Who has increased their calories with success?
Replies
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Success here, too! I've been at a plateau for so long and the scale is finally going down since I started eating more, especially this week, since I started REALLY eating more! Actually, I want to gain muscle, so what the scale says is relative. I have a scale that measures body fat and, although I don't think it's accurate, I'm going to start paying more attention to those numbers instead. I'm just happy to see something happening! :happy:
My body has been at a standstill for months, and now all my hard work is paying off, my metabolism is increasing, and I'm seeing solid evidence (pun intended) that I can and NEED to eat more. Woohoo!0 -
Success here, too! I've been at a plateau for so long and the scale is finally going down since I started eating more, especially this week, since I started REALLY eating more! Actually, I want to gain muscle, so what the scale says is relative. I have a scale that measures body fat and, although I don't think it's accurate, I'm going to start paying more attention to those numbers instead. I'm just happy to see something happening! :happy:
My body has been at a standstill for months, and now all my hard work is paying off, my metabolism is increasing, and I'm seeing solid evidence (pun intended) that I can and NEED to eat more. Woohoo!
That is so great!!! Doesn't it feel awesome to eat more and lose more?
If you're looking to put on muscle mass, eat at maintenance or about 100 calories above. There are only 1800 calories in one lb of muscle as opposed to the 3500 in one lb of fat, so it doesn't take a lot to build one, but it's improbable that you'd be able to do it in a true 500 calorie deficit.
To make your scale more accurate, make sure you drink exactly the same amount of water before you weigh...so if you always drink a cup of water an then weigh, do that, but don't start something new. Also, do it before working out, and it's best if you didn't work out the day before. Make sure your skin is dry and you're standing on the same area of the scale. Don't measure your BF when you're menstruating or the few days before.
Your scale still won't be as accurate as a well-done skin fold test, but it'll be better than those things normally are. Good luck! :flowerforyou:0 -
Like Lauryn, I was eatin only 1200 plus exercise cals... Hit a plateau, raised them to 1420 plus exercise and started to lose weight again.0
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That is so great!!! Doesn't it feel awesome to eat more and lose more?
If you're looking to put on muscle mass, eat at maintenance or about 100 calories above. There are only 1800 calories in one lb of muscle as opposed to the 3500 in one lb of fat, so it doesn't take a lot to build one, but it's improbable that you'd be able to do it in a true 500 calorie deficit.
To make your scale more accurate, make sure you drink exactly the same amount of water before you weigh...so if you always drink a cup of water an then weigh, do that, but don't start something new. Also, do it before working out, and it's best if you didn't work out the day before. Make sure your skin is dry and you're standing on the same area of the scale. Don't measure your BF when you're menstruating or the few days before.
Your scale still won't be as accurate as a well-done skin fold test, but it'll be better than those things normally are. Good luck! :flowerforyou:
Hi, songbyrdsweet.
I love your ratty! We have five of them in our house, and they are so sweet and fun.
I'm going to be zig-zagging my calories, eating at loss levels (20% below maintenance) for three days and then maintenance for one day, and so on, and see how that goes. You can't really take off fat and put on muscle at the same time, so you need to zig zag between the two goals, which helps keep your metabolism guessing, too. I'm speaking entirely from theory right now because I'm just getting started with this plan, but it's going to be fun to see what happens!
It sounds like you've had some success, so I'll remember you as a person with experience if I have any questions! :laugh: Do you know a good source for body-fat calipers?0 -
That is so great!!! Doesn't it feel awesome to eat more and lose more?
If you're looking to put on muscle mass, eat at maintenance or about 100 calories above. There are only 1800 calories in one lb of muscle as opposed to the 3500 in one lb of fat, so it doesn't take a lot to build one, but it's improbable that you'd be able to do it in a true 500 calorie deficit.
To make your scale more accurate, make sure you drink exactly the same amount of water before you weigh...so if you always drink a cup of water an then weigh, do that, but don't start something new. Also, do it before working out, and it's best if you didn't work out the day before. Make sure your skin is dry and you're standing on the same area of the scale. Don't measure your BF when you're menstruating or the few days before.
Your scale still won't be as accurate as a well-done skin fold test, but it'll be better than those things normally are. Good luck! :flowerforyou:
Hi, songbyrdsweet.
I love your ratty! We have five of them in our house, and they are so sweet and fun.
