Should I increase or decrease my calories?

WolfieCougar

Hi,

I'm at a plateau and currently have my calories set for 1410. It'd like to change my amount of calories to move me off of this, but I'm not sure if I should go up to 1610-ish or down to 1200? I've lost 20.5 lbs so far out of 75 pounds to lose.

What do you think?

Allie

Sidesteal

Hi,

I'm at a plateau and currently have my calories set for 1410. It'd like to change my amount of calories to move me off of this, but I'm not sure if I should go up to 1610-ish or down to 1200? I've lost 20.5 lbs so far out of 75 pounds to lose.

What do you think?

Allie

How long have you been stuck at the current weight?

jakejacobsen

I think you should open your diary if you want help with what to do. Its hard to help if we can't see what you eat. Good luck to you!

karinaes

if i were you, i'd bump up my calories & increase activity to boost your metabolism. now, this may not be obvious on the scale because of muscle mass, but clothes may start feeling even bigger

cirellim

Well, it would seem pretty simple to me that you would want to reduce calories I'd say drop them 80-100 a day it'll make for slow drawn out results but if you stay with it and don't cheat you'll definitely get results. Then once you've plateaued at this caloric intake add a 20 minute walk into your day somewhere.

ashnm88

http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-edge-newspaper-2009/jan-02b.html Read this, its about plateaus.

A plateau occurs because your metabolism — the process of burning calories for energy — slows as you lose lean tissue (muscle). When you lose weight, you lose both fat and lean tissue. (The notion that overweight people have a slower metabolism is a myth. In general, the higher a person's weight, the higher the body's metabolic rate.)

stephanie8625

http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-edge-newspaper-2009/jan-02b.html

READ THIS !!!!!

karinaes

Well, it would seem pretty simple to me that you would want to reduce calories I'd say drop them 80-100 a day it'll make for slow drawn out results but if you stay with it and don't cheat you'll definitely get results. Then once you've plateaued at this caloric intake add a 20 minute walk into your day somewhere.

are you kidding me?!

Riley4ever

Did MFP prompt you to recalc your daily cals as you lost? and did you? normally prompts a re-assessment after every 10lbs lost so you may need to reduce down a little.

meeperoon

Ok I'm not saying you should do this but I was stuck and was eating 1400 a day after increasing from 1200 I reduced back down and added a30 min running on spot (wii fit) and I started losing again.

Different things work for different people.

_Peacebone_

Well, it would seem pretty simple to me that you would want to reduce calories I'd say drop them 80-100 a day it'll make for slow drawn out results but if you stay with it and don't cheat you'll definitely get results. Then once you've plateaued at this caloric intake add a 20 minute walk into your day somewhere.

are you kidding me?!

I don't see anything wrong with this plan...?

karinaes

Well, it would seem pretty simple to me that you would want to reduce calories I'd say drop them 80-100 a day it'll make for slow drawn out results but if you stay with it and don't cheat you'll definitely get results. Then once you've plateaued at this caloric intake add a 20 minute walk into your day somewhere.

are you kidding me?!

I don't see anything wrong with this plan...?

she will lose a lot muscle mass.. metabolism will not work as efficiently, body won't be at a healthy/balanced homeostasis
and when she gains weight back, which she most likely will since bodies can only handle being starved for so long .. the gain will be mostly fat as opposed to balanced mass of muscle and fat

ayummymommy01

Well, it would seem pretty simple to me that you would want to reduce calories I'd say drop them 80-100 a day it'll make for slow drawn out results but if you stay with it and don't cheat you'll definitely get results. Then once you've plateaued at this caloric intake add a 20 minute walk into your day somewhere.

are you kidding me?!

I don't see anything wrong with this plan...?

she will lose a lot muscle mass.. metabolism will not work as efficiently, body won't be at a healthy/balanced homeostasis
and when she gains weight back, which she most likely will since bodies can only handle being starved for so long .. the gain will be mostly fat as opposed to balanced mass of muscle and fat

I think I agree with the above. I am pretty sure the mistake I kept making every time I lost weight was decreasing my calories. You are better off weight training and increasing lean muscle mass which needs to be fed, and keeping calories the same or slightly increasing...

_Peacebone_

Ok, that makes sense. I just don't understand when people say to eat more and you will lose without doing any additional exercise or weight training. Weight loss is calories in < calories burned right?

So I guess the best suggestion to the OP would be to keep calories the same (but ensure that they are getting enought protein) and add some weight training in addition to exercise they are already doing.

Cathleenr

Ok, that makes sense. I just don't understand when people say to eat more and you will lose without doing any additional exercise or weight training. Weight loss is calories in < calories burned right?

So I guess the best suggestion to the OP would be to keep calories the same (but ensure that they are getting enought protein) and add some weight training in addition to exercise they are already doing.

People are NOT saying to eat more and not do any more exercise.
If a person remains consistent with steady-state cardio, the body adapts to maintain efficiency, which means that it uses less energy to accomplish the same result, i.e. running 3 miles in 30 minutes.
Additionally, a person who weighs less needs fewer calories (all things being equal) than a person weighing more to move the body around at the BMR.
INcreasing intensity or duration of cardiovascular exercise and./or the addition of strength training will require more calories in, to build the muscle that comes with the additional exercise load, so yes, a person needs to increase their caloric intake.
That does not mean quarter-pounders and shakes, chocolate and cookies.
It means making good choices on nutrient -dense foods, with appropriate protein supplies to support the LBM percentage.
An increase in lean muscle mass means an increase in the resting metabolic rate, which in turn means a reduction in the percentage of fat tissue.

