I am a believer now!!! Eat More!

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2

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  • AHealthyMe1lbAtATime
    AHealthyMe1lbAtATime Posts: 188 Member
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    I've been at a stand still for months!!! I always get to where I'm at, and then I quit. I am not quitting this time, but I've been stuck for 2 months like this. I've been told to up my cals.... I started this week, so we shall see.............. Congrats to you:)
  • jedibunny
    jedibunny Posts: 321
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    I started losing again once I upped my caloric intake, after plateauing for quite some time. Groups like Eat More to Weigh Less and Eating for Future You on here both have great tools to help you determine what your goal intake ought to be. You WILL lose weight initially by lowering your calories, but after that first drop, you'll likely stall because your body isn't getting *enough* calories. You can read a lot more on the forums in either of those groups.

    Congrats OP!
  • sarahharmintx
    sarahharmintx Posts: 868 Member
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    Im glad you found what works for you.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
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    I wanna thank the couple people who posted that really long post about eating enough calories for weight loss. For like two and half months the scale barely moved. maaaybe a half pound if that.. I work out 6-9 hours a week with strength training. My diet is clean and consisted of about 1600 calories. So you can see my frustration. i am doing everything I am suppose to, but no results on the scale. So I was at a decision.. go down to like 1300 calories or bump it up to like 1900 ish. I decided the worst that can happen at 1900 calories was i didn't lose weight... can't gain at that amount.. but i can screw up my metabolism going lower. So I for about a month or so I have been around 1900.. I lost about 5 pounds!!! You don't know how overjoyed i am to see the scale move even if it's a much slower pace.

    Thank You Again for the informative posts about eating enough calories. I made a huge difference for me!!
    I wish every one would see this......
  • frootcat
    frootcat Posts: 194 Member
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    Congratulations! Love reading things like this. I've been really terrified to try it, but I took the whole plunge this week (TDEE - 20%, as I have plenty to lose). One thing I'll say for sure is that it FORCES me to exercise at LEAST as much as I put in to begin with. When I was 'eating back,' that gave me a bit of a license to slack if I was feeling lazy.

    Anyway, not about me, about YOU! Fabulous job!
  • kylesmommy89
    kylesmommy89 Posts: 356 Member
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    It's true!! I am maintaining at 1800 net :D Congratulations on getting the best of both worlds...getting in shape and NOT making yourself miserable to do it!
  • lion_queen
    lion_queen Posts: 37
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    Well I was scared to up my calorie too, but I just did it in Monday! Thanks for your posting, this just made me more determinated! :flowerforyou:
  • MDyck1979
    MDyck1979 Posts: 21
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    There is another factor at play here that people are overlooking - when you go from a mostly sedentary lifestyle to working out regularly, it takes awhile to build that lean muscle mass - lean muscle mass, in turn, BURNS calories, even while at rest. So as the proportion of your body mass changes - less fat % wise, more lean muscle % wise - you will naturallly see an increase in calories out, and hence a change on the scale.
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    I not only made my goal weight, then lost a few more lbs, I look 10x better by eating more.

    I will never go back, ever.
  • sandrajune72
    sandrajune72 Posts: 550
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    That's great news! Well done!

    I have a question though, how do you know how much to increase your calories by?
  • rhazelwood
    rhazelwood Posts: 42 Member
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    There is another factor at play here that people are overlooking - when you go from a mostly sedentary lifestyle to working out regularly, it takes awhile to build that lean muscle mass - lean muscle mass, in turn, BURNS calories, even while at rest. So as the proportion of your body mass changes - less fat % wise, more lean muscle % wise - you will naturallly see an increase in calories out, and hence a change on the scale.

    Exactly right! The more muscle you build the more fuel your body requires, and that's not taken in to account in the calorie targets you see. Definitely something that should be considered if you are strength training.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    It's so hard to convince people of this

    you should start by telling us how to replicate it on the body weight simulator web site http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/

    I'm guessing "increase your calories" is only part of the story.
  • scottkissinger
    scottkissinger Posts: 3
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    If you plateau on weight loss, even though you're maintaining a calorie deficit, I would recommend looking at these things & adjusting as needed:

    1) Are you eating the wrong type of foods, especially high glycemic foods that turn to sugar in your blood easily? Eating those types of foods spike your insulin levels. When you spike your insulin levels, it tells your body that you have more than enough energy to handle it needs so your body stores the excess as fat.

    2) Are you having three big meals instead of 5, 6 or 7 smaller meals throughout the day? Several smaller meals will not spike your insulin levels as high as three big meals -- result is your body burns fat easier. This is why body builders, when they cut to trim fat, eat 6-8 small meals a day. I know most don't want to be a body builder, but the principle still applies....smaller, more frequent meals work.

    3) When you reduce your calories, your body will eventually adjust its metabolism and it becomes harder to lose weight. So, if you start to plateau on weight loss, you need to rev up your metabolism. What works well is having one or two cheat meals (meals....not days or weeks because then you are not having a calorie deficit) a week. That way your body's metabolism stays high and you don't allow it to adjust down lower. Ideally, it is better too to have the cheat meal during breakfast or lunch so your body can work through the extra food before you go to sleep. What happens to your metabolism is similar to what happens to your muscles when they are overloaded via weight training. The body has to be prepared to handle the excess calories consumed during a cheat meal, so it revs up the metabolism which has lasting effects even when you're not cheating!

    Good luck to everyone on achieving their goals! :smile:
  • ChitownFoodie
    ChitownFoodie Posts: 1,562 Member
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    That is awesome!
  • Pollywog39
    Pollywog39 Posts: 1,730 Member
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    That's great news! Well done!

    I have a question though, how do you know how much to increase your calories by?

    This is an awesome site that gives you a number of tools to use.

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/
  • mjhelton
    mjhelton Posts: 33 Member
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    Thank you for posting this! I have been fighting with myself about uping my calories... Kinda scared actually I dont want the scale to go in the other direction. I find myself being more hungry through out the day, This is why I have thought more about what I have been hearing about uping calories. I have been doing p90x faithfully since April 1st but not going by their food guide. I burn about 550-900 calories during each daily workout. I have also been trying to keep my calorie intake between 1250-1400. And the scale not really moving. Im thinking I need to up my calories based on what you all are saying! LOL... just scared to make that change!
  • SimonIsChanging
    SimonIsChanging Posts: 91 Member
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    Good work!! :)
  • Mist1981
    Mist1981 Posts: 145
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    Same story here!! Congratulations!!
  • just4u_cara
    just4u_cara Posts: 100 Member
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    Tempted to try this as I have plateaued for the last 2 weeks.....and exercising more is not helping.

    As Nike says....Just Do It! You'll be amazed to see the scale move downwards!

    Just track what you eat, maybe increase 200ish calories and see what happens.

    Somehow, someway, it DOES work :happy:
  • sandrajune72
    sandrajune72 Posts: 550
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    That's great news! Well done!

    I have a question though, how do you know how much to increase your calories by?

    This is an awesome site that gives you a number of tools to use.

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    Thankyou so much! :flowerforyou:

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