How do I safely bring my calories back up?
jdlobb
Posts: 1,232 Member
I've realized that I'm probably not eating enough calories, and haven't been for a long time. The amount I'm losing doesn't come close to my deficit.
I'm 6'0", 253 pounds. I was eating 1250 calories per day for the last 3 months, and working out a minimum of 30 minutes a day, but up to 2 hours a few days a week.
Despite that I have only been losing about 2lbs a week. The math doesn't add up.
I want to increase my calories to the appropriate level, but I don't want to go too fast.
What would be an appropriate pace at which to add calories? What should my target be? I'm guessing about 1900?
I'm 6'0", 253 pounds. I was eating 1250 calories per day for the last 3 months, and working out a minimum of 30 minutes a day, but up to 2 hours a few days a week.
Despite that I have only been losing about 2lbs a week. The math doesn't add up.
I want to increase my calories to the appropriate level, but I don't want to go too fast.
What would be an appropriate pace at which to add calories? What should my target be? I'm guessing about 1900?
2
Replies
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The math doesn't add up. How tight is your logging? Are you weighing everything?5
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collectingblues wrote: »The math doesn't add up. How tight is your logging? Are you weighing everything?
I know, that's the problem. My logging is pretty tight, and has gotten a lot better. I weigh almost everything, log religiously. My lunches might be + or - 100 or 200 calories because I don't have a scale at work.2 -
collectingblues wrote: »The math doesn't add up. How tight is your logging? Are you weighing everything?
My lunches might be + or - 100 or 200 calories because I don't have a scale at work.
If you added 200 or maybe 300 (or more?) per day of uncounted calories you might be eating many more calories per day or week than you think. I'd also suspect your logging of food and exercise is way off. Common explanation and a problem that many people have in the first few months.
However you're logging, you're losing 2# a week which is a deficit of 1000 calories a day, which is awesome!!
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fiddletime wrote: »collectingblues wrote: »The math doesn't add up. How tight is your logging? Are you weighing everything?
My lunches might be + or - 100 or 200 calories because I don't have a scale at work.
If you added 200 or maybe 300 (or more?) per day of uncounted calories you might be eating many more calories per day or week than you think. I'd also suspect your logging of food and exercise is way off. Common explanation and a problem that many people have in the first few months.
However you're logging, you're losing 2# a week which is a deficit of 1000 calories a day, which is awesome!!
I've tried to tighten up my logging as much as possible, next week I'll start pre-making and packing my lunches so they're more accurate.
I am happy with the 2 pounds per week. I'm just worried that if I'm not getting enough calories I might be hurting myself some way.5 -
fiddletime wrote: »collectingblues wrote: »The math doesn't add up. How tight is your logging? Are you weighing everything?
My lunches might be + or - 100 or 200 calories because I don't have a scale at work.
If you added 200 or maybe 300 (or more?) per day of uncounted calories you might be eating many more calories per day or week than you think. I'd also suspect your logging of food and exercise is way off. Common explanation and a problem that many people have in the first few months.
However you're logging, you're losing 2# a week which is a deficit of 1000 calories a day, which is awesome!!
I've tried to tighten up my logging as much as possible, next week I'll start pre-making and packing my lunches so they're more accurate.
I am happy with the 2 pounds per week. I'm just worried that if I'm not getting enough calories I might be hurting myself some way.
Do ^ this. Eat at 1900 for a month. See how much you lost. Readjust.3 -
Either increase your portion sizes just a bit (two eggs instead of one, etc) or eat a forth meal during the day. That should bring up your calories slowly, so you can adjust to the changes.2
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If the math doesn't add up in your diary, but does seem to add up on your body, chances are your diary totals are off and you're eating more than it says. As you said, you could be eating 200+ at lunches which are unaccounted for.
If you want to slow your losses down to 1.5 or even 1 a week, certainly up your calories, but remember that your body shows what your diary doesn't and you could be eating as a healthier level than you think.6 -
Can you bring a lunch to work that's been weighed and calculated accurately?
ETA: now I see that you said you're planning to do just that next week. My bad3 -
Are you feeling hungry, or craving any foods?
