Has anyone found increasing their calories helps with binges ?

Fivefootcaloriecounter

I have 1200 calories but then end up binge eating after 4 days so I've been told to up my calories to 1700 to prevent binges . I'm 4ft 11 though so this seems sooooo high !

deannalfisher

I'm 5'3" 148 and maintain on avg 2450cal a day - it depends on what your goals are - 1200 might have been too aggressive a weight loss for you (depending on your current/goal weight) - but if you are physically active then 1700 could easily be an appropriate level

cwolfman13

deannalfisher wrote: »

I'm 5'3" 148 and maintain on avg 2450cal a day - it depends on what your goals are - 1200 might have been too aggressive a weight loss for you (depending on your current/goal weight) - but if you are physically active then 1700 could easily be an appropriate level

This...

Also, you look like you have little to no weight to actually lose...1200 is way aggressive for a little vanity weight.

slaite1

Well how much are you bingeing? It's just a matter of finding your happy medium. If you're eating 1200 a day, then bingeing thousands of calories every few days, you're averaging more than 1700 calories anyway.

Have you plugged your stats into mfp to find your maintenance calories? I would start there and see what happens, rather than pick another arbitrary number.

AMV91

Yes often it is.

I stalled for over a year because I was attempting to eat 1200 and then just over doing it 2-3 times a week, keeping myself the same weight for ever. Had I upped my calories and lowered my pounds per week, I would have lost way more than stalling in that year.

I have a much higher calorie goal now, lose slower as well but much more than stalling + no binges!

Seffell

deannalfisher wrote: »

I'm 5'3" 148 and maintain on avg 2450cal a day - it depends on what your goals are - 1200 might have been too aggressive a weight loss for you (depending on your current/goal weight) - but if you are physically active then 1700 could easily be an appropriate level

That's an important bit. I'm 5'7 and 138 and on sedentiary days I maintain on 1500. So make sure your activity level allows it.

AnnPT77

If you log your binges as accurately as possible, you can figure out your eating for a couple of weeks, figure out your total loss/gain over that same period, and do the arithmetic to estimate your TDEE with decent accuracy. With little to lose, eat 250-ish less than that daily, and lose it gradually & sustainably.

(If you prefer NEAT method to TDEE method, you can estimate NEAT instead, if you have your exercise-burn estimates. It's just a little more arithmetic. )

LAMCDylan

deannalfisher wrote: »

I'm 5'3" 148 and maintain on avg 2450cal a day - it depends on what your goals are - 1200 might have been too aggressive a weight loss for you (depending on your current/goal weight) - but if you are physically active then 1700 could easily be an appropriate level

Interesting. I am around 280 lbs and I take in 2750 calories a day. Maybe I am eating too little? I do feel hungry most days.

jennifer_417

Yep. I've never made it more than a week in 1200 calories.

Its_Haleeyy

Yes. Last time I was on here I was set at 2 lbs a week and 1200 calories. I lasted a week. I have it set for 1.5 pounds a week and about 1600 calories and have been having an easier time with it and also seen more progress already than I did on 1200

inertiastrength

It's relative to your maintenance calories. I maintain on 2500 on average so I would binge spectacularly trying to stay within 1600 after a week or 2.

rachnh

You could also try calorie cycling along with upping your calories a bit. It works like this: Say your daily goal is 1500, you would have 10,500 calories to "spend" during the week, so you divvy it up so that some days get more, some days not as much. Then you would just make sure that your 7 day total is at about 10,500 with your up and down days. That way on days where you're likely to want to eat more, whether it's from exercising more or maybe some family events with food, you won't feel as though you're starving or missing out. It's pretty flexible and can keep you on track for goal.

beatyfamily1

No. Manging my blood sugar did though. I started eating small, more frequent meals, and the urge to binge stopped.

alondrakayy

Yes. I'm 5ft 7in and back when I started tracking I did the whole 1200 cals a day thing and was miserable. Binged all the time. Now I eat around 1900 (slowly trying to find my way to maintenance) and I won't say I never indulge maybe a little more than planned every now and then (like 2-4x a month) but I definitely don't do what I used to do where I would eat until I was sick because I was SO HUNGRY.