How will upping my calories help me lose weight (serious que

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  • jesscaponigro
    jesscaponigro Posts: 114 Member
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    I upped my intake from 1250 to I think it's at 1480, I eat back about 80% of my exercise calories, I never net less than 1200. I have been losing weight since this change.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    By all means, you can give it a try, but what this post is missing is your stats. If I sit on my *kitten* all day, I'll burn 1600 calories. I'm more of a lifter than a cardio girl, these days, although I'm fairly active, so my calorie burn tends to be around 1800-2000. I wear a bodybugg, so these are pretty reasonably accurate numbers. I then eat a deficit of 500 calories. Since I am watching the numbers really well and not guessing, when I raise my calories, I stop losing. I honestly think that most of the time that raising calories works it is really just because the person doesn't have all the data they need to really know what they should be eating.
  • Babygirl928
    Babygirl928 Posts: 378 Member
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    Ok so by adding calories, I'm kick starting my metabolism?? I'm trying to grasp the concept because I just feel like if I up my calories and then once my exercise calories get added in, I'm going to finish the night with a heap of calories leftover and I'm not understanding how this helps??!!! I'm confused....ughhh
    I went from 1200 to what MFP stated. I stayed at no loss no gain for 2 weeks....weighed this morning...lost 5 i think it works :) hope that helps
  • cannonsky
    cannonsky Posts: 850 Member
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    Also read this.. so you don't freak out as your body adjusts to eating more

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521728-upping-cals-what-to-expect-why-you-need-patience
  • wilson58
    wilson58 Posts: 1 Member
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    Think I will try this, I lost 15lbs and now I am stuck, will up my calories from 1200 to 1300 and save my exercise calories which are not that much!!! I will let you know how I get on!!:smile:
  • tashaa1992
    tashaa1992 Posts: 658 Member
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    This last week I've been hitting 2,000, I had my weigh in at the hospital today and it turns out I've lost one pound. I'm not happy about it because I'm trying to gain but it proves it does works:)
  • stevewynjones
    stevewynjones Posts: 1,143 Member
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    The way it was explained to me:

    your body is a furnace, load fuel and wait for it to blaze...then top it constantly to keep the blaze going....

    so eat clean, no crap, and exercise regularly...it will happen
  • amculver1
    amculver1 Posts: 36 Member
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    bump
  • Lauren8239
    Lauren8239 Posts: 1,039 Member
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    Also read this.. so you don't freak out as your body adjusts to eating more

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521728-upping-cals-what-to-expect-why-you-need-patience


    Thank you so much for posting that link. I'm also trying to up my calories, and that was extremely helpful. :smile:
  • tiffjeff69
    tiffjeff69 Posts: 26
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    By all means, you can give it a try, but what this post is missing is your stats. If I sit on my *kitten* all day, I'll burn 1600 calories. I'm more of a lifter than a cardio girl, these days, although I'm fairly active, so my calorie burn tends to be around 1800-2000. I wear a bodybugg, so these are pretty reasonably accurate numbers. I then eat a deficit of 500 calories. Since I am watching the numbers really well and not guessing, when I raise my calories, I stop losing. I honestly think that most of the time that raising calories works it is really just because the person doesn't have all the data they need to really know what they should be eating.

    Sorry I didn't think to include my exercise routine but I'm very active but it's more cardio than lifting. I usually do a Zumba class every day or either pop in my Insanity dvd's if I'm unable to get into class. And on the weekends I usually power walk for about an hour or do a combination of jogging/walking.
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
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    Arbitrarily raising or lowering your intake based on only one weeks results is nonsense.

    The deficit should be based on your current maintenance calories minus a deficit appropriate to the amount you need to lose. The less you wish to lose, the less the deficit should be.
  • SaketoKim
    SaketoKim Posts: 254 Member
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    This is a little tricky, but I will try to explain it. If you are burning 2200 calories a day (which is what I burn on work out days) you can eat up to 1450 calories. A week of eating with a minimum of 750 calorie deficit should help you lose at least 2 pounds a week and you won't starve. So make the adjustments to your daily burn on calorie intake and see if that works. I eat clean - Mon thru Thurs.. I tend to let go Fri to Sun on how strict I am but still meet my deficit. Let us or me know how that goes if you try it! Good luck!
  • tiffjeff69
    tiffjeff69 Posts: 26
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    The logical way to think of it is fuel for a car. (I am no expert here!). You can put in just enough petrol to get you from A to B, but you will not be able to put you foot down on the motorway as you will have to coserve the fuel (and if you get stuck in a traffic jam you could be in trouble).

