Six years ago I lost 80lbs and have been a "maintainer" since then. In the last 6 months I've started having trouble finding my balanced calorie intake. When my daily average is 1700 caloires I lose about 1lbs every two weeks but when I increased my intake to 1900 calories I've been gaining 1lb a week. I'm very confused because a 200 caloire change should not make this big of a difference. I'm also confused because my daily intake for mainenance should be well above 1900 caloires becaues I am a 24 year old male and do 30 minutes of intense cardio daily. Any suggestions?

My suggestion would be that you have your body fat percent tested so that you know how much fat you actually have. It could be that you are under the ideal percentage, so your body is trying to compensate. We do need to have some fat.

Also, you could be building muscle (although it wouldn't be that fast), or it could be water retention if you're not drinking enough water.

I also wonder about your stats. 136 lbs for a guy 5 ft. 10 in. seems pretty low--and on the BMI scale, it's pretty close to the line between normal and underweight. Maybe your body doesn't "want" to be that weight.

Try the body fat percent test, though. The best test is done with immersion in a pool or with calipers to measure at certain points.

Jay

How hard has it been for you to maintain your weight? Are you hungry all the time, fatigued, thinking about food? Or are you managing quite well?

200 calories can be quite substantial if your body is used to doing the same things over and over again. How about switching up your exercise routine and then trying to eat the extra 200 calories?

Maybe your body just needs a change? You might want to get yourself checked out by your doctor too to make sure there are no thyroid/other hormonal issues etc.

Dagmar

Not usually hungery and I have not had trouble mainitaing until now. Usually from week to week the scale changes less than .2lb. I didn't change anything and then started to loose the extra weight for no reason. I changed up and started eating 200 more calories and the weight started jumping up. I'm lost.

I'm really getting annoyed. I cut back to previous calorie intake where I was losing 1/4lb a week but now I'm still gaining. I havn't had a problem in 6 years and now all of a sudden I can't stop gaining.

Any recomendations on body fat testers?

To get an accurate body fat result, the best test is the immersion test. You get weighed in and out of a tub of water. You'd have to pay for this test, and find a place that does it.

The next best test is the caliper test, where someone trained in the technique measures skin folds in different parts of your body. The results of this can be variable because not everyone does it as well as others, and also people who have lost a lot of weight have loose skin. You may have to pay for this as well.

There are also devices that attempt to estimate body fat based on electrical impedence. These are hand-held devices, and also some bathroom scales these days have the device built in to measure through the feet. The values can vary a lot because of where someone may carry their fat. Often a place like the YMCA or a gym has this kind of device, and you can get weighed and measured if you're a member.

Jay

Benchmarkman, I would encourage you to see your doctor. Unexplained weight gain could be a sign of a thyroid problem (men can have hypothyroidism too!) or other medical issue. If it is a medical issue and not just a calorie issue, it's better to have it taken care of sooner rather than later.

I just had a physical two weeks ago and all my results came back super.

Are the handheld devices fairly precise? I'm not as concerned with accuraracy long as they are good in giving consistent precise readings.

They are pretty precise, just not that accurate. But, they will at least tell you if your body fat percent has gone too low. That might be a reason that you are gaining. Believe it or not, one's body fat can go too low.

Jay

I'm going to chime in and say that your problem is likely due to trying to maintain a weight that is too low. You are a 5'10 male and eating the same amount of calories as me!

Don't you find it odd that I was losing weight and then minimally increased my calories and now I can't stop gaining weight? For instance this week I dropped to 1600 -1700 calories per day and I am up .4lb since Monday.

I have read that if you drop your calories below your resting metabolic rate (RMR) your metabolism will switch to conservation and you'll start to retain water. Given your statistics for height and weight, your young age, and your high activity level, your RMR is almost certainly above 1600. You should be eating more. You're starving! Sure, if you keep going, you'll lose weight, but you'll be losing muscle and bone.

Why are you trying to lose more weight? You are already on the low end of normal weight.

Maybe try what has been suggested already and have a trainer, nutritionist, or dietitian test your body fat and make some recommendations.

Jay

I am not trying to lose weight. I am actually happy at 135. The problem is that I am nervous because I am gaining weight and gaining for no reason. If I stayed at 135 - 140lbs I would be happy. I'm dissappointed because Im gaining and I'm not even eating how I would like, I would love to eat non-stop.

Try eating more. I know it sounds nuts, but just try it. For a month.

Jay

If you read my original post that is exactly what I tried doing and that is when I started gaining in excess.