If you are scared to increase calories

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  • mogriff1
    mogriff1 Posts: 325 Member
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    About 2 weeks ago I increased my caloric intake to my TDEE (at my activity level) minus a 500 calorie deficit and I am finally out of my 4 week plateau! On top of it, I am less hungry and feel more energized. I now eat about 1850 calories a day. I am 5'3'', 135 pounds, excercise 6 days a week.
  • silvercanoe
    silvercanoe Posts: 95 Member
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    4) Lift something heavy 3 days a week and walk five days a week.

    I did go to f2f and ran the numbers and upped my calories a little bit ago. My concern is I don't have access to a gym or heavy weights at home right now. I have been using dvds to work out with hand weights. I know heavy lifting is really effective, but will this method work if I don't lift heavy?

    Thanks!
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    4) Lift something heavy 3 days a week and walk five days a week.

    I did go to f2f and ran the numbers and upped my calories a little bit ago. My concern is I don't have access to a gym or heavy weights at home right now. I have been using dvds to work out with hand weights. I know heavy lifting is really effective, but will this method work if I don't lift heavy?

    Thanks!

    Sure, just use sedentary or lightly active depending on your job.
  • rmac18
    rmac18 Posts: 185 Member
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    I also found that increasing my caloric intake helped kickstart my weight loss when I hit a plateau. I firmly there is a balance with your body and the amount of calories you eat, the quality of those calories with regard to nutrients, the amount of rest between exercising and the amount of sleep. When I have all these things in the zone then weight loss is a lot easier and I feel a lot better.
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
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    About 2 weeks ago I increased my caloric intake to my TDEE (at my activity level) minus a 500 calorie deficit and I am finally out of my 4 week plateau! On top of it, I am less hungry and feel more energized. I now eat about 1850 calories a day. I am 5'3'', 135 pounds, excercise 6 days a week.

    That actually sounds like a great idea. I may do that bc quite frankly I'm still scared to up my calories by 650!
  • LiteBrite007
    LiteBrite007 Posts: 294 Member
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    Come on guys. Play nice.
  • ofthevalley
    ofthevalley Posts: 69
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    Another key point when you increase your calories at first you will see an increase in weight usually first week or two. This is your bodies insulin levels and hormones getting brought back into line. MFP had me set to 1900 cals and I was stuck in a plateau. I went and got BF% measured (water dip) and metabolism measured (breathing test). Learned to be losing I needed to actually be around 2.4-2.5k to be at my 750 a day deficit I was wanting. Doing that I've been dropping and leaning up. I plan on doing those tests every 6 months or so now. Upping my calories was a bit worrisome at first because I gained around 9 pounds that first week and the week after it started coming back off but it didn't stop coming off.

    If you are having problems like I've said in the past.

    Contact your local universities sports department. Most of them will for a small fee/donation let you come and they then let kids practice the bf % test and metabolism test on you. Teaches the kids and you get the results much cheaper then going to say an anti-aging or sports center to get them done!

    Thank you for this. I increased my calories and my workouts this week and I've put on 3 lbs. I needed to read this post.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    MFP has me at 1250 for my weight and activity level.
    this has me at about 1600...
    i am still kinda scared to try it, afraid i will start gaining
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
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    MFP has me at 1250 for my weight and activity level.
    this has me at about 1600...
    i am still kinda scared to try it, afraid i will start gaining

    Bc with this formula you don't eat your exercise cals back; MFP you do. Depending on how much you burn when you workout it sounds like you would even out.
  • shrinkinginQualicum
    shrinkinginQualicum Posts: 131 Member
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  • muppetsbear
    muppetsbear Posts: 80 Member
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    coming back:smile:
  • PickTara
    PickTara Posts: 19
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    Thanks for the info. I am going to give it a try. I have been working out really hard and I have found that I am starving to death lately. I will give it a try for a month or so :)
  • autumnk921
    autumnk921 Posts: 1,376 Member
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  • Autry403
    Autry403 Posts: 88
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    1200-1400 cal /day
    Eat until I'm full & I'm satisfied .
    MFP Says for me to eat 1200 /day but after my exercise it should be 1700/day ...
    I can NEVER eat that much in one day , unless I had bad foods like pizza and fast food or something .
    I haven't been eating anything 'bad' lately this past month .
    I'm not to worried about my weight loss , as to my size 'inches'.
    So that's why I bought 30DS , and just eat what I can .
    I jog 2-4 miles / day now also , and burn 500-600 cals / day .
  • kfitzs
    kfitzs Posts: 48 Member
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    ive been thinking about increasing my calories to lose weight but im not 100% sure what my activity level would be and i was eating about 2200 calories when i put on weight and that calulator would have me eating 1932 for lightly active which i would have to be minimum as i do at least 15000 steps a day at work
  • belladonnablue
    belladonnablue Posts: 24
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    (Sorry, noob post incoming!)

