Lost 7 lbs since last Thursday by eating MORE!

Picturesque2u

Congrats! I also lost more weight by eating more... Now I'm stuck at 20 lbs lost. It's time for me to lift weights.

Laurakc89

Thanks for this... I'm hungry, thinking this may be a good sign that I need to up my cals (with healthy additions) but was reluctant as I'm already at 1350. I'll follow some advice and listen to my body

jingoace

bump to read later... good info in here!

lainiegee

Good for you! I still don't understand the eating back your calories deal...sigh...

I dont understand that bit either:ohwell: i do a bit of exercise and 'earn more calories' but i thought you had to burn more than you eat to lose weight? I am also finding it difficult (mind you i am onlyon day 3) to eat all the extra calories i have 'earned' as i feel i have eaten all i want/need. Maybe someone else can help us out? Pleeease.

Divagettinfitin2011

Bump!

southrider

Bump!!

Sarauk2sf

I hope this works. ive currently been eating 1200 calories a day and trying to not eat back my exercise calories-some days i do.

If I get this right:my TDEE # is 2260.
My BMR # is 2013.
So I SHOULD be eating between 2013-2260 calories a day?

EX. i choose to eat 2150 calories a day(between my 2 #'s),
but i exercise and burn 430 calories today.
Brings me back down to 1720 cals a day.
I should eat back that 430 exercise cals?

PLS help me........

YES EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES!! you should be eating a NET total of 2013-2260 per day. yes. yes. yes. yes.

*thank you SLEEPYTEXAN. 1200 seems soooo few and im always hungry.i hope eating more lol will help me lose some weight. thanks again

I would double check to make sure the 2260 had your deficit baked in and whether it has your exercise baked in. There are a couple of different sites, and while they all you the same math, more or less, you need to be careful that you have the correct base numbers. Which site/tool did you use?

Sarauk2sf

Good for you! I still don't understand the eating back your calories deal...sigh...

I dont understand that bit either:ohwell: i do a bit of exercise and 'earn more calories' but i thought you had to burn more than you eat to lose weight? I am also finding it difficult (mind you i am onlyon day 3) to eat all the extra calories i have 'earned' as i feel i have eaten all i want/need. Maybe someone else can help us out? Pleeease.

As long as you are eating healthily, the more food the better, as long as you have an appropriate deficit between calories in and calories out. The best way to lose weigh in a sustainable manner is to not have it like a diet that you deprive yourself. So exercising means you can eat more and it has additional health benefits. The appropriate deficit is very important - too small and you will lose slowly and too high you will also lose slowly and lose a greater proportion of lean muscle mass v fat.

For a better explanation, go to this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map?

Sarauk2sf

I also upped my calories last week after reading so much on here about it and running my numbers. This week after upping, I lost 8.6 lbs! I calculated my TDEE with no exercise and then ate back most or all of my activity. I know this week was a lot of water weight or what not and that's not going to be realistic every week. But I was losing & gaining the same 3-4 lbs for about 2 months, so I'm totally on board with eating more calories...lol. I'm completely satisfied and actually have energy. At first it was a little hard to figure out how to eat so many calories (2100), but now I use REAL olive oil on my omelets instead of PAM. And guess what, I use real eggs instead of egg beaters, or egg whites! My body is thanking me too!

PS: I have 100+ to lose and want to make sure I do it healthy this time!

ive been curious about this.so eating more really does help lose wight. Does anyone know how to change this on my profile. cuz my food meter says 1200 calories a day.thants too few. how can i change it to say 2000 a day and track my food?

Go to:

My Home, Goals and then click 'change goals' button - the first line in the table has your target calories- over-ride and save.

jennkess

I hear a lot of talk about upping calories, is that only really effective for people working out pretty intensely? or maybe people eating so little calories that they are starving. I would think it wouldn't help someone only doing a light amount of exercise. Like me, I am on 1700 calories (I am 5'10", so it's not all that much) and I am just doing 30 minutes of cardio 3x/week. I am guessing eating more calories would not have the same effect in this case, am I right?

This is also my question because I'm admittedly very sedentary. I get in what I can, when I can, which comes out to twice as much as I did before joining MFP, but I didn't even include exercise in my goals because it's so irregular. That's not going to change any time soon due to my schedule/life style, so I'm worried that changing my formula is only going to send me backwards. How do you know when to up your calories?

your body needs fuel (calories) to live.... you shouldn't eat below your RMR . Calculate your TDEE as light or sedentary-- subtract 20% and there is your daily goal #. if you do happen to exercise then add a few more calories for the day to fuel/repair the muscles you just worked..... you won't need much just a larger portion of chicken at dinner , or a protein bar or shake.

and as others have said once you change give it a few weeks for your body to figure out what you are doing to it... then continue to add / subtract until you find what works for YOU. good luck

aotto87

Bump for later

maipai21

It works! I upped my cals a little over a week ago. I eat my BMR (1700) plus any exercise calories I earn. Gained initially then dropped 4lbs out of nowhere plus the initial gain! I'm a believer! AND I have sooo much more energy, feel less guilty about eating, and I'm a lot less cranky!

dovesgate

I hear a lot of talk about upping calories, is that only really effective for people working out pretty intensely? or maybe people eating so little calories that they are starving. I would think it wouldn't help someone only doing a light amount of exercise. Like me, I am on 1700 calories (I am 5'10", so it's not all that much) and I am just doing 30 minutes of cardio 3x/week. I am guessing eating more calories would not have the same effect in this case, am I right?

This is also my question because I'm admittedly very sedentary. I get in what I can, when I can, which comes out to twice as much as I did before joining MFP, but I didn't even include exercise in my goals because it's so irregular. That's not going to change any time soon due to my schedule/life style, so I'm worried that changing my formula is only going to send me backwards. How do you know when to up your calories?

I initially upped my calories as soon as I started bouncing between a few numbers no matter what I did such as lower sodium intake, increase water, or increase exercise.

I usually work out (dance or walk) roughly 30-45 minutes 3 times per week and I really need to add some sort of lifting/calisthetics program on Tuesday and Thursday but I haven't gotten around to it yet - maybe I'll do 30DS's weights portions those days.

I started off at 1200 cal per day and am now eating above my BMR at 1470 based on reading the research that all the pro-high cal people have put out there. Of course, I'm late to the party as I just started eating my BMR last week and I ought to be just over 2000 calories. I'm scared to eat that much so it's babysteps for me. However I have to say it's been heaven being able to eat 1470.

Oh and the important part - there was an initial weight gain of 3.4 pounds (from 205.4-208.8) but as of this morning I was at 204.8. I'll keep eating at 1470 until I start wavering again and then I will bump another hundred or two calories.

I used Helloitsdan's website link too. I highly recommend calculating out what your BMR is and at least bumping to that.

mrswinstead

Bump

betholiver

bump

JeSuisPrest

Awesome....I love when the realization hits that we don't we have to starve ourselves to do this!! Congrats to all of you who have upped your calories!!!

HoosierMomma1

Same for me. I stalled at 8 pounds lost for 2.5 months ( talk about frustrating) I upped my calories fromm1200 to 1500 then finally to 1800. When I hit 1800 last Thursday I started losing again and have lost almost 4 pounds in 4 days. Itbwas seriously the answer or me.
Theresa

lushunn32

Bump

ivetteo21

Hi! Are you talking about net calories here? Thanks!

SwimKitty

what is the BMI/TDEE thing I have been hearing about? what site did you use?

Check out this group : http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

Be sure to read the stickies - has all the info you need to get started.