If you are scared to increase calories

Brianabomb

Ok- I have read everyone's post and I just want to confirm for myself:

If My BF% is 46.8% that makes my goal weight 139 (which is lower that what I was shooting for but no biggie)

the Katch-McArdle says my BMR is 1391

The chart I get for lightly active says I need to eat 1939 calories a day

So, I keep doing what I'm doing exercise wise and DON'T eat my exercise calories back? Just stick with the 1939 total?

Is the 1939 my tdee? If so, than if I'm eating this but burning lets say 300 cals, then my deficit is 300 cals a day? Which in turn make it a 2100 deficit per week? Which is not even a pound?

Oh golly! I've been on a plateau for 5 wks now and I really want to get this right.

ucsneakerz

Ok, one last question, because this is rocking my weight loss world!

Ironman kind of hit on this, but what are some easy ways to increase calorie intake? Protein shakes? Anyone have specific protein shake recommendations?

I'm trying to make sure I increase effectively but not with junk food and an overabundance of things like pasta and bread (which will be my taste buds inkling...)

Thanks!

moerketid

Just a quick question here...I admit I'm one of the very low calorie eaters. I'm terrified to increase because I seem to gain weight so extremely easily, and I also don't have a huge appetite anyway, so I find it difficult to eat so much.

But more than that, I have a disability which makes strenuous workouts difficult. Most of the time I can walk every day for at least 30 minutes (though occasionally will have a couple of weeks where I'm feeling less well and am more inactive). Will this kind of thing work for me? The Fat2Fit site thinks I can eat 2030 calories (!!!) at sedentary and the mere idea makes me panic!

What's the catch here? >_>

chrisb75

Ok, one last question, because this is rocking my weight loss world!

Ironman kind of hit on this, but what are some easy ways to increase calorie intake? Protein shakes? Anyone have specific protein shake recommendations?

I'm trying to make sure I increase effectively but not with junk food and an overabundance of things like pasta and bread (which will be my taste buds inkling...)

Thanks!

Switch to full fat versions of yogurt, cottage cheese, eat nuts, protein shakes

fairestthings

I'm 5'0" even and it's telling me to eat 2046 O_O. That seems so... off. I exercise 5-6 days a week and eat healthy regularly. Due to the fact im not obese and only need to lose 20-30# weight comes off very slowly for me anyways. I'm really concerned about upping to 2,000!!!

I'm just confused now >.>

regmcc

I have a scale tha tells me my body fat %, anyone have any info how acurate this would be? Also I have recently upped my calories to close to what fat2fit gave me in their calculations, I haven't lost anything in 3 weeks but have jumped back and forth by about 3 lbs. I am getting a little discouraged but am going to stick it out for another week. I suspect that it's is the increase in calories as well as what I've been eating, I find it hard to get the extra calories and I'm afraid it has been with treats, cookies and chips! The extra calories I know should come from a green smoothy or something like that.

If you are truly running a deficit, eating some bad food here and there won't hurt your effort. Try eating more calorie dense food like whole fat versions of milk/cottage cheese/yougurt, nuts, and seeds. I perscribe to the 80/20 plan. If 80% of your calories come from good sources the 20% won't matter, AS LONG AS YOU ARE IN A DEFICIT or maintenance.



Thanks that makes sense. Anyone have any thoughts on my scale and how accurate it may or may not be?

taso42

Just a quick question here...I admit I'm one of the very low calorie eaters. I'm terrified to increase because I seem to gain weight so extremely easily, and I also don't have a huge appetite anyway, so I find it difficult to eat so much.

But more than that, I have a disability which makes strenuous workouts difficult. Most of the time I can walk every day for at least 30 minutes (though occasionally will have a couple of weeks where I'm feeling less well and am more inactive). Will this kind of thing work for me? The Fat2Fit site thinks I can eat 2030 calories (!!!) at sedentary and the mere idea makes me panic!

