cannot figure out my maintenance calories

[muleskinnerblues]

I recently went on a calorie deficit where i ate 1500 calories daily. I continued this for 3 weeks but saw 0 progress and thought that 1500 is my maintenance calories. When i told my friend this he says that 1500 is too low to be someones maintenance calories.
P.S. my body weight is 96kgs and im 16 and my height is 178cm

 

[linley]

@muleskinnerblues I typically tell anyone your age that you shouldn’t be worrying about this unless a doctor is consulting you, but I’ll still answer the question.

I would suspect you aren’t counting the 1500 calories accurately. Your BMR at that height and weight would be closer to 2200 calories even if you were very inactive. If you have a 700 calorie deficit every day and you aren’t losing weight from 96kg, its much more likely that you aren’t tracking accurately than that you have some rare glandular condition that causes weight gain outside of calories in calories out. Are you not counting the oil that you cook with? Or maybe fibbing a little bit on portion sizes? Do you go to restaurants and then look in your app for the lowest calorie version of whatever dish you ate, instead of one more realistically in the middle or upper end?

I would not say to cut further, but instead to make sure that the measuring you are already trying to do is accurate.

 

[muleskinnerblues]

@linley I guess u are kinda right i maybe not calculating properly but shouldn't that cause like 100 to 200 calories increase so I'd still be under some calorie deficit right? Maybe il try to calculate more accurately for another month or so

 

[sfonoti]

@muleskinnerblues Look at it like this. 700 calorie per day deficit is about 700g fat loss per week assuming all else is equal. In three weeks, that's 2.1kg of fat - if you ate a big (even low calorie) meal the night before weighing and had a large coffee in the morning and were wearing a sweater when you weighed instead of a t-shirt, that's your 2.1kg more than covered. Even if your calorie counting was spot on, you could still see a pretty big swing over the course of a few weeks.

 

[dinafrancis]

@muleskinnerblues It really depends on what you're mistracking or not tracking on how many calories different it could be. 100-200 calories may be a normal margin of error when tracking calories in a day because it's still just an estimate. Like two 200g slabs of chicken breast could be different calories really. By how much? Can't say. But add that up over everything you eat over a day and you could be in the 100-200 calorie range there.

But if you thought you were eating 1500 and weren't losing weight, it's more likely there is some inaccuracy. Weigh everything, don't use measuring cups (except for liquids). It's way more accurate. For example, 1 serving of oats is 40g or 1/2 cup. I'd scoop with a 1/2 cup and my average scoop came out at about 50g.

Also, don't forget to track calories you drink as well! And if you have a treat anywhere, count those calories too!!! It all adds up

 

[laurra]

@muleskinnerblues The human body is a crazy. If you eat at a deficit, you WILL lose weight. It just may not show on the scale immediately. Little things can cause your weight to fluctuate up or down like 10lbs at a given time.

If you keep it up, you will see loss in time. Keep in mind that its a marathon, not a race. And the best way to make long-lasting changes is to be consistent for a long period of time.

 

[muleskinnerblues]

@laurra Thanks man i hope this works out

 

[dawn16]

@muleskinnerblues Maybe you're metabolism is good at slowing down and conserving calories instead of burning. It thinks it's starving? I would say that it matters what the calories are you're eating and how active you are. Carbs are notoriously bad in that they cause the body to struggle to lose fat. Which is what you want to lose. I would recommend to eat multiple small meals a day as the other person said too. But also prioritize eating high protein and low carbs. Some fat is ok but carbs should be lowest. Eat nuts and beans and lean meat like fish and chicken. A little dairy isn't too bad. No sweets, no soda, no sugary anything, no processed flour like white bread or flour tortillas. You can eat basically all the veggies you want, fruit can be ok don't eat a ton though. Cravings are the biggest problem, for me at least, they cause me to want sugary fatty stuff, and pop also difficult to stop for me. Have to fight and eat healthy choices however necessary. Exercise and activity is also key. Walking is fantastic, sitting is terrible. Getting on exercise bike or swimming or yoga or some aerobics, all help and you should do as much as you can fit into schedule to really help the weight loss. Calisthenics can be huge to help you lose weight as well. Don't need equipment to increase calorie burn. Also protein powders can help to supplement meals and cravings. Just don't buy the ones with high carb content. Aim for probably under 50 grams of carbs per day. Continue to try to stay under 2000 calories a day probably. Increase exercise and activity.

 

[muleskinnerblues]

@dawn16 Damn il try this too