How active are you generally outside of that 30 mins of exercise? What exercise/calorie burn do you think you get for those 30 mins of exercise?
If I plug your numbers in to http://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/ using sedentary (x1.2) I see TDEE in the range 2500-2800. NB, I'm office based and use x1.16 as my base TDEE before exercise.
A Consistent 2 lbs a week should match that 1000 Cal deficit a day, so eating at 1250, plus a few modest errors (say 10%) and your numbers would be in the right area. NB even if you weigh everything correctly you will still get errors. if you are much more active then it's more likely that your error is higher somewhere.
Note, Your body is consuming those 1000 calories from Fat stores a day in addition to the 1250 you are consuming, so your body is actually using 2250 Calories, so if you are worried about health effects of eating too little I'd suggest just focusing on nutrient density rather than increasing calories. If you are dealing with Hunger or craving issues then maybe your body is telling you it needs more, but sometimes this is just noise and it's hard to trust your body.
If you are going to increase your calories, I would suggest doing it slowly (like transitioning to maintenance) add 100 Calories a day for a week, and see how your weight and body changes, then repeat the next week if you still want to increase. you will likely slow your weight loss progress, but of course it can be hard to tell because of the natural variations.
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I've realized that I'm probably not eating enough calories, and haven't been for a long time. The amount I'm losing doesn't come close to my deficit.
I'm 6'0", 253 pounds. I was eating 1250 calories per day for the last 3 months, and working out a minimum of 30 minutes a day, but up to 2 hours a few days a week.
Despite that I have only been losing about 2lbs a week. The math doesn't add up.
I want to increase my calories to the appropriate level, but I don't want to go too fast.
What would be an appropriate pace at which to add calories? What should my target be? I'm guessing about 1900?
with those stats...and loggin 1250 you should be losing a lot more than 2lbs a week.
at less weight, female old I lost 1lb a week on 1600...
I have looked at your diary and yah it seems off...
You indicated you use a scale but your log doesn't reflect it.
For example 1/2 medium avocado??? should be in grams.
and 7 hotwings @ 400 calories too good to be true...probably closer to 600.
Your grilled chicken breast @ 790 calories 2 servings?
Tyson chicken nuggest? 201 grams @ 260 calories and 45 protein...you wish...try 412 calories and 31 protein
so just in a couple of days I have found at least appx 700 calories...
tighten up your logging by choosing the correct entries as well as weighing...
using a scale doesn't guarantee you are logging accurately and consistently...11 -
Other people have covered the food aspect of tracking, but what about your workouts?
Are you going off the calories burnt from a Fitbit or machines? They can be notoriously inaccurate. Have you been eating back 100% of your exercise calories, or a smaller percentage?
That could explain the discrepancy.
Either way I agree that as a male, you should definitely be eating more!1 -
I've realized that I'm probably not eating enough calories, and haven't been for a long time. The amount I'm losing doesn't come close to my deficit.
I'm 6'0", 253 pounds. I was eating 1250 calories per day for the last 3 months, and working out a minimum of 30 minutes a day, but up to 2 hours a few days a week.
Despite that I have only been losing about 2lbs a week. The math doesn't add up.
I want to increase my calories to the appropriate level, but I don't want to go too fast.
What would be an appropriate pace at which to add calories? What should my target be? I'm guessing about 1900?
with those stats...and loggin 1250 you should be losing a lot more than 2lbs a week.
at less weight, female old I lost 1lb a week on 1600...
I have looked at your diary and yah it seems off...
You indicated you use a scale but your log doesn't reflect it.
For example 1/2 medium avocado??? should be in grams.
and 7 hotwings @ 400 calories too good to be true...probably closer to 600.
Your grilled chicken breast @ 790 calories 2 servings?
Tyson chicken nuggest? 201 grams @ 260 calories and 45 protein...you wish...try 412 calories and 31 protein
so just in a couple of days I have found at least appx 700 calories...
tighten up your logging by choosing the correct entries as well as weighing...
using a scale doesn't guarantee you are logging accurately and consistently...
All of the food examples you gave from my diary were already overestimates.