What's the catch here? >_>

2030 sounds about right. The only catch is that you have to start believing that starving yourself is not the optimal approach.

tinam76

okay so i am new at this and i am always reading eat back don't eat back increase don't increase so very confused ! here i am . i have been on for three weeks first week lost pounds second week 2 pounds this week 1 pound. i am a stay at home mom everything gives me different numbers(scale, mfp, and treadmill) i listing my activity as sedetary when i started because a wasn't "setting time aside time for exercise" just the normal cooking and cleaning. so i been walking at least 4 days a week average 40 minutes. i also do crunches , and bicep curls 5 lbs weight. wanting to get to gym 3 days a week but really only making it one to 2 days i do weights there. should i raise my calories? somedays i am so hungry having to exercise in order to eat more than 1200 calories, some days not even eating 1200. should i wait until i have no weight loss to change my activity or should i increase now. kind of scared that i will increase and then have slow days and not burn enough calories to be eating more. i don't want to undo the nine pounds i have already lost? please tell me what you think. oh fyi was thinking 2 things one i lost 6 the first week because the extra activity was a shock to the body 2nd thing is and maybe tmi sorry if it is but i think we are all grown today i started cycle and i know they say a week prior we start to bloat so can that explain the 1 pound loss this week my weigh in day was thursday. please tell me what you all think especially those who have been doing this a while. thanks guys

Brianabomb

can anyone confirm my above post for me? Please??

FloridaAimee

Tina,
I NEVER consider what I weigh a few days before or during my period, because I too bloat terribly, and I have terrible stomach upset during my period as well.

tinalatina

I was scared but I upped it a few hundred cals. I gained 2 pounds the first week and I wanted to QUIT~! But many people encouraged me to stick with it for a couple of weeks. Im on week three and I lost the 2 pounds and my body has finally adjusted! I am happy I did it because I get to eat more and my bodys way more way more satisfied!!

ironanimal

I'm 5'0" even and it's telling me to eat 2046 O_O. That seems so... off. I exercise 5-6 days a week and eat healthy regularly. Due to the fact im not obese and only need to lose 20-30# weight comes off very slowly for me anyways. I'm really concerned about upping to 2,000!!!

I'm just confused now >.>

It's because you're young and workout like an animal

For reassurance sake, my maintenance is around 3700.

When you're close to goal, you should try and eat closer to what your goal weight maintenance would be so you can maintain your loss - even if it means it takes you a couple more months to get there.

Mads1997

bumping to read later

StarletteS

Hi! Hello there. Do me a favor and look at the bottom of my post here. See that? Yep, guess what? I eat more than 1200 calories a day. Yep, it works. Thank you for your time.

AMAZING! GREAT JOB!

jerjan

I know I wasn't loosing anymore weight at 1,200 cals so I increased my 2 weeks ago I increased to 1,450. I lost 3 pounds that 1st week. This week I gained 2 pounds. I'm going to wait and see what happens next week. Another thing I have a doubt in... Low carbs diet? to loose body fat.

prplangl4

[q] They are working out 6-7 days a week. [/q]

yeah, exercise is so last century for weight loss.

Lift something heavy 3 days a week and walk five days a week.

So is reading comprehension, obviously.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GOOD BURN! lol :laugh:

tzeoli86

bump

purplep41n

Hello,

I need some help, I thought I had it all figured out but I am not sure now. I worked out that :

Harris-Benedict Formula - my current BMR is 1841 calories.

Katch-McArdle Formula
body fat percentage of 59%, you have a lean body mass of 97 lbs., and your BMR is 1322 calories.

My tdee is 2203 (set at desk job as I truly don't think I do enough to warrant acknowledging it as more than that)

Fat2fitradio tell me that I should eat at any of the below cals at my goal weight and thus should do so now. dress for the job I want rather than the job I have which makes sense to me. I get that. I never understood that if a healthy weighted woman should eat 2000 cals a day then why should someone much bigger eat as much as a child to lose weight. I always wondered why overweight women was just not told to eat 2000 cals and they will lose weight as that is what allows a thin woman to maintain a healthy weight.

