Upped my calories and not losing, but gaining????!

paula5077

eat your 18 but don't eat back your burned/exercise calories.

editorgrrl

You don't eat back exercise calories with TDEE.

^This. TDEE includes your exercise. Eating back exercise calories is double dipping.

nosebag1212

have you worked out your tdee? Figure out your tdee then just eat 500 less calories from that to lose 1 lb a week, 250 less to lose 0.5 lbs etc, it's as simple as that, if you're truly in a deficit you will lose no matter what, also don't weight yourself every day since your weight fluctuates because of water and it will drive you mad, you should weigh yourself once a week

http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

cwolfman13

you didn't take "everyones" advice I would never give that advice...if you aren't losing at 1200 how could you lose at 1830?

Here is my advice...

you are probably eating more than you think.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

you don't use a kitchen scale for solids...without that you are eating more than you think.

Yes to lose weight you need to be in a deficet and the only way to know that is weigh your food...a serving of cereal says 3/4c or 110g...guess what 3/4 of a cup is more than 110g...and when you spoon potatoes on your plate how do you know it's 3oz or 4oz...

Get a kitchen scale...weigh all your solids and measure with cups/spoons liquids...

As for exercise the database is on the high side...eat back 50-75% of your burned calories.

leave you loss goal at 1/2lb because you don't have much to lose.

If you are gaining and not doing new exercise (which would be water weight) you are not in a deficet.

Well that's what I thought!!! But I would ask and ask and people would say you need to be eating more and set your calorie goal higher than 1,200. Last semester, I would burn 900calories doing cardio and I would eat over 1,200 calories in food but net a little less than 1,000 and saw weight loss. So I'm really confused and frustrated. So just because my goal is 1,830 do I have to eat that much???

That's why she said to get a food scale...you were likely eating more than 1200 calories in all actuality. Also, you probably weren't burning 900 calories on a regular basis with your exercise. I need to ride for about 30 miles or so to do that...maybe on your 10 mile run you would do that, but not your regular 30 - 60 minute workout sessions.

Calorie counting is about being as precise as possible with your intake...the MFP method also requires you to be as precise as possible with your burns as well...900 calories on any kind of regular basis is pretty unrealistic and I would speculate, highly inflated.

FitnessLover001

you didn't take "everyones" advice I would never give that advice...if you aren't losing at 1200 how could you lose at 1830?

Here is my advice...

you are probably eating more than you think.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

you don't use a kitchen scale for solids...without that you are eating more than you think.

Yes to lose weight you need to be in a deficet and the only way to know that is weigh your food...a serving of cereal says 3/4c or 110g...guess what 3/4 of a cup is more than 110g...and when you spoon potatoes on your plate how do you know it's 3oz or 4oz...

Get a kitchen scale...weigh all your solids and measure with cups/spoons liquids...

As for exercise the database is on the high side...eat back 50-75% of your burned calories.

leave you loss goal at 1/2lb because you don't have much to lose.

If you are gaining and not doing new exercise (which would be water weight) you are not in a deficet.

Well that's what I thought!!! But I would ask and ask and people would say you need to be eating more and set your calorie goal higher than 1,200. Last semester, I would burn 900calories doing cardio and I would eat over 1,200 calories in food but net a little less than 1,000 and saw weight loss. So I'm really confused and frustrated. So just because my goal is 1,830 do I have to eat that much???

That's why she said to get a food scale...you were likely eating more than 1200 calories in all actuality. Also, you probably weren't burning 900 calories on a regular basis with your exercise. I need to ride for about 30 miles or so to do that...maybe on your 10 mile run you would do that, but not your regular 30 - 60 minute workout sessions.

Calorie counting is about being as precise as possible with your intake...the MFP method also requires you to be as precise as possible with your burns as well...900 calories on any kind of regular basis is pretty unrealistic and I would speculate, highly inflated.

yeah i totally understand that haha I used to do 90-100 minutes of cardio daily, so that's where i got that number from. i may not have burned 900 calories exactly, but doing that much cardio, the numbers couldn't be that far off. especially when MFP gauges lower than what the cardio machines told me. I then figured that that was not something i could keep doing forever and so i have cut back to doing 45-60 minutes which only lets me burn around 350-550 calories a day which is more realistic.

