Weight loss stalled after upping calories to BMR
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one question-how do you feel? if you feel more energetic, not hungry all the time, not cranky then it's better and give it time. You can't live the rest of your life going around always hungry, right? Hopefully this is a lifestyle change, not a quickie fix to lose weight and then go back to bad habits.
I feel a lot better, I am not having to severely restrict myself and if I feel hungry in between meals I know that I can have a snacka nd it won't send me way over.0 -
Eat wayyyyyyy above BMR to have a good diet.
Way above.
like closer to 2k a day.0 -
Eating at bmr is a bad idea period. BMR is defined as basal metabolic rate so basically what the body burns when totally at rest, this has nothing to do with losing fat in a healthy manner as the moment you get up, move, eat, workout you are burning way more than BMR. The cals in cals out formula is flawed, eating at bmr will cause muscle loss once you are leaner if you are obese then fine. Losing muscle=slower metabolic rate so you are making yourself more unhealthy and worse of than when you started. Here is an example to clear thing up:
My BMR is 1800 cals/day
My total daily expenditure or TDEE (this is where you determine the deficit needed btw) is 2540-3000 (active lifestyle)
so to shed 1 lb/wk (500 cal/day deficit) I eat 2040 which is way above my bmr and I eat back all the exercise cals at that goal. When you joined mfp, put in your data and goal they already determined the calories needed to meet that goal WITHOUT any exercise this is why you get to eat back the exercise calories and still lose that weight. Eat woman, stop scale obsessing and learn to go by how your clothes fit and how you feel. The true measure of health is not a scale nor is it your BMI, these are 2 totally useless measures of health. Learn instead to focus on bodyfat %, measurements and then you will find a healthier, happier, slimmer you.
when someone has a lot of fat to lose they can eat under bmr and if they do strength training and eat enough protein will not be at riskfor losing muscle.
Maybe they CAN, but isn't it more sustainable and enjoyable if they can eat a bit more, and still lose weight?
personally, I would much rather be eating 1600 and losing, than eating 1200 and losing.0 -
Mine did too at first and then I started losing again. Everything with time!0
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Eat woman, stop scale obsessing and learn to go by how your clothes fit and how you feel. The true measure of health is not a scale nor is it your BMI, these are 2 totally useless measures of health. Learn instead to focus on bodyfat %, measurements and then you will find a healthier, happier, slimmer you.
And yet, your tracker at the bottom of your post reports pounds you have lost. The scale must mean something, right?0 -
Eating at bmr is a bad idea period. BMR is defined as basal metabolic rate so basically what the body burns when totally at rest, this has nothing to do with losing fat in a healthy manner as the moment you get up, move, eat, workout you are burning way more than BMR. The cals in cals out formula is flawed, eating at bmr will cause muscle loss once you are leaner if you are obese then fine. Losing muscle=slower metabolic rate so you are making yourself more unhealthy and worse of than when you started. Here is an example to clear thing up:
My BMR is 1800 cals/day
My total daily expenditure or TDEE (this is where you determine the deficit needed btw) is 2540-3000 (active lifestyle)
so to shed 1 lb/wk (500 cal/day deficit) I eat 2040 which is way above my bmr and I eat back all the exercise cals at that goal. When you joined mfp, put in your data and goal they already determined the calories needed to meet that goal WITHOUT any exercise this is why you get to eat back the exercise calories and still lose that weight. Eat woman, stop scale obsessing and learn to go by how your clothes fit and how you feel. The true measure of health is not a scale nor is it your BMI, these are 2 totally useless measures of health. Learn instead to focus on bodyfat %, measurements and then you will find a healthier, happier, slimmer you.
when someone has a lot of fat to lose they can eat under bmr and if they do strength training and eat enough protein will not be at riskfor losing muscle.
Maybe they CAN, but isn't it more sustainable and enjoyable if they can eat a bit more, and still lose weight?
personally, I would much rather be eating 1600 and losing, than eating 1200 and losing.
