For the 500,000 time EATING MORE WORKS
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It hasn't worked for me :sad: That little ticker that says I have lost 5 pounds. I have gained 4 of it back in 2 weeks by upping my cals up to TDEE of 1600ish calories.
When should I see a loss? Am I one of the rare ones on here? I know what works for you might not work for me. I am thinking upping the calories is not for me. I will give it another week or so.
How long does it take ones to stall out, meaning their metabolism lowered? 2-3 weeks depending on several factors, sometimes longer if they barely are going under their BMR.
If you are exercising a fair bit, you are asking for your body to make improvements to the exercise, so actual weight loss may not be part of that focus.
Exercise is for body shaping and heart health.
Diet is for weight loss. Exercise can help on hinder that, depending on how you combine the two.
When you stop putting a load on your body, meaning it has met what you are pushing it through, or you slow down, then the focus is on diet and fat loss. Not that it can't happen already, just won't see it on the scale. Need the tape measure.
For instance, you can gain in probably 2-3 days 3lbs by just topping off depleted glucose stores for energy.
Don't let the initial water weight drop in 1 wk when you first started dieting fool you, it is NOT that fast.0 -
That sounds like it is really working for you!
Congratulations, keep up the hard work!0 -
www.fat2fitradio.com/tools - use the Military Bodyfat and then the BMR/Cal Calculatorshow do I calculate the amount of calories I need having TDEE and BMR?
Congratulations OP
So this is what confused me - I guess having a hard time wrapping my head around it...
according to that site, to get down to my goal weight, based on my current weight and bf% (as calculated by that site), I need to consume 1,966 calories a day. That would be me eating like the thinner, healthy person I want to be.
What?!? I just don't get that. I have been eating above 1200 calories - mostly around 1300-1400 most days (to net, but total) and for the last month, doing JM's Ripped in 30. I eat back some of the exercise calories. But eating almost 2,000 and I am supposed to lose weight on that?
I have a hard time coming to terms with that, I guess. Can anyone help explain that to me??
If you eat too low, or eat and exercise too much, your body is left with insufficient energy calories to take care of basic functions of life - BMR.
It must slow down to what it is getting. When it slows down, ALL your activity calories now actually burn less. You can keep losing, at slower rate.
Exercise too much and rob calories from what you eat too much below BMR, and once it slows down that much, you'll find yourself actually eating at maintenance level.0 -
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Don't let the initial water weight drop in 1 wk when you first started dieting fool you, it is NOT that fast.
It took me 6 weeks to lose 5 pounds on a 1200-1350 calories along with treadmill 30 minutes 3 x week minimum and weight machines 15 minutes . I am beginning to think my body is wired much different. I have never lost 5 lbs in a week. It would be nice though.0 -
ok, but I don't understand it, the reason most of us are here is because we ate high calories.......so how is eating high calories supposed to make us lose? I am 5ft 51/2 and at my highest 174 now at 146 and want to be at 135.........I cannot seem to lose that last 10 lbs! I am at 1200 cal/day but I work out 4 days a week and burn anywhere from 400-800 each time. I am scared as all hell to increase cals, ive worked so hard to just get here ya know?
I'm currently at the same height and weight as you... and also working on that last ten pounds! The scale is rarely moving for me! I have my MFP goals set to lose 1 pound a week. My calories are set at 1460. I feel like that is enough for me, but I still go over sometimes! Good luck with those last ten! I wanted to get there by the first week of June, but I think I'm going to have to alter my goals now!0 -
I haven't read through all 20 pages of this thread, so it may have been addressed already but do you all think that the QUALITY of those extra calories is important? Like if I want to up my calories by 300/day, I should eat nuts or cheese rather than have a bag of chips or a glass of wine? Does it matter WHAT you eat to add those calories?0
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ok, but I don't understand it, the reason most of us are here is because we ate high calories.......so how is eating high calories supposed to make us lose? I am 5ft 51/2 and at my highest 174 now at 146 and want to be at 135.........I cannot seem to lose that last 10 lbs! I am at 1200 cal/day but I work out 4 days a week and burn anywhere from 400-800 each time. I am scared as all hell to increase cals, ive worked so hard to just get here ya know?
