Upped my calories and not losing, but gaining????!
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Okay I have taken everyone's advice, and upped my calories from 1,200 to 1,830. (I went from lose 2lbs per week to .5lbs per week: current weight 128, goal weight 120. I am 5'2" and my body fat % is 21). However I have been doing cardio and weight training, and of course upped my calories, and now I am gaining weight. I eat healthy and write down everything on MFP and measure it out. I check the scale daily (every morning when I get up), and it goes up a pound a day. Is this normal?? I'm trying to lose weight but if I am upping my calories, does that mean my weight will increase and then drop suddenly??? And I know in order to lose weight I need to be in a deficit, but how do I know if I'm still in that deficit?? If I'm supposed to be eating 1,830, and I burn 500 calories, and eat 2,330 yet net 1,830 (to reach my goal weight), does that mean I am in my deficit??? Or should I be Netting less than 1,830 to be in a deficit????
If you are following the TDEE method, then you would not NET 1,830. 1,830 would be your max calorie intake, except for those days that you are running 10 miles, I would probably eat a bit more to compensate and NET above your BMR. I'm the same height and weigh 125 right now and eat between 1500 to 1800 right now but I'm not doing as much cardio as you are. How long have you been eating the increased calories? It can take a few weeks for your body to adjust and start losing again.0 -
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.
As a male, your settings should not be 1280 calories on MFP, and with that little of weight to lose, 2 pounds per week is not really feasible.
MFP does not include exercise calories while figuring out your calorie goals. They base it solely on your activity level you enter and your weight loss you want per week.0 -
Hilarious.0
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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.
Again with this...
do you know how long it takes a bodies metabolism to slow down???
Quite a long time on a VLCD..
."400-1200 calories per day and people stay on it for 6 to 10 weeks and still are dopping weight fast. Does metabolis slow over that time? Yes, due to the weight lost and metabolic slowdown but not enough to slow weight loss that much. "
or check this link out
http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm
Where is says
If you're hardly losing any weight on a VLCD or less than 1200 calories then…
See why you can't lose weight and/or look at how to break out of a weight loss plateau but There's really only 5 things you can do…
1.You can exercise more.
2.You can exercise harder.
3.You can double check your food journal to make sure you actually are eating less than 1200 calories and…
9 times out of 10 if you claim that you can't lose weight on less than 1200 calories then usually…
You're not tracking how much you eat correctly and you're underestimating how much you actually eat so make sure you're using a food journal and that you know how to count calories
4.You can eat even less than 1200 calories but that's probably not a good idea - see why.
5.Be more patient (see #3 again) because your weight loss starts out real fast and it progressively gets slower and slower as you get closer to your weight loss goal.
Let me say again...if you are not losing weight on 1200 calories then you wont lose on 1800...it is mathmatically impossible and don't give me that metabolism slow down crap either.0 -
It's too bad no one has ever done any research to see what happens when people eat a very low calorie diet and exercise a lot. It would be good to know how it really effects metabolism in real world conditions in real people.
Oh wait. They did. Turns out they lost weight.0 -
I'm 5'5 and I weight about 10 lb more than you, but know for a fact I would gain if I ate 1800 cals + my exercise cals. That seems awful high for your height. I agree that 1200 may have been too low, but I think you are too high now. I try to eat about 1450 cal plus exercise (I am conservative with the burns) and I still have trouble losing. I am looking at changing my intake but know if anything I need to go down.0
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A net of 1200 or so is not an unreasonable goal for a petite woman who is trying to lose weight. If I put in to lose .5 lbs a week it gives me 1280. The op is eating back exercise calories (probably a bit inflated) and there's always a small margin of error in food intake logging. It might be low for most people but the minimum calorie requirement is meant to be ok for somebody. TDEE numbers for small women can be 1500 or even lower. Not everyone can lose weight eating 2000 + calories a day even if they exercise their behinds off.0
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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.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.
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.
No it doesn't...that's like saying eating more frequently jacks it up.
You want to speed up your metabolism build some muscle, exercise more...eating more food will eventually as you get fatter and fatter...
As for the OP she was eating over 1200 calories...hence her weight gain eating what she thinks is 1800...
As for the blanket statement math doesn't lie...and there are very very few people with "slow" metabolisms and most of them aren't here...giving that advice...it's just inane.0 -
It's too bad no one has ever done any research to see what happens when people eat a very low calorie diet and exercise a lot. It would be good to know how it really effects metabolism in real world conditions in real people.
Oh wait. They did. Turns out they lost weight.
x2
I was gonna be snarky but chose not to be...see I can be an adult sometimes.
aww to heck with it...logic is not allowed in this type of discussion you know better.0 -
It's too bad no one has ever done any research to see what happens when people eat a very low calorie diet and exercise a lot. It would be good to know how it really effects metabolism in real world conditions in real people.
Oh wait. They did. Turns out they lost weight.
x2
I was gonna be snarky but chose not to be...see I can be an adult sometimes.
aww to heck with it...logic is not allowed in this type of discussion you know better.
Oh God. I turned into one of "those people", didn't I?0 -
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.
Lol, what?0 -
It's too bad no one has ever done any research to see what happens when people eat a very low calorie diet and exercise a lot. It would be good to know how it really effects metabolism in real world conditions in real people.
Oh wait. They did. Turns out they lost weight.
x2
I was gonna be snarky but chose not to be...see I can be an adult sometimes.
aww to heck with it...logic is not allowed in this type of discussion you know better.
