Tried to eat more it does not work
Replies
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Use this handy calculator to see how many calories your body actually needs per day to stay alive http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Never eat less than your BMR. Ever.
Adjust your calorie goal to TDEE - 15% (TDEE number * .85).
Yes, it can take your body more than a week or two (or three, or four) to readjust back to proper functioning, but it will lose fat when it is being nourished with real food, in sufficient quantities.
No diet shakes required! :flowerforyou:0 -
Okay, so don't eat back your exercise calories and don't eat enough for your body to do it's job. Why are you even posting about it then? Is eating too little working for you? Fabulous. Continue starving yourself then.
I do agree with this, but I suppose to each their own. I, personally, prefer to feel full & have energy. If you LIKE to feel hungry & weak all the time, then cheers to you. I'm in it to not only lose the weight but become strong and healthy and develop a lifestyle that I can sustain for the rest of my life. Best wishes and best of luck. :flowerforyou:0 -
Best way to start a fight on the internet: Forget politics and religion, talk about your opinions on losing weight.
1) Should she eat more? Maybe. Probably.
2) Will she lose weight eating the way she is? Obviously yes. The biggest myth I see on these boards is that you can eat too little to lose any weight. As a general statement, that is crazy talk. Anorexia-stricken people do not have any trouble getting skinny. People in forced labor camps aren't flabby. Use your brains, folks. You can eat too little for health, you can slow your metabolism down, you can have increased difficulty losing weight at the same speed as your metabolism lowers, but no, you can't net 500 calories a day and not lose fat. If you are genuinely netting 500 calories a day and not losing weight, you are a medical MIRACLE or simply underestimating your calorie intake or overestimating your TDEE.
3) Long term, it is better to deficit 500 calories a day (of total burned, not your BMR, folks), not as many as you can per day. A great calorie deficit might trigger your body to try to make up for it in ways that will eventually sabotage your weight loss plan. Additionally, the less you eat, the more likely it is that you miss out on important vitamins and enzymes that are difficult to get back through pills and enriched drinks.
Very well put0 -
If your body gets used to eating so little, what do u think will happen when you start eating normal again? Not going to be able to maintain just gain! good luck on your journey and hopefully you can become a healthier you!
I was eating only around 500 calories before so l am eating lots more and my body is happy now with this amount everyday.
I tried to eat more and l just would be sick in the tummy with pain as l was putting to much food in my body. I will not be doing that any more.
ultimately this is YOUR goal and YOUR challenge and YOUR life, you definitely need to do what you think is best for YOU. A 2000 calorie diet is what the average person should consume, that is what all nutrition labels are based on, sometimes that is not even enough.
Before you blow everyone off I would consult a physician to ensure you are doing what’s right and healthy for your plan and diet. No use in losing all that weight just to get sick.
GOOD suggestion. I would add to make sure to see a nutritionist rather than just your regular doctor as well. You may not feel like you're starving but if you subsist on 500 calories a day then your body has to be starving. I don't even know how you manage that.0 -
Use this handy calculator to see how many calories your body actually needs per day to stay alive http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Never eat less than your BMR. Ever.
Adjust your calorie goal to TDEE - 15% (TDEE number * .85).
Yes, it can take your body more than a week or two (or three, or four) to readjust back to proper functioning, but it will lose fat when it is being nourished with real food, in sufficient quantities.
No diet shakes required! :flowerforyou:
That calculator makes your TDEE wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too high ! That's more calories than I have ever ate in my lifetime, would not be on this website if that was the case0 -
I lost 15lbs eating MFPs recommended 1200 cals a day for three months... then I didn't lose any weight for 3 months still eating 1200 cals a day. My body adjusted to eating so little and my metabolism slowed.
You need to net your BMR... BMR is the carlories your body needs to support its NECESSARY LIFE FUNCTIONS, not even taking into account any energy needed to support your body as soon as you step out of bed.
Calculate your TDEE based on your activity level (www.fitnessfrog.com has a good one) and then take TDEE times .8 or .9 and set that as your daily calorie goal.
Get a heart rate monitor and use that to determine how much you are actually burning during cardio workouts. Get a food scale and weigh everything you eat. A lot of people, myself included, underestimate portions and how many cals are in their food and overestimate how many cals they are burning during a workout.0 -
I agree with you!!! I was told the same thing because I range anywhere from 1000-1200 a day and I am losing about 1-2 pounds a week. When I eat more I don't do so well. Everyone is different and I'm not going to force myself to eat just to get over 1200 calories. That's crazy to me. Your body has a way of telling you to eat hungry so if your not feeling it don't do it.
Thanks for that l agree..I do eat every 2-3 hours throughout the day so l am keeping my body in fuel so that l do not burn out and l am very fit and on the go all day long with 3 kids and work to keep me busy and l am very happy eating around 1200 or least.
I am not going to eat the calories that l am burning l find that not right, why burn calories if you are only going to eat them back?
I mostly agree....
I net anywhere from 1000 - 1500 calories depending on the day and how I feel. 3 meals a day...possibly a snack here or there....If I feel hungry I eat. I eat back most (always within a hundred or less in the green) of my exercise calories because the 1200 is already at a big deficit to what I used to be eating.
People are right when they say the net number is what is important. So, I am set for 1200 and I am always in the green 10-100ish, depending on my day. I usually burn around 300-400 calories a day...(Finished 30DS and now I am doing alternating Ripped in 30 & 6wk 6pk) I have lost 14 pounds since the end of January. So that may not be enough for some people, but I am 5' 2" and I have a lil more than 50 pounds to lose. I am gonna keep doing what I am doing. It works for me....Do what works for you....talk to your Dr. if you think you may be doing something wrong they can always help - Good Luck! :happy:0 -
I rarely ate my exercise calories back either. Then last week I had a wake up call. I'd been feeling kind of out of sorts for a few days, then on Thursday I went to the gym for my usual workout and was so nauseous I spent the first half hour sitting on the bench in the change room. When I felt better I went and tried to row, made it about five minutes and was sick, violently.
After doing a LOT of reading, checking back through my diary, I realized my net calories were averaging about 700/day. I'm 6'1 and fairly large framed, my BMR is about 1550 or so, I was eating WAY to few calories and my body let me know. I've been eating no less that my BMR NET for about a week now, I haven't lost any weight, and haven't gained any but I FEEL much better, and that's kind of the point.
I started this journey to be healthy, fit and strong, not skinny, sick and weak, and having my body canibalize itself to try and prevent me starving it isn't the way to do that.
I hope your journey works out like you've planned, and I REALLY hope you don't have to clean up your own sick in a public gym for that to happen.0 -
Use this handy calculator to see how many calories your body actually needs per day to stay alive http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Never eat less than your BMR. Ever.
Adjust your calorie goal to TDEE - 15% (TDEE number * .85).
Yes, it can take your body more than a week or two (or three, or four) to readjust back to proper functioning, but it will lose fat when it is being nourished with real food, in sufficient quantities.
No diet shakes required! :flowerforyou:
That calculator makes your TDEE wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too high ! That's more calories than I have ever ate in my lifetime, would not be on this website if that was the case
The BMR calculator on that site seems accurate but I agree the TDEE calculator seems pretty high.0 -
OMG! Some of you were really mean in these post. I teach 13 year old and they had more manners. That is so not cool. That being said, are any of you on here posting (and demand you are right) a doctor??? Just curious... I do see a doctor to follow my weightloss and she told me NOT NOT NOT to eat the workout calories. So I am wondering why she would tell me that. I even printed out the last round of arguements on here and took them to her and asked her what I should do. She again told me not to eat over the calories and to eat every 2 hours. She said that it will burn the fat and my metabolism will be fine as long as I eat something (an apple, peanut butter toast etc) every two hours. So unless one of you are a doctor (not a nurse but a doctor) then maybe we should not pass out advice until we have spoken to our own doctor. Then maybe we could all be a little nicer. WE are here for support and understanding not to be harassed or hurt.0
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Most doctors aren't nutritionists, important fact to remember.