The wings were grilled, with minimal sauce, and I split an order of 10. Maybe ate 5.
The avocado was a topping on the turkey burger, don't think there was even 1/2 an avocado there. Ate this in the work cafeteria, so didn't have an opportunity to weigh any of it. I try to over-log those meals.
Not sure your point about the nuggets. They're grilled nuggets, I weighed them and logged them according to the nutrition information on the package. http://www.tyson.com/products/grilled-chicken-breast-nuggets
3 -
Other people have covered the food aspect of tracking, but what about your workouts?
Are you going off the calories burnt from a Fitbit or machines? They can be notoriously inaccurate. Have you been eating back 100% of your exercise calories, or a smaller percentage?
That could explain the discrepancy.
Either way I agree that as a male, you should definitely be eating more!
I'm not eating back any of the calories burned during my workouts, I don't pay attention to their calories at all.
In an average week I usually spend 2-3 hours weight training and walk 12-15 miles1 -
]I would not eat more just get more accurate about what you are eating and having a better calorie goal.
MFP will give you a calorie goal based on your stats and desired rate of loss up to 2 lbs. The minimum recommendation for men is 1500 though.
Your calorie goal to lose 2 lb a week if you are sedentary without exercise should probably be around 1600 calories. So you are consuming more than 1250 currently or you would be losing more.
If you raise your calorie goal to 1900 without being more accurate you will probably slow your loss.
Get a calorie goal from MFP. Be more accurate.1 -
I've realized that I'm probably not eating enough calories, and haven't been for a long time. The amount I'm losing doesn't come close to my deficit.
I'm 6'0", 253 pounds. I was eating 1250 calories per day for the last 3 months, and working out a minimum of 30 minutes a day, but up to 2 hours a few days a week.
Despite that I have only been losing about 2lbs a week. The math doesn't add up.
I want to increase my calories to the appropriate level, but I don't want to go too fast.
What would be an appropriate pace at which to add calories? What should my target be? I'm guessing about 1900?
with those stats...and loggin 1250 you should be losing a lot more than 2lbs a week.
at less weight, female old I lost 1lb a week on 1600...
I have looked at your diary and yah it seems off...
You indicated you use a scale but your log doesn't reflect it.
For example 1/2 medium avocado??? should be in grams.
and 7 hotwings @ 400 calories too good to be true...probably closer to 600.
Your grilled chicken breast @ 790 calories 2 servings?
Tyson chicken nuggest? 201 grams @ 260 calories and 45 protein...you wish...try 412 calories and 31 protein
so just in a couple of days I have found at least appx 700 calories...
tighten up your logging by choosing the correct entries as well as weighing...
using a scale doesn't guarantee you are logging accurately and consistently...
All of the food examples you gave from my diary were already overestimates.
The wings were grilled, with minimal sauce, and I split an order of 10. Maybe ate 5.
The avocado was a topping on the turkey burger, don't think there was even 1/2 an avocado there. Ate this in the work cafeteria, so didn't have an opportunity to weigh any of it. I try to over-log those meals.
Not sure your point about the nuggets. They're grilled nuggets, I weighed them and logged them according to the nutrition information on the package. http://www.tyson.com/products/grilled-chicken-breast-nuggets
I missed the grilled part but regardless you are not logging accurately...egg white omeltte 1 serving? did you build that recipe? on that day (Thursday Augst 24th) did you log it all because if you only ate 959 calories you really need to get a handle on that.
1 cup of rice
4oz of this
1 scoop
6 meatballs (Tuesday 1k calories)
Pork chops 3 1/2 ounces? how were they cooked? was that raw?
I see a lot of entries on your diary that are not in weight...hence my comment you may be weighing but your diary doesn't reflect it.
and to be frank if you as a man at yoru size are eating less than 1500 calories you should be losing faster...and if you aren't I would wonder.
As well as a man you should not go below 1500 to ensure you are hitting nutritional guidelines.
based on yoru diary I am wondering if you are not borderline anorexic to be honest.5 -
If you truly need to bring cals up, add back 100 cals per day for a week. Then another etc until you are where you need to be. Have you done a TDEE calculator? If so, what did you get?
