For those scared to "up" the calories!!!!

bryannakay

Hello everyone! Let me give you a brief starter to me....I am a 30 year old female who has been on a weight loss journey for 4 years now. I started at 215 pounds and am now down to 173. Yay for me but...I could have kicked it in high gear a LONG time ago....I wasn't consistent, I loved to drink on the weekends....and why can't I do what I want ALL summer...I was making excuses and telling myself that I was TOO busy, TOO tired, and my body was ALWAYS been bigger so I am meant to stay this way. Well, this January, I looked at myself in the mirror and realized that I do LOVE myself!! BUT...I needed to treat my body better and get to a healthier place in life. SO....I became OBSESSED with weight lifting and IIFYM (if it fits your macros) forums and joined a biggest loser group to motivate me. It took me about 4 years to lose 40 pounds....that is 10 pounds a year and less then 1 pound a month...hmmm....not that awesome! In the past 2 weeks, I have lost 5 pounds alone. How do you ask? I will tell you.....

1. CONSISTENT EXERCISE...not just Monday/Wednesday/Friday....I have exercised someway somehow EVERY day in the last 2 weeks. I burn around 400-500 per day. Except for my "rest day" which I walk or do ab exercises or a low intensity DVD.

2. EATING MORE...I went from 1300 calories to 1600 calories. I was given this suggestion because I have started strength training and was told that without more fuel, it is worthless. They weren't lying...I STILL hear my stomach growling during the day even with increasing my calories to 1600. I eat 6 small meals a day and love the fact that I don't have to starve myself. I plan out my ENTIRE day the night before and know what I can and can't do. I still have wine and such but, only IIFYM.

3. No carbs at night....this may not be the case for everyone but, I was eating WAY too much pasta at night....for the past 2 weeks my body has been loving a supper that included a high protein item (chicken,steak, shrimp) and a vegetable. My metabolism is rocking my world. I wake up feeling hungry instead of bloated and can't wait to step on the scale. My body holds onto carbs...I know that now.

4. Macros....someone suggested I change MFP goals to 40%protein, 30%carbs and 30% fat. It truly is amazing....well for me anyway.


So, for those of you scared to increase your calories to something higher than 1200....I say you think twice.....as long as you can commit to working out, watching what you eat, and being committed to weight loss....anything is possible.

I'm a whole new woman. I'm going to show that "40 pounds in 4 years" that I can do so much better than that!!!

mgorham13

Good stuff, the best part is its always a continual learning process. 4 years way to keep on keepin on!

sck2008

Agreed! Sometimes Im not hungry though so I end up getting anywhere from 1200-1600 calories a day....depending on my mood lol

:drinker:

cyclone_81

Great post! Its a learning process for us all...getting to know our own bodies is definitely the key to overcoming our 'problems'! You're on your way!! Keep up the awesome work!!:bigsmile:

maybyn

Well done on finding out what works for you.

Bear in mind that others may not experience the same results and that an arbitrary "upping calories" is usually never a good answer without examining the multitude of factors that is conducive to weight loss (or otherwise).

For example, your loss this past 2 weeks could well be water weight if you have switched to a low carb diet, which it sounds as if you have from your post.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Well done on finding out what works for you.

Bear in mind that others may not experience the same results and that an arbitrary "upping calories" is usually never a good answer without examining the multitude of factors that is conducive to weight loss (or otherwise).

For example, your loss this past 2 weeks could well be water weight if you have switched to a low carb diet, which it sounds as if you have from your post.

Yeah this, and I would argue that your body doesn't hold on to carbs. It was probably holding onto water to digest all those carbs, thus masking any weight loss.

Regardless, congrats on your weight loss!

JennOro9

im on the same weight loss journey as you. so you say dont eat carbs at night, so for dinner should i cut out the brown rice/sweet potatoes? just eat them with the other two meals?

JennOro9

At 1600 calories do you eat back your burn calories?

bryannakay

Well done on finding out what works for you.

Bear in mind that others may not experience the same results and that an arbitrary "upping calories" is usually never a good answer without examining the multitude of factors that is conducive to weight loss (or otherwise).

For example, your loss this past 2 weeks could well be water weight if you have switched to a low carb diet, which it sounds as if you have from your post.

Yeah this, and I would argue that your body doesn't hold on to carbs. It was probably holding onto water to digest all those carbs, thus masking any weight loss.

Regardless, congrats on your weight loss!

VERY VERY TRUE! Thank you for pointing this out! This could very well be water weight and something that works just for me!! I didn't even think about that!!!

bryannakay

At 1600 calories do you eat back your burn calories?

No, I don't usually but, there are times where I know that I need more nutrition!