EATING MORE AS IM LOSING LESS! whats going on????

forest0spirit555

I have consistantly been losing about 2 pounds weekly. I started off doing 1200 calories and now im up to 1420. It seems as though every 1 or 2 weeks I begin to eat a little more than the previous week. I don't understand why this is happening. Now, Im not eating for pleasure or comfort, I only eat when I am legitimately hungry but I am becoming more hungry as time goes on. Does anyone know what could be happening? Is it my metabolism or something? HELP?!

Skinny_Beans

curious bump

Ange_

just roll with it. It is good you are listening to your body, it obviously needs the extra calories. At that level you'll still be loosing weight, so don't worry about it!
Force yourself to eat less and you may plateau and/or get sick.

heresmyinsidevoice

Yeah, that's been happening with me too. I've been going with it and eating more, otherwise I feel completely drained. It just seems (and again, just going by how my own body feels) that my metabolism has picked up since I started working out more regularly.

forest0spirit555

Also as far as excercise goes, when I began with my weight loss goals I did longer high intensity workouts. Now I stay active throughout the day (lots of walking using bike instead of car etc) and I still exercise, but im doing less time with slightly more intense (nothing crazy), and I started strength training about 1 month ago, which is something I have never done before. I am aware that muscle will require more calories than regularly, but although I see muscle tone, I am surprised that my hunger just keeps increasing.

karinaes

you've most likely sped up your metabolism because many only stop losing weight when on a low calorie intake diet
(body just clings to the weight after a certain point because it is begging for proper nutrition)

forest0spirit555

just roll with it. It is good you are listening to your body, it obviously needs the extra calories. At that level you'll still be loosing weight, so don't worry about it!
Force yourself to eat less and you may plateau and/or get sick.

this is true. I just find it weird that even MFP suggests doing the exact oppisite of what I am having to do

gsettine

Well based on a quick glance at your dairy for today, you appear to be working out quite a bit. That allows you to consume more calories and you should. If you read other posts you'll see a lot of comments about eating back the calories you burn. Not doing so will leave your ultra fatigued and have negative consequences for your overall well being.

forest0spirit555

Well based on a quick glance at your dairy for today, you appear to be working out quite a bit. That allows you to consume more calories and you should. If you read other posts you'll see a lot of comments about eating back the calories you burn. Not doing so will leave your ultra fatigued and have negative consequences for your overall well being.

really? I have heard the controversy, eating them back verses not, but I had always been an advocate for not. Maybe this does seem more logical to me now...

Crying_In_Color

I had the same problem around the 20 pound loss mark. Your best bet is to spread your meals out. Eat 6 200 calorie meals a day if possible. or 5 240 calorie meals a day (if you are sticking to the 1200 a day). Try to keep it a routine as well. Your body will become use to it. Drink 8 ounces of water before a meal and that will also help you to stay fuller longer.

Spreading your meals out will also boost your metabolism. Foods high in Protein will help you stay full longer.

LemonDiva

The more muscle you have the more fuel you will burn... as well as waking up your metabolism. well done for being sensible and going with it ...

Crying_In_Color

just roll with it. It is good you are listening to your body, it obviously needs the extra calories. At that level you'll still be loosing weight, so don't worry about it!
Force yourself to eat less and you may plateau and/or get sick.

this is true. I just find it weird that even MFP suggests doing the exact oppisite of what I am having to do

Same problem! It says that I get extra calories when I work out, if I eat those extra calories the weight doesn't come off. I just use the site for the ticker and message boards. The site's suggestions make me maintain.

41degsouth

I had the same problem around the 20 pound loss mark. Your best bet is to spread your meals out. Eat 6 200 calorie meals a day if possible.....

Spreading your meals out will also boost your metabolism. Foods high in Protein will help you stay full longer.

The widely cited claim that eating a large number of smaller meals will boost your metabolism has been debunked. (And if it was true, the quoted advice would make the OP feel *more* hungry, not less, as they would be burning more calories.)

41degsouth

Looking at your dairy, you've been consistently going hundreds of calories under your net target recently due to your amount of exercise. Your target already includes a 500 calorie a day deficit. On a day when the site lists you as 500-700 calories under your target, that means you are 1,000-1,500 calories under what you need to maintain your current weight. No wonder you are hungry. Either eat more or exercise less so that you are closer to your target. You'll find it much easier to maintain, and you'll lose weight at a healthy moderate pace.

xraychick77

you've most likely sped up your metabolism because many only stop losing weight when on a low calorie intake diet
(body just clings to the weight after a certain point because it is begging for proper nutrition)

lol

41degsouth

I just find it weird that even MFP suggests doing the exact oppisite of what I am having to do

How so? You seem to think MFP is suggesting you eat less than you are, yet your diary shows that MFP is suggesting you eat even MORE than that. Are you mis-reading something on the site perhaps?

xraychick77

"The greater the energy deficit created by exercise, the greater the fat loss. And be careful not to compensate for the energy expended in exercise by eating more food. Otherwise, energy balance won't shift and fat loss will be less significant."

From college textbook - Understanding Nutrition, pg 290-291, Ellie Whitney, Sharon Rady Rolfes.

lisa28115

just roll with it. It is good you are listening to your body, it obviously needs the extra calories. At that level you'll still be loosing weight, so don't worry about it!
Force yourself to eat less and you may plateau and/or get sick.

this is true. I just find it weird that even MFP suggests doing the exact oppisite of what I am having to do

i recently upped my calories and like you not exercising quite as much and have started losing
i was also advised to start strength training and it has helped
i to am amazed that all this is the opposite of what MFP suggests:huh:

2fit4fat

bump

scriehl

Well based on a quick glance at your dairy for today, you appear to be working out quite a bit. That allows you to consume more calories and you should. If you read other posts you'll see a lot of comments about eating back the calories you burn. Not doing so will leave your ultra fatigued and have negative consequences for your overall well being.

Agreed. Good luck to ya!

babsbabe

Even though I understand not wanting to eat more calories, you should make sure that you are eating enough to keep your metabolism going by consuming enough calories. 1400 is still a relatively small number of calories for the amount of exercise that you are doing. Keep in mind that by exercising you are constantly revving your metabolism (particularly if you do strength training, but with cardiovascular you will have a similar boost for a shorter period of time). Another way to keep your metabolism working is to eat many small meals throughout the day, but it's hard to stick to 1200 calories when you do that (and I don't believe that you have to). It looks like you're doing great! You may be building muscle, which could make it seem like you are making less progress on the scale, but in reality, you are still losing fat! Keep up the good work.

sarah_ep

"The greater the energy deficit created by exercise, the greater the fat loss. And be careful not to compensate for the energy expended in exercise by eating more food. Otherwise, energy balance won't shift and fat loss will be less significant."

From college textbook - Understanding Nutrition, pg 290-291, Ellie Whitney, Sharon Rady Rolfes.

Notice that the book specifies that the deficit is being created by *exercise*. MFP already has an established deficit before exercise. If she were eating at 'maintenance' I can see where your text would be valid, but she is not.

karinaes

karinaes

you've most likely sped up your metabolism because many only stop losing weight when on a low calorie intake diet
(body just clings to the weight after a certain point because it is begging for proper nutrition)

wow.. excuse me..i was totally sleep deprived!! :embarassed:

shakybabe

do you also find you eat the most the week before your TOTM begins? .. it maybe partly hormonal too and your metabolism will naturally increase on its own in preparation for your monthly cycle as well as in response to any increase in exercise/activity. I'm ravenous the week before mine!!