I Up My Calories, I Lose Weight? True or False?

KatKatatrophic

I really can't believe the idea of someone having a higher calorie intake and losing weight! MFP first gave me 1,200 calories. It wasn't enough. I went up to 1,500. I would like some more room for when my bingeing gets out of hand, and then I have no calories for dinner. I'm 5'1 and currently 106. I want to get down to about 100. Anyways, should I try 1,600? How is eating more helping you lose weight? Isn't that why we're all here? We ate too much so we gained weight? I exercise too, but...how does this work?

And what are net calories?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

don't really see where you're going to lose weight from. you're already on the thinner side of the healthy weight range and don't need to lose weight. how about eating at maintenance and lifting weights? 1800-2200 calories I'd guess.

net calories are the calories eaten- calories burned.

If I eat 1800 calories and burn 600 my net is 1200.

You NEVER want to net below 1200 calories unless your BMR is somehow under that amount.

So whatever you burn add 1200 calories to it and that's what you should eat--maybe a bit more even.

MissTattoo

Based on your profile photo...where are you losing the weight from? But Love is right. Never go below 1200. There is a group for women who eat more than 2000. Check it out.

cynthiaj777

Sigh....I give up. I've said the same things over and over too much.:explode:

mogriff1

I'm at a plateau myself, but I think I've finally wrapped my brain around the fact that I've got to eat back what I burned off because the goal calories MPF has set for you already has your weight loss goal you set built in. (That's why that number is on the lower end as opposed to other calorie calculators). The deficit includes the 1 lb or 2 lb weight loss goal you preset in your settings.

So for example, in my case:

My MPF Goal calorie number is 1330, today I burned 600 calories in excercise, so if I don't eat back those burned (excercise)calories my NET calories would only be 730 cal (1330-600=730). This is extremely too few calories for my body to thrive on. So if I eat the excercise calories, my Net calories will be 1930 total caloric intake (1330 + 600=1930). This is more realistic for my body 5'3", 135.5 lbs with the excercise workout I did today. I workout 6 days a week. (Your body needs the fuel for the excercise load). Now if I did not excercise today, I would just consume the 1330 Goal calories. (Never below 1200)

I'm going to stick with this and see how I make out. It makes sense to me, typically on the days I work out I am constantly feeling hungry...my body is telling me to eat those calories. I'm going to listen to my body.

Good luck to you!

KatKatatrophic

Based on your profile photo...where are you losing the weight from? But Love is right. Never go below 1200. There is a group for women who eat more than 2000. Check it out.

Lol. I get comments like this a lot. That's an old one. When I was skinny. I have bigger thighs (an updated picture in my profile pictures of my legs), and a bigger stomach. I use that for motivation to get BACK to that.

KatKatatrophic

Sigh....I give up. I've said the same things over and over too much.:explode:

Preeeetty pleeease? I'll be your best friend

LizKurz

Sigh....I give up. I've said the same things over and over too much.:explode:

Preeeetty pleeease? I'll be your best friend

Unless she's a recovering anorexic right?

I scrolled through a few days of your diary, it's really hard to see what you're eating when you've logged "quickly added cals"

Also, a lot of what you eat looks like junk, I don't see nary a veggie or fruit in the last couple of days. I see cookies, candies, chips and soda. Wich are all high in sodium as well as not being good for you, and water retention can make your tummy bloated, especially at your smaller size it would be more noticeable.

meshashesha2012

i think the increasing your calories to lose weight is only really valid for people who werent eating enough to begin with.

so no, not everyone who increases their calories will lose weight whether or not YOU will depends on
- if you were already eating below your BMR
- if you accurately figured your activity level into your TDEE before reducing

for instance i'm eating well over my BMR but under the for my activity level TDEE. Me eating more food isnt going to mean more weight loss, it will mean less.

but someone who's eating my same height and weight, who's been eating 1000 calories a day and burning 600 more will probably see better progress if she ate more.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Based on your profile photo...where are you losing the weight from? But Love is right. Never go below 1200. There is a group for women who eat more than 2000. Check it out.

Lol. I get comments like this a lot. That's an old one. When I was skinny. I have bigger thighs (an updated picture in my profile pictures of my legs), and a bigger stomach. I use that for motivation to get BACK to that.

you're wanting to get back to when you were anorexic?you're at a low/healthy weight already--your thighs are just fine. please reconsider.

jenniejengin

Bump

olong

The Eat More to Lose More concept works with those who have much to lose, not those who only have a half dozen pounds to lose. With all due respect, your photo doesn't show that you have spare pounds to lose. I suggest you take a peek at other conversation threads to learn more... It seems you might enjoy the benefits of toning what you have than losing what you don't have.

jenng38

I don't really understand it either, but when I upped my calories from 1200 to 1400 I broke through my plateau and lost 2 lbs. I really don't understand why you want to lose the 6 lbs though. It sounds to me like you are too focused on the number. And I would like to respectfully ask you if you are suffering from an eating disorder? I am so sorry if I have offended you I truly don't mean to be rude. We all have binges from time to time but the fact that you want to set aside calories for binges is a bit worrying. Please take care of yourself and if I can state my opinion, I think you just need to maintain your weight. If you lift weights you will increase your resting metabolism and you can eat more without gaining. Good luck

sleepytexan

The Eat More to Lose More concept works with those who have much to lose, not those who only have a half dozen pounds to lose. With all due respect, your photo doesn't show that you have spare pounds to lose. I suggest you take a peek at other conversation threads to learn more... It seems you might enjoy the benefits of toning what you have than losing what you don't have.

no -- it works for anyone who is eating too little.

