Major sucess with higher calories!
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runbyme
Posts: 522 Member
Good morning! I just had to post about the sucess I have had with eating a higher calorie diet!
I started here at MFP the 1st of January and was given the 1200 calorie plan most of us get set up with. I exercised 4 times a week and at the end of the month, I had gained 3#! Sooo discouraged!
I read through the forums, looking for clues. Looking for hope. I read a few peoples posts about eating enough to lose weight and I thought they had lost their minds. I mean, you have to starve to lose weight right? Even at 1200 calories, I was only netting about 800-900 because I wasn't eating back my exercise calories. In my mind, I figured the weight ought to be falling off of me! How wrong I was!!
I contacted hellitsdan and had him run my numbers to see what was up. He immediately set me up with the minimum of 1800 calories and said my TDEE was 2250. No way! I cried most of the night. It seemed so absurd to think that if I wasn't losing wieght at 800-1000 calories a day, that I would at 1800. Thankfully, I listened and was a good student!
Today marks my 1 month of eating this higher calorie diet and I won't ever go back! As of today, I have lost 4.4#, 6" off various measurements, most off my hips and thighs, and my BF% went from 28% to 24.6%!! Just think what next month may hold!
Anyone who is struggling with a VLCD and isn't finding sucess, please up your calories. You'll have more energy to work out and you won't be hungry!
Good luck to all of you on your weightloss and fitness journeys!
Kathy
I started here at MFP the 1st of January and was given the 1200 calorie plan most of us get set up with. I exercised 4 times a week and at the end of the month, I had gained 3#! Sooo discouraged!
I read through the forums, looking for clues. Looking for hope. I read a few peoples posts about eating enough to lose weight and I thought they had lost their minds. I mean, you have to starve to lose weight right? Even at 1200 calories, I was only netting about 800-900 because I wasn't eating back my exercise calories. In my mind, I figured the weight ought to be falling off of me! How wrong I was!!
I contacted hellitsdan and had him run my numbers to see what was up. He immediately set me up with the minimum of 1800 calories and said my TDEE was 2250. No way! I cried most of the night. It seemed so absurd to think that if I wasn't losing wieght at 800-1000 calories a day, that I would at 1800. Thankfully, I listened and was a good student!
Today marks my 1 month of eating this higher calorie diet and I won't ever go back! As of today, I have lost 4.4#, 6" off various measurements, most off my hips and thighs, and my BF% went from 28% to 24.6%!! Just think what next month may hold!
Anyone who is struggling with a VLCD and isn't finding sucess, please up your calories. You'll have more energy to work out and you won't be hungry!
Good luck to all of you on your weightloss and fitness journeys!
Kathy
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Replies
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I started with the 1200 mfp gave, but like you I went up on my calorie intake after reading the forums also..hope to see a difference myself.. keep up the great work!0
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Congrats! And thanks for posting this!
I think a lot of people (I'm one of them) are afraid to eat more because I know i used to think the less I ate the more I'd lose!
I've slowly been upping my calories so I am hoping that I will see some changes too!
:flowerforyou:
Edited to say: helloitsdan also has pointed me in the right direction!0 -
awesome i upped my calories i am eating like 150 more havent seen a change but i am doing 30 day shred and i think i am gaining muscle i guess i shall see ... its so empowering to be able to tweak this and that to make yourself healthier!!!!!!!!!0
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That is awesome! I wonder if he would run my numbers for me? I have no idea if I should up mine and what I should up them to. But I know things aren't working well. I don't always eat great, but I'm not usually terrible either.0
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been at a plateau for several months. Recently i started eating back my excersise calories but not upped my daily intake yet. But stories like yours and others make me feel better about doing it! Ive lost 95 lbs on low fat low cal small portions. So to up that scares the crap outta me! But i just the last few months started excersising and think i do need to up it all. I know i have about 10 pound s or more of extra skin that will never go away. And would prefer to be in my 130's...but with that said the 140's would be like the 130's if that makes sense! I cant seem to push these last 10 lbs! Its frustating! So needless to say im going to keep eating bk my excersise cals. See if that does anything and if not up my daily allowence too! Woohoo im so happy for ya! :happy:0
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I love it and congrats!! I have always ranged between 1800-2100 and in turn net 1200-1500 after exercise. I have lost 101 lbs and still losing. Down to my last 40 lbs and I keep waiting for the loss to slow but it hasn't so I just keep plugging away. Not gonna mess with a good thing that is working! Good luck and keep it up!0
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That's awesome! It's a mind-game because eating more calories - isn't that what got us here in the first place? I have had slow but good success since Jan 1 (10 lbs) but that's on the 1200. But how long can I sustain this? I am just starting to work out now, and am hungry! Think I will up my calories and give it a try! Thanks for the info!0
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:drinker: Woohoo! :drinker:
Welcome to the dark side, where we really do have cookies, and have enough calories to eat them.0 -
i have found the key is staying active. where i've gone wrong before is i ate more calories and didn't exercise, it ruined everything! as long as you're doing some kind of physical activity you can keep your metabolism high. if i would eat 1200 and not exercise, i would be back in the same position i was (25 lb heavier) in no time. but i have been able to eat more calories as long as i stay active. i am now up to about 1700-1800 and seeing if i can eat more and still keep it off. i also started at the low end and realized that just wasn't working for me. who wants to be starving all day? not me.0
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:drinker: Woohoo! :drinker:
Welcome to the dark side, where we really do have cookies, and have enough calories to eat them.
