Has eat more to weigh less actually worked for anyone???

runner_chick24

I've had weight issues since I was a child, gaining a lot in elementary school because of a horrible diet, then eventually losing it because of compulsive exercise and dieting. My weight has fluctuated over the years and now I've found that at the age of 18, when my metabolism should be super fast, I maintain at only 1200 net calories. I think chronic undereating may be to blame but I'm afraid to put on weight by eating more. Has anyone had any luck with eat more to weigh less? I'm tired of being constantly hungry and miserable. Thanks!

ell_v131

Hi, I know How scared you must be of putting weight on by eating more. I was terrified. I lost some weight on 1200 calories, did that for about 3 months. Then I stopped losing although I upped my exercise, nothing happened. I calculated my bmr and found out I'm eating under, so for my health I decided to up my calories. I was really scared my weight would go up. I do 5 hour long workouts, warm up cardio and lifting. For the first 2 weeks no change, I might have put on half a kilo, but now for 2 weeks a consistent drop. I think I lost about 1.5 kilo in these 2 weeks on 1500 calories. I am super happy. At first I didn't know How to eat this much, but now I could eat even more if I let myself. I'm looking forward to losing all my excess weight, knowing I'm not damaging my body.

youdontknowwhatyousaw

I'm losing with a calorie range of 1700 - 1800/ average daily calories with very little exercise (I have to change this). I find when I'm consistently under 1500 calories a day I stop losing weight.

IanBee93

I never thought about my weight until just a few months ago, so I thought eating 1000 calories was good for me. I would get really weak, but dropped 6 pounds very quickly. I did more research, and found out I could eat over 2000 if I wanted to just lose a pound a week. For women I think you can eat around that much, and work out, and still lose weight?

EHisCDN

It's working for me! I started out at 1200 calories/day like MFP recommended. At first it was great but then my weight loss stalled and I found it too restrictive. For me it was definitely not a lifestyle I could sustain long term. I didn't want a quick fix, I wanted a new lifestyle. So I tried the "EMTWL" philosophy. I figured out my BMR and TDEE and took a 20% cut. I'm continually making adjustments based on my activity level, weight loss and using my logging to get a more accurate picture than an online calculator. It is working and I never feel hungry or deprived! I'd suggest trying it.

Feel free to ask any questions about it

TheLadyBane

It has worked for me. I have been eating at a deficit since January and have lost a little over 80 lbs. Around June I decided to take a break from losing weight and just focus on strength training. I ate near maintenance, but still a bit below at 1950 calories for 8 weeks. I still lost 7 lbs during that time. It was slower than my previous loss but still steady. A few weeks ago my recommended calorie target decreased to 1350 and I tried that but found myself to be hungry and tired and I would fatigue out while lifting weights. I raised my calorie target to 1600 and have continued losing weight. I lost 5 lbs last month while eating more. I am pretty active and do have a fair amount of muscle mass so the recommendation may have just been a little too low for me.

ilovescarymovies

I lose easily at 1700 cals per day. I would just slowly up your calories by a few hundred. Dont be afraid to do what is healthy for you

Cindyinpg

Eat more to weigh less is a bit misunderstood, I'm afraid. It works in that your deficit is smaller and the whole process is therefore more sustainable. I have had success with THAT yes.

traceyjj

I recently started this. I was doing the 1200 cal thing (well less than that for a time), and exercising plenty, not losing anything for 3 months meant I had to be doing something wrong. Following advice from a member here I looked up Heybales spreadsheet, and worked out I could be eating almost double that with the amount of exercise I do.

I slowly upped the cals over a few weeks, and the scale is moving in the right direction again... I no longer feel tired and grumpy too

Good luck to you

SideSteel

What is your current height and weight and what is your exercise program (intensity/duration/frequency/etc)?
Do you use a food scale?

Mokey41

It depends what you mean by eat more. If you've been under eating because you chose too high of a loss rate to start with and ended up with the 1200 calorie diet and you increase now to what you should have been eating all along then it will probably work. If you're just looking to eat more without any reasoning behind in then no it won't work.