I also suggest searching in the forums for studies regarding meal timing and frequency, some interesting reads that debunk most of the pop science that suggests either of those things provide a metabolic advantage.0 -
I honestly think that it does depend on the person, and how much weight you have to lose. I believe that programmes such as light life, which provide only 500 calories a day, can be, and are, very successful if you are extremely overweight. However, there are always risks associated and the smaller you are the greater the risks.
I unfortunately ignored all the risks and spent last year netting an average of 0-500 calories a day. I lost two stone (bearing in mind I was just within a healthy BMI to start with). Which sounds great. Until you work out that I am always cold, my digestive system has virtually shut down and left me on regular medication for this, my hair thinned I am weak beyond belief and if I eat above a 1500-1600 weekly average I put on weight (which, bearing in mind I am 5ft8 and 135lbs is pretty appalling).
It has taken me several months to attempt eating normally and be in a position to consider losing the last 10lbs to reach my goal. I am now eating 1200 to lose 1.1lbs a week with a high proportion of protein and clean food but believe me there is no way I will be eating below a net of 1200 calories under any circumstances. It is just not worth it.0 -
If your body gets used to eating so little, what do u think will happen when you start eating normal again? Not going to be able to maintain just gain! good luck on your journey and hopefully you can become a healthier you!
I agree with this. I lost weight a while ago by walking/running 10 miles a day or cycling over 100 per week. When I became a mom and I didn't have hours a day to spend on weight loss or didn't want to be away from my child for hours a day, I gained weight very fast!!!
What you do to lose the weight, you will have to keep doing to maintain it. This time around, I'm not doing anything to lose weight that I cannot do for the rest of my life
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OMG! Some of you were really mean in these post. I teach 13 year old and they had more manners. That is so not cool. That being said, are any of you on here posting (and demand you are right) a doctor??? Just curious... I do see a doctor to follow my weightloss and she told me NOT NOT NOT to eat the workout calories. So I am wondering why she would tell me that. I even printed out the last round of arguements on here and took them to her and asked her what I should do. She again told me not to eat over the calories and to eat every 2 hours. She said that it will burn the fat and my metabolism will be fine as long as I eat something (an apple, peanut butter toast etc) every two hours. So unless one of you are a doctor (not a nurse but a doctor) then maybe we should not pass out advice until we have spoken to our own doctor. Then maybe we could all be a little nicer. WE are here for support and understanding not to be harassed or hurt.
Actually, the OP should really see a DIETICIAN. (I'm not yelling, just putting that in caps because these things get lost in here.) A doctor is not trained in nutrition or weight loss, and nutritionists can be all over the map in their education. There's no *scientific* reason to eat every two hours. And unless you explain to someone who actually knows about nutrition and exercise how MFP gives you a healthy deficit before working out, they will tell you not to eat the exercise cals. See a specialist.0 -
Uh. OK. More than what? An ant?
March 17:
food: 1216
exercise: 1983
total: -767
March 18:
food: 1584
exercise: 1854
total: -270
March 19:
food: 1213
exercise: 1191
total: 22
March 20:
food: 958
exercise: 1338
total: -380
March 21:
food: 1303
exercise: 1608
total:
March 22:
food: 1370
exercise: 1158
total: 212
March 23:
food: 1079
exercise: 1670
total: -591
March 24:
food: 1436
exercise: 1129
total: 307
March 25:
food: 1200
exercise: 1117
total: 83
March 26:
food: 1346
exercise: 1280
total: 66
March 27:
food: 1101
exercise: 2260
total: -1159
March 28:
food: 1625
exercise: 1282
total: 343
March 29:
food: 1287
exercise: 1970
total: -683
March 30:
food: 1257
exercise: 855
total: 402
March 31:
food: 1443
exercise: 1438
total: 5
April 1:
food: 1417
exercise: 1673
total: -256
April 2:
food: 1492
exercise: 833
total: 659
Exactly WHERE is it that you think your body is getting fuel from? It's using those calories simply to live, and then it's slowing everything else down because it thinks your some kind of POW or something that's being worked to death and not fed!
