**** This content is for educational purposes only, and does not substitute professional medical advice or consultations with healthcare professionals.****
Welcome back to part 3 of this series on eating at maintenance calories. By this point you should have a decent estimate of your maintenance calorie requirements as well as some flexible macronutrient targets to work with. If that isn’t the case, click here to calculate your maintenance and here to calculate some basic macros.
We will now move forward with an explanation of the troubleshooting process to determine how well you estimated your maintenance calories with your first calculation. As a reminder, it is an estimation, which means that it may need some adjustments. We’re all a little different when it comes to daily requirements and these calculations can do a pretty good job of estimating your needs but they are not always on the mark. That’s normal, so don’t fret and allow that to overwhelm you (or use that information to feed any denial about your need to eat more if you see a higher number than you’re comfortable with). I’ll do my best to help you figure out how to tell if you need a little more or a little less than initially estimated.
Truthfully, this process is a lot simpler for males. They are not subject to the regular weight fluctuations that women experience due to their menstrual cycle. For men, you simply eat according to those numbers, expect an uptick in weight during the first week if the amount you are eating is a bit higher in calories or carbs that you were eating prior, and then look to see if the number on the scale stays relatively stable from there. If that is the case, you’ve hit your maintenance calories.
If your weight goes up in the first week and continues to climb in the second week, there is a chance that the number was too high. Wait another week, and if it continues to trend upwards, simply reduce your calorie target by 10% and see if your weight stabilizes there. If it doesn’t stabilize, but keeps increasing, keep making 10% adjustments until you find yourself staying within the average weight range for 2 weeks. Sure, there are things that can cause a man’s weight to spike that don’t have anything to do with a change in body fat or muscle mass (more on this below), but generally speaking it is an simpler process to troubleshoot for men.
How do I calculate my average weight for the week?
In order to do this, all you have to do is weigh yourself every morning on an empty stomach and calculate the average number at the end of the week. It helps to weigh at the same time of day in minimal (or similar from day to day) clothing. Time of day is a lot more important than clothing. If you weigh in the morning on some days and evenings on some days you won’t be getting as accurate of a picture as you’d like. Pick a time of day that you can realistically commit to weighing and stick with it throughout the troubleshooting process. Record your weight at that time every day for the week and then you’ll calculate the average that way.
Let’s just say that this is how my weight fluctuated over the week:
Sunday: 150lbs
Monday: 151.2lbs
Tuesday: 149lbs
Wednesday: 151lbs
Thursday: 150lbs
Friday: 151.2 lbs
Saturday: 150lbs
Add it all up: 150 + 151.2 + 149 + 151 + 150 + 151.2 + 150 = 1052.4
Divide that number by 7 (for each day of the week)
1052.3 / 7 = 150.3
My average weight for that week would be 150.3 lbs
When your average weight stays within a 0.5-1lbs range for two weeks, that’s a good indication that you’re at maintenance.
Now, with women, it becomes more complicated. There are two points of our menstrual cycle where we might be prone to gaining water weight; ovulation (around day 14 of your cycle) and in the late luteal phase (the week before your bleed starts) and for some the bloating can extend into the days where they bleed. This makes it a little more tricky to trend your weight. You can save yourself a lot of hassle if you start your estimated maintenance calories on the first day of your period and begin trending from there. You’ll be a bit more weight stable during the early stages of your cycle than if you were to test things out after ovulation. Some women can gain 5+lbs on the scale in the late stages of their cycle which could cause you to think you might be eating too much.
So, ladies, save yourself some trouble and start your maintenance calories on the first day of your period, or right when your bleed is coming to an end. Trend your average weight for 2 weeks from there and see if things remain relatively stable. I’ll talk a bit more about what ‘relatively stable’ means, and in what cases you should expect scale weight to go up slightly in week one, even when you’re not actually eating too much.
What can happen in Week One of eating at maintenance calories:
There are some cases where you can expect a 1-5lbs increase in weight when you first start eating at your estimated calories and the initial increase doesn’t necessarily mean that the number you estimated is too much. Here are some of those cases, keeping in mind that this is not necessarily an exhaustive list:
1. If your estimated maintenance calories has you eating a much higher number than you were eating before. In this case, the increased amount of food in your stomach alone would cause the number on the scale to jump. For example, when my bodybuilding competitors switch from their prep diets to maintenance calories, the scale usually bounces up at least a couple pounds in week one. We don’t panic when we see this, but simply aim to maintain week 1’s average scale weight in week 2 and take it from there.
2. If you increased your carb intake. Even if your estimated maintenance calories don’t have you eating that much more than you were before, if you adjusted your carb intake upwards then you can expect to see the scale go up in week one. Keep this in mind if you were eating lower carbs and are trying out the 3g/kg carbohydrate minimum that I recommended in article two. Just like in scenario 1, simply aim to maintain week 1’s average scale weight in week 2.
