Just a curious question...

If I'm maintaing (more like stuck ) with about 1150 to 1250 calories a day plus a daily exercise burn of 250 to 450 calories (in addition to sed burn rate of 1320) will I wind up gaining if I increase my calorie intake? If you work out the numbers then it would seem like I'd be losing somewhere down the line but I'm not. I'm actually stuck at my weight. I even had a deficit of 3500 calories last week and still was stuck at my current weight. So...since I'm stuck there, does it mean any increase in calories will cause the weight to start piling or will it just work itself out? I'm not talking about increasing to 1500. Just maybe to 1300 to 1350.

And one more question... Considering I normally keep a daily deficit, if I allowed myself to go over for two days but then went back to the deficit would it really affect my progress or not really? Not going over by pigging out with chips and cake. Just eating a meal at a restaurant like chicken fried steak with the salad bar and a glass of wine.

Thanks all!

sullysbunny:  Maybe you need to jumpstart your metabolism by looking at what your first meal of the day is.  I recommend you start the day drinking a large glass of water and having a high-protein breakfast.  Pretty much everyone I know has been "stuck" at times on dieting.  Decreasing one's calorie intake will not always equate to weight loss, because our metabolism will slow down if we have convinced the body we can run it without needing as many calories.  So I am suggesting that maybe your metabolism needs some tweaking.  Yes, you might gain weight if you jumped to 1500 calories, but I think you shouldn't be below 1500 anyway, particularly  if you are in Maintenance mode.  In fact, I don't even think 1200 is recommended for anyone losing weight. You shouldn't gain weight at 1500 or more, however, because the body should be burning those calories up.

I am wondering if "I normally keep a daily deficit" is what you should be doing.  Getting enough healthy calories is very important.

I don't know if you can, but you could increase your exercise output by doing things like climbing stairs instead of using escalators and elevators, walking to stores and to do errands, etc.  But I am guessing that you CAN increase your daily calorie consumption AND maintain your weight if your metabolism kicks in slightly and if you can do a bit more on the exercise front, without having to do anything too dramatic.

And by all means, you SHOULD treat yourself to a nice meal in a restaurant once in a while.

sullysbunny: I had hit a plateau in my weight loss for about 3 weeks when I decided to roll with the flow and go into maintenance instead of fighting with my body over the last 5 pounds. I moved from ~1500 calories to ~2000 in the time frame of a single week. I also had the fear in the back of my mind of "My weight is stuck at 1500 cals, am I going to gain at 2000?" However, my fears were unfounded and my weight remained where it was when I increased my calories. I've been at my maintenance cals for over a month now and my weight, aside from normal fluctuations, has remained essentially the same.

Awesome!!!