eating at maintenance and still shrinking.....

31k rep

MemberPort Washington, WI

Ok, I get that this is sort of an obnoxious "problem" to have. But, I hit my goal about 6/8 weeks ago and went into maintenance calorie consumption. I still track and monitor what I eat and burn. It is now my goal to increase my lean body mass by 5 pounds. I have changed my work out routine- more lifting, less cardio, my trainer set up my routine for me. Its a lot of body weight stuff- push ups, pull ups, squats with weight, etc. etc.

Im not sure what I weigh because I have been staying off the scale since I rid myself of the few holiday pounds I had gained. But, I know that I have shrunk down. I was totally happy in my size 6 jeans and noticed yesterday that they are getting baggy on me, I tried on some 4s, and that would appear to be my size now.

Should I be eating above my maintenance? I don't really want to gain weight, but I don't want to lose any more either.

Thanks!

Sarah

5.3k rep

MemberRed Lion, PA

Sarah, you may not have lost any weight at all. Muscle takes up less mass than fat does, so if you replaced some of your fat with muscle, you may be smaller just because you have less fat and more muscle. Not a bad thing! Congratulations on making goal & on maintaining it as well!

17k rep

MemberMadison, AL

It is possible that your metabolism is higher than the site suggests (it is just an estimation based on an average of the population). In which case, it may be wise to get that assessed then adjust it on the site. If it turns your burning 500 Kcals more than you thought, take that as a win and enjoy the extra serving. I also do believe weight lifting causes you to burn more during muscle recovery which happens days after and no calorie-counter will take into account. Though that may only apply to severe strength training which doesn't seem to be what you're doing.

Tami may have a point. You put on muscle and probably burned away fat. Weight loss and fat loss are two different things if you really think about it.

31k rep

MemberPort Washington, WI

Chris- that makes sense that my metabolism might be faster than this site is estimating, that would probably also account for the fact that I consistently lost 3 pounds a week when I had the tracker set at 2. And yes, I do believe it is muscle increase replacing fat that is contributing to my shrinking jean size. It may also be that I am awfully active in general- between my own kids, the kids I work with, pets, etc. etc. I do a lot of moving around all day long. I think I will play around with adding 200-300 calories to my budget and see what happens.