Women who eat more than 1800 calories a day !!!!

rmk20togo

So, those of you who have tried the increased calories for a while and seen success - what are your average NET calories? I've been looking at gross (1750) and not eating exercise calories, but only for 5 days so I can't tell how it's going yet. My net is always below 1200 because I'm a gym rat.

rmk20togo

I think most of us (definitely me at least) generally adhere to the 80/20 rule. Someone else specifically mentioned it in an earlier comment. Meaning we eat pretty healthy for the most part - good sources of protein, nuts, fresh fruit and veggies, protein shakes, carbs of all colors (at least for me). A lot of us skip the diet food and eat full fat dairy, real salad dressings, cheese, olive oil or butter on our veggies, nut butters, etc. There's plenty of healthy foods that are higher in calories. But if I want ice cream or, heaven forbid, cheese puffs? I can make it fit into my overall goal too. That's the problem I see with eating 1200 calories a day - there's no room for 'life' to happen.

80/20 is me exactly. I eat healthy all week, dark chocolate every day, full fat everything, avoid as much processed as possible, and eat french fries every Saturday.

tabinmaine

So, those of you who have tried the increased calories for a while and seen success - what are your average NET calories? I've been looking at gross (1750) and not eating exercise calories, but only for 5 days so I can't tell how it's going yet. My net is always below 1200 because I'm a gym rat.

Your net is too low, most people on here are eating 1800-2000 calories on rest days and that is their NET on workout days..

chevy88grl

Also is everyone eating super duper healthy when they are upping to more than 1800 calories or are you just eating anything and everything??

I think most of us (definitely me at least) generally adhere to the 80/20 rule. Someone else specifically mentioned it in an earlier comment. Meaning we eat pretty healthy for the most part - good sources of protein, nuts, fresh fruit and veggies, protein shakes, carbs of all colors (at least for me). A lot of us skip the diet food and eat full fat dairy, real salad dressings, cheese, olive oil or butter on our veggies, nut butters, etc. There's plenty of healthy foods that are higher in calories. But if I want ice cream or, heaven forbid, cheese puffs? I can make it fit into my overall goal too. That's the problem I see with eating 1200 calories a day - there's no room for 'life' to happen.

I completely agree with this.

MOST of what I eat is healthy and good for me, but if I want some cookies (which I will tell you I have EVERY single day!) or some cheese puffs - I eat the dang things. This is the only life I'm going to get. While I love being thinner again, I refuse to go without the foods I love.

chevy88grl

So, those of you who have tried the increased calories for a while and seen success - what are your average NET calories? I've been looking at gross (1750) and not eating exercise calories, but only for 5 days so I can't tell how it's going yet. My net is always below 1200 because I'm a gym rat.

My NET calories for weight loss?

2100-2200.

My NET calories for maintenance?

2300-2500 (though I can push it all the way up to around 2700-2800 and be fine, that is just too much dang food for me)

rockerbabyy

I think most of us (definitely me at least) generally adhere to the 80/20 rule. Someone else specifically mentioned it in an earlier comment. Meaning we eat pretty healthy for the most part - good sources of protein, nuts, fresh fruit and veggies, protein shakes, carbs of all colors (at least for me). A lot of us skip the diet food and eat full fat dairy, real salad dressings, cheese, olive oil or butter on our veggies, nut butters, etc. There's plenty of healthy foods that are higher in calories. But if I want ice cream or, heaven forbid, cheese puffs? I can make it fit into my overall goal too. That's the problem I see with eating 1200 calories a day - there's no room for 'life' to happen.

^this 10000%
though lately my diet has been more 50/50 than 80/20 >.> after tuesday that should go back to 80/20

rockerbabyy

So, those of you who have tried the increased calories for a while and seen success - what are your average NET calories? I've been looking at gross (1750) and not eating exercise calories, but only for 5 days so I can't tell how it's going yet. My net is always below 1200 because I'm a gym rat.

my goal on non-exercise days is 1845, and thats my net goal on workout days. i gross up to 2500 on exercise days.
i lost about a pound a week last month, but could have lost more if i didnt go over each weeks net goal >.>
id say your net is way too low..

Kincar

I'm convinced! I've been eating around 1400 kcals. I love working out & do so 5 - 6 days a week. I eat some to most of my exercise cals. MFPs has dropped my goal kcals as I've lost (as I knew it would), but I haven't been happy at the lower numbers. Plus, I want to start lifting heavy again (used to be a gym rat back before marriage & kids) So, I went in and added 100 kcals to my goals today. I'm going to add more in slowly. I am extremely glad I clicked on this thread. Thanks so much to everyone who gave advice & encouragement.

Nana_Booboo

Bump

Love this one!!!