But they also get to eat back exercise calories so if you were set at 1200 and burn 700, you get to eat 1900.0 -
Eating at bmr is a bad idea period. BMR is defined as basal metabolic rate so basically what the body burns when totally at rest, this has nothing to do with losing fat in a healthy manner as the moment you get up, move, eat, workout you are burning way more than BMR. The cals in cals out formula is flawed, eating at bmr will cause muscle loss once you are leaner if you are obese then fine. Losing muscle=slower metabolic rate so you are making yourself more unhealthy and worse of than when you started. Here is an example to clear thing up:
My BMR is 1800 cals/day
My total daily expenditure or TDEE (this is where you determine the deficit needed btw) is 2540-3000 (active lifestyle)
so to shed 1 lb/wk (500 cal/day deficit) I eat 2040 which is way above my bmr and I eat back all the exercise cals at that goal. When you joined mfp, put in your data and goal they already determined the calories needed to meet that goal WITHOUT any exercise this is why you get to eat back the exercise calories and still lose that weight. Eat woman, stop scale obsessing and learn to go by how your clothes fit and how you feel. The true measure of health is not a scale nor is it your BMI, these are 2 totally useless measures of health. Learn instead to focus on bodyfat %, measurements and then you will find a healthier, happier, slimmer you.
when someone has a lot of fat to lose they can eat under bmr and if they do strength training and eat enough protein will not be at riskfor losing muscle.
Maybe they CAN, but isn't it more sustainable and enjoyable if they can eat a bit more, and still lose weight?
personally, I would much rather be eating 1600 and losing, than eating 1200 and losing.
But they also get to eat back exercise calories so if you were set at 1200 and burn 700, you get to eat 1900.
1200 calories is the BARE min any living breathing human should be eating....which means if you exercise you are neting lower than 1200, even with eating back all of your exercise calories your net would be 1200. Thats why shooting for a higher calorie goal is better. Esp. if you are burning 700 calories in a work out you would need a lot more food to fuel the body0 -
You can gain 1- 2 pounds depending on what point in your cycle you are in, regardless of the amount of calories you are consuming. You need to weigh at the same point in your cycle each month to accurately compare the numbers.
I don't know why anyone is encouraged to eat so little. Yes, the weight may come off faster, but it's doubtful that many people can sustain a 1200 calorie a day diet in the long run.
The easiest way to get to eat more while still losing weight is to MOVE MORE. Daily activities that are not exercise in the strict sense add up quickly in the overall calorie burn for the day (TDEE).0 -
Bump0
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If you're in a health degree you also will have learnt that BMI is a notoriously bad measure of how healthy someone is - it is AT BEST a rough, rough guide able to be used in research. Too many things can influence it for it to be generalisable to everyone, it is only based on statistics and averages.
Despite that, check out the thread in the food and nutrition board of the site with about 19 or 20 pages of posts about upping calories. It links to a great website which lets you input your current weight, goal weight etc etc and comes up with a healthy figure of what you should be eating each day to achieve your goal weight. ( http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ )
To the OP! Keep hope! Depending on how long you've been eating like this and your individual body, you may need a little bit more time to adjust and stop your body from thinking that it needs to conserve energy to feed your every day body needs. I've been trying this and, despite an initial gain, I am almost back at my pre-upipng level, feeling much healthier and more energetic with the prospects of losing the weight i want to lose looking better and better! 0 -
I put on weight when I upped my calories to 1600 for a month. I am down to 1500 cals a day now and seem to be maintaining, though I am under calories most days.0
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depends on your goals, if you still trying to lose id cut the cals a tiny but under bmr, if you want to maintain just eat at bmr just be careful not to binge on weekends as it will put you over for the week.
