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

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....

Cytherea

I always tell people to do this when they first start- don't jump right into the low calories, eat normally for at least a day and log everything, just so that you can see exactly how much you have been eating. It is a huge eye-opener and can really set up your long-term success. If you do that, you'll realize that eating a little bit over one day isn't going to be as bad as that was for you. Those first few weeks are always hard to go from eating a lot to 1200 calories, so if it takes a week to adjust and eat a little bit less each day so you are used to it, that's ok too.

GreenGettingLean

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....

I'm sure that's frustrating. Well give it a few more days and if it's not working, you can always try something else! That's the great thing I've noticed about making the all-over lifestyle change rather than crash dieting - if something doesn't work, you're no worse off for having tried it!

mamato2babes

So, after you up the calories, are you eating your exercise calories back as well?

Honey1990

I'm not having luck with 1200 cal or after 2 weeks of yo-yoing. I'm scared to up my calories to the recommended 1380 and yoyo from there. But what to do? I've spent a summer so frustrated not getting anywhere.

When you are first starting out. eat the calories that the program suggests. your body is used to eating alot so 1380 really isnt that much. just do it for a month and you will see a loss.

muitobem

Bump!

ThePhoenixRose

After 2 wweeks on here, and not losing AT ALL, I spoke with my Dr. and he suggested upping my calories to 1600. I'm 6' so I realize that's a lot more than most of you should be at. This week, I still haven't lost any. Frankly, I'm finding it difficult to eat that much, especially when i burn >500 with exercise! But, I'm trying, and I'm doing it right, so I'm confident it'll happen. I haven't gained, so that's good news!! ;-)

Hopefully that weight loss will come. But, for now, I took measurements the other day and I've lost a total of 7" overall!! YAY!! I'll take an NSV anytime!!

carlxo21

BUMP.

I like this post.

Cookie22684

Bump

sheils8

bump! me too

TheBraveryLover

Very nice post, OP. It took me about 3 months before my 1100-1200 cals a day stopped being so magical in my weight loss. I never hit a plateau or stalled, but the loss got lower. I tried zig zagging for 2 weeks and it helped a little. The next 2 weeks I upped my calories to 1400-1600 a day and was back to losing 2.5 pounds a week. Previously, I've been losing 1.5-2 per week on average, (not sure what it is now since I won't be weighing myself at all this month) and I do 1300 with a day or 2 of 1600 mixed in every couple weeks.

GreenGettingLean

So, after you up the calories, are you eating your exercise calories back as well?

I typically eat back about half of my exercise calories. It really depends on how the rest of my day was food-wise and if my body feels hungry or not!

GreenGettingLean

Very nice post, OP. It took me about 3 months before my 1100-1200 cals a day stopped being so magical in my weight loss. I never hit a plateau or stalled, but the loss got lower. I tried zig zagging for 2 weeks and it helped a little. The next 2 weeks I upped my calories to 1400-1600 a day and was back to losing 2.5 pounds a week. Previously, I've been losing 1.5-2 per week on average, (not sure what it is now since I won't be weighing myself at all this month) and I do 1300 with a day or 2 of 1600 mixed in every couple weeks.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Who knows if I'll stay at 1390 during my entire weight loss journey. I plan to stay at this level as long as it's effective!