Question for those who added calories and lost weight

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graysmom2005
graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey ya'll. I have a question for the folks who weren't eating enough calories, started eating more, and then started losing weight again. How long did it take before the losing started to happen? Did you gain at first? How long did that go on for? How steadily have you lost since you upped your intake? I have been trying to feed my body a lot better the past couple of weeks, but I haven't seen any difference...in fact I'm still on the upper end of my weight bracket. Any insight, advice, HOPE would be great. Thank you!
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Replies

  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    I accidentally went over my calories for a few days and within a few days I saw a loss. I upp'ed my calories for a couple weeks and lost 5lbs - within a few days of upping them all the time.

    I haven't lost more than the 5lbs and I REFUSE to up my calories again. So, I now officially in maintenance mode. :)
  • teamsaris
    teamsaris Posts: 30
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    I upped mine by 400 calories and I saw results right away :) Are you eating back your exercise calories as well? Plateaus are SO frustrating!!!!
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
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    I think it took a month or more. It's a wild little thing... Such a weird thing to have to eat more to lose. But it did start to happen again for me. My body seems to lose weight in phases :) lol
  • erzsebet_1560
    erzsebet_1560 Posts: 166
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    I'm curious too..I upped my calories 2 weeks ago, lost 3 pounds..and now nothing..so frustrating!
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
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    I pretty much started losing as soon as I upped my intake. It took probably 3 days for me to really start noticing a difference on the scale. I have only been eating my current daily intake for about a week but I've already lost 2 pounds! I am aiming to eat at least 1350 cals a day and force myself to net 1200+ after working out. I just hope the weight keeps dropping off...

    I was eating probably around 800-1100 cals a day before MFP. Occasionally I'd binge and eat 1000 cals in one sitting. It wasn't good but I never thought I could be gaining weight from not eating ENOUGH! I just thought something was wrong with me, like I had a disease or a terrible food allergy that was making me gain! But NO... I just wasn't getting enough calories and my body was holding onto everything I put in! :blushing:
  • cessnaholly
    cessnaholly Posts: 784 Member
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    MFP changed my calories when i lost weight and I tried it at the lower calories. But I gained. When I reset my calories and started eating more I started losing a little bit in a week or two.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    Thanks for the quick responses! I get different numbers from different sources, but it looks like maybe what I was eating these two weeks may still not be enough...it's scary not knowing the number that will help lose/or could make you gain. I have a lot left to eat tonight. I did two spin classes and an abs class....I need to get crackin' on dinner. How many calories are you guys eating now? What made you start losing? Any particular number?
  • dougswife
    dougswife Posts: 10
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    I upped mine calories and almost immediatly gained 2 pounds, will know tomorrow how going back down did.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    I upped mine by 400 calories and I saw results right away :) Are you eating back your exercise calories as well? Plateaus are SO frustrating!!!!

    I JUST started eating them back a couple of weeks ago...i started this coming off a major gain from multiple trips so the timing is a bit wonky. I was just trying to net 1200 but an awesome trainer/nutritionist on this site did some math for me and my basic should be over 1500. Oops. STILL not enough.
  • skinnylizzard
    skinnylizzard Posts: 460 Member
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    Sometimes it works for me when I hit a plateau. I usually lose 2-3 pounds. Then it stops again so I reduce it again and start losing again. I think it's just a way to shock your body to respond. It's good to switch it up a bit I think.
  • Panda_Jack
    Panda_Jack Posts: 829 Member
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    I hit my last plateau for a month, while eating back my exercise cals, I upped my intake by 200 cals and about 2 weeks later lbs started melting off again.
  • LisaMarieee
    LisaMarieee Posts: 176 Member
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    I started losing weight right when I raised my calorie intake. Didn't gain a thing. I was expecting to gain but I didn't at all. I lost more weight at a steady and quicker pace compared to when I had been eating less. :huh:
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
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    When I was first on MFP my calories were set to 1200, the minimum. But I wasn't eating my exercise calories back and sometimes I was going under my goal by a few hundred calories... I lost a few pounds but then it stopped. So I tried upping mine to 1460, and eating some or all of my exercise calories back but I didn't lose any weight doing that. So I tried 1310 calories and eating most of my exercise calories back and this is working for me so far!
  • ItsLessOfMe
    ItsLessOfMe Posts: 374 Member
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    I need help too. I eat 1200 cals no matter what. Thats how I started loosing again. When I was eating my exersice cals I wasnt loosing. I do spin, cardio machines,strength traning classes, pilates, xbike,zumba I go 5x a week about 1.5 hours a day. I need to figure out how much to eat. when ever I increase my cals I gain.

