Last week I averaged about 1300-1400 cals/ a day and I actually gained .2 lb!! Then this week my average calories were closer to 1500/day and I lost an entire pound. Has anyone had this experience? Any idea why this would happen? I guess I'm gonna aim for 1500/day this week instead of 1300-1400 like last week, but I'm curious why this would happen. Thanks for any input!
If you restrict your calories too drastically your body goes into "starvation mode" and slows your metabolism so that it can conserve its existing fat stores. It sounds like maybe your caloric intake was a little low last week. Of course, .2 lbs isn't a very big gain, and it could just be water weight.
You don't say whether or not you're exercising, but if you are it's possible that you are putting on muscle while you are losing fat. Muscle tissue is denser than fat, and therefore weighs more. So if you have a higher proportion of muscle to fat, you can look smaller when the scale says you are actually gaining weight.
I think you're doing the right thing to try the 1500/day level and see if it works for you. You can always adjust back if it seems like you're not losing any weight.
Nope I'm not exercising. Bad of me, I know. I read the thread on calorie cycling but I thought the differences between days had to larger - like 1000 cals one day, 1800 the next. Hmmm. Well I guess I'll stick with 1500.day this week and see what happens.
After only one week at each calorie level, it's really not possible to tell you why it happened. If, however, you've been at the 1300-1400 level for a long period of time (a couple months, maybe), then your body could have "settled" and gotten used to that amount, so increasing it, even slightly, could have waken your body up, so to speak. I once went almost 4 months without losing a single pound at about 1200 calories a day, but when I bumped up to 1500-1600 a day, I lost 10 pounds in a month.
If you've been at the 1300-1400 level for only a week or two, though, then I'd assume the gain was a scale fluke and not actually fat. This "starvation mode" theory we seem to love to throw around so much is not a lightswitch deal--it takes a long time of depriving your body to reach that level, so it wouldn't have happened in just a week or two.
I don't blame you for trying 1500 again, but know that that .2 gain could have been completely unrelated to your caloric intake. So many things in our bodies (water retention, hydration, hormones, *ahem* regularity, exercise, muscles...) affect that number on the scale that you can eat the same exact amounts of the same exact foods for multiple weeks in a row and still have different losses/gains each week. Welcome to the complex and unpredictable human body
I read the thread on calorie cycling but I thought the differences between days had to larger - like 1000 cals one day, 1800 the next. Hmmm. Well I guess I'll stick with 1500.day this week and see what happens.
Nope--even minor variances can be enough to keep your body from getting too used to a certain amount. Maybe you could keep an average of 1500 by having 1500 calories 3 days, 1300 cals 2 days, and 1700 cals 2 days?
The more drastic cycling (differences of 500+ calories from one day to the next) tend to happen because we like to have a day with a really high limit so we can eat either more in general or more bad stuff than usual
But after years of dieting, I can offer a few guesses
Your bodies weight reflects what you ate a few days prior to getting on the scale as far as fat loss. So an increase in calories may not show up for a few days or a week, same with a weight loss.
Sodium levels play a big part in weight as seen on the scale and water weight can go up and down daily.
The best thing to do is figure out a comfortable level of calorie intake for you that makes it possible for your to loose a steady amount of weight on a weekly basis. A little wiggle room can keep the body on its toes, by alternating the calories a little, 1100 one day and 1200 the next, or 1000 one day and 1300 the next.
I have yo yo dieted for years -- I gain enormous amounts of weight if I ever go over 1000 calories. No weight loss if calories are in 900 ranage. I have to keep my level at 800 or less a day for any weight loss at all. (I have seen two doctors and one nutritionist - both said what I eat is just fine (lots of veggies, some fruit and little lean protein) -- most medically supervised diets take you down to 800 calories a day). Even if those extra calories come from a healthy addition of a fruit or vegetable I'll gain -- so if I have a really bad day and starving and give in to an added 100 or so calories, I make sure to reduce my calories for the next two or three days to compensate.
I do NOT recommend this level for others -- but I do recommend that you find the level that is right for you. It took me years to stop following other diet plans -- I gained huge amounts on weight watchers, LA, Atkins, etc. -- it was just too many calories for my body.
Find what works for you and choose healthy foods to fit into that calorie range that works over the long term. If 1500 a day works week after week - great, if you stop loosing reduce a little and increase you activity a little.
I wonder how often this kind of a change is a matter of accuracy and record keeping. I know, for me, my half cups grow if I'm not careful. A tablespoon of dressing gets more generous. A dollop of peanut butter should be about a tablespoon. Ya get my drift?
If I then decided to "up" my calories by 100 and I go back to measuring accurately ... am I really "upping" at all?
Increasing calories to lose??