I'm going to be zig-zagging my calories, eating at loss levels (20% below maintenance) for three days and then maintenance for one day, and so on, and see how that goes. You can't really take off fat and put on muscle at the same time, so you need to zig zag between the two goals, which helps keep your metabolism guessing, too. I'm speaking entirely from theory right now because I'm just getting started with this plan, but it's going to be fun to see what happens!
It sounds like you've had some success, so I'll remember you as a person with experience if I have any questions! :laugh: Do you know a good source for body-fat calipers?
Thank you! I just got a new baby dumbo rex. He is my little snugglybutt and looooooves to sit on my shoulder and fall asleep in my lap and groom my hands...haha I'm in love :smooched:
Zig-zagging is a great idea. I'd even add a day or two of 50-100 extra calories (of clean stuff of course).
You can get calipers on line. The problem is that the good ones are EXPENSIVE (~$100-300) and if you don't know anyone trained to take skinfolds, you might as well just be using your fingers. It's usually cheaper to just meet with a personal trainer for a day and have him assess you. Fitness assessments can be fun and challenging, so you might want to make a whole session out of it.0 -
Okay after reading through everyone's responses, I think I'm going to try upping my calories. I've been at a plateau since Halloween, have not budged from 165, I do feel my clothes are fitting a bit better, but I too am wondering if my 1260 calories are just not enough, so I am going to go up to 1400 a day for a couple of weeks and see if I can get past this hump. I feel like I have been working my butt off exercising since the plateau started. I wish everyone luck, and congrats to the one's who figured it out :drinker:0
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songbyrd, can you give us more info on how to calculate your bodyfat % with your fingers ??0
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Like Lauryn, I was eatin only 1200 plus exercise cals... Hit a plateau, raised them to 1420 plus exercise and started to lose weight again.
Oh thank you Carrie... motivation to eat more! :laugh:0 -
songbyrd, can you give us more info on how to calculate your bodyfat % with your fingers ??
Hehe...no my dear...I was just joking! It's not actually possible. :flowerforyou:0 -
Like Lauryn, I was eatin only 1200 plus exercise cals... Hit a plateau, raised them to 1420 plus exercise and started to lose weight again.
Oh thank you Carrie... motivation to eat more! :laugh:
1200 cals is just so ridiculous I think. 1400 makes me actually feel like im getting enough and am not hungry all the time. Eating more is awesome especially if you love food hahaha0 -
It allows me a little light ice cream at the end of the day!!Like Lauryn, I was eatin only 1200 plus exercise cals... Hit a plateau, raised them to 1420 plus exercise and started to lose weight again.
Oh thank you Carrie... motivation to eat more! :laugh:
1200 cals is just so ridiculous I think. 1400 makes me actually feel like im getting enough and am not hungry all the time. Eating more is awesome especially if you love food hahaha
:laugh: 0 -
songbyrd, can you give us more info on how to calculate your bodyfat % with your fingers ??
Hehe...no my dear...I was just joking! It's not actually possible. :flowerforyou:
ho men . now i feel really silly,,, only me does things like that .lol0 -
This is really interesting. I always get down to about 124 or 125 when I'm ready for a race but shoot back up to 130 or 131 right after. I think I'll try to up my calories too and see how that works. I sometimes have a hard time eating all of my exercise calories, however, unless I'm drinking wine that is.0
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This is really interesting. I always get down to about 124 or 125 when I'm ready for a race but shoot back up to 130 or 131 right after. I think I'll try to up my calories too and see how that works. I sometimes have a hard time eating all of my exercise calories, however, unless I'm drinking wine that is.
i have the same problems.. my days are filled up with tons of healthy food as it is and couldnt imagine eating more !! if i do then i always end up eating too much cards,, its always what i go for ...
so i did too things,, i shortened my work outs,, i use to work 75 + (more often +) a day.. this week i went to 60 min,, used to burn 750+ cals.. now 550- .. used to eat 1750+ now eat 1650
im quite happy with that routine...0 -
songbyrd, can you give us more info on how to calculate your bodyfat % with your fingers ??
