<3 support group for women eating 2000+ calories per day <3

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  • dawnemjh
    dawnemjh Posts: 1,465 Member
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    I would love to be a part of this! I've been trying to figure my body out for a long time and I feel like I'm finally making a break through. While this is still a new concept for me, I made the change to eating more than the ridiculous 1200 cals a couple weeks ago, but just found this group today. I've read through this thread some and it's already clearing some lingering doubts I had about this. I lost track of how many times I've change my calorie goal in the last couple of weeks because every time I check my BMR, it just seemed like it couldn't possibly be that I had to eat that much to start losing again! Here is my story:

    I'm 5' 8" and currently weigh 172 lbs. Now when anyone I know finds this out they do not believe me! They tell me there's no way I weigh more than 150 lbs. I can't really make this call myself because I still see the flaws in my body that I've been working hard to work off, so maybe they're right, who knows... Anyway, I have been at 172 dead on, no fluxuation what so ever, for 5 months. It's been very frustrating!! I kept myself at a strict 1200 - 1350 cal diet for those 5 months and was working out (HARD) for 90 - 120 mins 5 - 6 days a week. So yes, I'm sad to say I was netting roughly 500 - 750 cals a day. It has been about 2 weeks since I drastically upped my caloric intake and was warned that for the first 4 - 6 weeks, I would probably gain but to keep at it. I weighed myself this morning and sure enough...173. I wasn't dissapointed though. I wasn't planning on looking at a scale for another 3 weeks but I just had to know. HOWEVER, the difference I've seen in my body and endurance during my workouts is SUBSTANTIAL. My clothes are more loose than they were 2 weeks ago and I've found that I have SO MUCH MORE ENERGY through out the day, as well as during my workouts!

    I'm so excited that this group exists!! Please feel free to add me as a friend as well! I need a lot of motivation for this because it is very discouraging to look at so many other food diaries and see such low caloric intake, causing those doubts to creep up again.


    Welcome Mallory!!!

    As far as preplanning, Yes!!!! I ALWAYS preplan, otherwise I could easily overeat long before dinner and then be in trouble! I actually think about food all the time and am probably a bit obsessive! I usually know the night before what I will be eating the next whole day! I actually wish I didnt get so OCD about it, but even if I try to just get up and eat whatever and go, I find myself calculating calories in my head...

    ANyway yesterday I had close to 2000 calories and today will be pretty close as well. I am hving trouble getting in 2000 calories without going over in either carbs, protein or fat...What do you guys think is most important? As far as macros go???
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
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    I ALWAYS go over on carbs. It's not a big deal. It really isn't. As long as I get at least 100g of protein that's all I care about..the ratios can be off but that's just my rule.

    For you I'd say 120ish grams of protein is all you should worry about. you can go over on any category without detriment really. at least this is my experience so long as my food choices are healthy.

    it's more important to get the calories in than to get the PERFECT ratios.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
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    1787 lovely calories today, yum yum!

    Great job. I cannot limit myself to 1800. It's so hard. I like snacks too much.
  • lucyhoneychurch
    lucyhoneychurch Posts: 576 Member
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    Hi Mallory!

    I ate around 12:30pm and then ran errands with the kiddos. It was coming on 4pm and I didn't eat any snacks, and BOY was I getting grouchy and crabby! The kids weren't as crabby as I was, but I could feel my body getting anxious because I felt like I just had to eat now now now. I came home and fed them snacks, got myself a pbj, but unfortunately I had a few yelling fits before I could feed myself. *sigh* I was going to say that feeding myself 3x + day with an afternoon snack and maybe post-dinner was what worked for me, but a little more noshing in-between obviously helps keep me in a good mood. Thus, it's different for everyone. No science needed there.

    I do both preplanning (when I know what's in the house) and play it by ear.
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
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    Morning all!

    Welcome to the newbies! Our little thread is growing by the day :)

    Wow, I had a lot to catch up on from the weekend! We had a long weekend here in NZ which was lovely, and yesterday was supposed to be my total rest day, but I still managed a 6km walk because I find I can't sit still!

