Eat More Food!!!!!

RyanDanielle5101

GOOD FOOD of course

I am not going to give any links to articles because this is just my experience; however I have seen it work for others as well!! I am just under 5' tall and I was at 130lbs when I joined MFP on October 2011. I started eating 1200 cals a day in addition to Insanity workouts 5-6 days a week. I ate about half my exercise cals back and only tried to eat when I was truly hungry. I lost at a good pace at first but started to plateau; I've never been focused on the scale very much anyway and have used measurements to judge my progress. I was trucking right along and okay with the fact the scale hadn’t really moved (I was still losing inches) and then came the move to the new house. Three weeks of not tracking my food (going over on cals almost every day) and limited exercise resulted in a 3.5lb loss!!! Not to mention my measurements totaled over 19 inches lost from my body:happy:

I was so excited and decided to up my cals by 250 exactly a week ago!! I got on the scale again today expecting a GAIN and to my surprise I have LOST another 1.4lbs:noway: I am going to stay at my 1450 cal intake until I start lifting and I may just up my cals again!!

I’ll also add (since I see people worry about going over in protein) that I upped my protein intake to about 1g per pound of body weight which after exercise puts me at about 120-130g per day or more!! I've noticed a huge diffrence during workouts and my growing muscles are thanking me!!

I am not trying to say this is the only or best way but it has worked for me and plenty of other MFP users. If this gives just one person the courage or kahunas to up their cals it is worth it:flowerforyou:

Remember our bodies are amazing machines and in order for the machine to work properly it needs to be fueled properly. GOOD FOOD IS FUEL!!!

vim_n_vigor

I completely concur! I have been upping my calories too. Do you realize how difficult it is to actually stay in a sedentary zone for a day? I thought I was sedentary. I have the desk job and during work, my big movements are going back and forth to the bathroom. I started eating more and guess what? I am starting to see that downward trend on the scale. My family is also happy that the starving ***** is gone!

Mochiedoke

I'm new to the community forums, but I can't thank you enough for these posts. I started working out hard, 6 days a week, about 2 weeks ago, and eating very carefully, usually coming in under calories (including my exercise deficit) every day. The result? I went from 133 to 138 :-|

Looks like I need to reevaluate the way I'm doing things here, because I was really at the point of being frustrated enough to give up. Many thanks to you :-)

myak623

I'm new to the community forums, but I can't thank you enough for these posts. I started working out hard, 6 days a week, about 2 weeks ago, and eating very carefully, usually coming in under calories (including my exercise deficit) every day. The result? I went from 133 to 138 :-|

Looks like I need to reevaluate the way I'm doing things here, because I was really at the point of being frustrated enough to give up. Many thanks to you :-)

You haven't given yourself enough time. A lot of that gain is water. As you tear muscle fibers from workouts, water comes into them. It will subside.

OP, is spot on that proper calorie intake needs to be in place to fuel workouts. Everyone should take time to find their BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and work from that.

angelina2585

Fantastic results for you! Truly. I've been increasing my calories and even if I only lose 1/2 lb a week I'd rather that and be happy rather than the miserable, moody cow-bag I was on 1200 the first 2 weeks :blushing: My husband and children are really grateful too :laugh:

I'm trying 2 weeks at 1500 at the moment and have been increasing by 100 every fortnight. The weight's coming off slowly but surely so I'm chuffed.

Mochiedoke

I'm new to the community forums, but I can't thank you enough for these posts. I started working out hard, 6 days a week, about 2 weeks ago, and eating very carefully, usually coming in under calories (including my exercise deficit) every day. The result? I went from 133 to 138 :-|

Looks like I need to reevaluate the way I'm doing things here, because I was really at the point of being frustrated enough to give up. Many thanks to you :-)

You haven't given yourself enough time. A lot of that gain is water. As you tear muscle fibers from workouts, water comes into them. It will subside.

OP, is spot on that proper calorie intake needs to be in place to fuel workouts. Everyone should take time to find their BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and work from that.

Ahhh, thank you. i'm not a very patient person either, lol...I'm kicking myself because years ago I used to be a 7-day a week workout fiend. And I loved it, it wasn't a struggle, it was just pure fun. I fell off, and it's so hard getting back, but I will :-)

FitAddictAmanda

This is SO very true. You have to feed your body! Food is fuel, it's not a curse. My 115 pound personal trainer pal eats 2500 cals a day and she is buff. You just have to eat the right things, and protein is a huge part of that!

sdrawkcabynot

KUDDOS!

As a guy when I first started - I dropped to 1500 calories and thought it was the only way to do the "weight loss" thing. I lost 14 lbs in about a month but then it stopped. I upped my calories by dropping down to 1 lb weight loss and try to get as close as possible. Sometimes I workout so hard in my classes that by the end of the day I am looking at 1800 calories to consume before bed and it doesn't happen.

Now I just up my calories (or at least try) during breakfast and lunch with snacks in between.