And pizza! :bigsmile:0 -
I'm so happy for you Kathy!! Glad you found what works for you. When I discovered I didn't have to starve to lose weight, I broke down and cried. I was also scared to eat more, but a really smart lady convinced me to give it a try (wink wink LorinaLynn) and I am SO glad I did!0
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:drinker: Woohoo! :drinker:
Welcome to the dark side, where we really do have cookies, and have enough calories to eat them.
HAHAHA! And wine.....0 -
bump0
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MFP set me a goal of 1,430 which for me is pretty low compared to how I can eat. I love to eat
But when I WORKOUT I earn extra calories which now I will be eating them for sure. ONE QUICK ? to eat back my calories I earned adding extra fruit or vegis can I also add like maybe a snack like: nutella toast or cheese and crackers or sumthing good?? 0 -
My girlfriend at the gym was having the same issue so I told her to add about 400 calories in high protein food. She had been dieting at working out for 3 months and only lost 4 lbs. One week eating the extra 400 calories in protein and she dropped 5 lbs in the one week. 3 pounds the next and she hasn't stopped. She came in to hug me and thanks me cuz "I am finally seeing results and my husband doesn't hide from by the evening because I am no longer turning into a bear!"0
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Love your post. I just began 1800/day i'm on my second week. I wish I did it sooner.0
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Great job! It is hard to wrap our minds around eating more to lose more, because we've been told for so long that to lose weight you must eat less & exercise more. Which I suppose is true if you're a couch potato shoveling junk food into your face all day long.
I like the way it's put in the book "The New Rules of Lifting For Women" by Lou Schuler:
"I hope I've convinced you by now that 'Eat less' is a formula for slowing down your resting metabolic rate. And 'Exercise more' is a way to increase your metabolic rate.
The combination, however, can be expressed this way: Slow down your metabolism while speeding it up.
Does that sound reasonable? if a financial adviser told you to run up your credit cards while putting away money in a savings account, would you take that advice? .... Would you say to your employees that you want them all to start working longer hours, and as a reward, you're going to pay them less?"
Gotta fuel that body if you're gonna work it! My daily intake right now is 1580 and I eat most of my exercise cals back most days. I don't leave myself hungry at the end of the day, that's for sure. I only have a few more pounds to go, so they are coming off slowly at this point. Or maybe I don't have any more pounds to lose, but fat, and muscle to build! Still reading the book & want to start lifting heavy and building more of that lean muscle. Which means upping my calories, I'm sure! Win win! 0 -
I'm a newbie at eating more calories so I can't speak for results. I can speak for more energy and better workouts. I need to meet this hellitsdan....:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:0
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i have found the key is staying active. where i've gone wrong before is i ate more calories and didn't exercise, it ruined everything! as long as you're doing some kind of physical activity you can keep your metabolism high. if i would eat 1200 and not exercise, i would be back in the same position i was (25 lb heavier) in no time. but i have been able to eat more calories as long as i stay active. i am now up to about 1700-1800 and seeing if i can eat more and still keep it off. i also started at the low end and realized that just wasn't working for me. who wants to be starving all day? not me.
I'm so glad to read success stories with upping calories and the point you make here is sooooo wonderful! I've yoyo-ed for a while and my thinking on upping calories used to be "but then I'll definitely gain weight because that's how I've gained weight before, by eating just a little bit more." But what's most important to remember is that those times I've gained weight I wasn't exercising as much as I'd like to believe and I was binge eating and junk food eating a lot more. I've just started raising calories a couple weeks ago and hope to start seeing the benefits, but I'm also making sure I exercise enough to earn those calories. Thanks for the reminder!0 -
You are so right, you can't lose weight on VLCD for some reason. I have tried it as well and failed. I am happy about your success.0
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