I now believe in "eat more to weigh less" (A MUST READ)

Miss_Chanelle

This I quiet I lengthy post, but trust me it is worth the read.

I started MFP in May with a start weight on 132lb (60.1kgs) I was eating what MFP recommended 1200cals and everything was going great, near the end of June i weighed 122lbs (55.5kgs) I was so close to my first goal 121lbs (55kgs) and then i started thinking mmm lets try and speed up this process by eating less... and I mean way less! I started eating between 800-850 cals a day ignoring MFP starvation mode warnings... I did this from June 18th till July 9th, I never weighed myself for this period thinking the pounds would just fall off! After that three weeks I weighed my self, and boy was i shocked! Instead of the pounds falling off, I gained 2lbs (1kg) I weighed 124lbs (56.5kgs) and even further away from that 1st goal! I was so depressed I even binged that entire day! By night time I pulled my self together and decided to read through MFP forum post to find out what happened and came across the "eat more to weigh less" philosophy. I thought what the hell, lets give this a shot..... I upped my calories to 1450.... at first it was hard to eat this because i gotten used to eating 850cals but I decided to fill it up with many fruits and veg and protein.... lemme add i was afraid of fruit because of their high calories. I started eating 1300-1450cals without changing my exercise routine on the 12th July and today the 26thof July I weigh 120lbs (54.5kgs) a loss of 4lbs (2kgs) in 2weeks! now I'm only 5lbs (2.5kgs) away from my UGW of 114lbs (52kgs) :blushing:

let me add I also started drinking lots of green tea, so I not sure but I think it has something to do with it.... :drinker:
Fell free to message me if you seek any advice, I will help you best I can...

I'm now a true believer of eat more to weight less! :flowerforyou:

Assassins_Angel

I can most definately relate to this, I was on 1430 when I started and gained 5lbs in 2 months I was not happy and very close to quitting. But speaking to my parents I changed it to a minium of 1500 (not worried if I go over) drank more water and continued my exercise and i lost those 5lbs plus a teeny bit more (though recently my weight as been abit up and down due to uncontrollable circumstances but I'm not concerned)

MarlinWil

Thank you for sharing your story. It could not have been more timely for me. I have been dipping below into the warning zone, and have been putting on weight. I am a little complicated because I had my entire thyroid removed in February and am still trying to get my medication levels right, but I think that I have gotten myself into bad habits to "compensate". I am terrified of eating a higher level of food, and have been resistant to the idea of increasing my intake in order to reduce my weight.

I will start to increase my calorie intake to 1400 and do it as you have by increasing fruit and vegetables through the day - I have actually been loading up on pretty empty calories without any real nutritional value. Mainly for convenience - I have two young children and am constantly on the run, especially as one has some health issues. No excuse, but if I am going to be honest I may as well give you the whole truth, rather than gloss over the depth of my slackness. Time to turn it around, and your story has hit the exact right nerve with me.

My head knows I have been doing ALL the wrong things (barring exercise - I am doing really well there, and have gotten myself into a great regular routine) with food. I'll let you know how I go.

Lyra89

I really need to add you! I lost 50lbs eating 1500 a day when MFP told me I should only be eating 1200...however I went though a period of binge-eating after trying to lower my calories (it went on for a long long time) but I'm now recovered and back to eating normally and healthfully without counting calories, although I know what I'm eating doesn't exceed 1400/1600 just going by the size of my meals! I need to refrain from rigid calorie counting because it sends me into terrible binge-eating...not worth it!

To cut a long story short, I'm 5'5, started at 180, got down to 126 with a goal weight of 115/120 (like you!) but right now I'm 133!

Hopefully we can be MFP friends so I can see the kinds of things you eat, I love my fruit veggies & green tea also, but for protein I go for fish, tofu & beans as I stopped eating land animals for ethical reasons xxx

TheGoalDigger

This I quiet I lengthy post, but trust me it is worth the read.

