Increasing calories?

skinnylion
skinnylion Posts: 213
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys. I've been losing weight for over a year now, since last January of 2011. So far I've dropped 78 pounds in 16 months, and in the last 4 months I've been regularly exercising doing cardio and strength training (including P90x, stationary bike at the gym, stair machine, walking, etc). My weight loss seems to be steady still, but my question is weather or not I should start eating more.

This week has been a little weird for me. Monday (the day after Easter) I had a lot of energy and felt bad about consuming so many calories from my Easter basket so I worked out extra hard and left myself with like a 700-calorie deficit since I thought the two days would equal out. I have since realized my mistake, since Tuesday night I was so exhausted I fell asleep at 8 PM. I didn't work out Wednesday or Thursday, but today finally decided to increase my calories from 1400 to 1600 and stop eating 20% protein so I can get more calories from carbs.

I hope that in the long run this is going to help me and be more healthy. But I can't help but feel depressed that for the last 30 pounds I want to lose, it'll take another 30 weeks - until about November. That'll make my "end date" almost a year later than I initially wanted it to be.

I know that this is more of a lifestyle than a diet, and I like being healthy, eating clean, and working out. But I also want to be DONE once and for all and.... I guess I just need some input from other people to tell me whether it's a good idea or not to start eating more. Should I take some time off from working out? From dieting? Last Christmas I fell off the wagon pretty well and good, and I always participate with birthday cake and everything, so I don't think my body feels starved. But still, I don't know. I almost want to talk to a dietician because doing this work myself is mentally exhausting.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me, I know this was long-winded!

Replies

  • Tourney3p0
    Tourney3p0 Posts: 290 Member
    If it helps, eating at too much of a deficit leads to more muscle loss than fat loss. You will notice the number on the scale decreasing, but a good portion of it is muscle. Now you'll be losing more slowly, but you'll start to notice your body toning up a lot more quickly.
  • JeepBrah
    JeepBrah Posts: 150
    Bro why would you give up now? If you want to lose weight keep going till you reached your goals!!! So many people give up, dont be one of them please watch this video

    http://youtu.be/sFtgjAUe7P4
  • skinnylion
    skinnylion Posts: 213
    I've actually noticed more muscle definition since beginning to work out, since before then I did little to no exercise other than walking. And I don't want to give up! I'm just wondering if it would be better for me to eat a little more.
  • Tourney3p0
    Tourney3p0 Posts: 290 Member
    You can check out the BMR calculator at the top, under the Tools tab. I personally would not eat any less than your BMR, but you can use it to see which weight loss goal is closer. If your BMR is closer to 1600, I would go with that.
  • skinnylion
    skinnylion Posts: 213
    I actually just calculated it, and it's about 1630. Reading other threads here, it seems like it's a bad idea to eat less than your BMR and yet I've been doing it for a while now. Oops. :(
  • juliekaiser1988
    juliekaiser1988 Posts: 604 Member
    OP: bumping my calories was the best decision I ever made. I've lost an additional 7.5 pounds and a few more inches since I started it, and that was just 4 weeks ago.
  • crfaulk1
    crfaulk1 Posts: 10 Member
    Hey - have you thought about taking your body measurements and not relying 100% on the scale? That may not be the best solution - and I know it doesn't exactly answer your question... but you may be gaining that muscle tone which is heavier than fat. So you may still be 'losing' fat weight even if the scale isn't showing it.

    Good luck - and DONT give up! You owe it to yourself!!!!

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