I'm not saying it doesn't work, but...
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I've heard multiple times that if you stop losing weight then to up your calories.
I'm not saying it doesn't work, but I was just wondering if someone could explain to me how it DOES work.
I understand that if you've been eating 1200 calories for a while you'll stop losing weight or hit a plateau, because your body gets use to getting the 1200 every single day.
But in my mind, if you eat more calorie, you're eating more food, so you'll gain. I mean, that's how I got fat in the first place, the more food I ate the more food I gained.... I'm not saying I'm right, I'm just saying that it doesn't make sense to me.
So I guess my question is: How does eating more help a person to lose weight?
Thank you for any replies I get
Welcome to the confusing world of Conventional Wisdom. I'm sure I will be penalized for recommending this info since it goes completely against the CW.
Head on over to Mark's Daily Apple and Start with Primal Blueprint 101. Read all the articles on that page. All those questions are what kept me researching and reading. I now follow a Primal/Paleo template (no not a diet but a baseline to start with. We don't know exactly what they did eat but we do know what they didn't eat). I went Primal as an experiment. I will never go back to eating the way the USDA tells us is healthy. It sure didn't work for me.
Here's a start:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-context-of-calories/#axzz1ibspHSHM0 -
I can not believe the comments on here. Please read the poster's intent. Some people have given excellent advise. Thanks for that it helped me too! But some people are so noisy I mean really how totally RUDE! It is embarrasing to the site that people would behave in this manner but just shows that some people have no manners whatsoever!! Oh my goodness!0
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It's a personal thing ... if I eat more I gain, regardless of how much I workout. It's how my body works. Other people can eat more and lose. It all depends on your metabolism and how your internal furnace burns!0
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How could you know you are pregnant at this point? That is exactly nine month from now, so you are two weeks pregnant and know? I didn't know that was possible.
How does my pregnancy keep getting brought up?
Okay my last cycle was Dec 4th, I will be 5wks prego on Jan 8th, and my due date is 40wks after my last cycle so that puts my due date at Sept 9th. I know because I peed on a stick & got blood drawn & the dr said Sept 9th.
THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT ME Just thought I'd cover that... again.
It is a bit ridiculous...congrats!! I hope you enjoy a healthy pregnancy and baby.
Ditto above, lol! Congrats!0 -
How could you know you are pregnant at this point? That is exactly nine month from now, so you are two weeks pregnant and know? I didn't know that was possible.
How does my pregnancy keep getting brought up?
Okay my last cycle was Dec 4th, I will be 5wks prego on Jan 8th, and my due date is 40wks after my last cycle so that puts my due date at Sept 9th. I know because I peed on a stick & got blood drawn & the dr said Sept 9th.
THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT ME Just thought I'd cover that... again.
I don't understand why a person can't ask a question without her profile being ripped apart like the Sunday paper. Good grief!0 -
I actually tried the eat moring method and it got me through a plateau. I was eating 1200 calories a day and that worked for a long time. Then it just stopped working and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. I had nothing to lose so I switched to the Olivia Method and started eating 1600 calories a day and the weight started dropping again!0
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Also, white anything is an empty calorie, so if you are wasting any of your daily calories with sugar, white rice, etc. you are not eating to lose.
This has to be the most uninformed, uneducated statement that I have EVER read in these threads!!0 -
I never understood it either but have living breathing proof in my college age son.
He tended to be really busy at school and not eat much at all during the day or eat only once a day and managed to pack on quite a few pounds. When he came home for his Christmas break, he started eating more food with more regularity and began dropping weight immediately. I think our bodies are wonderfully made and learn to conserve those darn calories.0 -
How could you know you are pregnant at this point? That is exactly nine month from now, so you are two weeks pregnant and know? I didn't know that was possible.
How does my pregnancy keep getting brought up?
Okay my last cycle was Dec 4th, I will be 5wks prego on Jan 8th, and my due date is 40wks after my last cycle so that puts my due date at Sept 9th. I know because I peed on a stick & got blood drawn & the dr said Sept 9th.
THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT ME Just thought I'd cover that... again.
Sorry you're getting run through the mill on this one.
I'm sure you know that you need to eat healthy.
I gained a lot of weight during my pregnancies....60+lbs with each. My first doctor kept giving me the "you're getting fat" speech, which only made me depressed. The second (a midwife) gave me the "be careful, but your body knows what it's doing speech...much nicer.
I think you still need to watch what you eat and eat for a pregnancy.
As for your question. It really does work. So many times I've plateaued....took a little time off and ate a little more ....and boom, there went the weight drop again. Our bodies are amazing.0 -
Congrats on the pregnancy OP. Hope you have a happy and healthy 9 months. For the record, there are lots of pregnant ladies here. I am due in March and here because I need to monitor my macros due to gestational diabetes. Being on MFP does not mean you are trying to lose weight, simply that you are trying to eat better!
You got lots of good answers to your question, so I will leave the science up to others!0 -
Im hoping you got your answers! I have read through them and can understand a little more too. I had the same questions.
Congrats and good luck with pregnancy - i too am not sure how ppl are misunderstanding your question.
E.0 -
To answer the OP's question -
Many people eat too FEW calories, especially those who workout a ton and don't eat back those calories. You need a calorie deficit to lose weight, but too much of a deficit is a bad thing. Your body expects a certain calorie level for general maintenance and daily activities. If you don't get it, your body starts adapting - it causes your body to lower it's metabolism rate. A lower metabolism means that you are burning fewer calories in your day to day activities, which makes it harder to lose weight.