If you FEED your body, you'll lose weight because your body won't be so afraid to let go of that fat!
Here's what eating more looks like:
March 30:
food: 1851
exercise: 428
total: 1423
March 31:
food: 1761
exercise: 399
total: 1362
April 1:
food: 1909
exercise: 321
total: 1588
April 2:
food: 1877
exercise: 505
total: 1372
I'm fueling my body, and I'm still losing and getting close to my UGW.
I'm 147-ish at the moment... and come down from 210.
I'd recommend you truly eat more for a month before you make a decision. ***eating enough to fuel your body = calories consumed - exercise calories> or = 1200 calories.0 -
It sometimes takes a while for us to see the scale change, but there are times we should step away from the scale and pull out the measuring tape. If you are are working out (which I don't know if you are) muscle will build and fat will burn. It took me 4 months to start moving the scale again, but during those 4 months I've dropped one pants size and have lost 6 inches from different parts of my body. We must listen to our body and avoid starving it. Starving our body doesn't mean we will be hungary, but our body is not getting the nutrients it needs to properly functions therefore, it will take it from other sources causing our body to starve. One way is to store fat in order to feed on it later. Losing weight is what we all strive to do, but losing weight in a healthy way will ensure proper body functions and lasting results in weightloss. Good luck! I too include a meal replacement shake supplements that provides me with healthy nutrients when I just don't feel like eating. 0
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Looking at the last few days of your diary you eat too little and what you do eat is highly processed and/or junk food. Your dinners with the chicken and veggies look good, but you need to get more of that throughout the day. There is a lot going good in your diary, you're just not getting enough to fuel all that exercise you're doing. At the rate you're working out, you shouldn't be eating under 2,000 calories a day. Work hard, eat hard (and eat clean). I think you're still under eating for your activity level and that's the reason you're stalled. You're slowing down your metabolism by not eating enough, so you're not losing any weight or doing your body any favors by thinking that reducing further will do any good.
^^ this0 -
OP: are you wearing an HRM? or going by MFP exercise calculations? Thats a BIG discrepancy!0
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Tanya, I pulled up your report and there isn't a single day you even net your BMR. Of course, I don't know your actual BMR, but if you're as small as 5'2" and weigh at or about 150 lbs, your BMR is 1400 calories. That's what you need if you're in a coma just for your bodily function to..... well, function. So, assuming a BMR of 1400: You're at more than a 700 calorie deficit of your BMR, and you average -- AVERAGE a deficit of 1618 calories UNDER your BMR. You aren't giving your body anything to go on.
If you treated an animal like that, the Animal Cops would charge you for cruelty and neglect!0 -
It seems like a very good chance that you might be overestimating your exercise calories. Are you using an HRM?0
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That is so not cool. That being said, are any of you on here posting (and demand you are right) a doctor??? Just curious... I do see a doctor to follow my weightloss and she told me NOT NOT NOT to eat the workout calories.
Why would you see a doctor about weight loss? Would you see an architect about a broken sewage pipe? A horse jockey about why your new kitten just won't use the litter box? A pediatrician about chronic headaches? I would hope not.She again told me not to eat over the calories and to eat every 2 hours. She said that it will burn the fat and my metabolism will be fine as long as I eat something (an apple, peanut butter toast etc) every two hours.