I started MFP in May with a start weight on 132lb (60.1kgs) I was eating what MFP recommended 1200cals and everything was going great, near the end of June i weighed 122lbs (55.5kgs) I was so close to my first goal 121lbs (55kgs) and then i started thinking mmm lets try and speed up this process by eating less... and I mean way less! I started eating between 800-850 cals a day ignoring MFP starvation mode warnings... I did this from June 18th till July 9th, I never weighed myself for this period thinking the pounds would just fall off! After that three weeks I weighed my self, and boy was i shocked! Instead of the pounds falling off, I gained 2lbs (1kg) I weighed 124lbs (56.5kgs) and even further away from that 1st goal! I was so depressed I even binged that entire day! By night time I pulled my self together and decided to read through MFP forum post to find out what happened and came across the "eat more to weigh less" philosophy. I thought what the hell, lets give this a shot..... I upped my calories to 1450.... at first it was hard to eat this because i gotten used to eating 850cals but I decided to fill it up with many fruits and veg and protein.... lemme add i was afraid of fruit because of their high calories. I started eating 1300-1450cals without changing my exercise routine on the 12th July and today the 26thof July I weigh 120lbs (54.5kgs) a loss of 4lbs (2kgs) in 2weeks! now I'm only 5lbs (2.5kgs) away from my UGW of 114lbs (52kgs) :blushing:

let me add I also started drinking lots of green tea, so I not sure but I think it has something to do with it.... :drinker:
Fell free to message me if you seek any advice, I will help you best I can...

I'm now a true believer of eat more to weight less! :flowerforyou:

I'm lost... My daily intake is 1200 (mfp calculated) in order to lose 1.6 lbs / week .... Now let's say I eat around 1500 & I burn 300 calories per day so that's 1800 calories that I would have to consume. Wouldn't I gain instead of losing every week? Please help me out because I always end up starving even after consuming 1200 everyday

honeythatsokay

OMG thanks for this! We have the exact same start weight and goal weight and I am seriously STUCK. Three months of eating 1200 and working out, and my weight still fluctuates between 130-128. It's beyond frustrating and exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks for writing Hope you don't mind if I add you!

cairoqueen27

Try this. Change weight loss goal to 1lb a week loss. Have those extra calories, choose food wisely and drink the water recommended. When you are managing without the hunger pangs, adjust your goal slightly. You will get there

Miss_Chanelle

This I quiet I lengthy post, but trust me it is worth the read.

I started MFP in May with a start weight on 132lb (60.1kgs) I was eating what MFP recommended 1200cals and everything was going great, near the end of June i weighed 122lbs (55.5kgs) I was so close to my first goal 121lbs (55kgs) and then i started thinking mmm lets try and speed up this process by eating less... and I mean way less! I started eating between 800-850 cals a day ignoring MFP starvation mode warnings... I did this from June 18th till July 9th, I never weighed myself for this period thinking the pounds would just fall off! After that three weeks I weighed my self, and boy was i shocked! Instead of the pounds falling off, I gained 2lbs (1kg) I weighed 124lbs (56.5kgs) and even further away from that 1st goal! I was so depressed I even binged that entire day! By night time I pulled my self together and decided to read through MFP forum post to find out what happened and came across the "eat more to weigh less" philosophy. I thought what the hell, lets give this a shot..... I upped my calories to 1450.... at first it was hard to eat this because i gotten used to eating 850cals but I decided to fill it up with many fruits and veg and protein.... lemme add i was afraid of fruit because of their high calories. I started eating 1300-1450cals without changing my exercise routine on the 12th July and today the 26thof July I weigh 120lbs (54.5kgs) a loss of 4lbs (2kgs) in 2weeks! now I'm only 5lbs (2.5kgs) away from my UGW of 114lbs (52kgs) :blushing:

let me add I also started drinking lots of green tea, so I not sure but I think it has something to do with it.... :drinker:
Fell free to message me if you seek any advice, I will help you best I can...

