people who LOST weight eating MORE

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  • ssharomi
    ssharomi Posts: 8 Member
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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Is everyone talking about the BMR amount of calorie intake a day? Which, for me is 1572 calories a day.
    I am doing 1200 a day and it seems to be coming off very slowly.
    Do you think if I upped my intake the weight would come off faster?

    Its actually based on tdee which is a calculation off of bmr. From tdee you add a deficit to figure caloric needs.
  • SolidGoaled
    SolidGoaled Posts: 504 Member
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  • divinesoul
    divinesoul Posts: 48 Member
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    Very informative! Bump to read later.
  • needlework
    needlework Posts: 141 Member
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    bump. will have to read later. :smile:
  • ChefSuzzieQ
    ChefSuzzieQ Posts: 119
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    You should be able to eat back you exercise calories and still lose. Not eating them back should make you lose faster, unless you get to where your are not consuming enough calories for your body to work efficiently.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    You should be able to eat back you exercise calories and still lose. Not eating them back should make you lose faster, unless you get to where your are not consuming enough calories for your body to work efficiently.

    If you look at longer term, I don't know if eating at a larger deficit will cause you to lose any faster. If you think about it, when you have large deficits, you tend to slow your metabolism down due to the loss of lean muscle mass. While though with small deficits maintain their metabolism and reduce the chances of plateaus. It would definitely be interesting to see a study that would compare the two groups.
  • candiceanderson84
    candiceanderson84 Posts: 43 Member
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  • MartyHeidi
    MartyHeidi Posts: 2
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    I've been trying my best to stay at or below my MFP Calorie suggestion, and not eating back the calories I've burned through exercise. I've been exercising a minimum of 60 minutes per day at least 5 days per week. Mostly cardio, treadmill, bike & elliptical, working with a personal trainer once a week on strength & resistance and I'm bummed about how slow the weight is coming off. My weight started at 306 back on December 6th, and compared to my lifestyle prior to starting this exercise and diet, which was ZERO exercise and terrible eating habits, I really thought I would have lost more than 10lbs by now?

    What am I doing wrong? I drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day, getting vitamins, staying away from candy & sweets. I just don't get it. Am I not eating enough? MFP says I should eat about 1860 calories per day. I'm burning anywhere from 600-800 calories per day at the gym, plus whatever is being burned doing crunches daily and weights a couple times a week.
  • Twinsmama75
    Twinsmama75 Posts: 76 Member
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    I've been trying my best to stay at or below my MFP Calorie suggestion, and not eating back the calories I've burned through exercise. I've been exercising a minimum of 60 minutes per day at least 5 days per week. Mostly cardio, treadmill, bike & elliptical, working with a personal trainer once a week on strength & resistance and I'm bummed about how slow the weight is coming off. My weight started at 306 back on December 6th, and compared to my lifestyle prior to starting this exercise and diet, which was ZERO exercise and terrible eating habits, I really thought I would have lost more than 10lbs by now?

    What am I doing wrong? I drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day, getting vitamins, staying away from candy & sweets. I just don't get it. Am I not eating enough? MFP says I should eat about 1860 calories per day. I'm burning anywhere from 600-800 calories per day at the gym, plus whatever is being burned doing crunches daily and weights a couple times a week.



    I wonder if you aren't eating too few calories? I would definitely try upping your calories or at least eating your exercise calories back.
  • concealedpearl
    concealedpearl Posts: 206
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  • alphabettie
    alphabettie Posts: 43 Member
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  • jaks97
    jaks97 Posts: 179 Member
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    This is a very interesting topic spent all morning reading this post. I too don't eat enough I can go on the weekends for hours without eating. I went to WW a few years back and had trouble eating my points, once I got to my points the weight started coming off. I went back to my old habits and after logging here for a couple of weeks, I still am not eating enough. Starting in December I started exercising something I NEVER did before, I have a desk job so not action there. The scales show a loss of 6lbs and I am going to increase my food intake this week, and see how things go. I feel different and I am sleeping less, which shows I have more energy. I am so glad to have found this site. Happy eating :flowerforyou:
  • CallmeSbo
    CallmeSbo Posts: 611 Member
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  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,250 Member
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    So, were you undereating initially and then wised up? What was your intake? What did you raise it to?

    How was weight loss before/after raising your calories?

    I think this might help people who are afraid to up their calories--despite netting less than 1200...sometimes substantially less while working out.

    Dunno about that, it was eating more that has me overweight in the first place.

    There's a difference between eating a lot and sitting on your butt all day vs. exercising a lot and eating enough to fuel your body. If you create a calorie deficit by eating less and exercising more, you are potentially creating too large of a deficit. You'll lose weight quickly at first, but it will likely slow down as you continue to exercise. Setting MFP to lose 2 lbs per week, eating that calorie goal and not eating exercise calories back is creating a deficit of more than 1,000 calories. That's not good for you. And we often forget that not eating enough isn't just creating a deficit, it could potentially prevent us from getting enough of the nutrients our body needs.