Oh God. I turned into one of "those people", didn't I?
Yes we have almost turned you...hehe...welcome to the club...no worries we have cookies...0 -
Btw OP - I was stuck at 128 forever. I dropped to net 1250 and it took me two months to get to 120.0
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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.
Again with this...
do you know how long it takes a bodies metabolism to slow down???
Quite a long time on a VLCD..
."400-1200 calories per day and people stay on it for 6 to 10 weeks and still are dopping weight fast. Does metabolis slow over that time? Yes, due to the weight lost and metabolic slowdown but not enough to slow weight loss that much. "
or check this link out
http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm
Where is says
If you're hardly losing any weight on a VLCD or less than 1200 calories then…
See why you can't lose weight and/or look at how to break out of a weight loss plateau but There's really only 5 things you can do…
1.You can exercise more.
2.You can exercise harder.
3.You can double check your food journal to make sure you actually are eating less than 1200 calories and…
9 times out of 10 if you claim that you can't lose weight on less than 1200 calories then usually…
You're not tracking how much you eat correctly and you're underestimating how much you actually eat so make sure you're using a food journal and that you know how to count calories
4.You can eat even less than 1200 calories but that's probably not a good idea - see why.
5.Be more patient (see #3 again) because your weight loss starts out real fast and it progressively gets slower and slower as you get closer to your weight loss goal.
Let me say again...if you are not losing weight on 1200 calories then you wont lose on 1800...it is mathmatically impossible and don't give me that metabolism slow down crap either.
Oh rly? So care to tell me how exactly I lost my weight? I started out eating between 1,000 and 1,200 cals a day and working my butt off in the gym. Lost my first 20 pounds and then stalled. For like 4 months. And yes, I was using food scale and wearing a HRM to track calories burned. So...I upped my calories, slowly to around 1,800 and after a few weeks, the weight started coming off like crazy. I'm now down 62 pounds. So explain that.
Look, I'm not saying people CAN'T lose on 1,200 cals or less, what I AM saying is that some (not all) people can actually lose on much more calories than that - especially those who are active.
I just think it's very ignorant and closed minded of people to think that upping your calories never works - in some instances and for some people it does. I'm one of those.
Since it worked for me, I'm not going to waste my time doing research for studies that have shown it works FOR SOME PEOPLE, but since we're all about throwing in non-scientific links, here's mine:
http://sophieologie.me/2013/09/26/1200-calories/0 -
I just think it's very ignorant and closed minded of people to think that upping your calories never works - in some instances and for some people it does. I'm one of those.
It's clear you believe it, and you have had success. And that's awesome. But it isn't closed minded. It's science. You know your experience. What you don't know is what would have happened if you'd continued the larger deficit.0 -
I just think it's very ignorant and closed minded of people to think that upping your calories never works - in some instances and for some people it does. I'm one of those.
It's clear you believe it, and you have had success. And that's awesome. But it isn't closed minded. It's science. You know your experience. What you don't know is what would have happened if you'd continued the larger deficit.
Are you saying that science is never wrong?0 -
You are going over your sugars !!!!!!!Okay I have taken everyone's advice, and upped my calories from 1,200 to 1,830. (I went from lose 2lbs per week to .5lbs per week: current weight 128, goal weight 120. I am 5'2" and my body fat % is 21). However I have been doing cardio and weight training, and of course upped my calories, and now I am gaining weight. I eat healthy and write down everything on MFP and measure it out. I check the scale daily (every morning when I get up), and it goes up a pound a day. Is this normal?? I'm trying to lose weight but if I am upping my calories, does that mean my weight will increase and then drop suddenly??? And I know in order to lose weight I need to be in a deficit, but how do I know if I'm still in that deficit?? If I'm supposed to be eating 1,830, and I burn 500 calories, and eat 2,330 yet net 1,830 (to reach my goal weight), does that mean I am in my deficit??? Or should I be Netting less than 1,830 to be in a deficit????0 -
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!
And, as everyone should know, you aren't going to build any muscle while in a deficit.0 -
You are going over your sugars !!!!!!!Okay I have taken everyone's advice, and upped my calories from 1,200 to 1,830. (I went from lose 2lbs per week to .5lbs per week: current weight 128, goal weight 120. I am 5'2" and my body fat % is 21). However I have been doing cardio and weight training, and of course upped my calories, and now I am gaining weight. I eat healthy and write down everything on MFP and measure it out. I check the scale daily (every morning when I get up), and it goes up a pound a day. Is this normal?? I'm trying to lose weight but if I am upping my calories, does that mean my weight will increase and then drop suddenly??? And I know in order to lose weight I need to be in a deficit, but how do I know if I'm still in that deficit?? If I'm supposed to be eating 1,830, and I burn 500 calories, and eat 2,330 yet net 1,830 (to reach my goal weight), does that mean I am in my deficit??? Or should I be Netting less than 1,830 to be in a deficit????
Sugar is useless to track unless you are a diabetic. Which OP is not, unless she neglected to mention it. OP, try replacing the sugar macro with something useful, like fiber. 0 -
Just wanted to point out that 'upping' her calories to a flat 1800 could actually in fact be lowering her calorie intake if she was netting 1200 calories with average calorie burns of 500 and not using a food scale. That could very well have put her at eating way higher than 1800 calories.
OP - I looked at your food diary and it appears that you were trying to net 1800, which could be part of the reason you gained weight. Try just eating 1800 calories instead and see if that helps. Feel free to friend me!0
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