I'm now a true believer of eat more to weight less! :flowerforyou:

I'm lost... My daily intake is 1200 (mfp calculated) in order to lose 1.6 lbs / week .... Now let's say I eat around 1500 & I burn 300 calories per day so that's 1800 calories that I would have to consume. Wouldn't I gain instead of losing every week? Please help me out because I always end up starving even after consuming 1200 everyday

I hardly eat my exercise cals back but thats because I do pilates mostly and 30min of that only burns about 90+ cals my exercise consists of walking and pilates and the occasional tennis... so Im not sure about such big calorie burns... but my MPF is set at a loss of 0.5lbs a week and im losing almost 2lb a week... try eating atleast 1600 cals (seeing that you are so active) for 2weeks and see how it goes..... when it comes to exercise im very uneducated :embarassed:

Miss_Chanelle

Try this. Change weight loss goal to 1lb a week loss. Have those extra calories, choose food wisely and drink the water recommended. When you are managing without the hunger pangs, adjust your goal slightly. You will get there

Well said! :flowerforyou:

laurajethan

I'm lost... My daily intake is 1200 (mfp calculated) in order to lose 1.6 lbs / week .... Now let's say I eat around 1500 & I burn 300 calories per day so that's 1800 calories that I would have to consume. Wouldn't I gain instead of losing every week? Please help me out because I always end up starving even after consuming 1200 everyday
[/quote]

Above was quote for some reason its not working

My reply:
you arent taking into account what your BMR is for example my BMR is 1553 Calories per day and my calories are at 1200 per day but I generally burn 600-800 calories a day so I make sure I eat most of my burnt calories as well cause I know im below my BMR

Prahasaurus

I've never understand the "eat more to weigh less" mantra here. It seems quite misleading. I think a lot of people think they just need to eat more - keep everything else the same - and then the weight will start to fall off. Good luck with that one.

I don't believe people are recording their food intake correctly. There is no way for a normal sized adult to eat 850 calories a day and not lose weight. This is a terrible way to lose weight, obviously. But you will lose weight.

Likewise, eating more calories per day will not accelerate weight loss. Just the opposite. Unless there is an increase in exercise to compensate for the increased calorie intake.

--P

blackgirlfit

This is so true! When I eat my recommended 1200 I feel weak and hungry. When I eat 1500 and work out I feel more alert, relaxed, and full. If I go over my recommended daily cals on here oh well

brooshie

i can relate. i was eating 950 calories a day (MFP puts me at 1550) hoping that i could shed an extra pound a week. The 2 weeks I did it, i lost 0.0 pounds. I switched it up and now am eating 1400-1500 and this past week I lost 4 lbs. (first week back).

I am now also a believer in eat more to lose more.

Miss_Chanelle

I've never understand the "eat more to weigh less" mantra here. It seems quite misleading. I think a lot of people think they just need to eat more - keep everything else the same - and then the weight will start to fall off. Good luck with that one.

I don't believe people are recording their food intake correctly. There is no way for a normal sized adult to eat 850 calories a day and not lose weight. This is a terrible way to lose weight, obviously. But you will lose weight.

Likewise, eating more calories per day will not accelerate weight loss. Just the opposite. Unless there is an increase in exercise to compensate for the increased calorie intake.

--P

Well im not saying it applies to everyone, but this is my story .. and it worked for me... but when you stuck in a rut with no way out there is no harm in giving it a shot..... Im pretty glad I did.....

Miss_Chanelle

i can relate. i was eating 950 calories a day (MFP puts me at 1550) hoping that i could shed an extra pound a week. The 2 weeks I did it, i lost 0.0 pounds. I switched it up and now am eating 1400-1500 and this past week I lost 4 lbs. (first week back).

I am now also a believer in eat more to lose more.

Amen!

Miss_Chanelle

This is so true! When I eat my recommended 1200 I feel weak and hungry. When I eat 1500 and work out I feel more alert, relaxed, and full. If I go over my recommended daily cals on here oh well

When I was eating 850 i was the most miserable I have ever been....
Now Im so full of energy, and it was needed coz i just started my 2nd semester at university...

