maintaining but gaining? calorie target question

I'm worried that my calorie goal isn't right. I've been eating between 1400 and 1500 for almost a week (increased from 1000 or so) and I've been gaining about 0.2 pounds a day for the past few days. Now, I know this isn't a huge deal, but the fact that it's been steadily increasing is annoying. Could this mean that 1400 is too many calories for maintenance? I don't get it! It shouldn't be too many! Should I just continue at this number for a week and see what the scale does?

by the way- i'm 19, 5'7" and 114.2 pounds today. I know that this is technically underweight and I'm not afraid of a higher number but I just don't want to continue to gain weight until I'm back where I started. I don't want to pick a calorie target that will cause me to slowly gain it all back, you know? Wow this is so hard!!!

I seriously doubt your maintenance figure is that low. You're probably just seeing water retention.

yeah i hope you're right. it's weird though because my weight usually doesn't change day to day that much. Oh well I'll just wait it out for a few more days and see what happens. Thanks for responding!

There's no way you can gain on 1400- 1500 calories a day. Most women eat 1200-1600 calories to LOSE weight.

It has to be your water weight. Throughout the day when you eat and drink, your weight changes slightly but just TEMPORARILY. Like for me, when I wake up in the mournings I'm normally 100 lbs. But right after I eat or drink lots of water my weight may go up to 103ish throughout the day. And then when I wake up the next mourning- I'm back to 100 again. I never actually gain any real weight and I maintain on 1700-1800 calories a day.

THis is just normal, so don't worry about it.

I know that you're weight changes throughout the day. I weigh like 6 pounds more at night sometimes and that wasn't what I meant. I was gaining weight when I weighed myself in the morning (at the same time) each day. It must have been water retention from too much sodium or something though because it went away this morning. Thanks though sorry I probably overreacted about weight gain, I'm just worried about it.

Bre, I have the same height as you and I am also going through recovery and trying to get healthy. What are your current stats? And how are you maintaining on only 1400 and not losing? Did you find yourself gaining at first because I have gained on only 1400! I know our maintanence is like 1600 not including exercise, but I was wondering if you have started eating aroun 1600 to maintain. My nutritionist suggested 2200 for me to gain, but I feel like I am gaining on 1400...any advice since you are in the same situation as me? Just thought I would ask!

Wow, I'm only 5'0" tall, 106 lbs and I'm maintaining on 1800 calories! Plus I'm 42 years old... surely, at 19, you must have more muscle mass than I do! I'm not even all that active either...

1400-1500 sounds too low to me.

jenmcc: I think that since I was in starvation mode, it's taken my body a while to adjust so my weight isn't changing on 1400 calories. I'm just trying to increase it to about 1600 because that's what this website tells me. I don't really do a lot of exercise even though I probably should do some. You must be a lot more active than me.

positivelinny: Right now I'm between 113 and 114 pounds usually. I'm not sure if I'm still losing or not. I was losing fairly quickly on 900-1000 calories a day and I realised that I had to eat more. I think I was at about 118 pounds then. So I've lost more since I started increasing. Do you really gain on 1400 or do you just feel like you are? Because what happens to me all the time is I feel like I've gained five pounds just because it seems like I'm eating so much food! But then I check the scale and I've actually lost some, or at least stayed the same. I can't imagine you're gaining on 1400. I thought that I was when I made this post but the weight went away quickly. I would think that your nutritionist probably knows best and you do need a lot more to gain.  You may gain at first on 1400 if you're eating less than that, but your metabolism will probably catch up and you'll lose. Hope that helps a little! :)

I run about 10-12 miles a week (although in the past month it's been A LOT less, due to snow and ice here). Otherwise I'm completely, extremely!, sedentary.... more sedentary than most sedentary people... because I work from home.

I should've added, when I first went on maintenance, my weight did blip up, also at the rate of 0.2 lbs a day. This went on for about two months - so be patient. But it was temporary and eventually things settled down. I do still fluctuate due to hormones throughout the month, but stay in a range from 106-108.

I think what is going on with you two is the glycogen storage effect. The muscles need glucose to operate. They store glucose in the form of glycogen, along with water, which is needed to convert the glycogen back to glucose. They store 1 part glycogen to 4 parts water... that's a lot of water and it has a weight! But it's not the same as "water retention" - you don't necessarily get all puffy from it.

So when you've been undereating, your muscle's store of gylcogen - and water - gets depleted. Once you increase your calories - even just a tiny bit - the muscles suck up the glucose and stash it away again with 4 parts water. This will show up as a weight increase, but not an increase in measurements.

So the two of you should watch your measurements. If they haven't changed, you're fine and don't fret about the increase in weight. It's not fat. It's what is known as "lean mass" which is desireable. It's ready energy your muscles are storing in preparation for a bout of exercise/activity.

I agree with the rest of the members here.

Looking at your profile, I can see you're slightly underweight.

Can you tell me your age, height, and weight?

And yes, if you were only eating 1000 calories, your body is going to take some time to get out of starvation mode. Right now it's hording calories that you are giving it in fear that you may stop feeding it properly again.

Hang in there. We'll get this all sorted out. 

jenmcc: thanks! that makes a lot of sense about my muscles taking in water. I don't think my measurements have changed although I haven't really taken them very recently. My clothes fit the same pretty much so I'm not too worried. I think a lot of my mini weight gain was because of sodium. I've been eating a lot of tuna and soup for the past week and it really does show up on the scale!

x17star17x: I'm 19, 5'7" and somewhere between 113 and 114 lbs.

I don't really think that I'm in starvation mode anymore because I've been eating above 1200 for quite a while. Since a few weeks before thanksgiving. So my metabolism seems to be speeding up but I was sort of worried that I was increasing my calories too quickly. I'm back at 1400 a day now, which is okay, but I really should probably be higher. I know I shouldn't lose more weight, but I also don't want to gain.

Why don't you slowly up your calories at a rate of 100 calories every two weeks?  If you gain a few pounds, you know how to lose them again.  It could take you months to figure out how many calories you need to eat to maintain on a long term basis.  That's just part of your weight loss journey -- figuring out what your body needs to maintain.

yes that is what i'm trying to do. I was confused why i was gaining while only eating 1400 a day. I just seems too low to gain.