    Preplanning:
    I plan out my entire day each morning when I get to work - I typically throw things in my bag for lunch so I'll log those and my breakfast and then create dinner around the rest of my calories. I find it useful as I don't get home from work and then have to think about what's for dinner while I'm trying to get my sweat on!

    High metabolism/overtaining:

    I am certainly not one of the 2hr workout ones! My workouts average between 35-60 mins every day and i'm lucky if I can burn 500 calories. But to me its not about that - its about challenging myself and my body, its about how strong I feel physically and mentally.
    I should add that I walk to and from work and most days I walk 30mins in my lunchbreak - because I enjoy it! I'm not sure what kind of metabolism I have, but after being super morbidly obese as a kid then a teenager and hitting 286 lbs in my early 20s, I can only imagine the my metabolism probably hates me. I was not genetically blessed with a fast metabolism, or if I was, I'm pretty sure I screwed it up early on!

    The reason I eat at 2000 calories is not because I work out for 2 hrs a day (which, as above, I dont), its because I'm tall (5'9), I'm active in everyday life, because I refuse to buy into the 1200 calories hype and because I'm not here for a short time to lose weight as fast as possible - I'm here for the long haul, and I'm doing it slowly.

    I don't worry about overtraining because I've been at this long enough to be able to read my body. Thats why I personally don't run on consecutive days.



    So tonight I am off to lift some more heavy things! Can't wait! Hopefully NROLFW will arrive tomorrow so I'll give that a good read and maybe start that next Monday?

    Have a great day/night

    xx
    Psych
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    @tameko...really? I don't find that preplanning takes any of the joy away! I will always love to eat :) what is syrah?

    yeah - of course I don't make any food at home - if I did I'd HAVE to pre-plan to get a good variety. Since I eat out almost every meal (Yeah its weird, I I know) pre-planning would just be odd. like if my coworker wanted to have lunch and I said "well for lunch today I am going to have a panera salad because for dinner I've decided to have XX" I think it would be odd. At least 10 minutes of my day is "hmm what do I feel like eating right now?"


    Mmm and as far as high metabolism/overtraining/etc goes. I do not have a high metabolism nor do I work out a ton every day but I'm carrying a fair bit of muscle AND I'm heavy - 173 and 5'6" so i just plain get to eat more. No way you can be a 5'1" person and have a high enough metabolism to eat 2000 a day without losing weight. I am also a SLIGHT fidgeter. Not hyper fidgety but I do tend to jostle my leg, switch my weight from side to side while standing, get up for water or to chat with a coworker once an hour, etc etc. I think it helps.

    overtraining in general shouldn't be much of an issue for most of us - I think undereating is more of an issue than overtraining. But I HAVE overtrained - it just means you have to take off a few rest days to recover. Normally my rest days are going for a walk but if I'm working out hard then I need genuine rest days or I eventually wear down and get too tired to keep working out.
  • nat102
    nat102 Posts: 118 Member
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    hey guys! i've read the entire thread.. wish i would've found a group like this when i started my weight loss.

    i've always been an athlete that eats massive quantities and that's just the way i like to live. it makes me feel healthy and sexy all at the same time and i have TONS of energy to workout just like when i was training hard.

    yayayay for this lifestyle.

    i am currently maintaining & lifting, along with cardio including swimming, water polo, yoga, water fitness, and running.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
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    2000 calories today. woot woot! I feel satisfied. I was getting really snacky after dinner and wanted to just eat for no reason. I thought about running....then eating...i said, "NO! You don't need to eat and you don't need to run...you're satisfied, just tired. so i stopped. had a cup of cocoa and then brushed my teeth."

    WIN!
  • Swimgoddess
    Swimgoddess Posts: 711 Member
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    Bump so I can find again... set at 2350, had my body fat checked this a.m. using the 7 point skin-fold method: 18.85% & new personal best!!!! =D
  • kaitlynnme
    kaitlynnme Posts: 19 Member
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    Kim55555.....thank you for your input.....and I definitely am going to see how my body adjusts over the next month. My calories are at 1830 plus exercise calories, which is anywhere from 150 to 300, depending.