Aries03

Bump

kazhowe

bump

lauren3101

I've never understand the "eat more to weigh less" mantra here. It seems quite misleading. I think a lot of people think they just need to eat more - keep everything else the same - and then the weight will start to fall off. Good luck with that one.

I don't believe people are recording their food intake correctly. There is no way for a normal sized adult to eat 850 calories a day and not lose weight. This is a terrible way to lose weight, obviously. But you will lose weight.

Likewise, eating more calories per day will not accelerate weight loss. Just the opposite. Unless there is an increase in exercise to compensate for the increased calorie intake.

--P

It depends very much on what you eat. When I did Slimming World, I noticed that the more 'free food' I ate, the more weight I would lose - normally between 4 - 6lb a week. If I had a week where I was too busy to eat much or I missed breakfast, etc etc, I would either stay the same, or lose around 1lb a week.

For those that have never done Slimming World, 'free food' is things like fruit, veg, lean meats, etc. Obviously, you can't stuff your face with McDonalds every day and expect to lose weight.

boogercj

Have to say I totally agree

I've lost 12 kg in 4 months basically working out 5-6 days a week, and keeping my calorie deficit around 500 kcals per day, with one "cheat day" per week where I have probably 500 kcals over my maintenance. (BTW I am a 92 kg, 32 YO bloke). Oh, and i drink LOADS of water - probably over a gallon a day. Basically if I can count the numbeer of pints I have, then I'm not drinking enough.

The rewards of eating slightly more, but doing lots of exercise are completely amazing. You'll have more energy overall, your body will get the nutrients it needs and your overall wellbeing (not just your fat %) will be so much better. Think about the whole package - skin, hair, internal health, how you feel, ability to fend off viruses & colds etc instead of just chasing numbers.

It's definitely about what you eat, rather than how much to a certain extent. Eat things that you know are good for you 90% of the time, do lots of exercise and I don't think you can go wrong. Plenty of good quality protein, good fats, water and minimise anything processed, especially refined sugars.

Miss_Chanelle

Have to say I totally agree

I've lost 12 kg in 4 months basically working out 5-6 days a week, and keeping my calorie deficit around 500 kcals per day, with one "cheat day" per week where I have probably 500 kcals over my maintenance. (BTW I am a 92 kg, 32 YO bloke). Oh, and i drink LOADS of water - probably over a gallon a day. Basically if I can count the numbeer of pints I have, then I'm not drinking enough.

The rewards of eating slightly more, but doing lots of exercise are completely amazing. You'll have more energy overall, your body will get the nutrients it needs and your overall wellbeing (not just your fat %) will be so much better. Think about the whole package - skin, hair, internal health, how you feel, ability to fend off viruses & colds etc instead of just chasing numbers.

^ Like

phoenixoncemore

This I quiet I lengthy post, but trust me it is worth the read.

I started MFP in May with a start weight on 132lb (60.1kgs) I was eating what MFP recommended 1200cals and everything was going great, near the end of June i weighed 122lbs (55.5kgs) I was so close to my first goal 121lbs (55kgs) and then i started thinking mmm lets try and speed up this process by eating less... and I mean way less! I started eating between 800-850 cals a day ignoring MFP starvation mode warnings... I did this from June 18th till July 9th, I never weighed myself for this period thinking the pounds would just fall off! After that three weeks I weighed my self, and boy was i shocked! Instead of the pounds falling off, I gained 2lbs (1kg) I weighed 124lbs (56.5kgs) and even further away from that 1st goal! I was so depressed I even binged that entire day! By night time I pulled my self together and decided to read through MFP forum post to find out what happened and came across the "eat more to weigh less" philosophy. I thought what the hell, lets give this a shot..... I upped my calories to 1450.... at first it was hard to eat this because i gotten used to eating 850cals but I decided to fill it up with many fruits and veg and protein.... lemme add i was afraid of fruit because of their high calories. I started eating 1300-1450cals without changing my exercise routine on the 12th July and today the 26thof July I weigh 120lbs (54.5kgs) a loss of 4lbs (2kgs) in 2weeks! now I'm only 5lbs (2.5kgs) away from my UGW of 114lbs (52kgs) :blushing:

let me add I also started drinking lots of green tea, so I not sure but I think it has something to do with it.... :drinker:
Fell free to message me if you seek any advice, I will help you best I can...

