Eat more...scared

Ephena

I went thru the same thing a few months back. The increase in calories, a little to start with is a good idea. Go for protein, 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight but no more than 175 grams per day. It helped me out a lot.

sixisCHANGEDjk

Maybe it's primarily the change up the kick starts the body again. I don't think 100 calories up is going to be a deal breaker and if the Doc says go down 100 I don't think that's a deal breaker either. You can always change next week without the potential of harming progress.

had this discussion with my dr today. I am 16lbs from goal. She said to drop my cals to 1100 for 3 -5 days then back to the 1200. Now..I know this is going to catch grief....but she said to do the opposite that everyone always says (upping). Im going to try it a few days this week...but not consecutive.

ArroganceInStep

Take small steps. If you increase your daily calories by say 250, you're not going to suddenly gain 100 lbs. Try a small increase and gauge the results.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

When I upped my cals from 1200 to 1400 I didn't gain an ounce. Now, when I went from 900 to 1200 when I first joined MFP, I did gain 2 lbs in 2 weeks before I started losing. But that's because my body needed to readjust. If you go up slowly, in increments of a hundred calories or so, you shouldn't have trouble with gaining. If you do gain a half pound or a pound, don't freak out. Just give it some time for your body to adjust. It seemed very scary to me too but I'm so glad I did it.

sbeisel1

I think personally that its hard to get over the idea that to lose weight you need to eat less or starve. It is a lesson that has been ingraned in us from years of media and mis-information. Yes we are also told to eat healthy and excercise but the education is just not as thorough but the media and social aspect always say to eat less or starve yoruself to lose weight. and the problem is that eating less does work. Unfortunealty it is not easy to always starve and keep it up, the yo-yo or rebound is usually a result and the weight comes back with a vengence (natural body reaction to starving then eating) I personally find that the very correct concept of eating well and nourishing our bodies makes perfect sense and does work but there is still that nagging voice from the past telling me to not eat and it will go faster....

Ephena

Not true at all. If her daily calorie intake remains lower than her expenditure she will lose weight.

You can eat paleo and still gain weight if your calorie intake exceeds your expenditure. It's just a game of numbers. The only reason paleo diets work is because it's harder to consume surplus calories because the foods you're eating aren't as energy dense. You're still playing the numbers, you just don't know it.

But if you are losing weight on 1200 calories, your body will eventually adapt and your metabolism will slow down, especially when hitting a lean state. At some point the goal weight is reached and the diet ends. Then what? Increase calories or stay at 1200 for life? Point is in most cases the balance will swing in the other direction and weight will come back.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but a paleo diet is better than a calorie restricted one because your body is much better at regulating your calorie consumption to what it needs without leading to a positive energy balance. A paleo diet is simply more fulfilling than a food pyramid type diet because of its higher content of fat and protein.

Not going to argue one way or the other about different weight loss methods but the point about your body adjusting to a certain amount of food (1200 calories) is true. Your leptin levels drop and you have trouble losing weight and can even risk gaining weigh back. The trick for me was to do a re-feed. I ate at maintenance level for 2 weeks then went back to 1200 calories a day and it really worked well for me.

psuLemon

had this discussion with my dr today. I am 16lbs from goal. She said to drop my cals to 1100 for 3 -5 days then back to the 1200. Now..I know this is going to catch grief....but she said to do the opposite that everyone always says (upping). Im going to try it a few days this week...but not consecutive.

Thats because most doctors dont know crap when it comes to nutrition.

jillica

Do what you feel is right but nobody would fault you if you hung on a full month before upping your calories.

You've already had some great success - 2 weeks with no weight loss could be due to you actually losing inches or maybe your hormones.

Another gauge is how you feel during your workouts, do you have energy?

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Not true at all. If her daily calorie intake remains lower than her expenditure she will lose weight.

You can eat paleo and still gain weight if your calorie intake exceeds your expenditure. It's just a game of numbers. The only reason paleo diets work is because it's harder to consume surplus calories because the foods you're eating aren't as energy dense. You're still playing the numbers, you just don't know it.

But if you are losing weight on 1200 calories, your body will eventually adapt and your metabolism will slow down, especially when hitting a lean state. At some point the goal weight is reached and the diet ends. Then what? Increase calories or stay at 1200 for life? Point is in most cases the balance will swing in the other direction and weight will come back.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but a paleo diet is better than a calorie restricted one because your body is much better at regulating your calorie consumption to what it needs without leading to a positive energy balance. A paleo diet is simply more fulfilling than a food pyramid type diet because of its higher content of fat and protein.

Not going to argue one way or the other about different weight loss methods but the point about your body adjusting to a certain amount of food (1200 calories) is true. Your leptin levels drop and you have trouble losing weight and can even risk gaining weigh back. The trick for me was to do a re-feed. I ate at maintenance level for 2 weeks then went back to 1200 calories a day and it really worked well for me.

I did this as well with very good results, even if it was an accident lol

katcod1522

had this discussion with my dr today. I am 16lbs from goal. She said to drop my cals to 1100 for 3 -5 days then back to the 1200. Now..I know this is going to catch grief....but she said to do the opposite that everyone always says (upping). Im going to try it a few days this week...but not consecutive.

Thats because most doctors dont know crap when it comes to nutrition.

see? told ya it would catch grief..lol
Its the internet..youre allowed to be mean

junyr

Maybe you should go hunt and chase every meal you have down too. You say exercise isn't a factor? Cavemen did not have delivery...

grinch031

I think personally that its hard to get over the idea that to lose weight you need to eat less or starve. It is a lesson that has been ingraned in us from years of media and mis-information. Yes we are also told to eat healthy and excercise but the education is just not as thorough but the media and social aspect always say to eat less or starve yoruself to lose weight. and the problem is that eating less does work. Unfortunealty it is not easy to always starve and keep it up, the yo-yo or rebound is usually a result and the weight comes back with a vengence (natural body reaction to starving then eating) I personally find that the very correct concept of eating well and nourishing our bodies makes perfect sense and does work but there is still that nagging voice from the past telling me to not eat and it will go faster....