    I'm so glad I read this thread. I was starving on 1300 calories and losing nada, so I just increased my calorie intake to 2000 (following Coach Calorie's advice to find my weight gain threshold... I'm a stay-at-home, nursing mom, so I've been really foggy on figuring out how many calories I really burn a day) and after a week of 2000 calories, I put on over a pound. I was really concerned that it only took 2000 calories before I started gaining weight, even with regular exercise, and if I continued gaining at that high I was worried I'd have to cut down to starving-to-death levels before my weight would budge.

    Secretly, I was hoping that the weight gain just represented a system reboot of my body adjusting to the higher energy and following weeks would be different. I'm happy to read that this may indeed be what happened. :)
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
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    Thanks for this post, it's very helpful.

    I followed the instructions, and got a result of 2090 p/d for the lightly active option. That is certainly good for me.

    However, please excuse my ignorance but I have a few questions;

    A) If I don't stick to the routine and lift 3 days p/w etc, will I put on weight or stay at maintenance? Should I eat less on the days I don't exercise? I do work as a Barista 4 days a week, though, so I am active from that.

    B) I am currently at 1690 calories per day. I am making changes to the types of food I eat, but for the past two weeks or so, I didn't eat very well. Not only that, but I was over my calories. So I was probably averaging out around at the amount of calories fat2fit is recommending. I seemed to have put on a lb (but TOM is due, so it might be that), and haven't lost anything for two weeks now. Is eating 2090 calories a day REALLY going to make me lose weight? Again, does the 2090 p/d include exercise (lifting and cardio), or just my normal daily activity (I.E working)

    Sorry if I sound sceptical, I don't mean to be. I am just a bit nervous about increasing my calories. Been really ****ty to not lose for two weeks, and I am worried about putting on some of the 11lbs I worked so hard to lose.

    Thanks in advance!
  • tryinghard71
    tryinghard71 Posts: 593
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  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Thanks for this post, it's very helpful.

    I followed the instructions, and got a result of 2090 p/d for the lightly active option. That is certainly good for me.

    However, please excuse my ignorance but I have a few questions;

    A) If I don't stick to the routine and lift 3 days p/w etc, will I put on weight or stay at maintenance? Should I eat less on the days I don't exercise? I do work as a Barista 4 days a week, though, so I am active from that.

    B) I am currently at 1690 calories per day. I am making changes to the types of food I eat, but for the past two weeks or so, I didn't eat very well. Not only that, but I was over my calories. So I was probably averaging out around at the amount of calories fat2fit is recommending. I seemed to have put on a lb (but TOM is due, so it might be that), and haven't lost anything for two weeks now. Is eating 2090 calories a day REALLY going to make me lose weight? Again, does the 2090 p/d include exercise (lifting and cardio), or just my normal daily activity (I.E working)

    Sorry if I sound sceptical, I don't mean to be. I am just a bit nervous about increasing my calories. Been really ****ty to not lose for two weeks, and I am worried about putting on some of the 11lbs I worked so hard to lose.

    Thanks in advance!

    Just to answer these real quick before bed;
    a. It's just a guideline exercise plan - do what you can and use the appropriate activity level for you.
    b. You don't eat exercise calories back using this method UNLESS you pick sedentary and then exercise vigorously. Your calorie goal is high because you're young - use it to your advantage!

    You may gain some water weight as you up your calories, but remember the maths - you need an excess of 3.5k to gain a lb of fat. It takes a few weeks for the hormones to adjust.
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
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    Thanks for this post, it's very helpful.

    I followed the instructions, and got a result of 2090 p/d for the lightly active option. That is certainly good for me.

    However, please excuse my ignorance but I have a few questions;

    A) If I don't stick to the routine and lift 3 days p/w etc, will I put on weight or stay at maintenance? Should I eat less on the days I don't exercise? I do work as a Barista 4 days a week, though, so I am active from that.

    B) I am currently at 1690 calories per day. I am making changes to the types of food I eat, but for the past two weeks or so, I didn't eat very well. Not only that, but I was over my calories. So I was probably averaging out around at the amount of calories fat2fit is recommending. I seemed to have put on a lb (but TOM is due, so it might be that), and haven't lost anything for two weeks now. Is eating 2090 calories a day REALLY going to make me lose weight? Again, does the 2090 p/d include exercise (lifting and cardio), or just my normal daily activity (I.E working)

    Sorry if I sound sceptical, I don't mean to be. I am just a bit nervous about increasing my calories. Been really ****ty to not lose for two weeks, and I am worried about putting on some of the 11lbs I worked so hard to lose.

    Thanks in advance!

    Just to answer these real quick before bed;
    a. It's just a guideline exercise plan - do what you can and use the appropriate activity level for you.
    b. You don't eat exercise calories back using this method UNLESS you pick sedentary and then exercise vigorously. Your calorie goal is high because you're young - use it to your advantage!

    You may gain some water weight as you up your calories, but remember the maths - you need an excess of 3.5k to gain a lb of fat. It takes a few weeks for the hormones to adjust.

    Thank you, thank you! So sweet of you to reply :-)

    In response;

    Ah, I see. So it's just a case of eat that daily, and if you exercise, don't eat them back?

    I will be mindful of the water weight and not weigh myself for a while. Been having a nightmare with the scale for a couple of weeks and it's really getting me down :(

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