3. If you increased your fiber intake from where it was before. In article two I gave you some calculations for fiber targets based upon your calorie intake. If this number is higher than what you were eating before, this could cause an increase on the scale (as well as some temporary bloating in week 1). Just like in scenario 1, simply aim to maintain week 1’s average scale weight in week 2.
4. If you started the troubleshooting process in the week before your period starts. The scale is bound to go up during that time even if you are eating at a deficit. This isn’t a good time to be gauging your response to any programing as a woman’s hormonal profile at this time of the month can leave us prone to water retention, bloating and cravings. If you start trying to eat at maintenance during this time, consider holding off on weighing yourself until your period starts and begin trending from there.
5. If you get a bit excited about the flexibility in food selection that your maintenance calories affords (especially if you’re going from less calories to more) and start hitting your numbers with higher sodium foods than you’re used to eating. In this scenario, it is normal that the scale would go up due to this shift in sodium intake. This would be from water weight, and will stabilize if you keep with the same dietary pattern, or it will drop if you return to your previous food selection.
These are some of the things that can cause your weight to go up in week one, but you could also start eating at maintenance calories and your weight starts to go down. This sometimes happens due to more carbohydrates being reintroduced into the diet, which results in an initial water drop, or sometimes this happens when your estimated maintenance calories are actually still a caloric deficit for your body.
In the latter case, you would keep with your numbers for another week and if your weight keeps going down, increase your calories by 10%. Wait another week, and if it continues to trend downwards, increase your calorie target by another 10% and see if your weight stabilizes there. If it doesn’t stabilize, but keeps dropping, keep making 10% adjustments until you find yourself staying within the same average weight range for 2 weeks.
And that is the troubleshooting process in a nutshell. Give yourself two weeks at a time at a certain amount of calories and see how your body responds. Depending on what it says, you adjust upwards, downwards or keep things the same.
It is pretty simple in theory, although there are some other things to keep in mind when trying this out. The first is that you can be weight stable but your body may still be giving you signs that you need to eat more. Things to look out for in this case are:
-Irritability/moodiness
-Consistent hunger after your have hit your calories for the day
-Trouble sleeping through the night
-Decreased performance/strength
-Trouble focusing
-Frequent DOMS
-Frequent injuries or aches and pains
-Getting sick/feeling rundown frequently
-Menstrual cycle irregularities
-Trouble recovering between workouts
-Inability to get a pump in training
These symptoms might be due to other things happening in your life like increased stress, sleep loss, PMS or even certain medical conditions. However, if you’re experiencing these things and unsure of the cause, you could experiment with another 10% calorie increase to see if the symptoms subside. If you see improvements after 2 weeks but things are not fully settled, it could mean that you need yet another increase in calories.
Life events that may influence the scale and interfere with your troubleshooting process
Male or female, if you’ve had an increase I average weight for the week, check to make sure none of these things occurred throughout your week. These are some things that may impact the number on the scale and don’t necessarily mean that you were eating too much:
-Constipation (poop gains)
-Extreme stress (may cause water retention)
-Eating out more than usual (likely higher in sodium and calories than you realize)
-Change in habitual water intake (can cause water retention)
-Increase in training intensity or volume (training related swelling/inflammation)
-Menstrual cycle (as I mentioned before, you can retain water around ovulation, in the late luteal phase of your cycle i.e the week before your bleed, and for some this even extends into the week of your bleed)
If you look back on your week and suspect that one of some of these things could have impacted the scale that week, give yourself another week before deciding if your numbers need to drop.
So, there you go. I’ve done my best to simplify the troubleshooting process as much as possible to help you on the way to better fueling. I’ll provide a summary below that you can reference if you forget the high level details.
SUMMARY
What to do if my weight increases in week 1?
Wait. Give yourself another week and see if the number goes up or stays the same.
What to do if my weight increases in week 2?
Check to see if any of the listed life events occurred. If so, wait another week as see what your weight does. If it continues to go up, decrease your calories by 10%
If it stays the same, give it another week.
If it goes down, to where it was in week one, you may have found your maintenance calories.
What to do if my weight drops in week 1?
Wait. Give yourself another week and see if the number goes down again or stays the same.
What to do if my weight drops in week 2?
Increase your calories by 10%.
What do I do if my weight remains stable for 2 weeks?
You’re at maintenance. If you’ve just finished dieting, I’d recommend staying on these numbers for at least 3 months before considering eating at a deficit again. Once you get the hang of eating this amount, you don’t have to track anymore either. Once you feel confident that you have a good idea of what eating at your maintenance calories looks like from day to day with different food options, you can move forward with that knowledge and wing it.
Thanks for reading, and I hope that this helps you on the path to better fueling, better energy, better performance and improved quality of life!
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