[finestcxde]

Hi there!
So im here with a bunch of questions ( i hope you guys don't mind )
So ofcourse i reached goal weight kind of. Yes i did eat lower than 1200 calories for a period of time ( i dont want to mention how low it kind of frightens me in a way thinking about it ) as i reached goal weight i gained about 1,5 kilo back when i started adding excercise 1 hour 5/6 days a week . So question number uno would be , is the weight gain from muscle mass or from a slow metabolism( weight loss stall because of my metabolism getting used to the extremly low intake)?
Now i've got the " scary " part of my chest.
Now the fun part , im going to start increasing my calories for maintanance! And im so excited/nervous about it.
How do i do it? Do i start adding 100 calories every 2 weeks ? Or do i directly jump to my needed calories? ( which are about 1900-2000 )
And will i still lose weight when adding in the calories? Especially because i workout 5-6 days a week?
Last question , if i do still lose weight while increasing will the loss eventually stop? Or if i dont lose weight will my weight keep the same ? Biggest fear is gaining weight
Now those are my questions and i hope you guys can help me out before i start my maintenance. Have a nice day everyone!

[lin43]

Your questions can only be answered by experimenting, but I can offer some educated guesses:

When you begin exercising, the body has a tendency to temporarily hang onto some water, so that explains the temporary weight gain since you added exercise.

I would gradually increase, 100 calories per day each week. If you jump into a much higher calorie range, you'll see a jump in your weight, mainly because of more sodium and more physical food in your system. It will eventually go away if you continue eating what could be your maintenance calories, but if the numbers are going to freak you out, you're better off with gradually increasing calories.

Some people lose while trying to figure out maintenance, but again, the only way to know that is by you trying it.

Finally, if you see a temporary gain, don't get too stressed about it. It takes 3500 extra calories (i.e., over and above your maintenance calories) to gain a pound. Many overnight jumps in the scale numbers are due to water retention. Don't drive yourself nuts about temporary jumps in the scale.

Good luck!

[IanG]

Yeah, big jumps are caused by water/waste retention or eating way too much (of the wrong things) or slacking off on your cardio if you do a lot of this exercise normally and then stop.

Muscle gain is a very slow gain on the scale. We are talking a couple of pounds over months and months and I am a guy who lifts heavy most days and eats a lot of protein.

If you see a big jump, wait a little to see if it is just water or waste and if not revisit your eating or cardio regime.

If you are working out hard you should be good with 1900-2000 calories depending on your gender and size.