Can't get on board with eating MORE calories...

Beth1224

Hi,

I've been overweight the past 15 or so years. I'm really dedicated to losing now but I'm having a hard time with the whole calories thing. I know losing is a simple equation of calories in/calories out. That's why I can't figure out this whole, "eat more to lose more" thing. Is it true? Has anyone seen it work? I have been keeping to 1200 cal/day and haven't lost much. MFP says I should be eating more like 1500. I'm nervous to try more calories for fear of gaining. I have been diagnosed with PCOS which means at this point gaining is extra easy and losing is extra hard.

I guess I'm just looking for some support on the higher calorie thing.

Thanks for listening to me ramble...

-Beth

rainvc

Personally, on my second week of doing MFP faithfully and working out, I was coming in way under my calorie count, and lost no weight. I upped my calories (by adding healthy stuff of course) and ate smaller meals and more snacks throughout the day and I lost 3 pounds that week. It seems as though it worked for me.

CakeFit21

worked for me!

Rae6503

Can't hurt to try, can it? It's only 300 more calories. That's about a half pound a week. Try it for 4 weeks. If you are right and it'll make you gain, the most you should gain (in real weight) is 2lbs.

BUT I bet you are wrong and that it will help you lose....

ProTFitness

Hi,

I've been overweight the past 15 or so years. I'm really dedicated to losing now but I'm having a hard time with the whole calories thing. I know losing is a simple equation of calories in/calories out. That's why I can't figure out this whole, "eat more to lose more" thing. Is it true? Has anyone seen it work? I have been keeping to 1200 cal/day and haven't lost much. MFP says I should be eating more like 1500. I'm nervous to try more calories for fear of gaining. I have been diagnosed with PCOS which means at this point gaining is extra easy and losing is extra hard.

I guess I'm just looking for some support on the higher calorie thing.

Thanks for listening to me ramble...

-Beth

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator
By Dennis Thompson Jr.

Medically reviewed by Cynthia Haines, MD You burn most of your daily calories with little to no conscious effort. Whether you're talking on the phone, working at a keyboard, or just watching television, your body is burning calories to keep your heart pumping, your lungs expanding and contracting, and your organs functioning. The calories used to maintain these basic bodily functions add up to your basal metabolic rate, or BMR. Basal essentially means base — think of it as the number of calories that are just enough to cover all your body’s bases.

"These are what I call your couch-potato calories," says dietitian Sari Greaves, RD, CDN, of Step Ahead Weight Loss Center in Bedminster, N.J,. and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "It amounts to 60 to 75 percent of the total calories you use daily, and there's no physical activity required for this."

In other words, this is what you burn without lifting a finger. That’s why BMR is also is called the resting metabolic rate, or RMR, by some.

Knowing your BMR can help you create a more effective strategy for weight loss, allowing you to better keep your calorie count on track and better understand the effect exercise will have on your waistline.

Calculating Your BMR

The easiest way to measure your BMR is to use an online calculator, like the one at My Calorie Counter. This calculator factors in your height, weight, gender, and age, and activity level, then assesses how many calories you need to eat daily just to maintain your current weight.
You can do the math yourself, using the appropriate equation:

• If you’re a man, your BMR is equal to: 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years). For example, if you’re 170 pounds, 5’11”, and 43, your BMR is 66 + (6.23 x 170) + (12.7 x 71) – (6.8 x 43) = 1734.4 calories.

• If you’re a woman, your BMR is equal to: 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years). For example, if you’re 130 pounds, 5’3”, and 36, your BMR is 665 + (4.35 x 130) + (4.7 x 63) – (4.7 x 36) = 1357.4 calories.

Next figure out your total daily calorie requirement by multiplying your BMR by your level of activity:
• If you rarely exercise, multiply your BMR by 1.2.
• If you exercise on 1 to 3 days per week, doing light activity, multiply your BMR by 1.375.
• If you exercise on 3 to 5 days per week, doing moderate activity, multiply your BMR by 1.55.
• If you exercise 6 to 7 days per week, doing vigorous activity, multiply your BMR by 1.725.
• If you exercise every day and have a physical job or if you often exercise twice a day, multiply your BMR by 1.9.





If the man in the example exercises 3 days a week, doing moderate activity, his daily caloric requirement is 1734.4 x 1.55, or 2688.3 calories.

If the woman in the example exercises 6 days a week, her daily caloric requirement is 1357.4 x 1.725, or 2342.5 calories.

This calculation gives you the number of calories you burn in one day at your current level of activity; in other words, this is the number of calories it takes to stay at the weight you are if you don’t change anything.