I'm currently at the same height and weight as you... and also working on that last ten pounds! The scale is rarely moving for me! I have my MFP goals set to lose 1 pound a week. My calories are set at 1460. I feel like that is enough for me, but I still go over sometimes! Good luck with those last ten! I wanted to get there by the first week of June, but I think I'm going to have to alter my goals now!
One thing to remember, if you're already within a healthy weight range, and both of you ladies are, as someone who is 5'5" can attest to, you're going to be hard pressed to lose weight simply because you want to.
Also, please keep in mind you can absolutely increase your calories to a maintainence level without gaining so throwing an extra 300 on your daily total isn't going to bust the scale, or all the hard work you've done.
Hell, I'd love to weigh 125 like I did in high school, but that was 15 years ago, and ive put on muscle since then, and even at 145 I'm a size 4/6 with little to no flab. It's not just the number on the scale. The scale is a great tool to gauge your overall progress, but in the end, you need a wide variety of things to gauge it and every body is different. I am also 5'5", but at 135 I'd look sick.
And keep in mind, losing weight is not always the key, sometimes, you just want to change body composition, but that will entail staying the same weight or even gaining a couple of pounds.
I mean, wouldn't it be ok if you were to be 147-148, but a size smaller?0 -
I haven't read through all 20 pages of this thread, so it may have been addressed already but do you all think that the QUALITY of those extra calories is important? Like if I want to up my calories by 300/day, I should eat nuts or cheese rather than have a bag of chips or a glass of wine? Does it matter WHAT you eat to add those calories?
Since it is usually exercise taking away a decent amount of them, that means carbs is most useful. So wine would be fine. ha.
But if you have higher limit, but still well below your maintain TDEE level, you could plan a glass of wine every night! Pick the right one and get those health beneficts too.0 -
I have been on this journey since August 2011. I started at 345lbs, I am 6' tall, 55 yr. old male. I cut my calories to about 1900 and started to attempt to walk. I listened to fat2fit radio and raised my calories to 2100.
Because I was morbidly obese I still lost about 2 lbs per week for the first few months. The last couple of months my weight loss really begin to slow, maybe a pound a week at most. In March I walked 121 miles, at 2100 calories, and still lost only a couple of pounds. My reasoning for staying at 2100 calories was that I was still obese even though I had lost around 55 lbs, and that the lower calories might make my weight loss faster.
I was wrong, and it was becoming more obvious.
I re-did my calculations and realized again that I was eating under my BMR. With a fairly high level of exercise by walking I just wasn't getting enough fuel and my body was compensating. I felt more tired than I should with my exercise rather than energized. I have been walking 4-6 miles a day 4 to 6 days a week.
This last week I began to slowly raise my calories, eating 2400 to 2500. With my activity level I could easily eat 3,000 plus, but I didn't want to change that to fast. So far I have had more energy, and have started losing again - two pounds, which is all the faster I want to go. Don't want to loose muscle mass!. I will monitor my weight loss and probably add a few hundred more calories to my total over the next few weeks.
So far, so good, and one of the things that pushed me again in the right direction was this thread a couple other like it - thank you!!0 -
I have been on this journey since August 2011. I started at 345lbs, I am 6' tall, 55 yr. old male. I cut my calories to about 1900 and started to attempt to walk. I listened to fat2fit radio and raised my calories to 2100.
Because I was morbidly obese I still lost about 2 lbs per week for the first few months. The last couple of months my weight loss really begin to slow, maybe a pound a week at most. In March I walked 121 miles, at 2100 calories, and still lost only a couple of pounds. My reasoning for staying at 2100 calories was that I was still obese even though I had lost around 55 lbs, and that the lower calories might make my weight loss faster.