I'm now a true believer of eat more to weight less! :flowerforyou:

I can relate to this. I started on 1200 (I'm only 5'4" so that was set as lose 1 lb per week) and although I did lose weight, it was so slow. Like 4 lbs in 10 weeks slow. So I tried the Eating More To Lose Weight thing. Started by getting a HRM and eating back all my calorie burns from exercise. It helped, so I upped my net calorie goal slowly. I'm now up to 1450 net per day. The weight comes off quicker, easier and more consistantly, despite MFP settings telling me I should only lose 1/2lb per week at the level, it's double that in reality.

The best thing is, I feel strong and less tired all the time. Starvation mode might be a myth but based on my experience metabolic slowdown isn't.

People are so resistant to try eating more, but if there's a chance you can lose weight and eating more without worrying so much, I think it's definately worth trying!

Miss_Chanelle

Eating more doesn't mean stuffing your face with any random food items... its adding more healthy items to your calorie intake

Miss_Chanelle

This I quiet I lengthy post, but trust me it is worth the read.

I started MFP in May with a start weight on 132lb (60.1kgs) I was eating what MFP recommended 1200cals and everything was going great, near the end of June i weighed 122lbs (55.5kgs) I was so close to my first goal 121lbs (55kgs) and then i started thinking mmm lets try and speed up this process by eating less... and I mean way less! I started eating between 800-850 cals a day ignoring MFP starvation mode warnings... I did this from June 18th till July 9th, I never weighed myself for this period thinking the pounds would just fall off! After that three weeks I weighed my self, and boy was i shocked! Instead of the pounds falling off, I gained 2lbs (1kg) I weighed 124lbs (56.5kgs) and even further away from that 1st goal! I was so depressed I even binged that entire day! By night time I pulled my self together and decided to read through MFP forum post to find out what happened and came across the "eat more to weigh less" philosophy. I thought what the hell, lets give this a shot..... I upped my calories to 1450.... at first it was hard to eat this because i gotten used to eating 850cals but I decided to fill it up with many fruits and veg and protein.... lemme add i was afraid of fruit because of their high calories. I started eating 1300-1450cals without changing my exercise routine on the 12th July and today the 26thof July I weigh 120lbs (54.5kgs) a loss of 4lbs (2kgs) in 2weeks! now I'm only 5lbs (2.5kgs) away from my UGW of 114lbs (52kgs) :blushing:

let me add I also started drinking lots of green tea, so I not sure but I think it has something to do with it.... :drinker:
Fell free to message me if you seek any advice, I will help you best I can...

I'm now a true believer of eat more to weight less! :flowerforyou:

I can relate to this. I started on 1200 (I'm only 5'4" so that was set as lose 1 lb per week) and although I did lose weight, it was so slow. Like 4 lbs in 10 weeks slow. So I tried the Eating More To Lose Weight thing. Started by getting a HRM and eating back all my calorie burns from exercise. It helped, so I upped my net calorie goal slowly. I'm now up to 1450 net per day. The weight comes off quicker, easier and more consistantly, despite MFP settings telling me I should only lose 1/2lb per week at the level, it's double that in reality.

The best thing is, I feel strong and less tired all the time. Starvation mode might be a myth but based on my experience metabolic slowdown isn't.

People are so resistant to try eating more, but if there's a chance you can lose weight and eating more without worrying so much, I think it's definately worth trying!

People should learn from this!

nothing1994

Sorry but im kind of confused!!!:huh:

So i have 1390 calories per day allowed to eat according to mfp. Does that mean i eat more?

LOL I feel like an idiot.

MarlinWil

I've never understand the "eat more to weigh less" mantra here. It seems quite misleading. I think a lot of people think they just need to eat more - keep everything else the same - and then the weight will start to fall off. Good luck with that one.