    I think I may have been somewhat in starvation mode. For probably a year and a half I did not take good care of myself and had some major stressful things happen in my personal life. When I finally started really using mfp, I was eating 1200 and exercising, which was crazy and I was so exhausted and still gaining weight. So, 2 months ago is when I started increasing my calories to be where I am today. I have gained 4 pounds in the past 4 weeks, but I am hoping this will drop back off. And, I know the weight gain isn't because I am eating too many calories because I am able to see my burn wearing the bodymedia. I try to keep my deficit around 250.

    I love this thread..........there are so many success stories here, and I have no doubt that if I stick to it and take advice from people who have been there, that I will be able to do it to.

    Thank you!!
    Hi Kaitlynnme

    I have read all your posts from when you started so as to learn more about your situation.

    Now that I have thought about this some more the more it sounds like what happened to me this past 2 months. If you read my profile and my posts you'll get more of an indepth explanation but basically i was eating 1800 - 2600 gross calories and this worked well for a couple of months and I was losing heaps of centimetres but then for the past 2 months the measurements and the scale slowed down nearly to a halt. So I knew I had to change things. It was then I realised I was starting to eat at a maintenance level. A couple of personal trainers advised me to eat at around 1800 calories so since I started eating at 1800 gross calories thats when I finally broke through my plateau. The scale jumped by a pound at the end of the 1st week!

    I suggest that seeing you have plateaud for the past 2 months that you drop your calories down too. Try 1800 - 1900 for a solid 1 month and see how this works for you!! and dont worry you should still have the energy to continue your heavy lifting. Also with your new heavy lifting routine the scale may take a while to catch up to effort you are putting in. Take note of how your clothes are feeling and also once a fortnight I suggest taking your measurements.

    Btw how many gross calories atm are you eating.

    Also your concern about worrying if your body is concerned you are not feeding it and therefore hanging onto its fat stores. That only really applies if you are in starvation mode... eating a really low amount and exercising excessively. At 1800 your body will know thats its fine and not hang on to the fat.

    Anyway I hope you give the 1800 - 1900 gross calories a go. This is plenty enough of the correct nutrients for your body (even with heavy exercise) I wouldn't worry so much about what your net calorie is for the day as long as you make sure you aren't going hungry.

    :)

    Good luck and keep posting here to let us know how your doing with it.

    I am hoping to join in on this group. I hope to be able to learn a lot, get some support, and give back where I can. Within the last two months I have increased my calorie intake. I am now at 1830 plus exercise calories.

    I do weights 3 days and hiit the other 2 or 3 days in between. I have done this for quite some time, so I haven't really changed my routine. The thing I have changed though, is that I started lifting heavier on my lifting days. I realized that I was being a wimp at the gym...haha! I know that I have gained strength because I have increased my weights over time, but I also know that I probably will not be gaining muscle mass because I am eating at a deficit......
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    Thank you for your response. I am going to keep waiting to see what happens. It is frustrating but I believe it has to work eventually. What you said does make sense. I got some advice from someone else here who basically said the same thing and to give it another 30 days to see what my body does adjusting to a higher calorie intake and the heavier weight lifting. I have been doing measurements and have seen no changes there at all....sigh. Thanks again!
    [/quote]
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  • kaitlynnme
    kaitlynnme Posts: 19 Member
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    Way to go! That is awesome!
    Bump so I can find again... set at 2350, had my body fat checked this a.m. using the 7 point skin-fold method: 18.85% & new personal best!!!! =D
    [/quote
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    kaitlynnme.. your welcome! sounds like a good plan!! :)


    Hi to all the newbies here. :) Great to see so many faces!

    I love this topic, this is so far the only topic I have been replying to.

    Planning:
    Yes I usually plan what I'll eat for the next day. Not religously though.