    I pretty much now eat about as much as I did when I was sitting on my butt and didn't exercise. And I lose weight because I create a moderate calorie deficit with exercise instead of with food (except on rest days, when I create a deficit with eating a little less). I keep my body fueled for my workouts and eat enough to help preserve my lean muscle mass. Eating properly allows me to perform better and feel better. Starving is what prevents people from maintaining their weight loss and their ability to continue with their weight loss plan.

    Eh?? I used to exercise too.

    I guess it was because I stuffed my face.
  • Topsking2010
    Topsking2010 Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Bump!!!!
  • unicorn19girl
    unicorn19girl Posts: 56 Member
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    Just to add my input...I am 5'4" and in may 2009, I weighed 258 pounds and decided to take control of my life. I began losing on a very low calorie diet (900-1200 per day) and walking a lot (my job was in security so I was on my feet all day). In December 2010, I weighed 142 but felt so tired, depressed, and anxious. Physically, I was suffering too, my hair started falling out and I felt weak alot of the time and I wasn't sleeping well at all. I went to the Dr. in February 2011 and was told I wasn't eating enough and that I should eat at least 1800 calories. Well, I was so intimidated by this number that I would only go as high as 1700 a day, but then what did I do...I increased the intensity (added running and heavy circuit training) and duration of my workouts...and what happeded? I stopped losing and actually started gaining which I know now is easily explained by the fact that I exercise hard six days a week and live a fairly active life overall given that my BMI is around 1500 I realize that eating 1700 at max rarely and burning between 300-500 calories per workout and then factor in the calories from my active lifestyle, I was asking my body to run on a net calorie amount between 600 and 900 per day....a number way too low for my body. Now, I have decided to eat more and in the last two weeks have eaten between 1900 and 2300 calories (meaning that I am netting at least 1200) and have already lost four pounds. I already feel like I have more energy and slept better the last two nights. Now maybe its all coincidence or psychological, but if the trend continues I will be convinced that you need to eat more to lose more especially when you have that final amount (10, 15, or 20) to lose. All I know is that for the first time in a long time I feel better and am seeing the scale move in the opposite direction. Now, don't take my advice for anything, but just figured I would share my story so far. Good Luck to everyone! I will try to keep you updated if trend continues for me.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    So, were you undereating initially and then wised up?

    Yes and no. My first goal was to drop as much weight as I could, but I didn't care if it was lean mass or fat. I was borderline morbidly obese, and that was concern number one. Now that I'm just "overweight" my goals have changed to maintain my lean mass, make strength gains, and burn as much fat as possible.
    What was your intake?

    1200-1300 calories per day plus 50-80% of exercise calories.
    What did you raise it to?

    1450-1500
    How was weight loss before/after raising your calories?

    Weight has been coming off a lot faster since I upped my calories, and my percentage fat loss is higher also. Two wins!
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
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    Just to add my input...I am 5'4" and in may 2009, I weighed 258 pounds and decided to take control of my life. I began losing on a very low calorie diet (900-1200 per day) and walking a lot (my job was in security so I was on my feet all day). In December 2010, I weighed 142 but felt so tired, depressed, and anxious. Physically, I was suffering too, my hair started falling out and I felt weak alot of the time and I wasn't sleeping well at all. I went to the Dr. in February 2011 and was told I wasn't eating enough and that I should eat at least 1800 calories. Well, I was so intimidated by this number that I would only go as high as 1700 a day, but then what did I do...I increased the intensity (added running and heavy circuit training) and duration of my workouts...and what happeded? I stopped losing and actually started gaining which I know now is easily explained by the fact that I exercise hard six days a week and live a fairly active life overall given that my BMI is around 1500 I realize that eating 1700 at max rarely and burning between 300-500 calories per workout and then factor in the calories from my active lifestyle, I was asking my body to run on a net calorie amount between 600 and 900 per day....a number way too low for my body. Now, I have decided to eat more and in the last two weeks have eaten between 1900 and 2300 calories (meaning that I am netting at least 1200) and have already lost four pounds. I already feel like I have more energy and slept better the last two nights. Now maybe its all coincidence or psychological, but if the trend continues I will be convinced that you need to eat more to lose more especially when you have that final amount (10, 15, or 20) to lose. All I know is that for the first time in a long time I feel better and am seeing the scale move in the opposite direction. Now, don't take my advice for anything, but just figured I would share my story so far. Good Luck to everyone! I will try to keep you updated if trend continues for me.

    Thanks for sharing! !
  • porvenir
    porvenir Posts: 27 Member
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