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

melsinct

I was eating too little for my body at 1200 calories and plateaued- didn't lose an ounce for 2 months. I slowly worked my way up to 1700 calories and I am losing again. So yes, you need to eat to lose. Your body hangs on to every calorie when you starve it.

rosalang

thank you for making your comments so easy to understand. i have not lost on 1250 calories for 2 months, despite exercising more. ive now adjusted it to 1490 and am hoping this will work. i feel happier that i can get more nutrition into me that way and am looking forward to the results

psuLemon

I have just upped my calories to 3000. Every time I have upped my calories, I kept losing more. It's all about basal metabolic rates and total daily energy expended (to form a proper deficit) but with PCOS there is a twist (my wife has it). PCOS' twist is you need a low carb diet (as confirmed by my wife's OBGYN). This doesn't mean you have a calorie intolerance.

So if you BMR is 1500 calories (about average for many of the women I have helped) and you live a sedentary lifestyle your TDEE equals 1500 * 1.2 (1.2 is your TDEE multiplier according to the katch mcardle formula; this is how I figure out my calories and has gotten me down to 11% body fat)

1500*1.2 = 1800

Add your deficit = 1800-500 = 1300.

1300 in this case would be your caloric needs until you add in exercise. Lets say you exercise and average about 5 days a week for an hour a day. That means, you would have to add in those calories to supply your body with enough fuel for energy and to reduce muscle loss. So then it would be...

1300+500 = 1800 calories.

Now this means on days you workout, you should eat back your exercise calories.

The second approach is adding exercise into the equation (making your lifestyle moderately active as opposed to sedentary to aim for a specific daily calorie goal and NOT eat back exercise calories).

so it would be 1500*1.55 = 2325 - 500 = 1825.

Both about the same answer and both will provide good results. Remember, food is fuel so if you don't have enough of it, your body will hold onto whatever it can. And in this case to cope with PCOS, you would go into your goals, do a custom setup and adjust your carbs to 30%, your proteins to 40% and your fats to 30%. You monitor this for a few weeks, if there is no weight loss, may reduce your carbs a bit more and increase protein (as it's the second fuel source in your body).

The biggest advice I can give you, stop being afraid that your weight might increase weight. Weight loss isn't linear and it takes time to learn what you need to do for weight loss and muscle retention. Doing something for a week isn't enough time for your body to adjust (it should be a month).

keiraev

Loving all the anecdotes of people who ate more to lose more. It DOES work.

What I don't understand is despite all the evidence and anecdotes people STILL get fixated with eating 1200 calories and think they will gain weight if they eat anything above that. 1200 is the bare minimum and most people can lose on far more.

kapeluza

"I still see many people that are confused or "question" the idea of eating your exercise calories. I wanted to try (as futile as this may turn out to be) to explain the concept in no uncertain terms. I'll save the question of "eating your exercise calories" for the end because I want people to understand WHY we say to do this.

NOTE: I'm not going to use a lot of citation in this, but I don't want people thinking this is my opinion, I have put much careful research into it, most of which is very complicated and took a long time for me to sift through and summarize, and thanks to my chemical engineering backgroud I have the tools to read clinical studies and translate them (somewhat) into more human terms. Some of this information comes from sources I can't forward because they are from pay sites (like New England Journal of Medicine), so you can ask for anything, but I may or may not be able to readilly provide it for you (I can always tell you where to go if you want to though).

I'll break it down into 3 sections.
Section 1 will be our metabolic lifecycle or what happens when we eat and how our body burns fuel.
Section 2 will be what happens when we receive too much, too little, or the wrong kind of fuel.
Section 3 will be the steps needed to bring the body to a healthy state and how the body "thinks" on a sympathetic level (the automatic things our body does like digestion, and energy distribution).

