I was scared to up my calories too, until...

CaptainMFP

I'm religious about eating my exercise calories, so I don't personally have issues, but here is some advice that might make it easier to decide on a number. This comes from my brother (20+ marathons, 87 miles of Keys 100 in May of this year) to my wife about nutritionally supporting exercise. He said to eat 200 to 400 extra calories every day she ran at a minimum. If you want to up calories, but are scared, consider this. Increase your total for the day by 150 calories per 30 min. of vigorous exercise in a day. If you do 60 min. of serious cardio, make sure to eat at least 300 more calories. I have a pretty good understanding of brain function, so I understand the psychological fear of increasing calories. If you tie the increase incrementally to exercise output, you will likely feel more comfortable because you are increasing caloires to FUEL a specific activity -- exercise -- which together will boost your metabolism and help you lose.

(For the record, I LOVE the starting post! Putting a modest increase in calories into context of what we ate before we started shows that modest increases in calories won't break you. LOVE IT! I'd also encourage those struggling with a plateau to read this article (http://fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.com/2011/05/most-dreaded-word-in-weight-loss.html). Speaking as a biology professor, it is the best article I've ever seen to accurately but clearly explain metabolism and why eating more is essential to weight loss.)

FirewifeCarrie

So glad to hear about your experience! I too was like you, eating only 1200 calories..most days less than that. I lost 30 pounds relatively 'easy' and then BAM, the plateau slapped me in the face. I upped my calories and have cycled my calories up and down, but haven't seen the scale move. I still hover around the same numbers. I started all of this probably over a month ago so I was hoping to see results by now. I'm trying to not get down about it because I'm very happy with how I look and I haven't been this size since highschool but I was hoping to lose around 5-10 more pounds. How long before you started seeing results? I know everyone is different but just curious.

MoonIite

I actually had to up my cal intake after starting a new workout program (Turbo Fire).
Before I was taking in 1300-1400 calories but that left me hungry and tired. I figure since I'm burning more calories (according to my HRM) that I'll eat back some of my exercise calories to bring my deficit down to the 400-500 range. That did the trick :laugh: Now I have to make sure that I hit at least 1500 cals minimum when I do longer the moderate workouts, so I won't feel so run-down afterward.

GreenGettingLean

I have hit my first plateu...so early it seems. I am scared to try this too but know something needs to be done in order to reach my goal weight. Thanks for the post. I will try 1380 calorie intake and see what happens. What about exercise? Change that up too? I walk 45-60 minutes 5 times a week.

It never hurts to change up your exercise routine and keep your body guessing! Our bodies tend to get very comfortable with what we are doing.

heathersmilez

! I'd also encourage those struggling with a plateau to read this article (http://fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.com/2011/05/most-dreaded-word-in-weight-loss.html). Speaking as a biology professor, it is the best article I've ever seen to accurately but clearly explain metabolism and why eating more is essential to weight loss.)

Thank for this link, good read.

I'm hoping I'm not already in plateau mode. It's only been 10 days, I only have 10 lbs to lose and am eating 1200 a day 6x a week, the 7th 1500 and at the moment, no I'm not eating my exercise cals back b/c most days its just a 40 min walk or 40 min walk + 20 min Kick boxing so total is about 300cals) which I'm logging as 2.0 to be on the safe side hence that decision. So far I'm feeling good, not weak or tired and also newly vegan and that was a surprisingly easy adjustment.

ibbray04

Ah yes, the old "does increasing my calorie intake really make me lose weight?" debacle. I was also one of those who joined MFP, religiously ate 1200 (or less) calories a day and shed pounds fast. Obviously, that fast loss only lasted about 3 weeks and then the scale froze. For the next two weeks I pondered upping my calories - but what would this mean? Wouldn't I GAIN weight if I did that? After all, I ate too much in my pre-MFP life and that's what got me in to this mess in the first place!

This was my mindset for awhile, until it occurred to me that it might be a beneficial exercise to log an average day of eating before I decided to truly get healthy. For me, this meant giant bowls of "healthy" cereal, a "healthy" Subway sandwich with Coke and potato chips, a homecooked dinner such as lasagna or meatloaf, and of course a nice big bowl of ice cream for dessert. You know, because I'd been so "good" all day. Little did I know, this adds up to a 2,200 calorie day! Holy crap! It still dumbfounds me how much I was actually eating every single day, all the while thinking I was leading a reasonably healthy lifestyle. Compared to how much I was eating and considering my BMR and activity level, 1390 calories a day suddenly seemed very reasonable.

It really put into perspective for me that upping my calories from 1200 a day was absolutely necessary to keep losing weight. I've since upped my calories to 1390 and busting through my first plateau. I hope that this is a useful exercise for someone else too. Weight loss is never one size fits all and what worked for me might not work for everyone, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who had a hard time upping her calories!

Wow, your post is about me! :happy:

I was totally going to post the same thing. I also hit a plateau a few weeks into this journey and was so scared to up my calories. I finally decided to just go ahead and up them to 1400/day. And since then I've dropped 1 lb/week. Thanks for sharing this. I hope it helps those who are struggling with it.

GreenGettingLean

Thanks everyone for all the feedback! It took about 5-7 days after upping calories for me to see results. I'm a firm believer in not recording a weight loss until it sticks for a few days, so waiting a day or two was killing me! But sure enough, it has stayed off and I even enjoyed a yummy splurge meal last night!