Applying Your BMR Calculation to Weight Loss


Once you know your BMR and the number of calories you burn for your activity level, you can improve your weight-loss efforts by setting a lower daily calorie-intake limit and crafting a plan for increasing your physical activity:

Set your daily calorie limit. To lose weight, you need to reduce your caloric intake below your total daily calorie requirement indicated by your BMR + activity level. Putting yourself in a 500-calorie deficit every day should result in the loss of one pound per week (since there are 3,500 calories in a pound), Greaves says.

Adjust your exercise output. Our BMR calculator asks you for your level of physical activity for a very good reason. You can influence your BMR through exercise, spurring your body to burn more calories even after you’ve finished and are just lounging about.

• Aerobic exercise provides a temporary boost to your BMR, an effect sometimes referred to as after-burn or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, says Noelle Lusardi, a certified personal fitness trainer who also works at the Step Ahead Weight Loss Center in Bedminster, N.J. Your BMR will return back to its normal level anywhere between 15 minutes and 48 hours.

• Strength training provides a more-lasting boost to BMR by altering your body's composition. Muscle at rest burns more calories than fat at rest. That's why men enjoy a naturally higher BMR than women, as they tend to have more muscle mass, Greaves explains.

• If you cut calories and increase your BMR by exercising, you’ll see results even faster. Increase the amount of calories you burn by 250 each day, and you’ll lose a half-pound more on top of the calorie cuts made in your diet. You could exercise longer or you could increase the intensity of your workouts to burn more calories — either way will increase the calorie deficit.

The advantage of knowing your BMR is that you can learn the number of calories you need to consume and expend to

ckidd311

You should try the more calories thing... If you aren't eating enough, your body goes into starvation mode and holds on to everything you put in it.

Try it and if you start gaining or don't see results, revisit it

jagh09

Well, if you're not really losing now, it might be worth a try! If 1200 isn't working, try going to 1400. Make sure you are drinking your water, and tracking your exercise calories, so you are balancing out to a nice net calories at the end of the day. Don't give up!

ShellyMacchi

certainly has worked for me:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/175241-a-personal-view-on-exercise-cals-and-underfeeding

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ladyhawk00/view/activity-level-and-logging-exercise-125513

ambie35

I put myself on 1200 calories for a few months and was losing ,but eventually it slowed down. After upping to 1350 I lost the last 5 pounds in a month. Your body burns a certain amount of calorie everyday just to function,if you do not accomadate that amount your body will begin to store fat in fear that it may not be fed again. By giving it a healthy sufficient amount of calories ,it can operate more efficiently.
It is a very common thing to see people that only eat 500-1000 calories a day be overweight and not know why. It is because they are not putting enough gas in the tank so even that small amount of calories is being stored in fear of the body not getting fueled again soon.
Hope this was helpful.

HowardRose

Depends on what you set as your lifestyle type and workouts. But as a rule MFP calculates a sufficient deficit in calories to loose weight without depriving you body of necessary calories. As you loose weight your daily calories will decrease as your body will need less to maintain itself.

ZebraHead

I know losing is a simple equation of calories in/calories out.

This is the kind of statement that doesn't carry a lot of weight around here. If that were the case we would all be skinny beatches right?

There is much more to sutstained weight loss than that.

methetree

For me, I am finding that it isn't so much a calories in/calories out thing...

I was stuck and started looking at information in the community from other members and noticed that folks were netting more calories that I was. I was always under the impression that net calories needed to be as low as possible, even negative to really lose weight. I kept them low low low. Then I see that folks keep the net around 1200-1400... and they still lose.

So, I decided to see what would happen. I upped my net calories through a combination of not working out so hard and eating what I normally eat and voila! I lost ....

Not sure if that will help.... But the body needs fuel to function and it can't feel like its starving... otherwise, it will hold on to every thing!

anberlingasm

If you don't eat enough calories, your body doesn't have enough energy to burn your fat. Basically, you have to eat more to lose more times.

Obviously, it's best to do this with healthier food rather than saying 'I need to eat another 300 cals today, I'll have two chocolate bars'.

yanicka

I also have PCOS. I eat 1350 calories before exercice. Because of PCOS, I lose weight really slowly but I still lose. Also I am 4'11'' 3/4 and 124 pounds. I am sure you need more than 1200 calories. At first you might gain a pound or 2 but your body will get use to it and you will start to lose again. Also for PCOS, A low carb diet work great.

juliapurpletoes

I'd try it, it works for me and for my friends who are actually losing.

