biting the bullet and eating more

mittencat77

I have been at 1200 and not eating calories back so sometimes netting 400-800. I feel like my body has just not been tapping into fat stores. So, here I go. Going to up the snacks and meals, cut down the starchy carbs and up the fruit and veg as well as calorie dense foods.

Would love to hear some success stories from upping calories. It is kind of a scary thing to do but it seems to be a consistent message I see on here. Fingers crossed.

Pearsquared

I started eating back all of my calories two weeks ago and upped protein consumption, and have been having some of my biggest losses since my first month (I'm in month four). Last week, I was down more than a pound, same as the week before. I honestly did it at first because I needed a few extra calories to help with stress, but continued because I had good success.

Edit: I have graphs.

On this first one, you can see I started upping my calories around the 23rd of June. It's not a whole lot since I only walk, but it's usually an extra 150-250 calories:



For the second one, you can see how my weight is slow, but steady, but they suddenly starts to really get going after the 27th (I weigh myself weekly). I attributed this to the additional calories.

Bekahmardis

Yeah, you're feeling the energy drain because your body needs more than that just to function. at 5'3", I weigh in at my goal weight of 110...and I eat an average of 1550 calories per day including my very few exercise calories to maintain my weight. Eat more protein (lots and lots of protein!) and if you're too full, grab a handful of nuts to round it out.

mittencat77

That's inspiring! It is interesting to see your graphs. Everyone says this will help but intuitively it seems odd....people who are starved lose weight (war-torn countries prove that). But I am starting to think this is a different beast.

So far though, in my quest for more I miscalculated and had a quarter cup of Hagen Daaz thinking I needed it. Whoops. I will think that one through a bit more next time

JennyKCarty

*bump* I just changed my defecit from 1lb per week to 1/2lb, so interested in your responses!

shadow2soul

I'm going to steal Pearsquared's idea and just show the reports from the last 90 days.

First graph is Total Calories consumed:



Even scarier is my Net Calories graph: (total - exercise)


And my weight loss (I weigh at random times):


I use fitbit, so I know that my activity level setting is correct. :flowerforyou:

JennyKCarty

Shadow-That's awesome, thanks for sharing!!!

beccib2

1st week when i came here - i just logged everything as normal to see where i was - i was netting about 800. I have gradually upped my calories to TDEE -20% which for me is 1750, gained like 1.5lb (which was to be expected when apparently i had spent two years eating so low) And this week is my first week that i am a pound lighter than when i started, plus i have so much more energy for my workouts, sleep better and just generally feel better. And i am getting in all the little treats i have missed out on for so long.

It is worth it - trust that long term it will work - The people on this site that complain they aren't losing weight, all have one thing in common....... very low cal diets....... you never hear those netting over 1500 complaining. That says a lot to me which is why i trusted it and i'm glad i did :-)

mittencat77

So far, so good. I am feeling fuller and far more energetic. today I did a brutal hike we have in North Vancouver (the grouse grind) in record time...first time under an hour! Usually it leaves me dead for the day but I then worked for 5 hours, cleaned the house, made dinner, played violin and still have loads of energy to spare. Probably too soon to tell...but I think I may be making progress as well. How can I not when I have so much energy??

mittencat77

An update....I think this is working. I have more energy and my times on my crazy uphill hike have come down considerably. I was away for a week, however, and was staying with a triathelete who strangely ate almost nothing. My protein was certainly not high enough (we were somewhere hot....ate mostly fruit and yogurt). But I am back on track and have altered my macros....trying to keep the fat down and the protein high. I thought these changes would be easy but they are proving difficult as I don't eat meat. But the short of it is, I have been generally eating more and I have gained energy and not gained weight.

So far....looks promising. Will update again in a month.

mrshudson813

I think this is an issue for many people. It's hard to believe that upping your calorie intake will actually make you lose weight. But, it can happen. Right now, I am extremely overweight (or should I say obese) and I am trying to take in around 1500 calories a day regardless of how little or how much I exercise. Because of my weight, this should work. If I hit a plateau, maybe I will start switching it up.

Achaila

I was eating 1200 calories a day and yesterday I upped my intake by 200. I actually had the energy to walk twice around the block which is a huge deal for me (I just had a baby). I lost .6 which to me is great. I had to stop myself from doing more. Today I'm going to try for a little more. Having energy definitely makes eating more worth it.