This is absolutely not true. Eating smaller meals more often might make you not feel hungry as often, but it has no bearing whatsoever on your weight loss. Your doctor's advice is immediately suspect. But again, that's pretty much a given since they're a doctor, not a dietitian.
I may not have an MD, but I can cite lots of well-respected studies by MDs that contract your claims. I can guarantee you that your doctor cannot provide one medically-valid citation to anything you have claimed (other than "not eating over your calories", but that's a no-brainer except when those calories net to 500 or less every day)0 -
You need to eat more! Especially because you are over 40! You need to eat cleaner! You say you have more muscles now ....I dont see how this is possible when you are not losing any fat?
Did u see the OP pictures, no way is there more tone!0 -
Actually, I am curious how you are determining your calorie burn from exercise - specifically the 30 day shred? When I did it (level 3) and seriously pushed and used a heart rate monitor, I maxed out my calorie burn at 200-225, which is a lot for a 25 minute circuit dvd. Your diary says you burn 420 and do that 3x a day?
If you are not logging calories accurately, and then try to eat more, then you will slow down your progress.
I was wondering about this as well. I didn't see what you are counting as exercise, but are you sure it is correct? Are you adding in every activity you do during the day to get to that number? If that number is not corrent then you may be getting closer to your 1200 NET than what it looks like. That being said, I would think that eating the same things every day is limiting the nutrients your body is getting. Can you add in some more fruits and veggies and other healthy foods during the day to get more of what your body needs without too many calories? Also, are you counting any oil or other condiments that you may be using?0 -
One question...how the heck are you burning numbers like 1125 with workouts?!
Today I did the 30 day shred, 20 minutes rebounding on a mini-trampoline and went for a long walk + did extra resistance and that was around 350-400 calories!?
Something isn't adding up there.
That could be where you're going waaaaay wrong! Because if you were actually burning that much, and eating so little, you'd be in starvation mode and will be losing a serious amount of muscle, water along with a small amount of fat.
If someone wants to lose 40lbs of 'weight' they can cut off their leg, but they wont look how they want to look, will they? Think BODY FAT, not WEIGHT ON SCALE.
U can burn 1200 + calories in a work out, but I do workout for 2 + hours to get over a 1000 and depends on the workout.0 -
So glad youve posted this, good for you and I agree with you. I noticed that youre a single parent of 3, the same as me (therefore living a stressy life without a partner), and are early 40s the same age as me. I wonder if alot of the people posting about increasing calories are young enough to have healthy metabolisms and less stress in their lives? Once in your early 40s or menopause age (like myself) your metabolism slows right down. I was underweight for 4 years up until last summer when I gave up smoking (which was speeding up my metabolism and supressing my appetite), at the same time I was going through an early menopause and gained 30lb between september and october last year. I joined here in November and didnt lose weight until the end of December. I only started losing once I started exercising more! I was walking 2 or 3 miles a day plus a half hour workout dvd and it was only then, that my weight loss started! My cals were set at 1200 cals a day, I didnt eat back my exercise calories either and some days I would eat lower than 1200 to compensate for weekends where I would eat more.
Everthing was ticking along nicely until people started to scrutinize my food diary and "advise me" to eat more. I found it very patronizing, particularly because the cals I put down on here are an estimate , I lead such a busy life that half the time I forget to log things. I too was advised to up my calories. I upped them and after 4 weeks I had gained a couple of pounds. I also cut back slightly on the walking as my little boy has been poorly alot so I havent been able to get out and about as much. Resulting in me putting on weight, then totally giving up and becoming disheartened with it all. Follow your own body and your intuition, your body will tell you if you need to eat more, best of luck 0 -
Okay so this is the theme keeps coming up for me, so I think the big guy upstairs is trying to tell me something. It is my particular belief that if I read or hear about something more than three times in a short period of time I need to PAY ATTENTION. (I have stumbled on the eat more lose more healthy weight loss topic 4 times in two days) So thanks big guy I got it…
I have lost (according to my junky scale) 20 lbs. (a couple of weeks in to tracking things here I started using the gym scale and that shows an 8 lb. diff from my scale so when I do that math with my scale starting weight plus the 8 lb. diff the gym scale shows I have lost about 16 lbs... I digress) Now losing 20 lbs. for me = 10 lbs. per pants size I should have gone down two sizes, I was not fitting well in my size 12's they were snug when I started, now I am fitting okay in them but they are not too loose so that tells me that even though I have "lost" 16-20 lbs. a lot of that must have been water weight.