_Peacebone_

Ok, that makes sense. I just don't understand when people say to eat more and you will lose without doing any additional exercise or weight training. Weight loss is calories in < calories burned right?

So I guess the best suggestion to the OP would be to keep calories the same (but ensure that they are getting enought protein) and add some weight training in addition to exercise they are already doing.

People are NOT saying to eat more and not do any more exercise.

People are NOT saying that in this thread; that is not what I was referring to. People DO say that though, especially on this site.

WolfieCougar

Thank you everyone for your comments. I'm doing quite a bit of exercise each day as it is (early morning and night) and do not really have time to increase that. If I maintain my exercise, do you guys think it'll be safe to go back down to 1200. I don't think increasing to 1600something is really an option since I'm still far from my goal. :-\

Sidesteal

Thank you everyone for your comments. I'm doing quite a bit of exercise each day as it is (early morning and night) and do not really have time to increase that. If I maintain my exercise, do you guys think it'll be safe to go back down to 1200. I don't think increasing to 1600something is really an option since I'm still far from my goal. :-\

How long has your weight loss stalled please?

WolfieCougar

3 weeks if not longer.

Acg67

how is everyone giving recommendations without knowing the OP's ht/wt?

Acg67

INcreasing intensity or duration of cardiovascular exercise and./or the addition of strength training will require more calories in, to build the muscle that comes with the additional exercise load, so yes, a person needs to increase their caloric intake.
That does not mean quarter-pounders and shakes, chocolate and cookies.
It means making good choices on nutrient -dense foods, with appropriate protein supplies to support the LBM percentage.
An increase in lean muscle mass means an increase in the resting metabolic rate, which in turn means a reduction in the percentage of fat tissue.

isn't the OP in a caloric deficit? not much lean muscle is going to built in a deficit...

Tujitsu56

I will be honest in that I don't usually look at this although it should most definitely be taken into consideration. I usually suggest playing around with different calorie deficiencies, mainly try increase as most people tend to go too far below.

how is everyone giving recommendations without knowing the OP's ht/wt?

psuLemon

Ok, that makes sense. I just don't understand when people say to eat more and you will lose without doing any additional exercise or weight training. Weight loss is calories in < calories burned right?

So I guess the best suggestion to the OP would be to keep calories the same (but ensure that they are getting enought protein) and add some weight training in addition to exercise they are already doing.

People say this, because the majority of the time when you look at all the information, people tend to eat on the conservative side and eat significantly less calories than they should.




And if you really want to know what you should be eating, you have to either provide height weight and age (body fat if you have it) or use the BMR tool on this site to at least provide us that information.


Also, define what you mean by working out a lot?

WolfieCougar

5'4, 175.5, 30.2%. I walk 2 miles in the early morning and then do about 20-30 minutes of circuit training at night. That's really the only amount of time I have due to my schedule.

psuLemon

http://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-edge-newspaper-2009/jan-02b.html Read this, its about plateaus.

A plateau occurs because your metabolism — the process of burning calories for energy — slows as you lose lean tissue (muscle). When you lose weight, you lose both fat and lean tissue. (The notion that overweight people have a slower metabolism is a myth. In general, the higher a person's weight, the higher the body's metabolic rate.)

There is one problem with this article and I have read it several times (I actually did that a few days ago). It assumes that every person that is losing weight is losing LBM along the way (which can be the case, especially if you are on huge deficits/dont' eat exercise calories/etc...). I will say it is not always the case for two reasons; first, for those who have activitely worked to maintain LBM and second, for those who have severely under eaten their calories along the way (this one happens a lot on this board).

psuLemon

5'4, 175.5, 30.2%. I walk 2 miles in the early morning and then do about 20-30 minutes of circuit training at night. That's really the only amount of time I have due to my schedule.

And what do you do for a living? Do you have a desk job or on your feet job?

So knowing this, we can estimate your BMR to beb 1570. And I would probably consider you at least lightly active but maybe leaning towards moderately active. Below are your caloric needs for both with a 1 lb per week loss.

Lightly Active = (1570 * 1.375) - 500 = 1659
Moderately Active = (1570 * 1.55) - 500 =1934


Based on the info you have provide, I would htink somwhere between woudl be optimal (1750 calories) and is what I woudl personally shoot for.

WolfieCougar

Thank you very much, psulemon! Would the number be different (lightly active) since I have a desk job, aka barely move? :-\

psuLemon

Thank you very much, psulemon! Would the number be different (lightly active) since I have a desk job, aka barely move? :-\

Well what you could do is maintain your caloric intake at 1700 calories for a few weeks and watch your progress. If you stay the same weight, you increae your calories by 200 to see if your bodies requirement is more. If you start losing weight, you maintain at 1700 until you stop losing weight. Once you get to that point, you re assess your caloric needs. I believe I actually factored in you having a desk job and your calories.


With this approach though, your workout calories are factored into the numbers already, so you don't need to log your exercise calories. This is the Katch McArdle approach if you want to google it. What happens is your deficits are factored over a weeks time. Some days you will burn more, some days you will burn less but regardless of what you do, you always eat 1700 calories. If you want more information or more help, hit me up on a private message and we can discuss further.

Lemon