Section 1:
Metabolism, in "layman's" terms, is the process of taking in food, breaking it down into it's components, using the food as fuel and building blocks, and the disposal of the poisons and waste that we ingest as part of it. Metabolism has three overall factors, genetics, nutrition, and environment. So who we are, what we eat, and how we live all contribute to how our metabolism works. You can control 2 of these 3 factors (nutrition, environment).
When you eat food, it is broken down into it's component parts. Protein, vitamins and minerals are transported to the cells that need them to build new cells or repair existing cells. Fats(fatty acid molecules) and carbohydrates are processed (by 2 different means) and either immediately burned or stored for energy. Because the body doesn't store food in a pre-digested state, if you eat more carbs and fat then you need immediately, the body will save them for later in human fat cells (adipose tissue). This is important to realize because even if you eat the correct number of calories in a 24 hour period, if you eat in large quantities infrequently (more then you can burn during the digestion process), your body will still store the extra as fat and eliminate some of the nutrients. (Side note: this is why simple or processed carbs are worse for you compared with complex carbs)

Section 2:
The human body has a set metabolic rate (based on the criteria stated above), this rate can be changed by overall nutritional intake over a period of time, or by increasing activity levels also over a period of time (the exact amount of time for sustained increase in metabolic rates is the subject of some debate, but all studies agree that any increase in activity level will increse the metabolism).
It is important to note that obesity does not drasticly change the level of metabolic process, that means that if you become obese, you don't burn a higher fat percentage just because you have more to burn.
The balance of incomming fuel vs the amount of fuel the body uses is called maintenance calories, or the amount of calories it takes to run your body during a normal day (not including exercise or an extremely lethargic day). The metabolism is a sympathetic process, this means it will utilize lower brain function to control it's level, it also means it can actively "learn" how a body is fitness wise, and knows approximately how much energy it needs to function correctly. It also means automatic reactions will happen when too much or too little fuel is taken in. Too much fuel triggers fat storage, adipose tissue expands and fat is deposited, also free "fat" cells (triglycerides) will circulate in the blood stream (HDL and LDL cholesterol). Too little fuel (again, over an extended period) triggers a survival mode instinct, where the body recognizes the lack of fuel comming in and attempts to minimize body function (slowing down of non-essential organ function) and the maximization of fat storage. It's important to note that this isn't a "switch", the body does this as an ongoing analysis and will adjust the levels of this as needed (there is no "line" between normal and survival mode.).
When you're activity level increases, the human body will perform multiple functions, first, readily available carbohydrates and fats are broken down into fuel, oxydized, and sent directly to the areas that need fuel, next adipose (body) fat is retreived, oxydized, and transported to the areas it is needed for additional fuel, 3rd (and this is important), if fat stores are not easilly reachable (as in people with a healthy BMI where adipose fat is much more scarce), muscle is broken down and used for energy. What people must realize is that the metabolism is an efficiency engine, it will take the best available source of energy, if fat stores are too far away from the systems that need them or too dense to break down quickly, then it won't wait for the slower transfer, it will start breaking down muscle (while still breaking down some of that dense fat as well).

Section 3:
The wonderful part of the human metabolic system is it's ability to adapt and change. Just because your body has entered a certain state, doesn't mean it will stay that way. The downfall to this is that if organs go unused over a long period, they can lose functionality and can take years to fully recover(and sometimes never).
As long as there is no permenant damage to organ function, most people can "re-train" their metabolism to be more efficient by essentially showing it (with the intake of the proper levels and nutritional elements) that it will always have the right amount and types of fuel. This is also known as a healthy nutritional intake.
Going to the extreme one way or the other with fuel consumption will cause the metabolism to react, the more drastic the swing, the more drastic the metabolism reacts to this (for example, a diet that limits fat or cabohydrate intake to very low levels). In general terms, the metabolism will react with predictable results if fuel levels remain in a range it associates with normal fuel levels. If you raise these fuel levels it will react by storing more fat, if you lower these fuel levels, it will react by shutting down processes and storing fat for the "upcomming" famine levels. The most prominent immediate issues (in no particular order) with caloric levels below normal are reduced muscle function, reduction of muscle size and density, liver and kidney failures, increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, and gallstones .