Eating at BMR isn't maintenance unless you're in a coma. Eating at TDEE is maintenance.0 -
If you're in a health degree you also will have learnt that BMI is a notoriously bad measure of how healthy someone is - it is AT BEST a rough, rough guide able to be used in research. Too many things can influence it for it to be generalisable to everyone, it is only based on statistics and averages. Despite that, check out the thread in the food and nutrition board of the site with about 19 or 20 pages of posts about upping calories. It links to a great website which lets you input your current weight, goal weight etc etc and comes up with a healthy figure of what you should be eating each day to achieve your goal weight. ( http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ )
To the OP! Keep hope! Depending on how long you've been eating like this and your individual body, you may need a little bit more time to adjust and stop your body from thinking that it needs to conserve energy to feed your every day body needs. I've been trying this and, despite an initial gain, I am almost back at my pre-upipng level, feeling much healthier and more energetic with the prospects of losing the weight i want to lose looking better and better!
Thank you for the link to that website, it shows that I am eating enough for my activity level 0 -
depends on your goals, if you still trying to lose id cut the cals a tiny but under bmr, if you want to maintain just eat at bmr just be careful not to binge on weekends as it will put you over for the week.
This is incorrect. Eating at BMR is eating in a deficit and you will lose. I am assuming the person who posted this is thinking about TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). If you eat at your TDEE you will maintain. If you eat at your BMR you will lose.0 -
Eating at bmr is a bad idea period. BMR is defined as basal metabolic rate so basically what the body burns when totally at rest, this has nothing to do with losing fat in a healthy manner as the moment you get up, move, eat, workout you are burning way more than BMR. The cals in cals out formula is flawed, eating at bmr will cause muscle loss once you are leaner if you are obese then fine. Losing muscle=slower metabolic rate so you are making yourself more unhealthy and worse of than when you started. Here is an example to clear thing up:
My BMR is 1800 cals/day
My total daily expenditure or TDEE (this is where you determine the deficit needed btw) is 2540-3000 (active lifestyle)
so to shed 1 lb/wk (500 cal/day deficit) I eat 2040 which is way above my bmr and I eat back all the exercise cals at that goal. When you joined mfp, put in your data and goal they already determined the calories needed to meet that goal WITHOUT any exercise this is why you get to eat back the exercise calories and still lose that weight. Eat woman, stop scale obsessing and learn to go by how your clothes fit and how you feel. The true measure of health is not a scale nor is it your BMI, these are 2 totally useless measures of health. Learn instead to focus on bodyfat %, measurements and then you will find a healthier, happier, slimmer you.
The thing is MFP will put this person, and pretty much every person I have seen below their BMR for calories. If they eat at least their BMR it is far better than if they eat below it. Look at her numbers, MFP has her eating 1264, well below her BMR. Eating at BMR would be far preferable and go a long way to maintain muscle mass.0 -
This is all very confusing. I've been eating about 1400 calories/day (400 less than my BMR) and I've felt a little hungry, but much better than I did when I was eating junk all the time. I don't feel like I'm about to faint like everyone says you should if you are eating below BMR.
But, I also want to do this the healthy way, so I have set my goal to eat above 1850 calories (my BMR). And of course I would lose eating 1400 calories or less than that, but I don't want it to be unhealthy for me. I've done the starvation thing before. It worked great. It's not like it didn't--but I'm at a point in my life where the results aren't all the matter.
I'm just gonna trust in people who say I should eat at least my BMR. It seems crazy, scary, stupid, and totally illogical, but then again, I don't know a bit about nutritional science. We'll see.0 -
Also, to get to the weight I am now, wouldn't I have had to be eating WAY above my BMR before anyway? It seems kind of hard to believe because I didn't eat as frequently as I do now, but I guess it has to be true. Right?0
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~ I'm going to give you a different approach ... Please note that calories are not just calories consumed. Weightloss is significantly determined by what you eat. Try eating more " One Ingredient " foods ... reduce your sugar intake. People will say you can lose weight eating anything you want as long as your under that " magic " number. And in the beginning if you have a lot to lose this is true .. because your body was so accustomed to eating 3,000+ calories every day ... that a reduction intake at any number will result in loss. If you have a lot of weight to lose ... you can reduce your diet to a 1200 - 1400 cal a day and not worry about losing any muscle ... at this point the body fat certainly out weighs any muscle you do have and will be lost first.
