My personal experience with calories & exercise

K1Teacher

Just thought I'd share my recent discoveries in my own weight loss journey...

I began my weight loss journey on January 3rd of this year needing to lose 140 lbs (exactly half my weight). I joined MFP on Feb 20th and began eating 1200 calories. I did NOT eat my exercise calories back because I was morbidly obese (I just love saying "WAS" in that sentence) and I had read that it would be ok to have a larger deficit. It worked like a charm - losing, losing, losing. I felt great, plenty of energy and always satisfied. In the back of my mind I figured the day may come when I would have to start eating more, but as long as I was still losing I was happy doing my thing.

Fast forward to last week (I'm now "overweight"). I started to feel very weak. My legs started buckling under me when working out and I wasn't able to lift as heavy as I had been so I decided to do a little experiment. I stopped exercising completely (I had been exercising 2x per day, 6 days per week while eating my 1200 calories) and I upped my calories to 1400 :noway: This was very hard to do but I figured my body was shutting down due to the low calories and continuous exercise.

Results: I lost 3 lbs last week at 1400 calories with NO exercise!! 1400 healthy calories...minus that one vodka/lemonade on Friday night

I guess that day actually came....now I NEED to eat my exercise calories back in order to stay healthy. I have actually taken the advice of a MFP friend and upped my daily calories to 1500 and I'm not going to bother logging in my exercise. I'm still not 100% but I'm definitely on my way and I'm learning how to listen to my body.

Do I regret my 1200 calorie days with eating no exercise calories??? NO WAY - it worked for quite a while for me while I was morbidly obese and obese. This is a learning process for us all and we're all different. Hopefully this can help someone out there in a similar position.

To all my pals...I you!!!!!

:flowerforyou:
Shanna

juleseybaby

So happy for you!

Hope to be near this place next year!

dlyeates

That is a great lesson that a lot of people need to hear. I wasn't eating back my exercise calories and I hit a plateau. As soon as I started eating most of them back (I still usually have about a 200 calorie deficit because I don't like to eat too much in the evening) I started losing again.

Good for you for listening to your body and trying something new!!! Sometimes new things work and sometimes they don't. Keep trying!!! Congrats on your successful journey....keep it up!!

abirdy

Good for you,,, I started to loose about the same time. Continue the great work and thanks for the info. I did not want to go over 1200 calories a day but some days it felt like I was loosing the battle.

lablovr108

Thanks for sharing Shanna. I know last week was difficult for you, but you came out of it on top, as always!!!! :happy:

lkelly

Go you! Sometimes we need those extra calories, and sometimes we don't. Kudos to you for listening to your body (and the advice of a friend) and finding a way to get your body that much closer to your goal!

rdrnr

wow lm reading my own story by someone else. lm on a horrible plateau for the last month,not losing a thing but my scale is going up then down but no actual lose......l excerise everyday!!!! l burn anywhere from700 - 1400 calories a day. l dont eat more then 1200 calories a day because l dont want to go back to 215 lbs which made me extremly over weight as l am only 5 feet 2 inches. ery confused on what to do .....sooooo afraid of going back to my old ways. trying to be strong to success

fiberartist219

Thanks for sharing. Everyone is different, and even with one person, each stage of the journey is different. What works for one doesn't work for everyone, and it doesn't work all the time. I know I did ok on the first few weeks of the 1200 plan, but after a month, it sucked and I went on hiatus and ate everything I wanted.

porcelain_doll

That's awesome. Everyone has an opinion about the eating cals back issue, but the bottom line is you must listen to your body. 1200 cals is not a one-size-fits-all number for everybody. That includes people that are able to eat below that without having the symptoms of malnourishment. So many things play into it and it's not a cut and dry solution.

Congrats on your weight loss, and for being brave enough to eat more when you didn't feel right! :flowerforyou:

K1Teacher

wow lm reading my own story by someone else. lm on a horrible plateau for the last month,not losing a thing but my scale is going up then down but no actual lose......l excerise everyday!!!! l burn anywhere from700 - 1400 calories a day. l dont eat more then 1200 calories a day because l dont want to go back to 215 lbs which made me extremly over weight as l am only 5 feet 2 inches. ery confused on what to do .....sooooo afraid of going back to my old ways. trying to be strong to success

I would say try bumping it up to 1400 but with GOOD food choices. I think the foods we eat are SO important. I really do NOT believe a calorie is a calorie. And spread those calories throughout your day...

This list as been a HUGE help to me in choosing the best foods to eat... http://www.teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/michis-ladder

Good luck!!

kristinkt

Thanks for sharing your story. I have been experimenting with eating a few more calories this week.

Armygirl67

wow lm reading my own story by someone else. lm on a horrible plateau for the last month,not losing a thing but my scale is going up then down but no actual lose......l excerise everyday!!!! l burn anywhere from700 - 1400 calories a day. l dont eat more then 1200 calories a day because l dont want to go back to 215 lbs which made me extremly over weight as l am only 5 feet 2 inches. ery confused on what to do .....sooooo afraid of going back to my old ways. trying to be strong to success

I was reading about eating more calories to lose more weight, so i thought i`ll give it a try for a week, and see what happens, i upped my calorie about 200- more a day, and ended up gaining 4-lbs..
Now im very frustrated.

momof3G8kids

Hi everyone, I'm new to MFP forum, and was reading everyone's struggles which are the same as mine. I too have been at a plateau, and just have been consuming 1200 cal a day. I came across this article, and thought I would share it. I'm still trying it out, but I finally lost a pound in the last week after zig-zagging my calories. So maybe the answer is not to increase it to let's say "200 calories" everyday, but maybe to do it on some days, and then go back to the lower end of your calorie needs. Anything is worth a try when your stuck.

http://www.diet-blog.com/06/5_ways_to_break_a_weight_loss_plateau.php

K1Teacher

I was reading about eating more calories to lose more weight, so i thought i`ll give it a try for a week, and see what happens, i upped my calorie about 200- more a day, and ended up gaining 4-lbs..
Now im very frustrated.

This happened to me a few months ago when I tried it. I don't know what the difference is now except that I'm eating healthier foods. I really think that has been key...for me.

ilovelucy1026

Thanks for sharing! What an inspiration!

rosied915

Wow, your story is inspiring!!

SO glad to see that the "theory" of "the less you have to lose, the more you have to eat" was proven!!

Can't WAIT till I'm in that situation myself!

:flowerforyou: Congratulations!:flowerforyou:

jbudge1

That is great! My wife had a similar experience in just the last week. She was not losing no matter what we did. We exercise 6 days a week. She increased her calories to 1700 per day and has starting losing again. There is some truth to the fact you need to eat more to lose more.

webdiva1

once again, you win ... and in so many ways. thanks for sharing.

GreenGettingLean

So glad to hear that upping the cals worked for you, it worked for me too! I also scaled back my exercise a bit as I approach my goal weight - I find it's too hard to eat all of the exercise calories. I find that the pounds are still coming off even without as much exercise. Good luck to you! :happy: