Lose weight by eating more?

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So I heard that you can up your calorie intake and lose weight. Has anyone tried that? I read about Audrey Johns. She says by eating All Natural foods, the weight flew off. Has anyone tried this?
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  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
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    I think you need to consider at what point you are upping calories. Eating more than when you were gaining or maintaining won't result in a weight loss. But, if you've been at a large deficit and find you are hungry a lot or tempted to binge, then you may be able to up your calories by 100 or 200 or maybe even a bit more and still lose weight.

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  • cerad2
    cerad2 Posts: 70 Member
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    Have not tried the "Audrey Johns" approach. If you have been eating with a caloric deficit of say 1000 calories per day then you can indeed eat more (say 500 calories per day), still be at a deficit and still lose weight. It just won't be as fast.

    By the way, don't let the subsequent posts bother you.
  • MitzieMacLachlan
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    I know that if you hit a plateau during your weight loss journey, adding some more protein into your daily intake may help...
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    So I heard that you can up your calorie intake and lose weight. Has anyone tried that? I read about Audrey Johns. She says by eating All Natural foods, the weight flew off. Has anyone tried this?
    That's the opposite of the truth. You lose weight by eating less, not more. Increasing calories can cause short term stall in water retention to ease, but will not increase fat loss. If you are eating so little that you frequently break your goals and overeat, increasing calories might help. In that example you really aren't eating more though, you are simply eating more for your goal and binging less. The net result was still that you had to eat less to lose. Eating "all natural" is meaningless. Lead and arsenic are both naturally occurring things. Eating mostly minimally processed, whole foods can result in a greater feeling of satiation which again will help with compliance. It will also ensure you meet all your micro nutrient goals as well. It will not however, increase fat loss in and of itself. This is why it's silly to try and eat 100% minimally processed, whole foods. An occasional processed snack or meal will not cause your fat loss to slow or stop as long as it falls within your calorie goals.

    I feel safe saying the vast majority of people that think they starting eating more and losing faster actually didn't. They might be eating more total food then before, but they are probably eating less total calories. A pound of broccoli is more food then a chocolate bar, but has much fewer calories. You can't break physics no matter how hard you try. Calories in vs calories out determine weight loss, but eating more whole foods can give you more food for your caloric buck.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Eat more volume but fewer calories ..yes that would work

    Eat more calories - nope, never...because of basic science
  • SammySweets15
    SammySweets15 Posts: 17 Member
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    Thx for everyones input.. I will keep that in mind.
  • jenncornelsen
    jenncornelsen Posts: 969 Member
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    i would agree with above posters . u would lose on all natural because it would recommend tons of veggies which have very few calories. u would consume more bulk but u would still be eating fewer calories. if u want u could probably combine the two. eating natural is certainly not a bad thing, but from experience ive tried that and depriving myself of anything processed is just not realistic long term
  • HarveysGail
    HarveysGail Posts: 7 Member
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    Actually, I think you can eat too little and when you do, instead of losing more, you plateau. This is because your body thinks you're in for a period of starvation and holds onto everything. I believe it is fairly well documented. This has definitely happened to me.
    What I can't tell you is where your level becomes too low as that varies from person to person. I would say avoid crash diets and maintain consistent reasonable calorie deficit while eating a varied diet of fresh food. And move! !
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Actually, I think you can eat too little and when you do, instead of losing more, you plateau. This is because your body thinks you're in for a period of starvation and holds onto everything. I believe it is fairly well documented. This has definitely happened to me.
    What I can't tell you is where your level becomes too low as that varies from person to person. I would say avoid crash diets and maintain consistent reasonable calorie deficit while eating a varied diet of fresh food. And move! !