Coupla things to look at....check your BMR under the "Tools" tab. It is a fairly good formula. What ever that number is do NOT eat below it. Messes with metabolism.

Recheck what your activity level is and make sure that is accurate to what you really do not including exercise. Then accurately log your exercise and use a heart rate monitor with a chest strap to get a close to accurate account of calories burned. THEN eat those calories back. It is debated by many here, but many find it is what keeps their deficit at the right level.

If you have your settings to lose 2 pounds per week, that may be too much to ask your body to go for. This is a lifestyle change and what you want to do is set yourself up for a sustainable eating and exercising way of life.

And, of course, do your own research - there is so much on the website to learn about.

Best of Luck!

rankailie

Hi,

I've been overweight the past 15 or so years. I'm really dedicated to losing now but I'm having a hard time with the whole calories thing. I know losing is a simple equation of calories in/calories out. That's why I can't figure out this whole, "eat more to lose more" thing. Is it true? Has anyone seen it work? I have been keeping to 1200 cal/day and haven't lost much. MFP says I should be eating more like 1500. I'm nervous to try more calories for fear of gaining. I have been diagnosed with PCOS which means at this point gaining is extra easy and losing is extra hard.

I guess I'm just looking for some support on the higher calorie thing.

Thanks for listening to me ramble...

-Beth

You have to eat enough to not be in starvation mode, sure you'll eventually lose weight while starving but its not good weight loss that will stay off. The idea is to feed your body and stay within a healthy defict for you body. IE your net (calories in minus exercise) should be more then enough to keep your body energized and running.

Its been a challenge for me to eat the amount of calories needed including my exercise calories and I don't always manage it though I try to stay within 50-100 of what my goal net is. I try to fit in healthier snacks to bump it up, like a tbsp of peanut butter or a handful of almonds.

astovey

I have PCOS and know how you feel. I can't get myself to eat more cals either bc I always gain...and it scares the crap outta me. Everyone's body works differently though.

kapeluza

"OK, this will be long. Please read it if you are confused. Disclaimer: I am not a dietician or a doctor, just a successful loser and maintainer, who has consulted both doctors and dieticians.

Question #1:

Should I eat all my calories?

Yes. MFP is already figuring a deficit for you to lose weight. This deficit is based on what you need to eat based on your everyday activity, not counting exercise. In the end, it's all about "net calories" (you can view yours under reports)

Example: you need to eat 2,000 calories to maintain your current weight (random number)
MFP will tell you to eat 1,500 to lose one pound per week (500x7=3500=one pound loss).

Let's say you exercise, and burn 500 additional calories.
UH-OH, now you are at a 1,000 calorie a day deficit. You need 2,000 calories to maintian, are already restricted to 1500, so now your net calories are a 1,000 a day. This is starvation central. Your body, which is very good at keeping you alive, will store and save calories. You WILL stop losing weight. You WILL want to throw your scale out the window.

Eat your exercise calories. At least eat most of them.

Question #2:
I'm eating 1200 calories, I feel like crap and I'm not losing weight. What gives?

Answer:
Run, don't walk, to "tools" and use the BMR calculator. Please, please, please, eat at least your BMR calories every day. You might lose weight more slowly, but you will still lose, and you will not longer feel a sudden urge to fall over every time you do, well, anything.

Question #3:
I'm doing "everything right" and the scale won't move.

Answer #1: The scale is the devil. Step away from the scale. Buy a tape measure, notice how your clothes are (probably) fitting better. Muscle is more dense than fat, and takes up less space on your body. More muscle on your body will make the scale freeze or (gasp) move upward.

Answer #2: You're not being honest. In order for this to work, you must record every morsel of food that goes in your body. Also, if you ride a stationary bike for 30 minutes and barely break a sweat and can still chatter on your cell phone (OK, that's my personal gym pet peeve) then you're probably not working "vigorously". Don't overestimate your exercise calories. (this was a big mistake I made in the past.)

Answer #3: Your body might be re-adjusting. How you feel is the most important mark of progress. It's very easy to fixate on numbers, but feeling better really should be its own reward.

Question #4:
So, if I'm eating my exercise calories, what's the point of exercise?

Answer: (warning: extremely opinionated answer ahead)
You don't. You can lose weight through diet alone. But, then you will be skinny and flabby. Is a model skinnier than me? OH, YES! Is she healthier than me? probably NOT. She couldn't survive the hour-long spin class that I take three times a week. Trust me. Her skin is a mess, she smokes, and she looks like crap in person. (this is a generalization. I don't hate models, but this is their lifestyle. . .I used to be a "dresser" at shows, and I saw a lot of "behind the scenes" stuff.
"

kapeluza

"One issue that seems to be related to MFP more than any other forum I post on is the question of "to eat or not to eat" the calories one expends exercising. I'm assuming it has something to do with the logging and calculations used on MFP, which I am admittedly unfamiliar with. However, suffice it to say that I get this question in my inbox a few times each week, so it's obviously worth mentioning on the forum.