Hehe...no my dear...I was just joking! It's not actually possible. :flowerforyou:
ho men . now i feel really silly,,, only me does things like that .lol
Haha I thought it was very cute of you to ask though!0 -
hello all
i said i was going to do an update, well here it is... i have only lost an other half a pound in the last week.. after losing so much in a couple of days it stoped..
im still eating more then i normaly would.. its going to take me a while to take that mental block and up my calories more,, its a longg process in my head... i will at the very least wait an other 2 weeks and see what happens...
i hate the last 10 lbs .lol0 -
I've increased my calories again! I got a body fat scale a few weeks ago so that I could truly see what's going on with my body -- am I losing and/or gaining fat, or muscle? Well over the last couple of weeks, both my weight went down and my body fat percentage went down. I thought that was *good* news until I did the calculations and realized I had lost muscle as well as fat! (I've increased my weight training, so I should be gaining muscle.)
For those of you who have been reading this thread, you'll know I started out at MFP's recommended 1200 calories. I didn't lose anything for several months, so I decided to try increasing my calories. I went from 1200 to 1300, then to 1400, and lately I've been eating at a base of 1550. My weight is still pretty much staying within the same five pound range, with minor ups and downs every now and then. Learning that I'm losing muscle, however, changes the whole picture again. I'm now increasing to 1650!
Who ever would have dreamed that at 5'2" I could eat so much? I'll report back with my progress. :happy:0 -
I've increased my calories again! I got a body fat scale a few weeks ago so that I could truly see what's going on with my body -- am I losing and/or gaining fat, or muscle? Well over the last couple of weeks, both my weight went down and my body fat percentage went down. I thought that was *good* news until I did the calculations and realized I had lost muscle as well as fat! (I've increased my weight training, so I should be gaining muscle.)
For those of you who have been reading this thread, you'll know I started out at MFP's recommended 1200 calories. I didn't lose anything for several months, so I decided to try increasing my calories. I went from 1200 to 1300, then to 1400, and lately I've been eating at a base of 1550. My weight is still pretty much staying within the same five pound range, with minor ups and downs every now and then. Learning that I'm losing muscle, however, changes the whole picture again. I'm now increasing to 1650!
Who ever would have dreamed that at 5'2" I could eat so much? I'll report back with my progress. :happy:
Good for you, Cheryl! Definitely keep us posted. As you know, I could never got as low as 1,200 cals. I have my baseline as 1,500 and then add in my exercise cals so I generally eat between 1,800- 1,900 cals. AND, I've lost 5# in the last 6 weeks. (after being at a plateau for ages!) So... eat up girl! :bigsmile:0 -
After reading through this, I think I might increase my calories...but not yet. I haven't been really paying much attention to my calories or logging everything...and it's beginning to show.
I'm also 5'2", and I go between about 115 and 112. I want to get down to 110 and stay there. Right now, my calories are set for 1200 on non-workout days.
I think for the rest of this week, I'm going to stick to 1200 calories, regardless of my workout (oye that means no wine the rest of the week!!!). Then next week, I'll eat my workout calories, and then the following week, I'll up my calories.
Maybe.0 -
Cheryl, just to check, are those numbers PLUS exercise cals? as in, 1650 + exercise you are now going up to?
thanks0 -
I have found that even if I eat more than 1200 cals a day I only loose when I eat 40g or more of lean proteins. I can eat only 1200 cals and not loose weight. I then eat 1500+ and eat alot of lean proteins and the weight melts off.0
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I have found that even if I eat more than 1200 cals a day I only loose when I eat 40g or more of lean proteins. I can eat only 1200 cals and not loose weight. I then eat 1500+ and eat alot of lean proteins and the weight melts off.
How tall are you though? Doesn't that make a huge difference?
I'm just kinda scared to up my calories, especially since I think the junk from this weekend at my friend's finally caught up with me today.0 -
Cheryl, just to check, are those numbers PLUS exercise cals? as in, 1650 + exercise you are now going up to?
thanks
Yes, I eat my exercise calories -- up to a point. The formula that I'm using to calculate my base calories (not MFP's because it only gives me 1200 calories) takes into account the amount of exercise that I do. So even though my current base of 1650 includes exercise, I still add my exercise calories on top of that because I need the extra motivation to get my workout in. :ohwell: However, I try not to exceed my TDEE (total daily energy expended), which is 1950. So right now I will add up to 300 extra calories a day for my exercise. If I burn more than that, I don't add it.0 -
Good for you, Cheryl! Definitely keep us posted. As you know, I could never got as low as 1,200 cals. I have my baseline as 1,500 and then add in my exercise cals so I generally eat between 1,800- 1,900 cals. AND, I've lost 5# in the last 6 weeks. (after being at a plateau for ages!) So... eat up girl! :bigsmile:
Now I'm going above your baseline -- that is scary. :laugh: You're several inches taller than me, and I think you work out more, too. Good job on the 5# (as long as you know it isn't muscle
)! :happy: 0 -
After reading through this, I think I might increase my calories...but not yet. I haven't been really paying much attention to my calories or logging everything...and it's beginning to show.