Now onto the question of "Eating your exercise calories"

As I have hinted to throughout this summary of metabolic process, the body has a "range" in which it feels it is receiving the right amount of fuel. The range (as most doctors and research scientists agree) is somewhere between 500 calories above your maintenance calories and 1000 calories below your maintenance calories. This means that the metabolism won't drastically change it's functionality in this range, with that said, this is not exact, it is a range based on averages, you may have a larger or smaller range based on the 3 factors of metabolism stated at the top.
On our website (MyFitnessPal), when you enter your goals, there is a prebuilt deficit designed to keep you in the "normal" metabolic functionality while still burning more calories then you take in. This goal DOES NOT INCLUDE exercise until you enter it. If you enter exercise into your daily plan, the site automatically adjusts your total caloric needs to stay within that normal range (in other words, just put your exercise in, don't worry about doing any additional calculations). Not eating exercise calories can bring you outside that range and (if done over an extended period of days or weeks) will gradually send your body into survival mode, making it harder (but not impossible) to continue to lose weight. The important thing to understand is (and this is REALLY important) the closer you are to your overall healthy weight (again, your metabolism views this a a range, not a specific number) the more prominant the survival mode becomes (remember, we talked about efficiency). This is because as fat becomes scarce, muscle is easier to break down and transport. And thus, the reason why it's harder to lose that "Last 10 pounds".

I really hope this puts a lot of questions to bed. I know people struggle with this issue and I want to make sure they have the straight facts of why we all harp on eating your exercise calories. "

AndreaXoXo

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rosalang

Hi Beth
i am like you , still cant get my head round the fact that i should eat more to lose weight.
ive lost 23 lbs altogether, about 1 lb a week . i had at that time re calculated my calores as MFP sugested this be a good idea as I had been on the same calories for months
I then plateaud for 2 months until i was brave enough to recalculate again and put in that i only wanted to lose half a pound a week.
I was really scared to do this as my calories were now going to be even more than the original amount.
It however has miraculously worked and I have started loosing again. still cant beleive it but am going to go with it as I realised that I couldnt maintain a healthy diet on 1250 calories, i am now eating 1380 a day
I do have to make sure I write in every single thing I eat as I find I easily forget and its amazing how this adds up
I make sure all my meals are healthy on this amount of calories and I eat calories form any exercise burned as extra treats
So if I want a bag of crisps or glass of wine at the end of the day I have to go and use my crosstrainer until I have burned the extra. I hate exercise but am keeping this up as I want the treats
I am 62, very inactive due to arthritis and a thyroid problem but I am keeping it up.
Keep reading all the motivation you can and enjoy eating in a healthy way. on bad days dont despair, just promise yourself to get back on track

1stepaheda

Hi this is 1stepaheda,
I am new to your site but am enjoying it completely. I have never been a good eater due to tummy problems, and allergies. Now that I have many health issue to try to control, just a few thyroid, recovering breast cancer, and diabetes. I am contenly told by my doctors "you are not getting enough food" or "you are not eatting enough".They (doctors) just got the tummy pain under contorl, where I feel and can eat more and truly enjoy it. But now I think I am eatting enough calories, but then at the end of the day when I log them, I get the little message "You are not eatting enought calories". Please can anyone out there in myfitnesspals.com help with any suggestion on how to get more calories in my body on a daily bases. My husband and I eat very healthy and I have started drinking Glucerna for diabetic. But still seem to come up short each day about 400 to 200 calories.

1stepaheda

Thank you love people who get to the point, keep them coming.

1stepaheda

lrd2010

Thank you kapeluza

Brilliant write up!