I was wrong, and it was becoming more obvious.
I re-did my calculations and realized again that I was eating under my BMR. With a fairly high level of exercise by walking I just wasn't getting enough fuel and my body was compensating. I felt more tired than I should with my exercise rather than energized. I have been walking 4-6 miles a day 4 to 6 days a week.
This last week I began to slowly raise my calories, eating 2400 to 2500. With my activity level I could easily eat 3,000 plus, but I didn't want to change that to fast. So far I have had more energy, and have started losing again - two pounds, which is all the faster I want to go. Don't want to loose muscle mass!. I will monitor my weight loss and probably add a few hundred more calories to my total over the next few weeks.
So far, so good, and one of the things that pushed me again in the right direction was this thread a couple other like it - thank you!!
That is excellent - well done.
It's important for people to recheck their settings every 10lbs or so, as BMR and activity levels may have changed.0 -
Star123bear, thank you! At last a website that takes in the kilos and cms.
Well, my maintenance should be 1,235 and for fat loss 988 cals. I'm not sure I can manage this. I'll try the 7 calories cycle.
I understand now why I am not losing weight, I was eating at maintenance level.
Thanks!
Whoa, 1235 and 988?? That sounds very "off" ... Did you mark the kg button instead of lbs??? I would re-check, and also make sure you select male / female - I'm very curious of your starting figures if you're getting this feedback!0 -
What works for you is not going to work for everyone. As for your results on the higher calories congrats.
But to really validate the change do the same thing for 2-3 weeks.0 -
What works for you is not going to work for everyone. As for your results on the higher calories congrats.
It's one of the unfortunate aspects of weight loss discussion. Some people, when they find out what works for them, try to proselytize others with all the fervor of a missionary.0 -
Congrats on your continued success... I'm loving this fact. I was always hungry on WW, rarely hungry using MFP though. I've lost 21 pounds since 2/1/12. I agree that it works. Lost weight much faster on MFP - love being able to track my fat, protein, fiber, and sodium.0
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I am going to try this and plug my information onto the site that was mentioned. Been doing this for 10 weeks now, and my weight loss has stopped since I started working out more in the last couple weeks.
Now which one should I go by?
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1965
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2215
What I do is walking/jogging working up to running 3-4 days a week. So should I go with the 1965 calories? That is a huge difference to me from 1200 but I will def try it out, willing to try anything 0 -
What works for you is not going to work for everyone. As for your results on the higher calories congrats.
It's one of the unfortunate aspects of weight loss discussion. Some people, when they find out what works for them, try to proselytize others with all the fervor of a missionary.
Only because if you read through even the posts in this topic, besides ALL the other topics started, regarding "I've stopped losing weight after so many weeks of decent loss", and those that broke through that same issue followed the advice last month, 2, 3 ,6 months ago, all discovered the facts of the way the human body adapts to extreme diet.
So it's great they want to spare as many as they can of the probably worse way of doing it. Still obtainable, but would there be a real benefit of making it harder than it needs to be?0 -
I too have been struggling with the scale moving. So if you use the "freedieting" calculator... are those calories (fat loss) the amount you should aim for each day as total calories and you can exercise, or do you "eat back" the exercise calories on the days you exercise... and add to the fat loss amount?
My calculations were
Maintenance = 2158
Fat Loss -= 1726
Extreme = 1360
As I look at my last 7 days net calories... I've ben down around the extreme level. But I do exercise almost every day ranging calorie burn 300-600 a day.
Always that fine line... am I eating too much or too little???
Did you select an activity level that included honest exercise?
If yes, no, if no, yes.
I found that site put the Extreme level 200 below my BMR - not good at all.
I think that site is going to have people shooting themselves in their metabolism if not careful.
Sounds like you've been eating too little to me just based on your given figures.
