Just how DO I do it??

Hi, I just reached the weight I wanted after 2 months of eating 1200 cals a day. When I reached my goal, I kept on eating 1200, until I noticed I kept on losing weight; people are starting to get worried, especially my mom.

But I'm afraid to go up more than that, the calculator says I need 1600 a day to maintain,..just how am I going to make my cals go up THAT much? Eat more breakfast? And won't my body, being used to 1200 cals a day, gain weight?

Please help D:

anyone please?

Hopefully someone in your situation will respond, but from what I understand, adding a 100 calories every week or two until you get to a point where you are no longer losing is probably the best and easiest way to get up from where you are at.

You can add those calories with a handful of nuts, with a slightly larger breakfast, low fat instead of no fat, and extra apple/banana a day

 Good Luck

Try upping your calories gradually, like by 100 cals for a few days or even a week, then add another 100, and so on till you eventually get to the 1600.  Giving your body time to adjust may ward off a temporary gain, but I could be wrong.  The thing to keep in mind is to remind yourself that any gain from going to maintenance cals is just that - temporary - and your weight should eventually stabalize.

Ways to add extra cals (add one of these to your current daily intake):  a handfull of almonds, a large apple, an extra piece of whole grain bread with 1tbsp of peanut butter, 1 hard boiled egg, a couple of servings of low fat cheese like Laughing Cow, a cup of low fat yogurt w/fruit, etc.

Here's a great list of healthy, 100 cal snacks, that you could gradually add to your intake:

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf /Books/34/54.cfm

Good luck!  :-)

did u exercise with the 1200 calories in 2 months?  just wondering coz i wanna try just dieting from now on with 1200 without the added exercise to lose these last few lbs

I am in the same situation as you are. except mine was more like 4 months instead of 2 months. I am losing and losing and losing.. but i am a little scared of eating too much becuase i dont think my body can do it. i am in the EXACT same situtation as you are it sounds like.
i went to the doctor a couple weeks ago and they were extremely worried so i went to the nutritionist yesterday.
spent 3 hours in her room getting educated!! if u need to know ANYTHING just ask, i am overloaded with information right now.
up your calories- u are just gunna keep losing and u are gunna get where i am- a very very low weight.
by the way im female 17yrs old.. u?

misundastod; I exercise every once in a while, but not much.

liosa; I know what you mean! I know I should make my cals go up but I'm scared to death I'll gain all the weight back, I'm an emotional overeater by the way, and the diet actually made it go away.

And I'm a 16 year old female.

Try adding 100 or so increments of calories per week. Exercise a little less. I've tried eating 6 small meals a day, instead of three big ones. It's a lot easier to add in calories because you're still not eating as much at one time, so you don't feel sluggish afterwards.

And recognize that you've found the key to losing now - if you do gain, you'll know while the amount is still small and you know how to get it off.

Hi D, I know i dont have much credibility on here, tho I beleive I can help you out a bit and hopefully gain that with most of you. 

If at this point, your maintenance calories is higher than you are consuming, recognize that you are not going to actually put on fat if you dont go above your maintenance.  Adding more calories is a good thing.  It is actually possible that the scale will reveal a higher weight so I suggest you stay away from a scale and go by your clothing and how you feel.  I say that your weight will increase, mainly at the beginning, because the change in the way you eat will cause your body to hypertrophy which is a good thing.  It will allow you to harden up and get more tone and keep you healthy.  Now, it is all in what you are actually eating.  If those extra calories are junk, then you still wont put on fat but your weight may go up as you will hold more water.  You'll have more of a squishy feeling to you. 

The 6 meals a day method that was recommended is excellent practice.  Every three hours with no nibbling in between.  This will make your body quite efficient if you have the right "building blocks" going into your body.  Adding 400 calories in a day wont be a shock to your body in this way either.  Howeer, may I recommend added 200 a week and not all at once.  Its not hard at all to eat an extra 200 a day.  In fact, if you are not already, get some essential fats in there...almonds, flax, omegas, and that will do it very easily! 

Hope this helps a bit and I'll be around and available to answer any questions you may have with regards to this or any other health subject.  What i dont know, i will research :) 

amy, couldnt shoot you an email response...says i'm limited to two emails a day.  but the answer to your question is  "absolutely" as long as you got that heart pumpin...its cardio! :)

done! thank you :)

When I reached my goal weight I increased cals to 1300... I lost a little more, so I increased to 1400. I stayed there a month or two, but could see I was still losing slightly, so I increased to 1500.  Through this process I dropped another 5 pounds, down to 128... unintended, but I like it.  Now any day I am at my target weight ot higher I weat 1500.  When I am below, I eat a little more. So I average 1550 to 1600.  I weigh in daily, figure the average for the week. I've meeb maintaining about 20 months. I know that if I went back to 1200 I would lose again... just very slowly. 

So I agree you should increase calories slowly.  If you overeat by 100 calories, it takes 35 days to gain a pound. So don't worry, just take it slowly.