Does this seem right to you?

Pickles11

I am 5'7 159lbs. Ive been working out 6x a week and following mfps calorie goal for me which is 1200 without exercise and usually about 1400 or 1500 with exercise. Ive been doing this for 3 weeks and nothings happened.

After reading advice to others, I changed my goal from 2lbs a week to 1lb a week. It now has me eating 1600 on non workout days and about 2000 on workput days to lose 1 lb a week. To me this sounds like a lot and I'm terrified to try it. Could it really work?

JuliePete

Yes. It does work! Give it a try! I think you will be surprised!

yeabby

Give it a try for a few weeks (don't judge it 'til you've let your body adjust) and see. For many people it works better to eat a bit more.

Loula2011

Yes, because you have decreased the amount that you want to lose a week. Therefore you don't need to restrict your calorie intake as much.

SueInAz

I was going to say, after reading only the first paragraph that 1200 calories might not be enough. My personal philosophy is that if what you're doing right now isn't working (and three weeks is long enough to see that it's not) then it's time to try something different.

Eat the higher calories amounts. Weigh yourself every day. You may notice the scale creeping upwards over the first few days as your body adjusts to the more appropriate amount of calories, but it should then start to go down as expected. You should be still be eating enough to lose one pound per week, theoretically, but I'm betting your body needs those extra calories to actually lose weight at all.

Opera_Bound

Check your "Daily Activity" Level and make sure it's right. I had a similar issue where I used to work 4-5days a week in a retail job, so I was on my feet for about 30 hours a week and my level was "lightly active." I'm now a graduate student and spend a lot of time in class and working in an office, so clearly my daily activity level is "sedentary." Check that make sure it's at the right level for your lifestyle. If it is and you still get the same numbers, just trust MFP's numbers. Watch your sodium and sugar intake as well. Make sure you're getting your veggies and proteins. Best of luck to you!

LeanMeanFitnessMachine

If you're working out 6 days a week, 1200 calories definitely was not enough. Eating those extra calories will help in your recover stage post workout. If you have a full recovery, you;ll be able to workout harder, longer, and more efficiently.

Keep up the good work & stay fit!

mnbakk

I am 5'8" and was 160 starting MFP. I work out 30 min 5-6 times weekly. I initially started with calorie goal of 1590 + I was eating most of my exercise calories back daily. Settings were for 1lb/week. I lost 7 lbs in 6 weeks initially then I got greedy and dropped my calories back to 1200 (still eating exercise calories back). I stopped drinking any alcohol and cut down on diet soda and gained 4 lbs in 2 weeks. I went back to the higher calories 3 weeks ago and am back down to 153 (where I was before I dropped calories). I have not changed my workouts at all.

bbbbb33333

Be very careful that you are accurately recording the calories and portion sizes. If it was not working on the first setting, it may not work on the new setting if you are going over the calories by not measuring. Measuring/weighing is important at the beginning, because it is easy to guess 1/2 a cup and guess low.

MaraDiaz

The issue with upping calories to lose weight puzzles me, however I know that there have been times I should have lost weight (I was restricting calories and working out) but I didn't lose any until I dropped down to starvation levels, and whenever I binged, I gained weight, even if I only binged one day in ten and hardly at at all on the other nine.

Yesterday I found the article on this site that talks about how someone can diet and not lose weight because they've taught their body to horde calories. I think that's what happened to me, and I think that's the real reason I could never lose weight without starving myself. I would deprive myself, then binge, then deprive myself again, and my poor body must have thought there was a famine, so I either didn't lose weight, or I gained it.

Here's the link:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

I literally want to cry when I read this, thinking of how frustrated I was while trying to lose weight on a 'normal' diet that was never normal at all.

kittytrix

I started out with 1200 before exercise and saw some results but not much. I just spoke to my doctor a few days ago and showed her what I was eating and she said I wasn't eating enough for a) my job which has me out in the field nearly every day or b) the workouts I'm doing which consist of real boxing, not aerobic boxing, for about an hour or so three days a week and weight training two days a week.

This will be my first week upping to 1500 without excerise and about 2000 with. She said I have to feed my body in order for the furnace to kick in. Right now my body thinks I'm starving so it's holding on to every calorie.

Here's to a healthy increase!

Pickles11

I started out with 1200 before exercise and saw some results but not much. I just spoke to my doctor a few days ago and showed her what I was eating and she said I wasn't eating enough for a) my job which has me out in the field nearly every day or b) the workouts I'm doing which consist of real boxing, not aerobic boxing, for about an hour or so three days a week and weight training two days a week.

This will be my first week upping to 1500 without excerise and about 2000 with. She said I have to feed my body in order for the furnace to kick in. Right now my body thinks I'm starving so it's holding on to every calorie.

Here's to a healthy increase!

Please let me know how this goes.
Thanks everyone! I am giving it a try. Sometimes it's hard to even net 1200 sometimes but I know it's important.

inge88

Thanks everyone for posting this. I think I have exactly the same problem. I am keeping my calories to 1300 a day but am doing exercise 6 days a week.
But just as you I am scared of upping my calories, what if I gain weight?!
Plus upping the calories is quite hard to do healthy. Let me know how you go with that. What do you eat to up your calories in a healthy way?

bbbbb33333

almonds, nuts, peanut butter, yogurt with fruit, bananas

Pickles11

Thanks for the encouragement everyone- I finally lost a couple pounds this week! I credit the increase in calories and bringing running back into my workouts.

SueInAz

Thanks for the encouragement everyone- I finally lost a couple pounds this week! I credit the increase in calories and bringing running back into my workouts.

Way to go! And congrats to you for trying something that just seems SO wrong.

SueInAz

Thanks everyone for posting this. I think I have exactly the same problem. I am keeping my calories to 1300 a day but am doing exercise 6 days a week.
But just as you I am scared of upping my calories, what if I gain weight?!
Plus upping the calories is quite hard to do healthy. Let me know how you go with that. What do you eat to up your calories in a healthy way?

As you can see by the OP's results, it DOES work. Just eat more of the healthy things and cut out the "light" and "low fat" stuff out of your diet. Most of that stuff is just replacing sugar and salt for fat, anyway. And fat is not the enemy.

inge88

As you can see by the OP's results, it DOES work. Just eat more of the healthy things and cut out the "light" and "low fat" stuff out of your diet. Most of that stuff is just replacing sugar and salt for fat, anyway. And fat is not the enemy.

This is the best advice I have found so far on this website! I am always trying to eat 'light' and 'low fat'. From today onwards I will try to just eat the normal stuff. Thanks!