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1918
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2197
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2477
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2757
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3036

I struggle to have any enthusiasm for exercise and only manage the 10-15 min walk from bus stop to work and work to bus stop. I note these occurances and eat back the calories.

My job on a good day is pretty active. I'm a digital printer so when busy I'm lugging heavy paper about. I note this down as cleaning for however long I'm doing this and eat back the calories. Otherwise I consider myself sedentary.

I have signed up for a course in proper weight lifting for women which I hope will give me enough confidence to use the gym effectively rather than being scared off into using silly light weights or bottle of water/cans of beans like I've been made to believe for so long. I hope this turns around my lack of enthausiam for exercise.

Anywho - based on the above am I currently doing things right by eating back my calories because of the fact that I am generally sedentary at the moment..

BeckysWellnessPlan

bump

heylatimer

My weight was up and down and cheat days always resulted in regaining lost pounds. I bumped my calories up to near maintenance <50 calorie deficit. The up and down stopped along with the cheating. I have been losing slow and steady and gaining strength.

HMVOL7409

Silly, silly question. I have my BF tested every 6 weeks; if I already know it can I use it instead of doing the calculator? I know for a fact they are way off from each other and I don't trust online calculators for BF.

FitSuga

Okay so, I'm going to try this. Eating 2451 calories. I know my actual BF% so hopefully it's close to accurate. I workout 5-6 days a week and generally get a fitbit adjustment of 500-600 calories burned. Today for example it's only 3 and I'm at 540. So I'll net around 1800ish? Hope I don't gain too much and this works!

ironanimal

Silly, silly question. I have my BF tested every 6 weeks; if I already know it can I use it instead of doing the calculator? I know for a fact they are way off from each other and I don't trust online calculators for BF.

Yup. Preferential option.

HealthyHappy120

I'm supposed to be eating 2127 calories a day?!? That's a lot to take in :indifferent:

HMVOL7409

Silly, silly question. I have my BF tested every 6 weeks; if I already know it can I use it instead of doing the calculator? I know for a fact they are way off from each other and I don't trust online calculators for BF.

Yup. Preferential option.

Thank you! Just realized it by looking at it. Now I need to start eating!

sdardar

According to this I should eat 1920 calories a day. That's alot of calories. Wondering how I will be able to eat all of that.

TheOriginalGinging

I had just changed mine from 1230 to 1700. I'm glad you posted this. I'm encouraged that I've made the right choice!

tinam76

Tina,
I NEVER consider what I weigh a few days before or during my period, because I too bloat terribly, and I have terrible stomach upset during my period as well.

yeah i kinda figured the cycle thing i just wonder should i increase or should i wait to see if i'm still going to lose at 1200 calories walking at least 40 minutes 3 to 4 days a week . some days starving and will either eat more when i'm hungry and figure out what to eat with what i have left or exercise so i don't go over my . i'm so confused. people say one to two pounds a week is a healthy weight loss i just want to do what i should be doing just like when i exercise everything gives me different numbers so i go with the lowest one to be safe because what if the highest says 500 calories burned and lowest says 250 if i go with highest one i could be hurting myself .please advise

lind3400

So I'm confused do I use the Katch-McArdle BMR (1342) or the Harris-Benedict BMR (1604)?? Will that affect the TDEE (2130)??
Becasue the site is telling me the Katch-McArdle is more accurate....but the TDEE is measured based on the Harris-Benedict BMR.....

BigDaddyBRC

it was confused by "you will exercise harder" which seems to me the opposite of "cut it back".

Now I understand.

Keep in mind that, No, you dont HAVE to work out to lose weight...but by not, you will lose muscle mass in addition to the fat.