31prvrbs

This whole thread makes me so happy to see women that are eating/trying to eat at reasonable deficits (even happier to see those willing to eat @ surplus to put on muscle).

To those on the fence, if you're not making progress where you are now, what do you have to lose? To those who feel they are making progress now, what will you do when you hit a plateau, go down further? Therein lies the problem, even if it seems like it's working at first, the results are temporary and almost sure to backfire.

Anyway, I'm around 5'2, 31 yr old, 118 lbs and maintain at about 2020. Right now I'm bulking at ~2400.

kay_bear52

I am 5'2 and my weight goes from 165-168 every darn weigh in. I eat about 1300-1350 calories a day and when I exercise I do try to eat back those calories. But I just can't seem to lose. Do I up it??? I have a hard time as it is eating the calories I do have for the day

31prvrbs

@Kay_bear52 - if you're not losing now, then I would definitely up the cals. Even if your body seems sensitive to the increase at first, you should ride it out, just to allow your body to do a metabolism reset, so that you can begin losing again. It often seems like it's too much at first, but your body becomes accustomed to it, just as it became accustomed to the lower intake.

runnermomo4

Can I be part of this club? I have been on mfp for two years and have been stalled for a year. I have been starving myself and I didn't even realize it. I just wrote a blog post about this subject and you can read more about my story at www.itsthewayiseeit.com (am I allowed to post that? sorry if I'm not) Eating healthy and fuelling your body is something I believe so strongly in but I haven't been doing anything right. Anyway thank you for this post. I have learned more from this than all the diet books out there. Heres to eating more!

MichelleRenee13

So what are your net calories?

I am unable to exercise due to knee injuries that I am having addressed. I don't know how much I should be eating w/o exercise.

I am 37

5'5

183lbs

I am SO confused at this stage. I am currently netting about 1400-1450 and am usually hungry.

Any suggestions?

LilSomethin

I'm 5'6 and weigh about 135 and average 1800-2200 calories a day. I am so much happier eating more

Tmrice721

Don't know if this questions has been asked but...How often do you workout and what types of workouts? I haven't starting strenght training yet but that's on the plan for next week. Any workout suggestions would be apprciated... Thanks all!

rockerbabyy

Don't know if this questions has been asked but...How often do you workout and what types of workouts? I haven't starting strenght training yet but that's on the plan for next week. Any workout suggestions would be apprciated... Thanks all!

i lift weights on monday(upper body), thursday(lower body), saturday(full body)... cardio on tuesday and friday.
i got my routine at http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/workout.htm ..jaime easons 12 week burning the fat program...ive altered it a bit to fit my schedule/equipment. lifting sessions are usually about 30 minutes, cardio is 60 minutes

MoLove2025

Im 25years old and weigh 251lbs.

I've recently upped my calories from 1200-1400 to 1500-1800 cals. The first week i gained but as of today i saw a huge decrease in my weight (losing about 3lbs in 3 days) i dont know how that happened but i am glad. I've also been stressed the past two weeks so i haven't worked out at all except for a couple of brisk walks and i've still managed to loss weight.

If trying to up your calories i suggest a hearty breakfast to start the day. Seems like after breakfast every 2-3 hours i want something to eat (its like my body is on autopilot when it comes to food...i dont have to think about it, it just lets me know....ITS FEEDING TIME!!!) which is helping me keep the calories up higher.

Mainey13

31prv,

Thanks for your advice. I have been eating 1200 cal, doing weights and spinning 5-6 x a week, and I eat SO clean it makes my friends sick :laugh: I plan to up my calories starting tomorrow - all due to this blog ! Im worried to gain weight but I know it's part of it. How much will I gain before I lose? Im 37, 5'5" and 150 lbs, 1480 BMR. Do you suggest I eat 1600 cal/day? Thanks.

allynady

bump

agthorn

Don't know if this questions has been asked but...How often do you workout and what types of workouts? I haven't starting strenght training yet but that's on the plan for next week. Any workout suggestions would be apprciated... Thanks all!

I currently lift full body 2x a week using the New Rules of Lifting for Women program (currently in stage 3) and will go to 3 days a week full body (self-customized workout built off of the NROLW principles) sometime around July. I'm running 3-4x a week training for a half-marathon in May but will drop to 1-2x a week after that. I do interval training at least once a week. And I do about 3-5 yoga classes a week.

ttkg

First off - thanks again to Tabitha for the this post, it has been sooo helpful to me. I have been reading it every day and then re-reading it again. It is so hard to change this habit of having the scale as ONE SINGLE method for measuring my progress and it is so scary to see the number creep up, I got a little panicked this morning so I immediately brought this thread up for another read through!!!

As I have been reading through some posts I see that a lot of the women who are doing this are what I refer to as my 'After Goal' - you already look great and seem incredibly fit. Did you start that way?