The mantra of eat more to weigh less is really an effort to get people to eat within a balance that fuels their body with nutrition yet supports enough of a deficit to provide safe weight loss. You need to figure out your BMR, your TDEE and eat somewhere between the two.

bingefreeaubree

I agree with all the previous advice to slowly up your calories. Just an FYI though- as you increase the amount of food you eat you may notice the scale go up. Like I went from 1200 calories to 1600 one day and weighed myself the next day and I had "gained" two pounds. So I thought if I continued eating like that I'd gain two pounds a day and get fat. Silly me. That's not at all true. You may gain a couple pounds, but that's simply because you won't be eating at as much of a deficit anymore and your stores of [some fancy word that I can't remember] won't be depleted any longer, causing a slight weight gain. But it's not fat or anything, it's just that your stores won't be depleted anymore.

bajoyba

It has worked quite well for me! I've lost all of my weight so far eating in the range of 1700 calories a day.
I started out in January eating about 1450 calories a day PLUS exercise calories, and when I stalled out, I upped my calorie intake rather than lowering it.

However, as others have mentioned, some people do misunderstand what it means to "eat more to weigh less". Many people get confused or are against the "eat more" method because they think it means "eat lots and lots of food " or "eat as much as you want" or somehow even "eat more than maintenance calories".
But all it really means is that you eat at a moderate or modest deficit rather than eating the smallest amount of calories possible.

As has also been mentioned, it's best to increase your calories gradually rather than all at once. While you're increasing your calories, the scale may show a temporary gain due to water/glycogen, but as long as you're in a deficit, you're not gaining any actual weight.

markink81

Yes I have but I need to preface this by saying that MFP is a good tool but it's not a GREAT tool. Because the program is an open source database not all the calories figures are accurate thus if you track your macro's and use the label on your food products you will get a more informative look at what your actually ingesting. My suggestion would include your TDEE in your intake and forget about eating back exercise calories. SideSteel can really help you out there or you can go to the IIFYM..com website and calculate this information for yourself.

MFP started me out at 1650 calories this was great for about the first 5 months then the scale wouldn't move for over 6 weeks I readjusted my calories to include TDEE I am now eating 2166 calories and tracking my macros this took a couple of months to work into this . I am now losing weight and changing my physique.

As SideSteel suggested weigh all your foods using a scale. Volume measurements are subjective and could lead to inaccurate measures. I hope this helps.

AverageUkDude

I have, its a scary prospect when you start shovelling more food in, you will also panic when you see that in the first week you maybe dont lose anything or you have a gain in weight. But keep at it.

Mr_Knight

For a while, I thought I had.

Turned out I was significantly under-estimating how much I had been eating before, and what actually happened was a decrease in caloric intake.

NRSPAM

I agree with all the previous advice to slowly up your calories. Just an FYI though- as you increase the amount of food you eat you may notice the scale go up. Like I went from 1200 calories to 1600 one day and weighed myself the next day and I had "gained" two pounds. So I thought if I continued eating like that I'd gain two pounds a day and get fat. Silly me. That's not at all true. You may gain a couple pounds, but that's simply because you won't be eating at as much of a deficit anymore and your stores of [some fancy word that I can't remember] won't be depleted any longer, causing a slight weight gain. But it's not fat or anything, it's just that your stores won't be depleted anymore.

I think you're talking about glycogen. I have been eating atleast 1,450 daily, as of recent, and now I'm losing a bit too quickly. I was previously losing at 1,700. I have a bodymedia, so based on my exercise, my calorie goal changes daily. I've been increasing weights lately, and trying to build muscle more, so I'll probably up my calories a bit, and lose a little more slowly. The last time I got close to my goal weight, I was a little too restrictive, and ended up binging, and gaining 10lb's...don't want that to happen again. I'd rather get there slowly, then not get there at all.

Sabine_Stroehm

"Eat more to weigh less" is like "clean eating" (but doesn't draw the same ire). Eat more than what?

I definitely think many folks on here can eat more than they are currently eating and lose weight. Folks who aim for TDEE minus 15% probably have the best idea.

GingerLolita

I have my calorie deficit set to a weight loss of half a pound per week, which gives me around 1800. I find that it is the perfect amount of food for me when I am active (which is what I have my activity level set to). Slower weight loss can be frustrating, but it is often easier to stick to and transition into maintenance.

0OneTwo3

I increased my calories from 2200 to 3000 over the course of 10 weeks and lost a little weight in the process. i didn't eat any "cleaner" just more of the same. my macros shifted a little towards more fat and my activity level didn't change at all.

the theory behind this is that when you slowly introduce more energy to your body it becomes less efficient with utilizing it just like it slowly adapts when you eat less for a time.

as far as i know this is not proven though. if you like to know more about this search for layne norton and metabolic adaptation. he wrote a lot about this.

Confuzzled4ever

Yes.. i started out super low calories and stalled for 3 months. now eat around 1600-2000 each day and am losing again. It's awesome to eat and lose weight. I did gain a few pounds initially, but it went away after a few weeks and they keep going away.