Great post! This is why I have you on my friends list


***PS edit - I have stopped weighing myself and have based my accomplishments on NSV's and the fact that I have been logging for 95 days and can see a difference. I also thoroughly enjoy working out and love weights more than cardio, but will never give cardio up... the end***

RyanDanielle5101

I'm new to the community forums, but I can't thank you enough for these posts. I started working out hard, 6 days a week, about 2 weeks ago, and eating very carefully, usually coming in under calories (including my exercise deficit) every day. The result? I went from 133 to 138 :-|

Looks like I need to reevaluate the way I'm doing things here, because I was really at the point of being frustrated enough to give up. Many thanks to you :-)

You haven't given yourself enough time. A lot of that gain is water. As you tear muscle fibers from workouts, water comes into them. It will subside.

OP, is spot on that proper calorie intake needs to be in place to fuel workouts. Everyone should take time to find their BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and work from that.

Ahhh, thank you. i'm not a very patient person either, lol...I'm kicking myself because years ago I used to be a 7-day a week workout fiend. And I loved it, it wasn't a struggle, it was just pure fun. I fell off, and it's so hard getting back, but I will :-)

One of the best things I've heard people say on here is "The weight didn't get there overnight, It takes time to get it off too"!!!

MommaFuhrer

Saving for later :flowerforyou:

CampinGal34

Thanks for this! I finally gave in and upped my calories to OVER my BMR (instead of MFP's suggestion of UNDER). I got say, It's only been 3 days and I'm still nervous! It seems crazy to eat so much more, but I've been at a stand still for so long and I'm tired all the time. So, I'm hoping this is what I need. Thanks!!

marci423

bump

frannyannemum

Thanks for the advice.

I was on a 1200 calorie a day diet for about a year and gradually lost weight for the first 8 months. Due to family circumstances, after August I didn't bother counting calories and put on 21lb.

Since the beginning of March this year, I have started eating 1456 calories a day which is my BMR and have lost 15lbs but do find it hard to eat a lot of protein as I am not a huge lover of meat and don't touch red meat (alhough I do love fish).. am thinking about protein shakes.

Really excellent advice though, thank you :happy:

sdrawkcabynot

Thanks for the advice.

I was on a 1200 calorie a day diet for about a year and gradually lost weight for the first 8 months. Due to family circumstances, after August I didn't bother counting calories and put on 21lb.

Since the beginning of March this year, I have started eating 1456 calories a day which is my BMR and have lost 15lbs but do find it hard to eat a lot of protein as I am not a huge lover of meat and don't touch red meat (alhough I do love fish).. am thinking about protein shakes.

Really excellent advice though, thank you :happy:

Protein powder with frozen strawberries and almond milk make a yummy "milk shake"... I am just saying

hsmommy22

I would have to agree with eating more calories.

I tried losing weight for years. Been off and on MFP. Recently my sister & I got back on MFP to support each other. The first week was immediately following my birthday. I still had cake and other goodies in the house. I decided to just log in my calories for a week and exercise 4 times during the week.

I ate a ridiculous amount of calories and mainly did yoga (not weight loss yoga!). I lost 3.5 pounds that week! Does make me a little nervous about how many calories I was eating before returning to MFP!

This week I'm keeping my calories under a much high amount than MFP suggests...as a test. I find just logging the food in and being completely honest with myself helps me stay in control. So we'll see what happens on the scale on Monday (weigh in day)!

RyanDanielle5101

Thanks for the advice.

I was on a 1200 calorie a day diet for about a year and gradually lost weight for the first 8 months. Due to family circumstances, after August I didn't bother counting calories and put on 21lb.

Since the beginning of March this year, I have started eating 1456 calories a day which is my BMR and have lost 15lbs but do find it hard to eat a lot of protein as I am not a huge lover of meat and don't touch red meat (alhough I do love fish).. am thinking about protein shakes.

Really excellent advice though, thank you :happy:

I love love love my protein shake everyday!!! Try any Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey except maybe the strawberry (I've heard it isn't very good). I have the French Vanilla Crème right now. I just throw it in the blender with some frozen strawberries and 1/2 a cup light vanilla almond milk, 24g of protein in 1 scoop I get pretty good deals on it from Amazon!!

ETA: ICE can't forget the ice cubes for the shake:)

Mama06

I would have to agree with eating more calories.

I tried losing weight for years. Been off and on MFP. Recently my sister & I got back on MFP to support each other. The first week was immediately following my birthday. I still had cake and other goodies in the house. I decided to just log in my calories for a week and exercise 4 times during the week.

I ate a ridiculous amount of calories and mainly did yoga (not weight loss yoga!). I lost 3.5 pounds that week! Does make me a little nervous about how many calories I was eating before returning to MFP!

This week I'm keeping my calories under a much high amount than MFP suggests...as a test. I find just logging the food in and being completely honest with myself helps me stay in control. So we'll see what happens on the scale on Monday (weigh in day)!

Being completely honest is a real key to success that is so often overlooked!