Help finding maintenance calories. Feel hungry all the time.

[xxjenniee]

Hi everyone!
So I'm done trying to lose weight and I have started maintenance.
I'm 19 yo, 5'1 and weigh 104 lbs.

According to many tdee calculaters, I should be consuming 1350 calories to stay the same weight. And that is with a sedentary lifestyle, which I had but then school started.
According to my fitbit, I walk 8,000-10,000 steps at school.
Then after classes I workout for an hour and a half and burn 300-500 calories 5x a week.

I was eating my maintenance calories (1300) plus my workout calories, but I was still losing and I was feeling hungry all the time.
And yesterday I couldnt take the hunger anymore so I ate 2,100 calories(I had three pbjs and extra fruit) and today I weighed myself and there was no change in scale. Not even an increase.
The crazy thing is I am still really hungry today but I dont want to go over 1300 because I over ate yesterday by like 500 cals.

I hope I'm making sense but I dont think that 1350 is my actual maintenance number. But that doesnt make sense because I'm really short and dont weigh that much....I dont know I see women saying that there maintenance is 1200! And that seems barbaric to me because that was my weight loss intake.

Any suggestions/help??

[aquamarine84]

You're young. 1350 is way too low to begin with, especially if you're working out. Use the calculators in the stickies and factor in your exercise to the total activity total.

[Amanda76]

I just used the Harris-Benedict formula to get your approximate basal metabolic rate (BMR) and got 1,359. I have a feeling that you are confusing BMR with total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). BMR is the calories you need to maintain your weight in a coma. TDEE is affected by things as small as getting up and taking a shower, preparing food, cleaning house or even sitting up in bed and flipping pages in a book (things you wouldn't be doing in a coma). Multiplying your BMR by 1.2 (sedentary activity level multiplier), I get that you need to be eating approximately 1,630 calories to maintain your weight.

Chances are that you aren't actually sedentary, even when you're not in school. If you work out 3-5 days per week, you're considered moderately active and should be multiplying your BMR by 1.55, which will have you eating around 2,100 calories to maintain your weight. If you are not convinced that you are that active, you can work your way up to that amount to be sure...but I definitely wouldn't be trying to eat at your BMR.

So far as gaining or losing REAL weight overnight (as you seemed to expect with a day "over maintenance"), that doesn't happen (not measurably so, at any rate). If you have ever experienced that, you were experiencing a water fluctuation (or weighing food/liquids consumed throughout the day in addition to your bodyweight), not actual fat/muscle gain or loss.

[Icy55]

Trust me forumlas are just a starting point. Those TDEE formulas had me at 1800 cals. But i've found my maintenance to be 2400 - 2500 calories. And yes, i was hungry (raging hunger!!!) all the time when i was 1800 - 2300 range. Just trust your body. I increased my calories from 1800 - 2500 within less than a month cause i love my body and i dont want to 'damage' it from undereating. Your body works wonders treat it well and you'll feel energised once again!

Btw I'm 5"2" 106 lbs. Tiny!