Can anyone explain why maintenance calories are so low?

I eat anywhere from 1,000 to 1,800 cals. a day.  I really don't exercise but I keep a very close eye on the scale and eat according to what is tells to do to maintain.  This is a very individualized process, and everyone of us needs to find the number or calories we need to eat to maintain.  It varies dramatically based on height, weight, muscle mass, metabolism and other factors.  We are each a little experiment.  I would add 100 calories in at a time for maintenance and wait at least one month before adding more to see what happens.  Eventually, we find our comfort zone.

I'm not in maintenance, but I thought I might add this to the discussion.  As part of my 'plan' I see an exercise physiologist every time I go to see my surgeon.  They do a 10 minute metabolism test on me each vist.  Energey use is expressed in terms of METS with 1 being 'average' metabolic rate at rest.  when I was first tested, it was only .75 after losing 30lbs and doing lots of exercise.  Now, I test closer to 1 meaning I have roughly an 'average' metabolism for someone my height/weight.  Having said that, i exercise a lot. Metabolism can be affected by a number of things.  I have no thyroid function at all, for example. I take medications which are fine but don't have the same 'fine tuning' capability as a person with normal thyroid function. 

One way to track your body fat is to use the Navy Body Fat formula.  It's more accurate, actually than any other body fat measure besides immersion in water. There are all kinds of calculators on the web. All you need are your height, weight, waist, hip, and neck measurements.  Most will tell you how many pounds of lean mass you are carrying. 

I have 107lbs of lean mass. That's the same as when I had surgery. When you're 300lbs (or close to it like I was), carrying all that weight around helps your body maintain lean mass. The act of going up stairs is weight bearing exercise.   As you lose weight, you lose lean not just from calorie deficit or low protien but also simply the fact you have less weight for your muscles to schlep around.  To maintain that muscle mass you have to work at it. 

Per my testing, my BMR is about 1850 calories a day (I'm 5'3").  I am active during the day and exercise. I expect I'll be in the 2200 calorie a day range in maintenance, but that remains to be seen. Right now, I'm at 600-800 calories a day and I still losing at a good clip.  

This is all really good info.  Obviously as a pre-op, I have a loooong way to go before thinking too hard about maintenance, but when I saw this topic posted, it occurred to me that I hadn't thought about it at all!   I too had thought about lifting weights to get some muscle tone to counteract saggy skin, but it didn't occur to me that I also have to have muscle to have a decent metabolism.  Just one of the many ways these forums have been so helpful to me.

Just as a follow-up, here's a link for the Navy body fat calculator.

http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Nav y

My metabolism is so screwed up that I need to eat under 1100 a day to lose. Under a 1000 would be better but thats really hard since i had the band out and am waiting for sleeve.
If i eat over 1400 i will gain. If i eat low carb i don't lose any! Go figure! I can eat less than 20 carbs a day and still not have a small amount of ketones on the test strips...its always a trace.
Once i added fruit into my diet i lost weight. Go figure....

I am still waiting for approval from a band to a sleeve. I had a Med Gem test....breathing test. My resting metabolism is 1100 calories a day. My doctor said I will be eating 400-600 calories a day during the weight loss phase and 800 for maintenance. Yep, my metabolism is ruined!

Metabolism isn't a static thing.  You can improve it with exercise and change in your body composition. As I said, I've increased mine by a third going from .75 METs at rest to 1.00. Metabolism is actually two separate processes -- catabolic and anabolic.  One process converts food to tissue (cell walls, muscle, etc.) the other breaks down food for energy.  The more tissue you build and the more energy you expend, the more fuel the body needs.  

The body needs adequate water, protein, rest, exercise,  and micronutrients (vitamins/nimerals) in order to metabolize food properly.  If you get all those once you are sleeved, I doubt you'll need only 800 calories to survive long-term as that's lower than your current RMR.  I'm not a doctor, of course.  I just wouldn't lose hope.

Thanks krazydoglady! I will check out that navy thing. This is all great information! I'm nowhere near maintenance yet but I'm trying to figure out this whole thing before I get there. I've been a little worried about messing up my metabolism eating less than 800 cal/day but now I see that it can be raised again with all the things you said.

My nut told me that exercise would be important for the rest of my life but she didn't explain as good as you guys have! Thanks!!

I hope my metabolism will increase.....and get off Bp meds too will help