First, let it be known that there are no universally accepted rules regarding eating them back or not. The reason being is because there's no magic to it - it comes down to energy balance. Nothing more. Let me explain...

Let's try to make this real simple:

Maintenance calorie intake is where calories in = calories out, right?

We know that a calorie deficit is required if fat is to be lost, so calories in < calories out.

Large deficits can have negative effects such as increased cravings, muscle loss, irritability, unsustainability (I made that word up), etc.

So we want a moderate deficit, which I'd label as 20-35% off of your maintenance. There's latitude here, mind you.

So if your maintenance is 2000 calories, anywhere from 1300 to 1600 calories would be realistic for fat loss.

That's a deficit of 400-700 calories per day.

Said deficit, in theory, could come from a number of combinations.

On one end of the spectrum you could simply eat 400-700 calories less per day. This assumes the energy out side of the equation stays reasonably static.

On the other end of the spectrum you could keep eating 2000 calories but increase calories expended via exercise to 400-700 calories per day.

If you went with this latter scenario, you wouldn't have to eat back your exercise calories because the expended calories from exercise put you in the sweet spot, calorically speaking.

Now if you cut calories by 400-700 AND increased activity by 400-700, then you'd be running too large a deficit unless you ate back your exercise calories. I can't express how general this is, but it's something many should listen to. Obese folks, on the contrary, can run much larger deficits than thinner folks for reasons we won't get into here today. But all of these relatively thin folks who are trying to "beat their bodies into submission" by blitzing it full force with calorie deprivation and massive amounts of exercise should probably heed this advice.

In real terms, most people establish their deficits partly by cutting calories and partly by increasing activity. But for those of you wondering whether you should be eating back your calories expended exercising, you need to look at your calories in net terms. Where does your deficit stand without eating back your exercise calories?

I'll note that personally I don't worry about any of this with my own training or my clients. I set what I consider sane and productive volumes of various exercise (strength training, energy system development, conditioning for fat loss, etc.). From there, there's really not a lot of variability in energy expenditure since I know, by and large, what volume of exercise is required to drive the adaptations I'm shooting for.

Therefore, the only thing to really manipulate is calorie intake. It's a much cleaner approach but to each his own. Do what you're happy with and what makes the most sense for you. "

TS65

I didn't lose on 1200/day. When I adjusted my settings (from sedentary to active) AND started eating my exercise calories (avg 1400 - 2000 calories per day), the weight started to go down. When I cleaned up my diet (got rid of processed foods), the weight REALLY started to drop (3 lbs last week - as opposed to less than 1lb per week I had been losing).

ashleymmc20

Oh my gosh! I am just GUSHING from an experience I had on the scale not even 5 minutes ago! About three days ago, I posted a post similar to yours. I had been eating 1200 calories or less, and hadn't lost ANYTHING for over a week. I was frustrated because I was really giving it my all and not seeing any results! But everyone told me to up my calorie intake to 1500. So I did, just two days ago. I just found out I lost TWO POUNDS!!!! Who would have thought eating MORE would help me lose?!! I'm not an expert, all I know is, it worked for me!!

When I started merely thinking about maybe trying to eat more calories, I did a little research. Here's what i found out about myself, that made it start to "click" in my mind.

With my height and weight, my metabolism will naturally burn 1548 calories a day, even if all I did was just lie in bed all day. And if I get enough water, it may even burn 2000 calories. So, to keep my metabolism burning ALL THE TIME, I raised my MFP calories to 1540. That way, all day long, my metabolism will have something it can burn so it won't burn out. It's like a fire... if you don't throw something on the fire to fuel it, it goes out and you have to work to get it started up again, which can really slow down progress. You can go to this website and figure out how many calories your own body burns naturally :http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html

3500 = one pound. If I can keep up with the calories I burn during my workouts and remember this, I will almost be able to track when I will lose my next pound! If I can burn at least 279 calories each day for a week, I'll loose a pound a week. Double that number, and I'll loose TWO pounds per week. But I would have to consider raising my calorie intake a little higher if I were to work out that much, just to take care of my metabolism.

I am so thrilled with my results. I hope you'll get to experience this amazing high soon!!