BUT ... as you get closer to your goal ... it will be time to take things much more seriously and educate yourself on what your body needs to excel. Learn the power foods, do your research, exercise daily ( changing it up with cardio / strength ). You will begin to define your muscles and fuel your body as needed.
Don't get caught up in all the BMR drama in the beginning ... there will be plenty of time for that later on. I don't mean to discount any advice people are giving in any way, shape or form. I just know from personal experience that after you drop the majority of the weight, you will most likely hit a plateau ... what you do from that point forward will determine your success. In any case ... do NOT starve yourself and NEVER give up. The best advice available is " Change " ... whatever isn't working for you ... change it up ... just keep tweaking it until you find what works best.
Always remember this :
3500 calories burned = 1 pound lost ( in order to lose 1 pound a week you must have a 500 cal deficit daily ... so in order to lose more ... you must exercise more ) 7 x 500 = 3500
Although that formula sounds so simple ... it can easily be sabotaged by grossly under estimated calories consumed and or exaggerated calories burned by exercise. If you don't have an HRM .. I suggest you get one, get as close to the real numbers as possible. Log every single thing ... the best tool is knowledge !
I wish you the very best and look forward to reading your next forum about how you were able to achieve your goals !
Have a GREAT day ! :flowerforyou:0 -
I know this is all very confusing, and what works for other people may not work for you. There are lots of helpful things people have posted so you just have to take away a little from each and make it work for you. I perused your food diary. To me it seems you need to balance your meals out better. ALWAYS eat breakfast. Lots of protein, good carbs and good fats. If you don't like to eat breakfast you can use a protein shake (although I do this sometimes, I don't really condone not eating your calories). Add in more fruits and veggies....low in calories but good protein and fiber and will help keep you full. Step away from things like chips or fries, things that are breaded or fried. If you slip up, don't stress, just get back to it with the next meal.So far this has worked for me. Keep you chin up and try not to get overwhelmed. If you are going to weigh, only weigh once a week on the same day in the morning before you eat, exercise, or even drink water. Take measurements! Good luck!
PS and lots of water!
HT 5'4"
SW 218
CW 187
GW 170 (for now)
Ultimate GW 150
I work out cardio/weights 5 days a week.0 -
laney540
~ I'm going to give you a different approach ... Please note that calories are not just calories consumed. Weightloss is significantly determined by what you eat. Try eating more " One Ingredient " foods ... reduce your sugar intake. People will say you can lose weight eating anything you want as long as your under that " magic " number. And in the beginning if you have a lot to lose this is true .. because your body was so accustomed to eating 3,000+ calories every day ... that a reduction intake at any number will result in loss. If you have a lot of weight to lose ... you can reduce your diet to a 1200 - 1400 cal a day and not worry about losing any muscle ... at this point the body fat certainly out weighs any muscle you do have and will be lost first.
BUT ... as you get closer to your goal ... it will be time to take things much more seriously and educate yourself on what your body needs to excel. Learn the power foods, do your research, exercise daily ( changing it up with cardio / strength ). You will begin to define your muscles and fuel your body as needed.
Don't get caught up in all the BMR drama in the beginning ... there will be plenty of time for that later on. I don't mean to discount any advice people are giving in any way, shape or form. I just know from personal experience that after you drop the majority of the weight, you will most likely hit a plateau ... what you do from that point forward will determine your success. In any case ... do NOT starve yourself and NEVER give up. The best advice available is " Change " ... whatever isn't working for you ... change it up ... just keep tweaking it until you find what works best.
Always remember this :
3500 calories burned = 1 pound lost ( in order to lose 1 pound a week you must have a 500 cal deficit daily ... so in order to lose more ... you must exercise more ) 7 x 500 = 3500
Although that formula sounds so simple ... it can easily be sabotaged by grossly under estimated calories consumed and or exaggerated calories burned by exercise. If you don't have an HRM .. I suggest you get one, get as close to the real numbers as possible. Log every single thing ... the best tool is knowledge !
I wish you the very best and look forward to reading your next forum about how you were able to achieve your goals !
Have a GREAT day ! :flowerforyou:
This^^
Exactly how it should be done0
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