Let's see, 14 - 16 times bodyweight would put me right about 1960 - 2240 calories per day. Would I
maintain at those levels?
In reality, my maintenance calories are around 1600 with about 90 minutes of daily exercise. Every calculator in the world says I should be able to eat more and still maintain, but it just doesn't work that way for me. I've tracked my calories for five years now and know exactly how my body responds to more calories ... I gain fat. Fewer calories ... I lose fat.
Ginny, I read that stuff too and just roll my eyes. I'm not disputing that it may be true for some people but it sure isn't for me. Heaven knows I'd love to be able to eat more and maintain - it's not like I've got some kind of eating disorder and am deliberately denying myself food. But, not surprisingly, I gain when I eat over MY personal maintenance calories (not some calculator's).
As to why - and this gets to the whole 'damaged metabolism' notion - oh yes, our metabolisms are affected by weight loss. It's not the result of losing weight too fast, with too low of calories, or some other 'wrong way'. Nope, it happens to everyone who's lost a significant amount of weight. I wrote about it
here and have been reading vociferously since then. Losing weight
in and of itself puts our bodies into a fat preservation mode. Our bodies want to be back at their old weights, so biochemical signals are sent out to make us want to eat more and make our metabolisms slow down (specifically, the amount of energy (calories) that we burn in activity is reduced by 15-20% as compared to a never obese individual).
This metabolic slowdown is permanent and can't be reversed by eating more. Several clinical trials are underway to try to counter the effects of lowered leptin levels in the reduced obese (that's us) to see if the metabolic slowdown can be reversed with leptin injections and other hormones. I'm not aware of any science behind the notion of eating more to 'repair a damaged metabolism' - rather, I'd categorize it as just another gym urban legend.
I believe this is an important piece of the puzzle about why 95% of dieters regain their lost weight. Obviously it's more than people just losing focus or willpower. Our bodies are sending out powerful hormonal and biochemical signals to try to return to the status quo (our fat weights). In a sense, we're fighting nature when we try to maintain a significant weight loss. That's why I so firmly believe that we always need to be vigilant and thoughtful about our eating and exercise if we're going to outsmart Mother Nature. Eating more than our unique bodies require and relying on internal cues (intuitive eating) are a recipe for disaster, in my humble opinion. I wonder how many of the people who pontificate about 'healing metabolisms' by 'eating more' were ever obese?
Get ready, I'm going to climb on my soapbox here because I passionately believe what I'm about to say next -
We're different. We who have lost a lot of weight are different than others who never were overweight (even if they're our age, height, weight, gender etc.) We think differently, our bodies are different, and our metabolisms are different. If we want to be part of that 5% who maintain their weight losses, we have to be aware and accept the fact that we're part of a very small and special club that has different rules for eating, exercising, and living. Maintenance
is harder than losing ... but it is possible ... and so, so worth every bit of effort and thought that it takes.
Off my soapbox.