I'm also 5'2", and I go between about 115 and 112. I want to get down to 110 and stay there. Right now, my calories are set for 1200 on non-workout days.
I think for the rest of this week, I'm going to stick to 1200 calories, regardless of my workout (oye that means no wine the rest of the week!!!). Then next week, I'll eat my workout calories, and then the following week, I'll up my calories.
Maybe.
I used to want to get down to 110, but I don't think I do now. I've changed my weight goal to 112, but I'm not even sure I want to get that low. It all depends on how putting on more muscle affects me. This week, I weighed 116.6, and I feel pretty good at that weight. I no longer want to weigh "next to nothing," LOL. :laugh: I want to be lean, solid, and strong.
How much do you exercise? 110 is probably reasonable for someone who's 5'2", if you're not interested in the muscle side of the picture, but most weight guidelines do not take muscle into account at all. Body builders will fall in the "over weight" range, even though their body fat percentage is in the teens or single digits! Muscle matters.0 -
I have found that even if I eat more than 1200 cals a day I only loose when I eat 40g or more of lean proteins. I can eat only 1200 cals and not loose weight. I then eat 1500+ and eat alot of lean proteins and the weight melts off.
I'm trying to eat my body weight in grams of protein every day. It makes a huge difference in the way I feel. I'm much more satisfied after eating, and in between. A large part of the concept behind "clean eating" is that protein does help melt the weight off and keep you lean. Weight management is so much more complicated than calories alone!0 -
After reading through this, I think I might increase my calories...but not yet. I haven't been really paying much attention to my calories or logging everything...and it's beginning to show.
I'm also 5'2", and I go between about 115 and 112. I want to get down to 110 and stay there. Right now, my calories are set for 1200 on non-workout days.
I think for the rest of this week, I'm going to stick to 1200 calories, regardless of my workout (oye that means no wine the rest of the week!!!). Then next week, I'll eat my workout calories, and then the following week, I'll up my calories.
Maybe.
I used to want to get down to 110, but I don't think I do now. I've changed my weight goal to 112, but I'm not even sure I want to get that low. It all depends on how putting on more muscle affects me. This week, I weighed 116.6, and I feel pretty good at that weight. I no longer want to weigh "next to nothing," LOL. :laugh: I want to be lean, solid, and strong.
How much do you exercise? 110 is probably reasonable for someone who's 5'2", if you're not interested in the muscle side of the picture, but most weight guidelines do not take muscle into account at all. Body builders will fall in the "over weight" range, even though their body fat percentage is in the teens or single digits! Muscle matters.
I run 3-5 times a week, and I do weight training (though not a lot...just enough to keep tone) also 3-5 times a week. I have a small frame, and I did drop down to 109 just after I found out about my husband's affair. Once I started eating again and eating right, I actually kept my weight between 110 and 113. Now spent a weekend eating NY bagels and pizza, I'm at 115 exactly today. I'm trying to decide how I want to go about getting back down to 110.0 -
Now I'm going above your baseline -- that is scary. :laugh: You're several inches taller than me, and I think you work out more, too. Good job on the 5# (as long as you know it isn't muscle )! :happy:
Yeah, I've thought about upping it, but for now I feel leaner and am seeing more cuts in the muscle so I'll stick with it. Once I start running longer miles for half marathon training I'll be eating more too! :bigsmile:0 -
I run 3-5 times a week, and I do weight training (though not a lot...just enough to keep tone) also 3-5 times a week. I have a small frame, and I did drop down to 109 just after I found out about my husband's affair. Once I started eating again and eating right, I actually kept my weight between 110 and 113. Now spent a weekend eating NY bagels and pizza, I'm at 115 exactly today. I'm trying to decide how I want to go about getting back down to 110.
If it was just a weekend, it's water weight from processed foods and it will come off as fast as it went on as soon as you clean up your diet again. You'll get there.
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I just bumped my base calories up to 1500 daily for this week. I showed a 1 pound loss today so I'm hoping that this will help me start losing again!0
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