I have been trying to eat about 1100-1200 calories per day and exercising without eating back my calories burned from exercising and now I am starting to believe that this is wrong. So based on a Weight and Calorie Calculator for weight loss I based it on wanting to go from 36.9% body fat (gross) to 25% (I am 40 years old, and have no desire to be at 17%) here is what it is telling me:
Caloric Need:
Estimated Base BMR: 1357 Calories.
Estimated TDEE: 2104 Calories.
Estimated Daily Caloric Need For Weight Loss: 1604 Calories.
So my net should be 1600? And that what I should be coming in at after I total what I am eating minus what I am burning exercising. Am I understanding this correctly?
Definately need to invest in a HRM because I don't think I am burning 392 calories on the ARC trainer in 30 intense minutes.0 -
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Hi EdDavenport,Honestly, why bother trying to drill this stuff into peoples heads? Most of these women who refuse to eat more than like 500 calories a day are stubborn and will not listen.
Society has drilled it into our heads that we have to basically starve ourselves to lose weight and be healthy, which is total bullcrap.
If she doesn't want to listen to good, healthy, advice, don't force it on her. Let her starve.
Agreed, I find it quite funny that people don't heed the advice of people that have been there done that. So that being said I will continue to eat back my exercise calories which currently is allowing me to eat 3200 calories a day and I will continue to lose a pound a week on avg... Best part is I know that I have no chance of being skinny fat at the end of this weight loss.....
You've lost over 300 lbs and you're one of my very first MFP Idols. I just wanted you to know I respect what you've done, and I respect the knowledge you''ve gained from your experience. You were the one whose story made me realize how damaged my husband's metabolism is from doing the under-BMR calorie thing (VLCD diets led by the medical profession are HELL). So it's sad to me, too, that somebody with your depth of experience gets ignored while a doctor who is no dietitian gets all the deference.
One day, I hope my hubs wakes up to it all. He's starting, I think... he's gotten past the state that Tanya is in, at least. Thank God.
Anyway, just wanted to thank you for your contributions here. They really do matter.
:flowerforyou:0 -
I find your responses funny. My doctor is both a nutritionist and a MD. She has a bachelor in nutrition and worked as a fitness trainer and went back to med school after her first daughter was born to become a doctor and own her own weightloss clinic. SO before you go and posting about things you are not clued in on, ask first. Just a suggestion.
I am also educated in nurtition and science. I do think that it depends on where you get your information from whether or not it is correct. I hold a bachelor in animal science and hold a teaching certificate in science. I understand that I must research my topics and doctors. I HAVE researched them and she is very well credited in her area of specialty. My point was on how you state your position (most were rude and mean) and that if you are NOT in a specialty to not pass out your opinion because some people will bite and it may actually hurt their health.
ALSO if you are passing out these advices but not considering all the health of that person, like diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid disease, cardio disease, immune disorder and liver function, then you should really not tell people what they should be doing. IT may effect their health. I just stated what my doctor told ME to do. The human body has other factors that play into how it works. Hormones are a big piece of that puzzle and everyones body makes these hormones on different levels and therefore will always have different results.
I am not argueing or debating with anyone. My heart just hurt for this woman who asked for simple help when people were just flat out rude or mean. So I hope she figures out what works and is successful in her journey. May the weight fall off and you find your true happiness.0
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