Honestly, I'm with the others that your logging is off and you are consuming more like 1500 to 1600 now and I'm guessing your TDEE to be about 2500 to 2600.
ETA: just plugged your states in to a TDEE calculator and got 2575. So, you are eating a little more than you think and you are right at about a 1000 cal deficit. At your weight and likely BF that is sustainable for about 25-30 more lbs or so. Then you want to bring the deficit down.1 -
thanks everybody for pointing out deficiencies in my log that I didn't even notice. I thought I was doing pretty good, but apparently I'm absolute *kitten* at this.0
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thanks everybody for pointing out deficiencies in my log that I didn't even notice. I thought I was doing pretty good, but apparently I'm absolute *kitten* at this.
Dude. Don't hate on yourself. It's tricky to get the hang of and it's easy to take liberties and trust packaging, which sometimes can result in big calorie discrepancies. Just stay committed and refine your logging. You've had some success and this will just tighten it up. You got this.4 -
thanks everybody for pointing out deficiencies in my log that I didn't even notice. I thought I was doing pretty good, but apparently I'm absolute *kitten* at this.
Nah, it's just that this stuff can be tricky to get a hang of. Have you seen how many posts show up here every day starting with "I'm eating 1200 calories but not losing, what's wrong?" The bottom line is to trust your body and your scale. You are luckier than most in that you are currently losing at a perfectly reasonable rate, so you should absolutely stick with your current level of calories in/calories out for now (assuming that you aren't constantly hungry, exhausted, in pain, losing your hair, or some other signs of nutritional deficiency). Leaving aside the possibility of a medical issue or you being an outlier metabolism-wise (which isn't impossible!), we can then assume that you're probably actually eating in the 2500-2800 range (according to https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/index.html and assuming you're 30). So the goal for now isn't to change what you're eating, but to make sure that you're logging accurately. Maybe give it a month and see what things look like then. Good luck!1 -
You have logged 87 days in total.
Average calories logged are 968 a day. 79g Carb 38g fat 62g protein, 210mg cholesterol, 1757mg sodium, 13g sugar, 8g fiber.
Based on your food macros you have logged only *907* Cal a day.
35% Carb, 37.6% fat 27.4% protein
Most of this discrepancy, rising up to 14% which would normally indicate either log entries with bad macros or the logging of alcoholic drinks (and in your case I don't see alcoholic drinks, so it has to be the use of log entries with incorrect macros) is between logging days 32 and 59.
During logging days 60 to 87 your discrepancy is down to 2%, which normally indicates log entries with correct macros.
Using your own figures of lifting plus walking exercise, you would have to move around at least an hour a day.
Assuming that you're completely sedentary the rest of the time (which is far from impossible given the world we live in), that still takes you to the top end of sedentary/bottom end of lightly active.
In other words an activity factor in the 1.3 to 1.4x BMR range.
Your BMR becomes slightly more interesting.
MFP, Fitbit, and a whole bunch of other calculators use Mifflin St Jeor's formula which does not take body fat into account.
Figuring out correct body fat % is an extreme exercise in frustration. The visual method seems to work as well or better than anything else! Having said that, and short of you using the US Navy calculator online taking care to take measurements at all the correct spots (which is hard to do when overweight or after losing a lot of weight and your navel moves around... but I digress).... all we can do is go by a prediction on body fat based on BMI.
Which gives us a 45% body fat prediction.
So. Mifflin St Jeor has your BMR around 2111 and this would mean that with an activity factor of 1.3 to 1.4 you would expect to be burning 2740 to 2955 calories a day. Your weight loss results, even though they are absolutely excellent and more than adequate as achieved, severely under-performed that prediction, especially when you consider that you started from a higher weight which would create an even larger deficit.
Using Katch Mcardle your BMR at 45% body fat comes to 1736 and with an activity factor of 1.3 to 1.4 you would expect to be burning 2456 to 2430 calories a day.
Now we are getting somewhere.
IF your average consumption were NOT sub 1000 calories, and between the days you did not log and the days you logged slightly optimistically you averaged closer to 1500 Calories a day... then your 2lb per week loss all of a sudden becomes mathematically possible.
HAVING SAID ALL THAT. It really doesn't matter.
Because if your actual TDEE is sub 2500 Calories a day then your deficit should NOT be 1000 Cal; but should be closer to 625 Cal.
Why? because I am of the opinion that safe and sustainable deficits should not exceed 25% of TDEE while obese and 20% of TDEE when mid to low overweight or normal weight.
In other words I am joining the chorus that you should EAT MORE than you're currently eating EVEN IF IT SLOWS DOWN YOUR WEIGHT LOSS.
How much more? at a guess another 500 real calories which would put you in the realm of losing between 1.5 and 1lb a week on a trending weight basis.
At that point start exploring whether you feel more energetic and willing to engage in additional activity. EAT BACK AT LEAST 50% of your additional activity calories.
You really do not want to keep >25% TDEE deficits for long periods of time. AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO IN ORDER TO LOSE WEIGHT.
And why are you not in a great hurry even though you think you are? Because there are a LOT of things you need to be doing during this weight loss time.
You are going to have to fully revamp how you relate to food and movement on a daily basis as well as figure out what triggers your long term over-eating and how to control or deflect when it all happens in the future.
Because if you don't... you will gain it all back. Just like so many of us do.
Some additional observations.
Vegetables and fruits are calorically cheep. Your hamburgers are crying for some rabbit food. Feed your inner rabbit.
Non deep fried or buried in sour cream, butter, and mayo potatoes are actually quite satiating. Do not be afraid of the potato when it is not smothered by extras.
Even a small amount of pasta mixed with maybe some zucchini noodles (zoodles I believe they're called) is NOT a danger. You can ration your bread. You can ration the other items too ;-)
Egg whites have a lot of protein for the calories. Mix 3:1 with a complete egg to retain color and nutrients while controlling calories and increasing protein and nutrients.
0% greek yogurt can be your protein friend. And can be eaten on top of potatoes. And can be used as the basis for a salad dressing. And can become a dessert with some fresh or frozen fruit...
There is no calorie free condiment. Yes ketchup and sriracha sauce and mustard have less calories than mayo, but no, even mustard does not have zero calories regardless of what the package says. Check out the USDA standard reference items 02046 for mustard and 04679 for PAM spray, for example.
Really. Having more energy and moving more is not a terrible idea. Not at all ;-)
Ask yourself from time to time: can I keep doing this for 5 to 10 years? Can I at least see myself doing this for the next 3 years. If the answer is no... I would question "this" as you do want to build up an arsenal of long term habits.
Best of luck.11 -
Thanks again everybody that's chimed in. I'm going to increase my target to 1500 and leave my current fat and protein targets in place, so more carbs *yelp*.
I'm also going to double down on my logging, starting immediately. I just logged my lunch weighing everything as accurately as possible. It came out about 100 more calories than I would have ballparked. If one of you intrepid investigators would care to take a peak and grade it, I'd be appreciative.
In case anybody is still curious, I'm on the last exercise of week 5 in this exercise plan
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/workouts/workout-routines/reform-90-day-transformation-program-every-man1 -
Thanks again everybody that's chimed in. I'm going to increase my target to 1500 and leave my current fat and protein targets in place, so more carbs *yelp*.
I'm also going to double down on my logging, starting immediately. I just logged my lunch weighing everything as accurately as possible. It came out about 100 more calories than I would have ballparked. If one of you intrepid investigators would care to take a peak and grade it, I'd be appreciative.
Looking pretty good to me. The only thing I'd change would be to weigh the mustard too - a really great trick I learned for condiments is to put the jar on your scale, zero it out, apply whatever you were going to apply, and then weigh again - the negative number is how much you took out.1 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »Thanks again everybody that's chimed in. I'm going to increase my target to 1500 and leave my current fat and protein targets in place, so more carbs *yelp*.
I'm also going to double down on my logging, starting immediately. I just logged my lunch weighing everything as accurately as possible. It came out about 100 more calories than I would have ballparked. If one of you intrepid investigators would care to take a peak and grade it, I'd be appreciative.
Looking pretty good to me. The only thing I'd change would be to weigh the mustard too - a really great trick I learned for condiments is to put the jar on your scale, zero it out, apply whatever you were going to apply, and then weigh again - the negative number is how much you took out.
Thanks, I did weight the mustard actually! But the entry didn't have a weight, so I decided the weight on the scale by the weight on the package for a serving, that's how I got 1.2 tbsp. Do you think that's a reasonable approach? Or would you try something different?3 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »Thanks again everybody that's chimed in. I'm going to increase my target to 1500 and leave my current fat and protein targets in place, so more carbs *yelp*.
I'm also going to double down on my logging, starting immediately. I just logged my lunch weighing everything as accurately as possible. It came out about 100 more calories than I would have ballparked. If one of you intrepid investigators would care to take a peak and grade it, I'd be appreciative.
Looking pretty good to me. The only thing I'd change would be to weigh the mustard too - a really great trick I learned for condiments is to put the jar on your scale, zero it out, apply whatever you were going to apply, and then weigh again - the negative number is how much you took out.
Thanks, I did weight the mustard actually! But the entry didn't have a weight, so I decided the weight on the scale by the weight on the package for a serving, that's how I got 1.2 tbsp. Do you think that's a reasonable approach? Or would you try something different?
Super reasonable, I do the same thing for a couple of foods I haven't wanted to bother making new entries for. Carry on!4 -
MegaMooseEsq wrote: »Thanks again everybody that's chimed in. I'm going to increase my target to 1500 and leave my current fat and protein targets in place, so more carbs *yelp*.
I'm also going to double down on my logging, starting immediately. I just logged my lunch weighing everything as accurately as possible. It came out about 100 more calories than I would have ballparked. If one of you intrepid investigators would care to take a peak and grade it, I'd be appreciative.
Looking pretty good to me. The only thing I'd change would be to weigh the mustard too - a really great trick I learned for condiments is to put the jar on your scale, zero it out, apply whatever you were going to apply, and then weigh again - the negative number is how much you took out.
Thanks, I did weight the mustard actually! But the entry didn't have a weight, so I decided the weight on the scale by the weight on the package for a serving, that's how I got 1.2 tbsp. Do you think that's a reasonable approach? Or would you try something different?
I will sometimes use entries for cups or tablespoons when I weigh something out. For example: if the package says 1 cup is 185 grams and I weigh out 185 grams, I consider it irrelevant whether I log 185 grams or 1 cup.2 -
How much do you need to lose? If you are far enough overweight that 2 lb/week is a reasonable goal than you are probably fine continuing as you are (with whatever actual calories you are consuming now). If you are not obese, then you probably want to eat more.
1250 net or total calories? If net, then it could be your exercise calorie burn estimate that is off.
And yes- it can be very hard to estimate the calories in foods you are eating out (especially starting out). You could be underestimating those by hundreds of calories ('hidden' items like butter/oil and even small inaccuracies in calorie-dense items found in cafes like 80/20 ground beef, avocado, fries, etc can amount to a lot). If those chicken wings you mentioned were mild or medium, rather than hot, the calorie count skyrockets further (mild/medium hot sauce is hot sauce cut with butter just in case you didn't know). Mustard isn't too bad (small measurement inaccuracies won't add up to much, but any mayo inaccuracies will).3 -
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the only thing I will note is try to use grams...and yes I know..picky but when you get to the point where you really need to tighten logging it will be habit
try not use "generic" entries. Search for USDA entries and ignore the check mark. Weight packaged foods even...0 -
thanks everybody for pointing out deficiencies in my log that I didn't even notice. I thought I was doing pretty good, but apparently I'm absolute *kitten* at this.
No, you're doing a great job. The biggest takeaway from this is yes you're logging is not totally accurate but as you're losing 2lbs/WK your progress is pretty much on target for a healthy rate of weight loss. And you're actually eating more than you think. In your case that's a good thing.
I'm not totally accurate in my logging either but I'm ok with it. I accept a certain margin of error due to eating out and generally being lax about it. The scale keeps me accountable and I adjust based on what it tells me over time. That's what works for me.
Now when your progress slows down that's when you'll need to tighten up your logging.
1
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