The mainstream dietary community doesn't seem to understand why people overeat. They think its some kind of psychological condition due to a toxic culture. This is only true in that it is socially acceptable to eat junk foods that cause obesity and disease. However the need to overeat is not cultural, it is hormonal. They think people who eat normally but get obese just have a slow metabolism. They set standards for how many calories everyone should eat, even though everyone's caloric needs are different. Someone who is hormonally balance eats precisely the right amount of calories they need to expend, and someone who is in a hormonal imbalance eats more calories than they need. The actual numbers are irrelevant other than the magnitude of the difference between calories IN and OUT. If someone is hormonally balanced and they overeat, then their body will compensate and burn off the excess or suppress hunger for a while. If someone is hormonally imbalanced and under-eats, their body will slow down their metabolism or signal hunger to get them to eat more and keep the fat on.

grinch031

Maybe you should go hunt and chase every meal you have down too. You say exercise isn't a factor? Cavemen did not have delivery...

Well exercise hasn't been a factor for me. When I was 18 I was very lean and exercised a lot. Over the past 12 years, I have increased my exercise and slowly gained weight and kept going on calorie-restricted diets to decrease it. Why, because my body developed an intolerance for the diet I was eating. Everything else I did other than correct the quality of my diet became irrelevant. Once I corrected the diet, calories became completely irrelevant.

vingogly

Thanks. I'm scared because I worked hard to get the weight off. I don't want to put it back on. I know you can' tell by my original post but I definitely do have have an unhealthy relationship to food! I love it too much!! lol I am finally feeling good about myself and don't want to go back to feeling like that. I know i haven't been making the best choices lately and I know thats part of my "platteau". Thanks for the input!!

You might want to look at "Intuitive Eating", by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. It's about fixing our relationships with food and recognizing the inner cues that tell us we're hungry or full, rather than about diets and magic solutions. The core ideas are: eat only what you like; eat only if you're hungry; stop when you're satisfied; enjoy what you're eating. They get into healthy choices and exercise later in the book. They have a website, which you can check out here: http://www.intuitiveeating.org

kschhr

Well as long as you still have a deficit, I'd say it's worth trying, even if you're scared. Worst that could happen would be you don't lose any and just stay the same. You're not eating more than you're burning, so there's no problem. Just give it a shot!

SassyCalyGirl

I was set at 1062 calories per day, lost 6 lbs and never ate burned calories back. I work out daily burning between 500-700. My ticker doesn't show this, but I have reached my desired weight. 10lbs was my goal, but 6lbs has proven to be sufficient. My calories have just been up'd as I am now in "maintainence mode" and I am scared to eat 1582 calories. In fact it has proven hard for me to get anywhere near that. At this point I am just trying to get to 1200-1300.

psuLemon

had this discussion with my dr today. I am 16lbs from goal. She said to drop my cals to 1100 for 3 -5 days then back to the 1200. Now..I know this is going to catch grief....but she said to do the opposite that everyone always says (upping). Im going to try it a few days this week...but not consecutive.

Thats because most doctors dont know crap when it comes to nutrition.

see? told ya it would catch grief..lol
Its the internet..youre allowed to be mean

Wasn't trying to be mean, but rather truthful. Most doctors only have to take one or two classes in nutrition. Much of which is outdated by now. If you really want to know about nutrition, you go to a nutritionist or even better a dietician. My good friend is a cardiologist and I know a lot more about nutrition than she does. it's not to say she isn't a great doctor, it just means that isn't her specialty. It's also the reason why you go to the GI doctor for stomach or intestinal issues instead of going to a general doctor.

psuLemon

And by the way, I started my weight loss journey eating at 1800 calories. I plateaued after 90 days of p90x where I didnt lose any weight or body fat. I upped my calories to 2600 and within the next 90 days I lost 10 lbs, 6" and 3% body fat. I am now doing p90x2 and just upped my calories to 3000 and lost another 3 lbs in 2 weeks.


Simple facts, food is fuel. If you don't eat enough of it, your body will fight or conserve it's calories. If you want to lose weight and continue to burn body fat, then you have to eat to get there. Below is a quote from another thread that has a bunch of links that shows eating more is better for you.

I'm guessing you aren't eating enough. It doesn't sounds like you are even eating your exercise calories, which you probably should be doing at only 1200 net calories per day. From my experience, Turbo Fire and Insanity burn a ton of calories, and intense cardio programs like those really do require more fuel. I would set your MFP goal to lose no more than 1 lb per week, and eat all of your exercise calories.

Here are some helpful links:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/439140-refeed-diet-break-or-cut-calories-lower-a-plateau-discussi

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/395881-people-who-lost-weight-eating-more

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/403565-research-behind-eating-more-to-lose-more

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/395948-caloric-intake-results

And, the most awesome group on MFP: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/17-women-eating-2-000-calories-per-day

Smithvalerie

had this discussion with my dr today. I am 16lbs from goal. She said to drop my cals to 1100 for 3 -5 days then back to the 1200. Now..I know this is going to catch grief....but she said to do the opposite that everyone always says (upping). Im going to try it a few days this week...but not consecutive.

I have been told that before too by doctors. If I ever get closer to my goal and can't lose, I will definitely try it. Let us know how it works!

katcod1522

Being female...and only 5'2...I cant eat 1800 calories and still lose. Im a work in progress..and a learning experiment.