calorie target tool

Okay, so i know this was probably not a good thing to do, but i tried out the calorie target tool on CC....... I put in my stats and it told me in order to gain a pound a week, i should be eating 2,196 cals. Is this right? I mean the minimum to gain, as a general rule, is a minimum of 2,500 a day, right? So why wouuld it say that?

Sorry about this, it just kind of threw me. And making me worry stupidly. 

The calorie target on CC is not geared for eating disordered people. As a general rule of thumb - people with ED's have significantly greater caloric needs than someone who is just simply underweight. I've used this analogy before: It takes a lot more energy to repair all the plumbing in your basement than it does to only have to turn the water main on. People at already fairly healthy weights simply have to eat more. People with ED's have to repair and restore an entire system.

CC says I need 2200 calories to gain a pound a week. I eat closer to 3,000 and I hardly ever see that kind of gain unless I happen to be getting my period (like this week. woo!)

Actually, when I first started here, CC told me I'd need something like 1800 calories to gain 1lb, 2200 to gain 2lbs a week. I didn't start gaining at all really (save for a pound here or there as I worked up the calorie ranks) until I got myself to a 2400-2600 calorie minimum.

Take it with a grain of salt. Initially, at 2500, you MAY gain a bit more than a pound a week, but it WILL level off as your body adjusts to being fed.

Original Post by rebelchick1017:

The calorie target on CC is not geared for eating disordered people. As a general rule of thumb - people with ED's have significantly greater caloric needs than someone who is just simply underweight. I've used this analogy before: It takes a lot more energy to repair all the plumbing in your basement than it does to only have to turn the water main on. People at already fairly healthy weights simply have to eat more. People with ED's have to repair and restore an entire system.

CC says I need 2200 calories to gain a pound a week. I eat closer to 3,000 and I hardly ever see that kind of gain unless I happen to be getting my period (like this week. woo!)

Actually, when I first started here, CC told me I'd need something like 1800 calories to gain 1lb, 2200 to gain 2lbs a week. I didn't start gaining at all really (save for a pound here or there as I worked up the calorie ranks) until I got myself to a 2400-2600 calorie minimum.

Take it with a grain of salt. Initially, at 2500, you MAY gain a bit more than a pound a week, but it WILL level off as your body adjusts to being fed.

hmm.. wait. so If now im trying to consume 4000 calories a day because of really having to over-do it, does that mean that later on I will only need to consume 3000 calories a day once I get to an even healthier weight range according to the following stats on the caloric goal?

"You should consume about 3,068 calories a day to reach your goal weight of 200 lbs by January 10, 2010"

How many calories you need can be somewhat predicted by your rate of gain. It generally takes an additional 500 calories each day to gain a pound a week. However, its not always true. Like in the case of people recovering from ED's - we are often put on bedrest until we get to a healthy weight. If you have been keeping fairly sedentary its safe to say that when you reach maintenace and pick your activity level up again - you will only need to cut back around 200-300 calories in order to maintain.

If you've been keeping to a generally active/normal lifestyle and are gaining a pound a week eating 4,000 calories that means when you reach your goal weight, you should gradually cut down in incrememts of 250, and will probably need 3,500 to maintain. If you're gaining 2lbs a week, you'll probably need 3,000. If you have kept yourself fairly sedentary, add back another 200-300 to account for any increase in activity level (IE 3,800 or 3,300)

Interesting... thank you very much Rebelchick. This is quite good news actually. I was dreading having to maintain or even increase my calorie intake the more I grew...