The reason I ask is that I am 5'8, 35 yrs old, 186 lbs. My weight has been fluctuating 3-4 lbs this past month. I work with my trainer 3 x a week doing strength training and have been working hard at committing an additional 2-3 cardio sessions in per week as well as trying to eat cleaner so far in 2012 (for a yr prior to that I really only did 3 strength training sessions per week without additional exercise and just tried to keep calories low).

This year I upped my cals to 1500/1600 because I was so tired and I also noticed a BIG difference with my strength training when I was well fueled (felt stronger, lifted heavier and my trainer commented on it). Now I am upping them again as I read more on here about the benefits. However I am still at that stage where I am looking to lose fat as well as build lean muscle mass. And the thought of eating over 2000cals just seems counter intuitive to losing weight. I know building lean muscle mass takes a looooong time - but can any of you give me some feedback on your experience? Did you eat these amounts while trying to lose fat and build muscle? What was your body composition when you started, meaning where you always fit?

I am also really interested in hearing from some of the ladies who have been at this for a longer period of time and it would be great to hear more about what your exercise program is like, as per the below question...?

Don't know if this questions has been asked but...How often do you workout and what types of workouts? I haven't starting strenght training yet but that's on the plan for next week. Any workout suggestions would be apprciated... Thanks all!

I appreciate the responses and think they may benefit others who are silently watching this thread too!!! :flowerforyou:

wordpainter09

So, those of you who have tried the increased calories for a while and seen success - what are your average NET calories? I've been looking at gross (1750) and not eating exercise calories, but only for 5 days so I can't tell how it's going yet. My net is always below 1200 because I'm a gym rat.

Exactly my question! I'm a gym rat as well, I usually gross about 1800 but my net is more like 1100-1300. From what people are saying, gross calories should be more like 2000-2400?? Wow... never eaten that much since before I discovered calories in high school. That's scary to me. I can't believe I could lose weight with that. Just bumped up to 1800 gross about 3 days ago after reading this thread (THANK YOU! It feels so good to EAT again) but not sure I'm ready to make the leap to 2400. I want my clothes to fit!

sarahmaryfearnley

First off - thanks again to Tabitha for the this post, it has been sooo helpful to me. I have been reading it every day and then re-reading it again. It is so hard to change this habit of having the scale as ONE SINGLE method for measuring my progress and it is so scary to see the number creep up, I got a little panicked this morning so I immediately brought this thread up for another read through!!!

This is why I want to comment, so I can keep coming back and reminding myself that it works :happy:

I started late in the summer last year at ~1300 cals as per MFP guidlines and lost pretty steady for ~3 months but then nothing. I tried to tell myself it was because of the holidays, etc but half way through Jan when I was back on track and STILL no loss, not even the 6lbs I had put on coming off, I decided to increase my cals. I raised it to 1500 and lost 2lbs in 2 weeks. Starting in Feb, I raised it to 1600 after deciding my BMR is more like 1580 rather than 1420 that MFP estimates. I've only lost another 2lbs in Feb but I was really ill for a couple of those weeks and not exercising at all. I still have 2lbs to go to catch up with my ticker but I measured this morning and I've lost a few inches from where I was before the 2011 holidays.

I'm 5'1", 32 yrs old, CW=170;bs, GW~125-130lbs. I exercise regularly, mostly walking/interval running and the occasional kettlebell workout. I think I'll stick with 1600 for another month but will not be scared to raise it to 1800. Thanks!

Oh, and the 1600 is NET not GROSS. I eat my exercise calories and also follow the 80/20 rule as much as possible

jarrettfam

Bump

JayneWilson1963

Thanks to OP, this is such a great thread. Great information!

2012dancingqueen

So for those of you who are eating at about 1800 calories - does everyone on here lift? Or does it work if you don't lift as well?

BerryH

So for those of you who are eating at about 1800 calories - does everyone on here lift? Or does it work if you don't lift as well?

I'm not lifting at the moment other than a few injury-prevention bodyweight exercises such as planks and squats, because I'm training for a marathon. Over 2,100 calories yesterday.

Martucha123

I'm not lifting
altough i plan to.

Right now I can't work out so I eat about 1600-1800 kcal.
but when i did workout (HIIT and classes like body pump and body vive) i would burn on average extra 200 kcal per day so I would eat 1800-2000.

graysmom2005

So what are your net calories?

I am unable to exercise due to knee injuries that I am having addressed. I don't know how much I should be eating w/o exercise.

I am 37

5'5

183lbs

I am SO confused at this stage. I am currently netting about 1400-1450 and am usually hungry.

Any suggestions?

If you are sedentary then 1892 is your estimated TDEE. What you'd burn in a coma multiplied by 1.2 (sedentary). So you take that number and subtract 500 for a pound a week loss.