When people are recommending for people to eat more, they are suggesting that people eat enough so that their body snaps out of this lower metabolism mode. You can't just keep upping calories and expect to lose weight - if you eat more than you burn you will gain, but it's also not healthy (or productive for long-term weight loss) to eat too FEW. The advice to increase calories is about finding that healthy range where you are still at a deficit, but not eating too few calories.
^^ THIS, definitely. And right on, rescueangel.
I was training for a 1/2 marathon, and there were times I plateaud for a loooooong time, and was stuck. When I looked back over my diary, every time I broke the loss plateau was when I ate about 200 extra calories a day (I even went that much over my calorie count for the day, including workout calories). My body wanted more FUEL if I was gonna work out that hard, and then it could let go of what it was storing. Kind of like your body saying "If you're gonna kill me like that TOMORROW, I'm gonna hold on to what you give me TODAY."
REST DAYS are also important. I recently had surgery, and had to take a month off my workouts. Suddenly I lost the last 3-4 lbs. my body had been holding onto for FIVE MONTHS.
It's all about finding your balance.0 -
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Oh man, I need to stop reading these threads...0
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I know that your question is a general one, butI hope that you have talked to a doctor about planning to not gain weight during your pregnancy. Even obese people are told to gain between 10-15. I know it is important to be fit and eat well, but I have an aunt who wouldn't allow herself to gain at ALL during her pregnancies (she weighed in the 160s at the time) and both of her boys have severe problems (like they will never leave her house and she has had to make plans for them to live in homes if anything happens to her and my uncle). Maybe you should work with your OB/GYN to eat healthy and gain on track for your weight with pregnancy.
My mother lost weight while she was pregnant with me. Her doctor said she was fine as long as she didn't lose more than 4 lbs per week. 4 lbs a week is pretty significant!! I turned out perfectly healthy.0 -
Eating a little more calories, while still keeping a deficit may convince your body to stop holding on to weight, if is that is the problem. But I suspect that most of these people who claim to eat thousands of calories and lose weight are simply omitting part of their story. Like they are hard core weight lifters, or marathon runners, or something like that.0
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I've never been a real believer in it myself, although saying that might generate some negative comments. Here's a site that debunks the starvation mode theory, which is what is often cited when people encourage others to eat more calories. If I had more time, I would try to find a more reliable source than the National Health Association (I have no idea who they are except that they believe in a plant based diet.)
http://www.healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=512:are-you-in-the-starvation-mode-or-starving-for-truth&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267
Personally, I hit plateaus in my weight loss and never found that eating more really helped. What DID help for me was changing up my exercise routine.
Just because something didn't work for you doesn't make it untrue or any kind of myth.
A lot of people (myself included) have lost weight or broke a plateau by eating more. I'm personally glad that I found articles and such that backed up eating more - otherwise I may have given up on losing more weight when I plateaued at 167lbs for MONTHS. I started eating more and went from 167lbs to 150lbs in about 5 weeks. Not everything works for everyone else - but it doesn't make it untrue simply because it didn't work for you (low carb doesn't work for me, but that doesn't mean people haven't had success on a low carb "diet" - it just doesn't work for ME).0 -
Congrats on your pregnancy. BTW....I lost weight in my last pregnancy (30 lbs) because I ate properly. I then gained 1/2 back and lost it again after birth.
My baby was 9lbs and at 3 yrs of age is in the 90%.
My doc said so long as I ate balanced meals....I was doing right by my son. And it is a heck of a lot better than the 100 lbs I gained during my first pregnancy.
That 6 old is perfect too,...0 -
I had just posted this on another reply a little bit ago...
Our bodies are built to survive. There are processes in place to deal with different circumstances. If you are under-eating or over-exercising you body will try to compensate for any shortages by slowing down and trying to burn the least amount of fuel as possible. Storing as much as possible.
On the other hand, if you were to add more fuel by eating more calories or even slow down on the exercise, your body will respond by increasing these systems again. In turn, you will see your body working efficiently and doing what you expect.
Think of your body as a flashlight. When the batteries are low, the light dims. Recharge the betteries and the light shines bright again.0 -
That just doesn't happen. If you exercise and have low glycogen stores (bonk) then you KNOW IT! You don't just go along happily having a huge calorie deficit and exercising. If you ever bonk you won't do that again!
The eat more calories thing is a total myth. WHEN YOU ARE LOSING WEIGHT YOU ARE IN STARVATION MODE ALL THE TIME!
Sorry, but the experience of many people on MFP refute your explanation. I hate the term "Starvation Mode" - but what is commonly referred to as starvation mode is your body adapting to eating too few calories. Eating at a deficit does NOT equal "starvation mode" or whatever you want to call it. Someone who is eating at a deficit of 250 calories/day is much different than someone eating at a deficit of 2000 calories per day. The latter will not be eating enough to support basic body function, while the former will. It is that latter, when done *long term* that will cause your body to react negatively. "starvation mode" will not happen overnight - it requires long-term undereating at a deficit below what is reasonable for your weight - which varies for different people. Seriously obese people can support higher deficits for longer periods of tiem than people who only have 10-20 lbs to lose.0
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