new to this community, hi folks!

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vmessyness
vmessyness Posts: 49 Member
This is my 30th day on MFP and I'm totally addicted.

About a month ago, I signed up for MFP and goaled myself to lose 2lbs a week, because at my current weight that is a pretty reasonable goal. It set my daily goal for 1600 cal/day, and I tried my damnedest to eat at 1600 calories for the first week I was here. My first weigh in, which was one week after beginning here, I had lost 1 lb. It was bittersweet, because obviously I was happy to lose anything, but I felt like I *should* have lost more. That day I read in the "Success Stories" area of the MB about someone who had lost a substantial amount of weight by eating more calories. That seemed not only counterintuitive, but too good to be true. I read the entire post anyway, and eventually there was a link to Dan's post which I'm sure most of you have already read (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map). I was skeptical, but the more science I read behind it, and the more personal anecdotes I read proclaiming how well it worked, I figured I would give it a try.
All of this was a long-winded way of saying, I'm SO happy I encountered this advice as soon as I did. Ever since I have been making a concerted effort to always eat at least my BMR, and days I exercise (which is most days), eat above it. I changed my goal with MFP to 1lb/week, which raised my goal to approximately my BMR. With the exception of my first week, when I was eating too few calories, I have consistently lost between 2.4-3.4 lbs/week by eating more calories! I am officially convinced that I should continue to eat at or above my BMR everyday.
I never thought I would have trouble with eating enough calories trying to lose weight, but I'll take that struggle over hunger any day. I'm finally starting to reconceptualize food as fuel for my body, which is encourages me to make the best food choices possible. The "extra" calories always end up going toward eating nutrient and calorie dense foods like nuts, avocado, and olives, that I traditionally avoided because I thought they had too many calories. My outlooking on my diet has totally changed from, how can I budget (save) my calories as much as possible, to how can I spend all my calories the most wisely.
Just wanted to share my piece and say thanks to those of you who have shared your success with eating more to lose more! :)

Replies

  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
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    Wow, absolutely inspiring!! Welcome!
  • justagirl2013
    justagirl2013 Posts: 226 Member
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    Wow! Amazing :) Thank you for sharing your story!
  • gemiwing
    gemiwing Posts: 1,525 Member
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    WOOHOOO! :D

    Welcome!
  • k0nfyo0zed
    k0nfyo0zed Posts: 313 Member
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    Hi and welcome!!

    It took me a year to realize that starving myself wasn't the answer, and then another month of research to jump over here. You are far more trusting than I am ;)

    ~Mandy
  • twinmomtwice4
    twinmomtwice4 Posts: 1,069 Member
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    Welcome and thank you so much for sharing your experience! Congratulations on your weight loss!!!