Biggipooh

Me neither. I eat 1300 cal, and burn about 300 in exercising. So I live on 1000 cal a day and that works great for me. I loose about 1/2 to 1 pound every week, which is totally healthy. When I am down to my ideal weight, I plan to eat each month 200 cal more, until I am back to the 1800 cal, my body needs to maintain. Everyone should figure out, what works best for (slow) weightloss.

jbpretty

I know how you feel. I was at a standstill so I upped my calories. MFP gave me just over 1500 but rarely do I eat quite that much. I like to zigzag my calories if I decide I'm going to have a high calorie day or two in the week, that seems to take any guilt I have away. Raising the calories does work. I'm very close to my goal and I'm consistently losing. I usually eat around 1400 calories a day I agree with others, try it. Keep us posted. Jamie

MaximalLife

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

Of course; it works for me.
If you restrict calories too much, you can forget losing weight and keeping it off.
Your metabolism will stifle.
To prevent this MFP recommends a slight deficit to reflect a 1 lb weekly weight loss.
And that includes eating back your exercise calories to retain that slight deficit.

Simply stated MFP has already figured out your total calories you need to eat per day to lose 1lb etc. a week. That's WITHOUT exercise. You'll notice that when you actually add exercise in, the calorie limit goes up. Why? Because it's telling you to eat your exercise calories. Large deficits aren't really good to do because while you will lose weight, what kind of weight will it be? In many cases you'll lose lean muscle tissue which LOWERS your metabolic rate even more. Then you have to eat even less to compensate for less of a calorie burn to continue to lose the same amount of weight each week.
Be efficient. Exercise hard and eat back the calories. The hard exercise will RAISE your metabolic rate and burn more fat at rest.

sullivann

shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

You'll see more success keeping it off if you just FUEL your body.

Helloitsdan

The human body is only capable of losing so much fat in a day. Youll lose the same amount daily taking 20% from TDEE than you will at 1200 calories. The problem with 1200 calories though...its a metabolism killer. It slows it down! So its going to take a lot longer to lose the weight than if you took your TDEE and subtracted 20%.

To summarize:
My TDEE is 2500 calories daily.
My cutting number is 2000.
I lose 1lb a week at 2000 calories daily.
I lost .25lb weekly at 1200 before my metabolism came to a crawl.
So now I cut to 2000 and work out and lose a lot of weight.

Simple right?

tigersword

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.

Not really. It's just calories in vs calories out. Eat more than you burn, gain weight. Burn more than you eat, lose weight. It's not complicated. Now, fat loss is a bit more complicated than just weight loss, but even then, it's just burn more calories than you eat, just don't burn too much more than you eat, in order to maximize fat loss and minimize muscle loss.

NicoWoodruff

I think there's a balance to find personally.. it's important to not put yourself in starvation mode and all..

But there's also studies that show that some calorie restriction in lab mice adds to their health and longevity.

MFP is a great way to find where your personal tipping point is, the point where you maintain, the point where less cals than that you lose, the point where more cals than that you gain.

Restricting myself slightly from maintenance calories is the only way I've been able to lose. I'm quite active and eat very clean, and if I go over my personal amount of maintenance calories then I gain, for me it's simple as that.

When I get to my goal weight I do plan to push my max maintenance calories and see how much more muscle I can build that way.

KandieLantz

Worked for me too. See ticker below Msg or add me if you want extra support doing this the healthy way!

Nana_Booboo

Everyone is different but this makes sense to me and works for me.

A basic diet of 2000 cal plus exercise 2-5 times a week is the "normal" maintainable diet for most humans, correct? That's why most labels say "for a 2000 cal diet"

However, I still want to lose weight.

So for example, I take in 1800, exercise 600 bring my total calories in back down to 1200 thus having a deficit from a maintainable diet of 2000 cal of 800 cal a day that with in a weeks time is 5600 cal. That should give you a 1.5 lb loss.

I know not everyone can or will eat a 2000 cal diet but this is an example.

I log my food on MFP and my excercise and usually still have a net left.

Feel free to view my diary

It's working for me.

sandimack

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