    It is confusing because you say that you didn't lose at 1500 and increasing hasn't helped yet in both cases there should have been a calorie deficit.

    Perhaps we should consider what you are eating, rather than its energy value. Can you restrict carbohydrates and increase fats for example, keeping protein at about 20 - 30% of total calories ? Your food diary isn't available for snooping.
  • Mission2Me
    Mission2Me Posts: 208 Member
    well this is the first time I weighed in about a month, because I upped my calories, I was told to be patient it takes a while before your body adjusts. plus I dont weight during TOM. and I normally only weigh once a month (no scale at home) so I go to my doctors office.

    During the time that I did lose was right after february. I had two medical procedures done and the included prep that involved not eating and things of that nature. so I am not even sure if that weight loss wasnt because of those. I was down for a couple of days because of both of them. So there were some really really low calorie days in there. during one of the procedures I lost 6 pounds in one night....so it was a rough month.

    So I agree it is really confusing. I am confused myself. But everywhere I look every site is telling me that 2000 or more is appropriate for me.

    Yea now I am super confused but thank you for pointing that out. I hadnt noticed that.
  • Mission2Me
    Mission2Me Posts: 208 Member
    I will tell you that my eating wasnt as healthy as it has been recently. I was simply eating what I wanted to and staying in my calorie allowance. I have always been a water drinker though. but now I have been eating more fruits and vegetables and more complex carbs. I had lowered my carb intake and try to eat more protein. So I have been doing much better in that area.
  • steph1278
    steph1278 Posts: 483 Member
    I have a Body Media that I wear everyday. I burn an average of 3100 calories per day and eat around 2000. I have lost 6.6 pounds in the 3 weeks that I have had it so it is definitely possible for someone to eat that amount of calories and lose weight. You have to make sure you aren't overestimating the calories that you burn or underestimate the calories that you eat. Good luck to you.
  • DenverKos
    DenverKos Posts: 182
    With what you've been through this year, I'd say give it some time. I think you're on track with upping the calories given your stats.

    For those saying it's too high, at her height/weight, 1500 probably WAS too few of calories. 2000 is more reasonable. She "gets it" that her calories will go down as she loses.

    But back to you - with your medical history and everything else going on, keep at it. Keep eating cleaner, and with your size, a 2 lb fluctuation over the course of a month on a random scale is not something to get worried about (just yet - if you gain another couple of pounds when you go back next month, then you need to reevaluate what you're doing).

    Get yourself feeling good and health again first, keep eating clean and within ranges, and once you're feeling better, start exercising harder. Good luck!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories