Increasing my calories for better fat loss

CholeRoad
CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started dieting in November on 1700 calories and after 10 weeks had come down to 1400. I lost 10 lbs along the way. After learning about BMR and metabolic adaptation I increased my calories to 1800 as I figured 1400 was too low and I still have a bit of weight to lose.

I weigh myself daily and work out the average for the week. I have eaten around 1800 calories daily for 2 weeks now and my average weight has stayed the same at 72.7kg/160lbs. My fat % has gone from 43.7 to 42.9. That is a loss of 0.7kg/1.5lbs. I am 5 ft 1.

This week I have increased my calories to 1900 and will eat like this for the next 2 weeks. Then I will increase my calories by around 100 cal every 2 weeks until around 2500. Anyway that's the plan.

Anyone else ever done this before? Thoughts?

Spirit
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Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    @frees1spirit: I think there may be some confusion about the role of BMR and metabolic adaptation in weight loss. Can you link to articles you read?
  • xxzenabxx
    xxzenabxx Posts: 935 Member
    frees1spirit wrote: »
    I started dieting in November on 1700 calories and after 10 weeks had come down to 1400. I lost 10 lbs along the way. After learning about BMR and metabolic adaptation I increased my calories to 1800 as I figured 1400 was too low and I still have a bit of weight to lose.

    I weigh myself daily and work out the average for the week. I have eaten around 1800 calories daily for 2 weeks now and my average weight has stayed the same at 72.7kg/160lbs. My fat % has gone from 43.7 to 42.9. That is a loss of 0.7kg/1.5lbs. I am 5 ft 1.

    This week I have increased my calories to 1900 and will eat like this for the next 2 weeks. Then I will increase my calories by around 100 cal every 2 weeks until around 2500. Anyway that's the plan.

    Anyone else ever done this before? Thoughts?

    Spirit

    Are you tired? Do you always have cold hands and feet? Have you been dieting for a while? I was in the same situation but I’m 5’ 4” and I used to eat 1200-1500 calories a day, hovered and bounced around 2000 calories (for a few months) then slowly reverse dieted all the way up to 2600 on some days. In the end I averaged out to be 2300 which is my maintenance but if I’m more active then, yes, I do have an average maintenance of 2500 calories. I do want to add I have 20 lbs more muscle than the average woman so it’s much easier to eat more and stay leaner. I can burn 160-230 extra calories and that adds up. One pound of muscle can burn 8-13 extra calories at rest! They burn even more calories when they are being repaired. I do still feel that 2500 may be an over reach for you because of your height but hey, it’s totally possible that you might suddenly become WAY more active with more food. There are hyper responders. This has been studied in regard to ED patients where, when they were fed more and their metabolisms sped up. Aside from this, I honestly can’t think of another way for your to eat that much but maybe 2200-2300 calories would be better for you and that is still a lot.
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    I am 51.

    I do 2 hours of exercise 6 days a week. I use resistance bands, do some skipping, dancing, ashtanga yoga and walking. My TDEE has been given as 2,300 on MYP and up to 2600 using other calculators as I put my activity level as very active. I don't add back my exercise calories. My BMR has been given as around 1400 on most calculators. I am aware that all these numbers, including my fat % are estimates.

    I have been tracking my calories since November. I was not expecting to lose weight whilst increasing calories but hoping to maintain. I know the body experiences metabolic adaptation when you decrease calories and am wondering if I can use this adaptation to increase my calories/TDEE. Once at my maintenance calories, I can then start cutting calories again. I worried that I might have to go down to 1200 to lose weight or do even more exercise. My TDEE might not be 2500, it might be lower but I will find out.

    When I was on 1400 calories I wasn't hungry as I ate filling low calorie foods but my energy levels had gone down and I am one of those people who always has cold hands and feet, even in summer.

    I guess this is an attempt at a reverse diet in the middle of a diet.


  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    I read many articles and watched a few videos before deciding to do this. Some of the people I have listened to are Dr. Eric Trexler, Dr. Layne Norton, and Lyle McDonald. :
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    @cmriverside
    Thank you so much.

    I will have a look.
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    @sijomial
    That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    frees1spirit wrote: »
    @sijomial
    That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

    You're welcome.
    It interesting how Layne Norton is cutting down to very low bodyfat levels with an on/off diet.

    I've always found long term restriction to be boring and dispiriting (why I failed several times before I succeeded) and prefer losing weight sporadically.

    Wish you every success, you clearly have put in the effort to research and that will pay off for sure so kudos on that.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,238 Member
    Re-feed and diet break thread very relevant in this case.

    If some walking is what others would call substantial and if you're wrapping everything into the single very active setting ignoring how mfp is designed to separately add deliberate exercise while only considering your base daily activity in the setting you choose, then sure.... very active would require consistently engaging in 2.5+ hours of moderate intensity activity during the day, or any combination of inactivity, low, moderate, and more intense activity that produces an equivalent caloric burn!
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    @cmriverside
    I am now reading through the Refeed thread and the many articles, threads and videos that are linked. I feel happy with what I have decided to do but can see that I need to make a few changes along the way. One podcast that I found informative was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLcjhm4-CSg, which I found via the thread.
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,130 Member
    OP can you let us know how you get on if you decide to go ahead.
    Diet breaks and refeeds, periodised fat loss and such like seem to be trendy at the moment and are practiced by reputable folk like Mike isratel. But he’s a pro body builder and advanced. His book does recommend short periods of fat loss followed by a period of maintenance for the general dieter. Not exactly same as what you’re setting out here.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,415 Member
    @frees1spirit

    I'm glad you're getting something out of the Refeed thread. :)
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    @cupcakesandproteinshakes
    I do believe I am doing something similar, with a bit of a twist. My own little experiment!

    I have had a 10 week diet and instead of a short diet break at maintenance, I am increasing my calories gradually until I get to maintenance. I have decided that I will increase my calories by approximately 100 calories each week, instead of every 2 weeks as a result of what I am learning.

    I will keep you updated.
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    7 December
    Weight – 76.9kg, Fat % - 47.6, Average weekly calories – 1670
    14 December
    Weight - 75.7kg, Fat % - 47.4, Cal – 1690
    21 December
    Weight - 76.2kg, Fat % - 46.9, Cal – 1640
    28 December
    Weight - 75.9kg, Fat % - 45.8, Cal – 1881

    4 January
    Weight – 74.8kg, Fat % - 45.8, Cal - 1580
    11 January
    Weight - 74.9kg, Fat % - 45.8, Cal - 1481
    18 January
    Weight - 74.6kg, Fat % - 45.6, Cal - 1502
    25 January
    Weight - 74.3kg, Fat % - 45.1, Cal - 1469

    1 February
    Weight - 73.7kg, Fat % - 44.4, Cal - 1362
    8 February
    Weight - 72.7kg, Fat % - 45.5, Cal - 1332
    15 February
    Weight – 72.7kg, Fat % - 43.7, Cal - 1423
    22 February
    Weight – 72.6kg, Fat % - 43.5, Cal - 1840

    1 March
    Weight - 72.1kg, Fat % - 42.9, Cal - 1864
    8 March
    Weight - 72.5kg, Fat % - 43.4, Cal - 1874
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    Increased my average calories to 2136 this week.

    I intend to keep my calories around 2200 for the next 4 to 6 weeks and then cut calories to 1800-1900. Hopefully, I will then lose some weight on this amount of calories, instead of having to go back to the low level of 1400 that I was eating at the start of February.

    7 December
    Weight – 76.9kg, Fat % - 47.6, Cal – 1670

    15 March
    Weight – 73.1kg, Fat % - 44.0, Cal – 2136

    My daily weight has stayed between 72.1kg and 73.2kg since the beginning of February and my average weekly weight has been 72.8kg. My average weekly calories have gone from 1400 to 2100 in this time.
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    @BarbaraHelen2013
    I am trying to increase my metabolism by slowing increasing my calories. My body should adjust its metabolism to the amount of calories I take in. I am now eating 2100 calories and my average weekly weight has remained the same. This way I will be able to start dieting again at a higher number of calories and I will adjust reset again if I need to.
  • FitAgainBy55
    FitAgainBy55 Posts: 179 Member
    One thing I would point out is that my weight loss seems to lag my calorie deficit by 1 or 2 weeks, so just keep that in mind. When I first reached my ultimate weight loss goal and increased calories to maintenance I continued to lose weight for 2 weeks. Not sure if that is a consistent experience for people, but does seem to be the case for me.
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    @BarbaraHelen2013
    This method can be used to bring my calories up to my TDEE. My TDEE is around 2500 or so. You are right, I can't just increase my calories to say 5000 and expect to not put on weight but I am managing to bring it up, closer to my TDEE, without putting on weight. :)

    What happens is called metabolic adaptation. When we lower our calories, in order to lose weight, our bodies usually adjusts its metabolism to accommodate the shortfall in calories. That's what happens when we plateau. Well the body also does adapt its metabolism to increased calories, up to a point. I am trying to do this.

    If you are interested, look up reverse dieting or metabolic reset/adaptation. If not, you can just see what happens with my experiment. I have already increased my calories by around 500 since February and will start dieting again in a month's time.

  • thisvickyruns
    thisvickyruns Posts: 193 Member
    frees1spirit wrote: »
    @BarbaraHelen2013
    This method can be used to bring my calories up to my TDEE. My TDEE is around 2500 or so. You are right, I can't just increase my calories to say 5000 and expect to not put on weight but I am managing to bring it up, closer to my TDEE, without putting on weight. :)

    What happens is called metabolic adaptation. When we lower our calories, in order to lose weight, our bodies usually adjusts its metabolism to accommodate the shortfall in calories. That's what happens when we plateau. Well the body also does adapt its metabolism to increased calories, up to a point. I am trying to do this.

    If you are interested, look up reverse dieting or metabolic reset/adaptation. If not, you can just see what happens with my experiment. I have already increased my calories by around 500 since February and will start dieting again in a month's time.

    if your TDEE is 2500, why are you only increasing to 2200 cals for the next 4-6 weeks?

    That would mean you're in a 300 cal deficit so you'd still be losing half a pound a week, which negates the idea of a refeed to help your metabolism doesn't it?
  • CholeRoad
    CholeRoad Posts: 47 Member
    @thisvickyruns
    Good point.

    I meant my TDEE should be around 2500 as given by online calculators. At the moment I am not losing at 2200 but maintaining. I had hoped to get up to 2500 and cut at 2000 or so. However I am feeling pretty full most days but maybe I should see how I can increase calories without feeling so stuffed. I got used to eating low calorie dense foods which are not what I need right now.



  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,176 Member
    I'm sure reverse dieting won't work in every scenario, but it's too easy to believe it will never work at all. I, too, believe that it can, in the right situation, if pursued carefully. It's kind of the flip side of people who eat too low calories, and lose slower than they'd expect, basically because of subtle fatigue and subtly lowered activity.

    The balance of calories in and calories out isn't static. It's dynamic. Calorie intake has an influence on calorie output, through pretty much the same mechanisms that cause "adaptive thermogenesis" (subtle fatigue, slowing of stuff like hair growth, maybe slightly lower body temperature, etc.) when calories are too low for too long.

    Some people seem to be more subject to this "dynamic" response, judging from the occasional post in the maintenance part of the forum: It's not that unusual to see people report maintaining for a bit on calorie level X when they reach goal weight, then seeing weight start to drop slowly again, so they eat more, and maintain again at a higher intake level. It's presumably the same set of mechanisms behind some of the value of "diet breaks".

    "Reverse dieting" is not going to be a capacity to increase calories indefinitely much; it's just a way to try to push back on any adaptive slowdown that may've happened, and try to increase calorie needs a bit. It doesn't violate the laws of physics, it just recognizes that people can sometimes have more energy and vitality with increased fuel - kind of common sense, really, IMO.

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