    Nope

    Please see Minnesota starvation experiment, starving people in famine zones etc. when you eat too few calories you lose weight...maybe not in a linear fashion, there are stalls, and ups and downs, but weight inexorably goes downwards

    There may be a thermodynamic adaptation to the lower calorie amount that causes a small reduction in the amount of weight loss but it's still going down

    It goes down cos it does, like the earth revolves around the sun, it goes down
  • HarveysGail
    HarveysGail Posts: 7 Member
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    Problem is starving people lose muscle mass including heart muscle. I don't think that's healthy. I am hypothyroid and starving definitely does not work for me. But weight training 3 hours
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    So I heard that you can up your calorie intake and lose weight.

    Sure.

    Because everybody knows the best way to gain weight is to eat less.


  • HarveysGail
    HarveysGail Posts: 7 Member
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    Oops. Ending lost there. Weight training and sensible eating more does work for me.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    When I increase my calories it is for satiety and gym performance, not improved weight loss. I've had the experience a few times of adding in calories and losing a bit faster, but the increased calories also helped me work out with greater intensity and I felt okay with doing a bit more cardio as a result. So in effect increasing my intake simply helped me be more active therefore increasing my energy burns. I just upped my calories to 2250 because I lost 2.4lbs over the last 2 weeks instead of 1lb (0.5lb/week goal) and my gym performance was starting to suffer.
  • cerad2
    cerad2 Posts: 70 Member
    edited March 2015
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Eat more volume but fewer calories ..yes that would work

    Eat more calories - nope, never...because of basic science
    Explain this science. A person is eating at a deficit of 1000 calories per day. They start eating an additional 250 calories per day so their deficit is now 750 calories. Your science says that a person with a deficit of 750 calories will not lose weight just because they are eating more than they did before? Interesting.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    cerad2 wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Eat more volume but fewer calories ..yes that would work

    Eat more calories - nope, never...because of basic science
    Explain this science. A person is eating at a deficit of 100 calories per day. They start eating an additional 250 calories per day so their deficit is now 750 calories. Your science says that a person with a deficit of 750 calories will not lose weight just because they are eating more than they did before? Interesting.

    What? No

    Eat at a defecit = lose weight

    Eat at a smaller defecit = lose weight at a slower rate over time

    Eat at a larger defecit = lose weight at a faster rate over time

    Eat more to lose more in the same period? Nope. That's like saying eat less to gain weight.

    In the words of a great man "that's highly illogical Cap'n"
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    Actually, I think you can eat too little and when you do, instead of losing more, you plateau. This is because your body thinks you're in for a period of starvation and holds onto everything. I believe it is fairly well documented. This has definitely happened to me.
    What I can't tell you is where your level becomes too low as that varies from person to person. I would say avoid crash diets and maintain consistent reasonable calorie deficit while eating a varied diet of fresh food. And move! !

    Doesn't work that way.
  • cerad2
    cerad2 Posts: 70 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    In the words of a great man "that's highly illogical Cap'n"
    Flawless analysis as always Mr Spock. Which is why your answer that eating more can never result in weight loss is wrong.
  • SammySweets15
    SammySweets15 Posts: 17 Member
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    Ok thanks
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    cerad2 wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    In the words of a great man "that's highly illogical Cap'n"
    Flawless analysis as always Mr Spock. Which is why your answer that eating more can never result in weight loss is wrong.

    Except that's not what she said. At all.
    Eat at a smaller defecit = lose weight at a slower rate over time

    Eat at a larger defecit = lose weight at a faster rate over time

    Eat more to lose more in the same period? Nope

    i.e. eat a small deficit to lose at a fast rate = nope.
  • Bukawww
    Bukawww Posts: 159 Member
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    Can I just piggy back this discussion: I have been meticulous with weighing my food by grams. I have been under 1000 cal on some days (I know), I have been burning up to 4000 calories/day. By my calculations, I should have lost 4lbs this week but only lost 1. That is frustrating. Albeit this is only for one week...the previous week I lost 5lbs.

    I am hoping that extra 3lb will catch up at some point? Maybe a chick issue regarding hormone fluctuating, etc?