I don't believe people are recording their food intake correctly. There is no way for a normal sized adult to eat 850 calories a day and not lose weight. This is a terrible way to lose weight, obviously. But you will lose weight.

Likewise, eating more calories per day will not accelerate weight loss. Just the opposite. Unless there is an increase in exercise to compensate for the increased calorie intake.

--P

You are probably one of the very lucky few who have a great metabolism regardless of what they do or don't eat. There are not very many people who can eat less than 1000 calories a day and have their bodies react calmly. Most of the time your body will go into "starvation" mode - as we did in prehistoric times when food was hard come by/there was famine/winter. The body will store every bit of energy that is consumed as fat so that it would have fuel to draw on. With us, our body still has this inbuilt safety mechanism when suddenly food intake seems to drop without reason. It automatically kicks into storage mode in case this period of starvation will continue indefinitely. As you get older, matey, you might find that the metabolism you have taken for granted might become surprisingly sluggish in ways that are new and confronting. I hope not, but it is a possibility that you need to probably have at the back of your mind.

Charloo1990

This I quiet I lengthy post, but trust me it is worth the read.

I started MFP in May with a start weight on 132lb (60.1kgs) I was eating what MFP recommended 1200cals and everything was going great, near the end of June i weighed 122lbs (55.5kgs) I was so close to my first goal 121lbs (55kgs) and then i started thinking mmm lets try and speed up this process by eating less... and I mean way less! I started eating between 800-850 cals a day ignoring MFP starvation mode warnings... I did this from June 18th till July 9th, I never weighed myself for this period thinking the pounds would just fall off! After that three weeks I weighed my self, and boy was i shocked! Instead of the pounds falling off, I gained 2lbs (1kg) I weighed 124lbs (56.5kgs) and even further away from that 1st goal! I was so depressed I even binged that entire day! By night time I pulled my self together and decided to read through MFP forum post to find out what happened and came across the "eat more to weigh less" philosophy. I thought what the hell, lets give this a shot..... I upped my calories to 1450.... at first it was hard to eat this because i gotten used to eating 850cals but I decided to fill it up with many fruits and veg and protein.... lemme add i was afraid of fruit because of their high calories. I started eating 1300-1450cals without changing my exercise routine on the 12th July and today the 26thof July I weigh 120lbs (54.5kgs) a loss of 4lbs (2kgs) in 2weeks! now I'm only 5lbs (2.5kgs) away from my UGW of 114lbs (52kgs) :blushing:

let me add I also started drinking lots of green tea, so I not sure but I think it has something to do with it.... :drinker:
Fell free to message me if you seek any advice, I will help you best I can...

I'm now a true believer of eat more to weight less! :flowerforyou:

I'm lost... My daily intake is 1200 (mfp calculated) in order to lose 1.6 lbs / week .... Now let's say I eat around 1500 & I burn 300 calories per day so that's 1800 calories that I would have to consume. Wouldn't I gain instead of losing every week? Please help me out because I always end up starving even after consuming 1200 everyday

Im the same lately. I feel proper hungry on 1200cals some days and won't eat my exercise cals back. I really want to up them some more but being fresh out of an ED i doubt i'l lose if i eat more cause im literally maintaining on 1200cals atm because my body was used to 500cals a day and less. This sucks, it's weird how in my ED days i could get by on 500cals and now at 1200cals i feel like i need more :ohwell:

satxtrap

I have some friends that need to read this. Great post! :flowerforyou:

LennyInFlorida

That's how you do it!

Eat more and lose weight--it works!

MinMin97

bump for later:)

Rosa1213

I'm happy that you burst through your plateau!
I've read lots of the "Eat More to Weigh Less" things, but have never tried increasing my calories, since I'm losing at a steady pace. If I ever hit a plateau though, I suppose anything's worth a try

I think some people on here are confused about increasing calories and how that helps you lose weight. *It only works if your calories are too low to begin with.* For example, OP was only eating 850 a day for a little while, and that wasn't very healthy. So, she increased her calories to a healthy level, with a reasonable calorie deficit to fit her desired weight loss, and now she's losing weight again