Francl27

As everyone should know, muscle weighs more than fat, so you will be losing fat and replacing it with lean muscle. I'd advise you to take measurements and write them down because scales mean nothing, it's how many inches you lose in the process.. Good luck!

Not eating at such a big deficit... You can't build muscle with a huge deficit, unless you're obese or something.

fast_eddie_72

I honestly look for every thread I can find where someone is suggesting that eating more will result in more weight loss. I just want to be sure someone points out that it will work 0% of the time.

Sorry you had to prove the point the hard way.

fast_eddie_72

As everyone should know, muscle weighs more than fat, so you will be losing fat and replacing it with lean muscle. I'd advise you to take measurements and write them down because scales mean nothing, it's how many inches you lose in the process.. Good luck!

Eating at a calorie deficit, it's unlikely that she's building any muscle at all. Some of the people here who are trying to build muscle have a hard time eating enough to make it happen. I can't wait to have that problem.

(edit) And the scale is a tool. A good one. It's not everything, but it's far from nothing. It is the objective measure of weight loss. If it's going down, you are eating at a calorie deficit. If it's going up, you are eating at a surplus. Results fluctuate, but over time, there's no getting around the scale. Other tools (personally, I think the mirror is a good one) will tell you more about where the weight is going or coming from. But over time, the scale doesn't lie.

For instance, the scale accurately tells me I have lost weight. My deficit is working. However, the scale and BMI chart tell me I'm not fat anymore. The mirror doesn't agree with them yet.

a_stronger_me13

As everyone should know, muscle weighs more than fat, so you will be losing fat and replacing it with lean muscle. I'd advise you to take measurements and write them down because scales mean nothing, it's how many inches you lose in the process.. Good luck!

False.

CJ_Holmes

I agree with a lot of the above posters- I think you are probably eating more than you think, and burning less than you think. I just ordered a food scale for this very reason, and can't wait to see how off I have been... :embarassed: In the meantime, my strategy has been to lower my calories since I know I am not accurate, and I've started losing again.

You may want to get a heart rate monitor as well, or only eat back half your exercise calories. MFP's estimate are usually high, especially if you are doing something like elliptical. It's nice to see those big burns, but they don't do you any good if they are false and derailing your progress.

Don't worry- you'll find your groove! You have a good attitude, so once you figure out your actual calorie needs and burns, you will see success! :drinker:

Edited for typo!

aqualeo1

I'm 5'2 120 lbs work out 4-5 times a week 30-45 min and maintain at 1600. Whats your activity level set for? 1830 + exercise calories for weight loss at our size seems really high. Do you know you're not supposed to take exercise into account when setting your activity level? Choose sedentary unless you have a very physical job. Good luck!

FitnessLover001

I'm 5'2 120 lbs work out 4-5 times a week 30-45 min and maintain at 1600. Whats your activity level set for? 1830 + exercise calories for weight loss at our size seems really high. Do you know you're not supposed to take exercise into account when setting your activity level? Choose sedentary unless you have a very physical job. Good luck!

so what's yours set too? right now it is set to lightly active, because i work out 6 times a week from 45-60 5 times a week, and a ten mile run one day a week. so should i change it to sedentary and see how that works??

thanks!

a_stronger_me13

I'm 5'2 120 lbs work out 4-5 times a week 30-45 min and maintain at 1600. Whats your activity level set for? 1830 + exercise calories for weight loss at our size seems really high. Do you know you're not supposed to take exercise into account when setting your activity level? Choose sedentary unless you have a very physical job. Good luck!

so what's yours set too? right now it is set to lightly active, because i work out 6 times a week from 45-60 5 times a week, and a ten mile run one day a week. so should i change it to sedentary and see how that works??

thanks!

If you use MFPs settings, you would eat back exercise calories but since MFP is wildly inaccurate for most calorie burns you either need to conservatively eat back exercise calories OR use the TDEE method and manually enter in your calorie and macro goals and then not eat back exercise calories.