    If you have a "full tank" you will not only get from A-B, but you will be able to enjoy the drive without worrying and may be able to go a bit faster.

    Your body wont be "conserving" fuel - it "knows" that the tank is full so can use those calories to burn!

    In people terms, you should have more energy to excercise "harder" and have more energy in your day to day life. It has got to be "good" calories (NOT MCFLURRY!). Does that make sense?


    Makes loads of sense!! Thanks
  • kbcarey111
    kbcarey111 Posts: 3 Member
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    Be careful using the calories posted on the site for various exercises. Everyone's body is different, and so burn calories differently. If you really want to know how much you're burning, and therefore know how much to add back to refuel, I suggest getting a heart rate monitor and getting a cardio assessment done to input your personal results. This will give you a much more accurate calorie burn calculation. Otherwise, you'll just be using the average for your general age, gender and weight. Also, when doing cardio don't forget to keep your heart rate at the right level for weight loss. Getting it up too high may give you an aerobic workout, but won't do much to increase your weight loss. I only know all of this because I was doing it all wrong!! Now, I'm working out and eating smarter.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    Arbitrarily raising or lowering your intake based on only one weeks results is nonsense.

    The deficit should be based on your current maintenance calories minus a deficit appropriate to the amount you need to lose. The less you wish to lose, the less the deficit should be.

    This. Although I would add that if you have less than 30 lbs to lose, a 1 lb per week loss is prob best. So, if mfp says you burn 1700 cals a day sedentary, then you workout 400 cals a day, you are burning 2100 cals, 2100-500 is 1600, that should give you a loss of 1 lb per week. Or as mfp would think about it, you should eat 1700-500 is 1200 cals a day PLUS whatever exercise cals you get, in this case, 400, you should eat 1600 to net 1200
  • AEJhoi
    AEJhoi Posts: 36
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    I am kind of having the same problem. What I a,mstill not getting is, is is better to eat your exercise calories or to save some calories at the end of the day?
  • MysteriousWays
    MysteriousWays Posts: 40 Member
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    If you decide to do it, do it right. If you eat 1200 calories, you most likely are too low. Sure, that works for awhile because before you started tracking - you might have been eating more than you realize. Here is what I did. I figured out my BMR and TDEE here - http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    My BMR is around 1450 which is what my body needs to pump blood, breathe, digest food. That doesn't include walking around my office, running after my daughter, doing laundry or catching the train. With my TDEE factored in - I was around 1800. I set mine for 1750 and then did not weigh myself for 3 weeks. I didn't want to be discouraged by no weight loss. I know you can gain before you lose. Now granted, I went on vacation - but before I did, I lost 4 pounds. Originally it was 2 pounds and I was disappointed. I vowed to keep with it because after months and months of meticulously counting and only eating 1200-1300 calories and burning at least 300 - nothing was happening. I had to try something new.
  • cannonsky
    cannonsky Posts: 850 Member
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    Arbitrarily raising or lowering your intake based on only one weeks results is nonsense.

    The deficit should be based on your current maintenance calories minus a deficit appropriate to the amount you need to lose. The less you wish to lose, the less the deficit should be.

    no one is saying raise your calories willy nilly... you have to calculate it based on your BMR and TDEE
  • sweetpea129
    sweetpea129 Posts: 755 Member
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    I was eating very low cal 1000-1100 and dropped 18 lbs in 6 weeks. I was pretty much consistently losing 3 lbs a week. Yes, no need to lecture, i know its not good but it was working for me. I think it was a huge shock to my body. Then it just stopped for 2 weeks. Scale didnt move at all. So, thanks to the lovely people here, I started eating 1400 cal a day and i lost 3-4 pounds in the past 10 days. I'm going to keep at this rate until i stop and just keep switching things up i guess. I think everyone is different and you have to find what works for you. But definitley give it a try :)
  • tiffjeff69
    tiffjeff69 Posts: 26
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    I am kind of having the same problem. What I a,mstill not getting is, is is better to eat your exercise calories or to save some calories at the end of the day?

    Ok this too had me stumped???

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