    SO FRUSTRATING!!!! - I am getting to the end of my string...
  • hgellings
    hgellings Posts: 295 Member
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    Good question! I have been wondering the same thing. I hit a plateau for the last month and have been trying the zig-zag technique so have been eating more cals that I'm use to so guess we'll see.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    Thanks for the quick responses! I get different numbers from different sources, but it looks like maybe what I was eating these two weeks may still not be enough...it's scary not knowing the number that will help lose/or could make you gain. I have a lot left to eat tonight. I did two spin classes and an abs class....I need to get crackin' on dinner. How many calories are you guys eating now? What made you start losing? Any particular number?

    When I tell people how many calories I eat in a day (NET calories), they usually freak out and send me private messages telling me it's too much. lol.

    I NET 2200-2500 a day. Depending on what I've done that day. If I don't do a whole lot - I aim for 2200, if I work but don't workout - I aim for 2300ish and if I work AND workout (like today) I will eat close to 2500. Crazy, I know!
  • LauraMarie37
    LauraMarie37 Posts: 283 Member
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    When I was first on MFP my calories were set to 1200, the minimum. But I wasn't eating my exercise calories back and sometimes I was going under my goal by a few hundred calories... I lost a few pounds but then it stopped. So I tried upping mine to 1460, and eating some or all of my exercise calories back but I didn't lose any weight doing that. So I tried 1310 calories and eating most of my exercise calories back and this is working for me so far!

    Your first post on this thread plus this one sound EXACTLY like me. Before MFP, eating 800-1200 and working out 2-6 hours per day...I was literally in tears at least once a week wondering why I was not losing weight. On MFP, starting to really make it to my goal calories every day and the weight dropping off immediately.

    I've been on MFP three weeks (eating my exercise calorie back since day 1), and I've consistently been losing 1.5-2 pounds per week. I'm pretty happy with it since I started within about 10 pounds of my ideal weight (and that ideal weight is on the low end of "healthy" BMI due to my profession...if I was just a regular person, I'd be fine maintaining where I am).

    I also have one cheat day per week, though (usually really just one cheat meal, but it depends).
  • LauraMarie37
    LauraMarie37 Posts: 283 Member
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    Oh and to answer your question about how much per day - MFP has me set at 1450 net calories, so that usually means between 1800-2500 total calories depending on how much I train that day. I can't believe I'm eating that much - I literally would have laughed in your face if you told me this would be what worked 2 months ago!
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    *sigh* It doesn't seem to be working. Hoped on the scale this morning and I'm up 2 1/2 pounds. I just finished TOM so that shouldn't be a factor. I worked out over 2 hours yesterday. I ate a lot, but I'm just trying to hit the numbers I was given. I'm so confused and Upset. I really thought this was what I was doing wrong. :-((((
  • teamsaris
    teamsaris Posts: 30
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    What kinds of foods are you eating?

    My daily goal is 1650 without exercise, on days when I exercise I eat around 2000-2200 calories depending on what I have done.

    One of the things I found to be most detrimental to me was MFP's calculations of calories burned during exercise. I was burning WAY more than what MFP was allotting so in the beginning I was netting a very low calorie count. NOT GOOD. When I run (about 30 mins with a 5 min warm up and a 10 min cool down) I burn upwards of 650 calories...MFP only gave me like 400. When I got my heart rate monitor I was able to see what I am actually burning :) Maybe that might be something to look into?

    I'm 5'9, 155 lbs...what do you have your settings at on MFP? How much are you looking to lose?

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