Eat more 2 weigh less! It works! (Thank God I took photos!)

musiche · August 2012

I weigh 0.4kg more in the photo on the right. 45 day difference (July 10 to August 24). I am glad I took photos, because the scale couldn't have showed me the difference and it's hard to notice our own changes day to day. Even my measurements are pretty much the same.

I lost a ton of weight and plateaued for a very long time. I lost 65 pounds 3 years ago and have struggled immensely to lose another 20-30 ever since despite an increasingly hardcore effort.

I had a deficit of about 500-800 initially. As my progress slowed and then halted, I began working harder and longer at the gym, to no avail. With the added exercise, I was consuming about 1600 calories and burning about 3200 per day. I plateaued completely for many months, there wasn't even a 0.1kg difference up or down day to day, which seemed impossible to me. I began researching plateaus, calorie deficits and bodybuilding. I decided I was going to risk eating more (which went against everything that I had learned before that helped me lose 65 pounds). It was scary eating more, and in the first couple of weeks I gained a couple of pounds and then promptly lost them, and kept increasing my calories until I had no deficit (and was actually eating a roughly a hundred calories over).

I increased my calories slowly until I was eating at maintenance levels (I now eat around 3000 calories per day). The scale started moving again, up and down but remained relatively the same.

Despite having doubled my caloric intake and not having any caloric deficit at all, I have gained 0.4 pounds (.88 pounds) - which to me is the equivalent of nothing, lol.

For all those non-believers that eating more will counteract your goals... Pfft!!!

(If those people on The Biggest Loser can go on national television in sports bras and spandex pants, I refuse to feel self conscious about my torso being on a weight loss website, lol.)

ChristyRunStarr · August 2012

WOW! Great job, it is amazing how a picture really is worth a thousand words, keep it up, you're doing great!

SeaChele77 · August 2012

Great success story! Congrats!!

sweiland1 · August 2012

That is awesome!!!

elisa123gal · August 2012

I am guilty of feeling like a i need to suffer to lose weight..and also just scared to eat more and lose the ground I've gained. It must be great to eat 3000 calories a day! wow! btw..you look great.

Curvimami · August 2012

Wow!! Thats crazy. I could have sworn you were alot less in the pic on the right. You look great

sexikc · August 2012

Wow 3K a day...everyday is a cheat day!! LOL That is great, you look wonderful.

sherisse69 · August 2012

Wow! That is an amazing difference. I think I am officially convinced to suck it up and take those before photos - JUST so that I can really see the changes I plan to make to my body! Thanks

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange · August 2012

That's incredible. You didn't even have an initial weight gain?

musiche · August 2012

I am guilty of feeling like a i need to suffer to lose weight..and also just scared to eat more and lose the ground I've gained. It must be great to eat 3000 calories a day! wow! btw..you look great.

Hi! I totally feel ya... I lost so much weight with a permanent calorie deficit, then my body adapted and eating too little became normal and acceptable to my body. When I plateaued, I was adamant that at least not gaining weight was a success in itself. But months of no progress began to wear on me and I really did start feeling like crap. It was a gradual increase in feeling like crap so I didn't notice a huge change until it got bad enough: unable to increase weights or endurance at the gym, very cranky after workouts, losing energy...

When I read enough and felt informed enough to really take a leap of faith, I decided I needed to try something different because what I had come to rely on wasn't working anymore. My body changed a lot, obviously my approach needed to change too.

It's always worth a try! I was scared sh*tless to eat more. I've been eating under 2000 calories for 3 years now and it was mentally very hard to eat more. I found I always would get home from work and have 1000 calories left to eat which was insane! I ate them, and boy did I ever feel GUILTY!!! I still eat super clean - no junk, lots of protein and complex carbs, veggies and fruits. I do have the odd indulgence now (cuz I can afford it calorically without taking away from nutrition) - i.e. 100 calorie thinsations (or two, lol).

I learned that it is pretty much impossible to put on muscle while enduring a calorie deficit. It's true. My body was in complete revolt and when I increased my calories... I TOOK OFF at the gym!! I am still amazed at how easy things are that were so hard before! The progress has been quick, especially after a total stagnation!

