upping calories

amirahdaboss

hi everybody,
my name is Amirah, and for the past year or so, my calorie goal has been 1200 calories a day. I've noticed however, that I haven't really lost any weight, and continuously lose the same 10 pounds over and again. I tended to do good a few days, and then go wayyy over my calorie goal on other days. SO I've just decided that I am going to finally be brave and up my calories to 1560, which according to MFP, will make me lose 0.5 pounds a week. I was wondering though, will there be any initial weight gain from me doing this? And has anybody else on here upped their calories and successfully lost more weight? I'd love to hear some success stories with this. Thanks!
btw-I'm 19 and im 5'6 I also have about 20 pounds left to lose

fushigi1988

Probably not really a weight gain. Look at your total calories for the week.
Say you need 14000 calories in a week to maintain your weight, and your eating now is as follows:
Monday - Friday: 1,200 x 5 = 6,000
Saturday - Sunday: 4,000 x 2 = 8,000
Total: 14,000
No more deficit.

Now you decide to up your daily calories and make smarter choices in the weekends:
Monday-Friday: 1,800 x 5 = 9,000
Saturday: 2,100
Sunday: 1,900
Total: 13,000
Deficit!

So look at weekly totals. If upping daily calories stops you from over eating, you could end up with a lower weekly total.

Edit: info taken from this page: http://www.katwhitfield.com/2014/06/11/what-does-eat-more-to-lose-weight-mean/

amirahdaboss

thats a really cool way to look at it! thanks!

fushigi1988

No problem, it takes some time to adjust to the fact that you can eat quite a lot during the day and still lose weight.

CindyB97

I did it, with almost the exact numbers you mentioned. I was terrified that I would gain, but I lost that very first week. The extra calories keep me full and I'm losing steadily. Good luck, I hope it helps you too!

SammieDQ37

As long as you exercise and stay at a deficit then you should be ok. Also don't eat all of your exercise calories back :flowerforyou:

MelodyandBarbells

The bulk of my last 20-22 lbs was after I switched from 1380 (1 lb per week) to 1540 .5 lb per week. It's honestly not that much of a difference now that I look at it, but those extra calories really helped me feel successful. I still do exercise a ton, but the numbers between what I am eating and my exercise calories burned just work out better now

I will say that I had a slump recently where I felt like 1500 calories still wasn't enough. At this stage I can't really go any lower. I couldn't set a 100 calorie per day deficit, for instance, because just inaccuracies in food from portion to portion etc would eat up such a small buffer. It just reinforced the idea that although more calories gives me a bit more breathing room , I still had to actively find recipes and meal ideas that tasted amazing and would keep me full for at least a couple hours. The challenges don't all go away at once, but allowing a bit more room does make things a bit easier.

If .5 loss puts you at 1560, then chances are your maintenance calories are not too far off that number, meaning the adjustment should be minimal for you and hopefully help you be more successful

amirahdaboss

I did it, with almost the exact numbers you mentioned. I was terrified that I would gain, but I lost that very first week. The extra calories keep me full and I'm losing steadily. Good luck, I hope it helps you too!

thank you so much! I hope I'm as successful as you are

amirahdaboss

Thank you all for your answers. Hopefully this will do me good and stop me from being as hungry and binging