I prefer the second option. Use iifym.com to do so. Let us know your results if you want and we can give it a little bit of a common sense/rule of thumb check for you.

aqualeo1

I'm set to sedentary. It gives me 1510 for maintenance but I eat an extra 150 or so on days I exercise. I don't think I work out quite as heavy as you though. You should try setting yours at sedentary and then eat back your exercise calories. You don't include the exercise when figuring your activity level with mfp because it allows you to enter the calories from exercise daily and eat them back. It's like you're eating them back twice if you include that in your activity level setting. I bet that's your problem right there

redheaddee

As everyone should know, muscle weighs more than fat, so you will be losing fat and replacing it with lean muscle. I'd advise you to take measurements and write them down because scales mean nothing, it's how many inches you lose in the process.. Good luck!

No.

Muscle is more dense than fat. A pound will always be a ound regardless of what it is you are weighing. So a pound of muscle TAKES UP LESS SPACE than a ound of fat.

SezxyStef

I honestly look for every thread I can find where someone is suggesting that eating more will result in more weight loss. I just want to be sure someone points out that it will work 0% of the time.

Sorry you had to prove the point the hard way.

I know I feel the same way...just want to slap those people silly sometimes...and yes Sorry the OP has followed their "advice"...:sad:

and each time I challenage them....and will continue so there are less of these posts on the boards...

ETA: Eat more to lose is the MFP forums equivalent to starvation mode...both are bs and basically mean the same thing.

dare2love81

I honestly look for every thread I can find where someone is suggesting that eating more will result in more weight loss. I just want to be sure someone points out that it will work 0% of the time.

Sorry you had to prove the point the hard way.

I know I feel the same way...just want to slap those people silly sometimes...and yes Sorry the OP has followed their "advice"...:sad:

and each time I challenage them....and will continue so there are less of these posts on the boards...

ETA: Eat more to lose is the MFP forums equivalent to starvation mode...both are bs and basically mean the same thing.

Okay, first of all it's not that simple. Not everyone should eat more. It's for those people who are eating well below their BMR on a regular basis. It jacks up your metabolism, teaching the body to operate on fewer calories as the new normal and you have to continuously reduce your calorie intake to continue to see losses.

For people who are fairly active, as OP sounds like she is, 1,200 calories is WAY too low. So YES she SHOULD up her calories to support her level of activity.

So please don't use a blanket statement that it works "0% of the time" because that is simply not true.

fast_eddie_72

For people who are fairly active, as OP sounds like she is, 1,200 calories is WAY too low. So YES she SHOULD up her calories to support her level of activity.

She tried that. It didn't work. Thus, this thread.

More likely answer was suggested above. Probably was eating more than she realized.

nickgolevski

Your goal calories is all wrong. You must of done something wrong inputting your goals, weight, weight to lose etc. I'm a male at 167, looking to go down to 155. At 2 pounds a week MFP has me at 1280. SezxyStef makes a good point of taking in 50% of the burned calories back. That's what i'm doing but I think we should take back more. When setting goals on MFP with amount of exercise and ideal weight loss, doesn't MFP calculate the calories needed regardless of exercise? IDK.

What is your exercise routines?? Cardiovascular and Resistance training. I'm a certified Personal Trainer. I can see what you might be doing right or wrong to give you some tips.

dare2love81

For people who are fairly active, as OP sounds like she is, 1,200 calories is WAY too low. So YES she SHOULD up her calories to support her level of activity.

She tried that. It didn't work. Thus, this thread.

More likely answer was suggested above. Probably was eating more than she realized.

Could very well be the case. Especially if she doesn't have a food scale (glad to hear she's going to get one ). However, as others have pointed out, when you do increase calories, you should really do it slowly, otherwise, yes, it will cause an initial gain on the scale until your body adjusts to the new level of calories. Unless I missed it, OP didn't say how long she's been eating at a higher level, but I know when I upped mine, it took me about two-three weeks for my body to readjust. Then I started seeing losses again, and also an added bonus - my energy level was MUCH higher so I could work harder during my workouts.