Lesliecs

This is probably one of the most talked about topics in MFP! Thanks for posting your experience. I, too, had the same dilemma after being on 1200 calories for a few weeks.....then coming to a standstill. And like you, I was scare to up my calories, even though everyone said I should. So I jumped in and did it..... and luckily, continued to lose which still eating healthier, but just more calories. There are still days when I struggle to eat all my calories because I guess I still have the mindset that fewer calories is better...... but I'm working on it!

Congrats on your weight loss so far and keep up the good work! :flowerforyou:

vettle

Thanks everyone

I've been eating 1300 calories and eating back most burned when I can for three months now and lost 24 pounds. Now I'm starting to see the scale slow down. Starting Monday Aug 8 I upped my calories to 1500 and entered into a zig zag program but my mind is going.. well you're going to GAIN back some weight now that you're eating 200 calories more a day.

What is the DEAL with our minds!!? So thanks everyone for slapping some sense into me as well. I shouldn't gain weight since I am still eating under my maintainance calories, the worst that happens is that I don't lose the weight as quickly. But to get out of a plateau I'm doing everything I can.


Anyone else currently adding calories to lose weight please add me!!

charsauce

thanks for this! I will keep this in mind for when I eventually plateau eating the minimum amount of calories!

GreenGettingLean

I have no idea, it's like a psychological roadblock or something. It took really seeing what I was putting into my body beforehand to see that a measly 1390 daily calories is not going to make me gain weight. I really want to get into strength training because I can never get anywhere close to eating all my calories on those high-burn cardio days!

cbond74

I went thru the same thing. I only had 10lbs I wanted to lose and the first 8 dropped fast but then nothing. My husband told me to eat more which freaked me out, but I did anyways. I increased my calories from 1200 to 1400 and the last 2 lbs came off. I recently started doing the Turbo Fire dvd's and I knew I needed to increase my calories for that program which again scared me. I did increase my cals to 1640 a day to maintain and so far so good. I still need to eat back most of my calories burned since I am on maintenance. I do find it hard though after 3 months of watching my calories to eat them back! However I still have times when my weight will fluctuate. I usually go up and down 1-2 throughout the month. But the biggest factor I notice when the scale goes up is when I've had a lot of sodium, usually from eating out.

dancingj2

Finding the right calorie intake can be difficult. And I do think when you hit a platue, you need to shake this up to start in loosing again.

Great Post!

AlexandraR2011

I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago and busted down 5 pounds! I was scared because I thought that it wouldn't work but I'm loving 1390 calories for the day! much more room to eat a little more. Great job!

liftingbro

Keep in mind, that this only works if you have been under eating for quite a while and that you might gain weight the first week before starting to drop weight again.

Some smaller females really are not under eating at 1200.

kaylamayers

Does anyone know exactly how this makes you lose? It just makes me nervous. I've been stuck at around the same weight for 2 weeks or more, but I'm scared this is going to make me gain some back. I just know how hard it is to lose even 1 pound, which is why this makes me nervous...

GreenGettingLean

Does anyone know exactly how this makes you lose? It just makes me nervous. I've been stuck at around the same weight for 2 weeks or more, but I'm scared this is going to make me gain some back. I just know how hard it is to lose even 1 pound, which is why this makes me nervous...

For many women, especially those who exercise regularly, 1200 is juuuuust into the dreaded starvation mode. While that is certainly plenty of calories for some very small women, it is not enough for me even at 5'3 and 129 pounds. For me (and people similar I suppose), anywhere from 1350-1400 calories is still several hundred under our BMR + activity level (for me, that number is around 1650). Since 1650 is about what I'd need to eat to maintain my current weight, 1390 is still plenty under that and causes the deficit needed to lose weight. Add in some moderate cardio (even short 30 minute bursts do wonders) and weight training and BOOM - weight loss. I'm just now starting to see the results but I'm sure many MFP veterans on here can explain how this works better than I can!

liftingbro

Does anyone know exactly how this makes you lose? It just makes me nervous. I've been stuck at around the same weight for 2 weeks or more, but I'm scared this is going to make me gain some back. I just know how hard it is to lose even 1 pound, which is why this makes me nervous...

Well, it works because if you eat too few calories for too long of a time (perhaps as little as a few weeks) your body will start to adapt so that it can opperate on the lower calorie intake. It does that by slowing metabolism down. Sometimes you can take your temp and will notice that it's lower than it normally is and that sometimes happens when you under eat for too long. Lower temp means lower metabolism, you're burning fewer calories and thus creating less heat.

By upping calories it's like tossing another log on a fire that's dying out.

However, most people who think they are under eating really are not. So, if you up calories and gain or maintain weight for three consecutive weeks, chances are you were not under eating. Like I said, you might gain weight the first week and that mainly comes from increasing carbs. When you under eat you deplete glycogen stores (glucose stored in the muscle for energy use during activity) and glycogen holds a lot of water. So, you might see a bump in weight the first week due to water uptake.

kaylamayers

Thank you both! Makes sense now.

_Khaleesi_

I bit the bullet and upped my calories (they were at 1200). It's been a week ... I have gained weight back... hopefully it's a different story next week... MFP says that I still should be losing 1 lb a week....