    I always make extra so... leftover chicken for work

    Also I eat at my parents every sunday night so if I know that mum has cooked something that has a bit more calories than I would normally eat for dinner then I'll cut back on what I eat the rest of the day to accommodate. Also I will exercise a bit more that day and the day after. But I figure its only the 1 meal once a week so it usually works out fine in the grand scheme of things. I dont go overboard or anything. I'll eat the right portion size and I try not to go over 650 calories for the dinner.

    The other week we had nachos. 2 tablespoons of sour cream, 100 grams doritos, 1/4 cup of mince. For the rest of the day I ate some salad. Some toast before my sport and then some chicken and salad. I ate 1850 calories yesterday.
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    kaitlynnme
    "I love this thread..........there are so many success stories here, and I have no doubt that if I stick to it and take advice from people who have been there, that I will be able to do it to"


    Hi :)

    I think everyone is different and what may work for someone in losing weight might not for another. So I guess its a case of experimenting and tweaking things to find out what works for you as an individual! I think it does take time though to figure this out and people need to make sure they have the patience and perserverence to figure things out as they go along because goalposts can and do change and what might be working at one point during the journey may stop working and a new plan would have to be implemented.

    Anyway... yeah I reckon this is a great thread to share advice and tips and people can let others know how they have achieved success. Its good too, to listen to people who have been losing for a long period of time as well because they will have a lot of experience and be able to share their stories. Since April 2010 my weight loss has been a slow one averaging 3/4 kg a month. This is how my body likes to lose the weight. Its always been slow for me. But thats ok because this is a lifestyle change for me not just some diet i'm going on. When I get to a weight i'm happy with I'll continue to eat the same foods and the only thing that will change will be that i'll increase my calories a few hundred more each day.

    In a nutshell what it comes down to basically is - calories in versus calories out and over time if people follow this through consistently at a defecit with regular daily exercise *fat loss* will happen. People wont always have a loss every week. The body just does not work like that. If you look at it on the long term the body always catches up to the efforts you are doing. The body needs time during some stages of the journey to adapt to its new self. You might lose nothing on the scale, however lose centimetres. Its normal. Thats why I think its so important to make sure you track everything going in so you can be sure you are in defecit. Also regularly track your measurements along with the scale weight.


    ps. I will be stoked if I can get to my goal weight of 58 kg (127 lbs) by my 2nd year anniversary date April 8, 2012

    That works out as 33 kg lost in 2 years. Not bad hey! I think a 2 year time frame is a healthy one. If someone were to lose this amount in 6 - 12 months I would then wonder how much muscle did they lose during the process and are they going to be able to maintain their new weight now as it came off so fast. If they went on a special diet, how will they maintain once they go if their diet!!

    Wow I didnt mean to write so much. My fingers have a mind of their own.
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    Check out this website http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/ Great website!!


    I’ve started working out; why am I still gaining weight?!
    Here is the scientific explanation! Read the comments section at the bottom too!

    Article

    http://www.columbussports.com/content/writers/dan_falkenberg/ive-started-working-out-why-am-i-still-gaining-weight.shtml
  • Kim55555
    Kim55555 Posts: 987 Member
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    how do i put a hyperlink in?
  • tameko2
    tameko2 Posts: 31,634 Member
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    19% bodyfat is so awesome swim! I would love to be htere. One day I guess.

    The last 2 days I hit 2k calories but it wasn't on purpose, I just pigged out like a little pigging piggy (oink!) and aaaaate. Luckily today was running day so I burned 280 calories. As long as I burn about 250 a day I can eat pretty much to my hearts content - if I don't, I have to be a tiny bit careful or I won't get a deficit that day.
  • nat102
    nat102 Posts: 118 Member
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    I think I eat the most... 2500 cals today and I could have easily eaten more!!!
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
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    2100 for me today :)
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    I think I eat the most... 2500 cals today and I could have easily eaten more!!!

    I'm traveling and at a conference for my research. Ate and drank way too much today. Close to 4000. But I did get in a work out, even though I ****ed up my knee
  • ritajean3
    ritajean3 Posts: 306 Member
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    I hope you knee gets better soon!

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