Also, I like how it was put... if you selected an honest level of exercise on the calculator, then you would "not" eat your exercise calories back because they're already included... this just requires that you get that amount of exercise regularly, without fail. Personally, unless I had a job where I was running around all day, I would use sedentary and add my workouts to MFP's exercise diary for my calories to be added back because my activity level varies from day to day, but that's me.
In re: to this comment >>I found that site put the Extreme level 200 below my BMR - not good at all.
I think that site is going to have people shooting themselves in their metabolism if not careful.<<
This has not been my experience, but that's good to know... Perhaps you should also use a BMR calculator to figure out what that number is to make sure you don't go below that. I wouldn't ever suggest going below BMR or even eating AT BMR as I mentioned in the original post. Really, honestly, people should be eating at their "fat loss" level to be safe. It's not a race... it's about your health! You'll lose faster in the long run if you don't try to over-do it and give your body what it needs. Slow and steady wins the race!
Also, I just want to say that it's VERY common to pack on a little weight in the beginning of this style of eating, especially if you're exercising... then it starts coming off. Don't be fooled and think it doesn't work. Try not to obsess over the scale... buy a tape measure - take your measurements... take before photos. The scale is not the only tool to help you understand what's going on with your body. Rely on measurements more whenever you start something new like this. I'd rather fit into my smaller size jeans than see the scale go down 5 lbs, although both would be nice. :happy: With anything, give it time... it will happen. You didn't put the weight on overnight, it's not going to come off overnight. Be patient and don't freak out! A 2-5 lb swing can, and very likely will happen. I like to think of it this way: Unless you ate your maintenance calories plus 17,500 calories (5 lbs) in one day, that 5 lb swing is not "real" gain, but rather likely glycogen / water weight.
Hope this clarifies some of the confusion... I still like that calculator on freedieting.com just because it's a lot more straightforward for most folks... but now that I see some additional feedback on the "extreme" figure, I would caution you to also figure out what your BMR is to be sure you're not short changing yourself.
Happy eating everyone!
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For everyone that wants to make it a little easier on themselves, go to freedieting.com, then go to the Calorie Calculator to figure your Daily Calorie Needs - here's the link: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
While this won't give you the exact same figures with doing all the math that the fat2fit.com site will give you, you'll be in the same ballpark that you need to be in to lose weight at a healthy level. I've done quite a few comparisons with real live people in my weight loss group.
It doesn't call the numbers it spits out "TDEE" or "BMR" but really, it's about the same (extremely close) when I did my calculations.
I set the figures for myself at sedentary because I don't have a job that I'm walking around all day, but you could be different. I also log my workouts via MFP, so I add my exercise calories back.
Just understand:
Maintenance = your current TDEE (as you lose weight, you'll want to re-check this periodically as it will go down)
Fat Loss = what you should set up in MFP to be your daily goal - this will allow you to get down to a healthy level of weight.
Extreme Fat Loss= what not to go below or stay at for very long in order to avoid plateaus / "starvation mode" I find that this number was close to my BMR as calculated on fat2fit.com
It just seems like a lot of folks are very confused on how to do the calculations - with this calculator at freedieting.com, you don't need to do all that, and it doesn't require a measuring tape - while it's not exact, it's pretty darned close. Just be sure you select the male or female button so you're not over-eating - default is male. :-D
Hope this helps! It's encouraging to see multiple calculators spit out figures telling me I need to eat more! :bigsmile:
Thank you for posting this! That helps a lot and made things super simple.0 -
Instead of starting a new thread I thought I'd do a search and find this one and leave a comment.
I'd been stalled at 187lbs for about 3 weeks with essentially nothing changing in my training or diet. I'd been losing a steady 1 to 1.5 pounds a week and then nothing. So for the past week I bumped up my caloric limit by 300. From 1860 a day to 2160. Even at 2160 I still ate my exercise calories back and today when I did my weigh in I'm down ONE pound!
So I'm happy. According to my Tanita bodyfat scale I'm at 11.8% bodyfat but I know that's not accurate. Nice to look at though.:happy:0 -
congratulations!Instead of starting a new thread I thought I'd do a search and find this one and leave a comment.
I'd been stalled at 187lbs for about 3 weeks with essentially nothing changing in my training or diet. I'd been losing a steady 1 to 1.5 pounds a week and then nothing. So for the past week I bumped up my caloric limit by 300. From 1860 a day to 2160. Even at 2160 I still ate my exercise calories back and today when I did my weigh in I'm down ONE pound!
So I'm happy. According to my Tanita bodyfat scale I'm at 11.8% bodyfat but I know that's not accurate. Nice to look at though.:happy:0 -
Thanks!0
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I just want to say thanks to heybales for all the help on the original thread. As a newbie it was very confusing for me but I think I finally get it. I've been slowing down the intensity of my workout regimen and eating more calories and I'm down 2 lbs already.
Thank you!!0 -
Just commenting so I can follow the thread.0
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Just commenting so I can follow the thread.
Me too0 -
ok, so you all almost have me convinced. So, I am 5'9'' and I have lost 16 lbs here so far, but recently I have been stuck, for about 3 weeks now. I have gotten really into exercise and have been biking 10-15 miles a day 4-5 days a week at about 18 mph. I also do some light weight training 2-3 days a week. Before now, I was eating 1300-1600 calories a day and eating back some of my exercise calories because mfp overestimates.
I think after reading all these threads, it seems clear that I have been undereating, but I don't know what to up my calories to in order to fix it if I want to keep up the exercise. Do I just eat at maintenance? *oh, and how many should I shoot for on days that I don't workout? HELPPP
Also, how long did it take you all to start losing again after you did this?0 -
me three
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ok, so you all almost have me convinced. So, I am 5'9'' and I have lost 16 lbs here so far, but recently I have been stuck, for about 3 weeks now. I have gotten really into exercise and have been biking 10-15 miles a day 4-5 days a week at about 18 mph. I also do some light weight training 2-3 days a week. Before now, I was eating 1300-1600 calories a day and eating back some of my exercise calories because mfp overestimates.
I think after reading all these threads, it seems clear that I have been undereating, but I don't know what to up my calories to in order to fix it if I want to keep up the exercise. Do I just eat at maintenance? HELPPP
Also, how long did it take you all to start losing again after you did this?
Just start eating back some more of your exercise calories. If you're worried about going over, get a heart rate monitor for your cardio sessions, so you can better track your calories out. If you don't feel hungry, you might want to try simply drinking a protein shake (or chocolate milk) after your workouts. It's a pretty easy way to add 100-300 calories without feeling like you're force-feeding yourself.0 -
Bump0
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this is very helpful i too feel like it is impossible to continue to keep a steady decline in weight when i exercise regularly and eat right. i for instance work out six days a week cyle twice a week, zumba twice a week, weight train twice a week and two hours of cardio five days a week. i eat healthy meals and snacks and even still at the end of the night i have over a 1000+ calories to try to eat. its crazy. i get tired of eating literally. so now my weight loss has stopped all together. i am lost, i don't want to eat a bunch of b.s to use up the calories and i don't want to start skipping out on the gym but i need to get these last 25 pounds off and i don't know how.0
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The first time I tried MFP, I was on a strict 1200-calorie diet, rarely eating back my calories on workout days. I didn't lose a single pound. Or, if I did, I would gain it back within a couple of weeks. It never occurred to me that this was because I wasn't eating enough. I always thought that in order to lose weight you had to eat less calories than you were burning, it seems so backwards and unnatural to up the calories to lose the weight.
This time, I am educating myself, and understanding that my body needs fuel to go. I try not to weigh myself every day, but I already FEEL better. For the past year I thought there was something wrong with me because I was exhausted all the time, it's because I wasn't eating enough.
I get it now Thanks for the post! 0
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