I guess the lesson is: eat more if you're going to work more. My added calories are going to growing muscle, not fat.

musiche · August 2012

Wow! That is an amazing difference. I think I am officially convinced to suck it up and take those before photos - JUST so that I can really see the changes I plan to make to my body! Thanks

ABSOLUTELY TAKE PHOTOS!!!! Lol

I lost 65 pounds and took photos every 10 pounds. I began to wish I looked worse in the before photos (I was obviously sucking it in, lol) because by the end of it, the difference was amazing!!!

Without the photos I just posted, I never would have known the difference. When I look at myself in a mirror, I know I'm not 265 pounds anymore, but I can't see the progress, only what I still want to change. I guess we get used to seeing our flaws and focus too much on them. Those two pics side by side really open my eyes and get me out of my head!

musiche · August 2012

That's incredible. You didn't even have an initial weight gain?

Not really. I literally saw no change whatsoever on the scale (not even 0.1kg) day to day for weeks/months when I had a 1500+ deficit. When I started eating double my calories, in the first couple of weeks I went up and down about 2 pounds, I kept increasing my calories and from 45 days ago I have only gained 0.4kg. I have gained more than that in muscle for sure (increased my weight stacks twice at the gym already) so I definitely have lost fat.

I am learning that at a certain point, the scale is not your friend anymore and only serves to make you feel worse for how hard you're trying. I really had to change my thinking and mindset more than anything. Eat less, lose more just didn't work anymore.

I tried to upload a photo but it's not working. It is a photo of one pound of fat vs. one pound of muscle. The fat blob is about 4x the size of the muscle blob. So, if I replaced one pound of fat with 1 pound of muscle, then the same volume of tissue would be 1/4 the size meaning definite shrinkage.

musiche · August 2012

Wow 3K a day...everyday is a cheat day!! LOL That is great, you look wonderful.

I get a TON of exercise though, very physical. I am a gardener/landscaper, I workout out every day (sometimes twice) and take walks every day too. I burn over 3000 regularly, so it's not an indulgence, but it definitely is nice!

One thing became very apparent to me...

"Eating back your calories" makes sense from a very important standpoint - nutrition. I feel so much better these days and I am sure it has everything to do with the increase in nutrients and calories.

Someone who sits on their but, burns 1700 calories and eats 1000 is going to feel far crappier and have slower progress than someone who burns 3000 and eats 2300 (that's more than TWICE the nutrients with the exact same deficit).

Exercise more so you can eat more - health is most important and the healthy way is truly the sustainable way!

musiche · August 2012

Wow!! Thats crazy. I could have sworn you were alot less in the pic on the right. You look great

Thanks a bunch!!

squigglypuff · August 2012

you look great! i'm going to try this. i joined a gym three months ago and i continued eating the same net amount of calories from before i joined the gym. i've been wondering why the scale isn't going down -- it's actually gone up

DizzyLinds · August 2012

What type of training do you do?

Zylayna · August 2012

Thank you for sharing your story! You look amazing and it's awesome that you learned to fuel your body! Congrats!

nmzeta · August 2012

Thanks for sharing! You rock

juliebeannn · August 2012

wowwwww!!!! seriously. a picture is worth a million words.

mommamuscles · August 2012

Amazing!!! Thanks for sharing!

autumnk921 · August 2012

LOVE THIS!!!

Thank you so much for sharing your progress & how much pictures DO HELP & that the SCALE LIES....All of those things you have shown us to be true!!!

Awesome job...You look Fantastic!!

It goes to show if you stick with it, have PATIENCE & don't worry so much about the SCALE you will SEE a difference!!!:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

harlanJEN · August 2012

THANKS so much for sharing your story ! I sincerely wish more folks would understand that you must EAT to fuel your body, must EAT to lose. Not eat anything and everything you want - I think that is where folks misunderstand "Eat More to Weigh Less". Eating more than low calorie that isn't properly fueling your body. AWESOME job and keep on rocking on !