Weight gain

[NicolaWatson]

I have been trying to gain weight healthily but when I am logging my food in my Fitbit app it is telling me I am over target when I am consuming 1,900 calories per day. I was under the impression that a woman should take in an average of 2,000 calories per day to maintain weight. Can anyone advise how this can be changed or am I reading wrong information?

[Dominique]

There is no universal rule for women or for men as to how much they should eat in order to maintain their weight. What is universal is the energy balance equation: your dietary intake must match your total energy expenditure. Energy expenditure depends on factors like age, gender, size (height / weight), muscular development, activity level etc. Without knowing anything about you except you’re a woman, it’s impossible to say whether 2000 calories is too much or too little to maintain your current weight.

[Rebucket]

The 2,000 calorie mark is what is generally given as an average because it's taking both men and women into account. I can't say for sure what your caloric intake should be because it changes from person to person, but I believe that's the reason for the 2,000 number. 

But there may be ways to change your calorie target in the settings or profile of your FitBit account.

[AnneTa]

Nicola,

I would suggest you try some calorie-counter you find on the web to calculate how much calories you actually need.

For many women, especially if you are short and/or skinny, you need far less than 2000 kcal to maintain weight.  And if you get older, you even need less than before...

You might try this calculator or this one.

(I'm short and have a healthy BMI, and I'm 55 y.o.  My daily intake for maintenance, according to both calculators, and according to MyFitnessPal is about 1350 Kcal a day... far less than 2,000. And indeed, when I'm not very active, I gain weight when I go over that calorie budget.)

As a woman, you have to be rather tall or more or less overweight, or very active to actually need 2000 kcal/day for maintenance.

[Stef.R]

I have the same problem, there is always so much help for those that want to lose but less so for those that need to gain. My settings are set that i want to gain but it doesnt quite convert correctly to the calories counter, so i just make sure i consume what i burn and aim to add at least a thousand on top of that, so average work day i burn around 1500 so i aim to eat 2500 at least, i have a very high metabolism and my resting heart rate has never dropped lower than 70 so i tend to be in fat burn mode day and night so i always need the extra calories. 

[Dominique]

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@Stef.R wrote:

i have a very high metabolism 

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I don’t really buy the "I can’t gain weight because my metabolism is very high" argument (nor "I can’t lose weight because it’s very low"). Most likely, you’re a lot more active than you think you are, and you’re eating less than you think you are.

[Stef.R]

I wish that were true i would not say i was very active, i do no exercise or activities just on my feet all day at work, i eat rather unhealthy something that i am trying to work on as my taking in an average of 2500-3000 calories a day and have struggled to put weight on all my life.

I have spoke to gp on numerous occasions and he says i am just naturally small and have a high metabolism, i also dont think im imagining eating so pretty sure i cant be thinking im eating more than i am.

[emili]

just like calories for weight loss are individually driven, so are calories for weight gain. To know exactly what you should be eating to gain weight, I would use the calculators that @AnneTa shared. Even if your fitbit won't know- it will give you a good place to start. The rest is up to you as far as testing and tweaking. I would encourage you to enjoy healthy food and not rely on high sugar, fatty food to up your weight. That will take its toll on your heart and other organs... probably not what you have in mind.