Here's one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

neeherm

Hi, Im new to this site and trying to figure out where my daily calories shoud be. Im eating 1300 per day and feel like Im starving by the time I get home from work in the evening. Need help trying to figure out what to eat. Please send some support soon... Thanks

EmeriaDewes

Bump

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Hi, Im new to this site and trying to figure out where my daily calories shoud be. Im eating 1300 per day and feel like Im starving by the time I get home from work in the evening. Need help trying to figure out what to eat. Please send some support soon... Thanks

depends on your current stats and activity level.

chicpeach

The easiest way to think about it is like this: It takes 1200 calories to keep your body running at minimal levels. The more activity you do in a day, the more calories it takes to support the minimal level I call "life support". The increased calories cover things like elevated heart rate, flexing muscles, etc. Now if you want to burn fat, you've got to provide fuel above basic life support for your body to be able to effect the burn. So to a point, more calories means fat loss, but too many, you cross the line and just get fat.

If you net only 1200, yet are forcing your body to cover increased heart rate, flexing muscles, etc. with less fuel, your body doesn't have the energy it needs to burn fat. So, instead of burning fat, your body will burn muscle protein because it can do that using less fuel. You still lose weight, it's just not fat you're losing.

gfuller46

This makes sense to me. I guess that's why I feel hungry somedays when I leave those extra calories on the table. Thanks for the insight.

vguynes

Bump. I'm considering increasing my caloric intake even more.

wahmx3

If this is what you are eating on a regular basis, you will not lose weight, not that you really need to or should lose any more. A calorie is NOT a calorie, they are not all equal, 100 calories of chocolate is not the same as 100 calories of vegetables or fruit or whole grain bread.

Sigh....I give up. I've said the same things over and over too much.:explode:

Preeeetty pleeease? I'll be your best friend

Unless she's a recovering anorexic right?

I scrolled through a few days of your diary, it's really hard to see what you're eating when you've logged "quickly added cals"

Also, a lot of what you eat looks like junk, I don't see nary a veggie or fruit in the last couple of days. I see cookies, candies, chips and soda. Wich are all high in sodium as well as not being good for you, and water retention can make your tummy bloated, especially at your smaller size it would be more noticeable.

cynthiaj777

I'll give you what I just posted on someone's question about eating exercise calories.

"I realized I was highly undereating because my basic calorie burn for a normal day was around 2300 BEFORE exercise. I had been eating 1200. That's an 1100 deficit plus any more deficit gained from exercise, and I wasn't losing anymore. My body had entered a pseudo starvation mode, and I was holding onto fat.

I upped my calories slowly after using my HRM to find out my REAL average daily calorie expenditure. On a normal day, app. 2300. On days that I sit on my couch for 9 hours then go right back to sleep, 1300 (I do this on Saturday and Sunday). So, I set my calories to 1450 per day for maintenance. And if I exercise for the day, which I do Monday through Friday, and depending on the exercise, I burn between 400-1000 calories a work out. So, on a normal day I'm BMR burning 2300ish plus an additional 400-1000, which is 2700-3300 calories a day I'm burning.

Because of this, I eat from 1800-2200 calories a day. And guess what? I haven't gained any weight almost doubling my calories, and I've lost body fat percentage. If you take my lowest NORMAL burn of 2700 minus what I'm eating at my highest 2200, I still have a deficit of 500 calories AT LEAST a day. I'm 5'2" and 122 lbs. with 20% BF.

None of this possible without a HRM.

Buy one."

sleepytexan

I'll give you what I just posted on someone's question about eating exercise calories.

"I realized I was highly undereating because my basic calorie burn for a normal day was around 2300 BEFORE exercise. I had been eating 1200. That's an 1100 deficit plus any more deficit gained from exercise, and I wasn't losing anymore. My body had entered a pseudo starvation mode, and I was holding onto fat.

I upped my calories slowly after using my HRM to find out my REAL average daily calorie expenditure. On a normal day, app. 2300. On days that I sit on my couch for 9 hours then go right back to sleep, 1300 (I do this on Saturday and Sunday). So, I set my calories to 1450 per day for maintenance. And if I exercise for the day, which I do Monday through Friday, and depending on the exercise, I burn between 400-1000 calories a work out. So, on a normal day I'm BMR burning 2300ish plus an additional 400-1000, which is 2700-3300 calories a day I'm burning.

Because of this, I eat from 1800-2200 calories a day. And guess what? I haven't gained any weight almost doubling my calories, and I've lost body fat percentage. If you take my lowest NORMAL burn of 2700 minus what I'm eating at my highest 2200, I still have a deficit of 500 calories AT LEAST a day. I'm 5'2" and 122 lbs. with 20% BF.

None of this possible without a HRM.

Buy one."

excellent advice. however, you do not need an HRM for this. you can use BMR or TDEE.