So, now you're losing weight.....

Restybaby2012

You make the decision....you simply have to lose weight. You want to start exercising and losing weight, create and maintain a whole new lifestyle.......something you can life with forever.

Now you find yourself losing weight. OMGunness, you feel great. You're proud of the weight your losing......so proud in fact that NOW you start working out. Sure maybe it's just a little to begin with but still you're doing it.

...........and NOW you find the weight is really coming off. You're tracking your food every single day faithfully. You're tracking your exercise / workout religiously doing all you can. You feel great


.........................and then it happens......................................

One day you notice that your calorie intake against your calories burned with exercise is leaving you way down on the shy side of the proverbial golden 1200 cut off. Oh no............now what? You see daily now that your "net" isnt near where "they" claim it should be.

What do you do NOW?

Fear of regaining what you've already lost stops you from letting those calories climb. Fear of not losing more rears it's ugly head as well.

You read and read and read. Some say eat back the calories burned. Some say it doesnt matter.

I have issue with making myself eat something just to hit that magical number (be it 1200 or whatever ya call the "other" number) If you're truly eating healthy, not starving yourself and exercising faithfully then what________?

Im sure this topic has been beat to death here so this thread wont shock anyone. Hell y'all should be used to it by now.

shorty35565

I was scared too, but I've seen ppl get AMAZING results by eating their cals back. So I'm going to start doing it as well. I'm just goin to tell myself those amazing bodies I've seen got there by eating them back.
The magic number u should b netting should actually be ur BMR I've found out
And it's not ab if ur eating healthy & still being low. Even if ur eating healthy and winding up short, ur still doing ur body no good. Because ur net is what ur body is getting, so if ur only eating 1300 cals a day and then burning off 300 in exercise, ur only getting 1000 cals. That is starving yourself. Think of ur body as a car. If u put premium gas in it, but not enough will u get as far? Nope. Even tho the gas is the best, it's still not enough.
Now for people who have being eating very far below their BMR, the sudden jump up MIGHT cause a little weight gain. But that's prob because u've killed ur metabolism by eating so low, so now u have to wait for it to speed up some more. But DONT WORRY! It will speed up again and u will lose that weight if it happens. Not only will u lose weight when u do this, but u will preserve more muscle now.
I'm right there with u, having to up my cals as well. I know it's scary. You dk how much I know how scary it is. But I'm so unsatisfied with how I turned out. And I turned out the way I did by not netting enough. Don't let urself end up like me. Spare ur muscle.

Spartan_Maker

Proceed slowly and monitor.

themommie

I am in the same boat have lost 105 lbs in 21 mths then I see that I have not been eating enough, but dont want to force myself to eat more and the idea of eating more scares me to death........curious about others replies

yannuzzi

So, here's my thinking. I was stuck at 150 for literally months and months. I was eating my exercise calories along with my 1200 calories a day and I didn't budge. I exercise a ton too!!! And I still didn't budge. And then, in frustration, put on 5 lbs. eating pizza and chips and salsa. So, I joined boot camp again, I'm doing it four times a week, most weeks, and I'm eating my 1200 calories , adding in my exercise calories and netting somewhere around 600+. Plateau has FINALLY been crashed and I'll ride this train as long as it works. I'm within 18 lbs of my goal. When it stops, I'll rethink. I will say that I ALWAYS EAT MY 1200 +/- a few. I won't go less than that. I eat 6 small meals/snacks a day. I drink,at least, two liters of water as well, if not more. I'm certainly not starving either.

L_amore

It is a topic that comes up more often than not. But what works for some people may not work for you, I would just start slowly by increasing the calories, still work out, and if you see the weight coming off, great, if not play with it a little to see what works best for you. I personally just listen to my body if I 'm hungry I eat, if not, I dont... point is, there are some days I eat my exercise calories back, some days I dont. But usually by the end of the month it all evens out anyhow. Here is a site that you can put in your height, weight, age and it calculates your bmr and then you can calculate your calorie needs from there... http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ Best of luck!

mandersatx

My doc put me from 1200 calories (what MFP said I needed) to 1500/day. She said only drop to 1200 if I was exceptionally lazy and didn't get off the couch all day. On days that I exercise, she said to add 100-200 calories per hour of exercise. That puts me in the 1600-1700 range. My weight isn't dropping as rapidly as it was when I was only eating 1200 calories, but I've dropped 8 inches in two weeks. You tell me which one works better. (Hint - I'm not losing muscle anymore, I'm just losing fat now!)

Restybaby2012

Here's the thing. I have mega titanium joints, pins, plates and screws. I apologize for those that have read this before. But it is a determining factor in losing weight and working out. A broken back and fractured neck tends to rain on the sunniest of parades.

I want to drop at minimum of 100 pounds. After my last failed back surgery the pounds packed on and with a no activity limit for so long it made everything worse. Anyway.

It is happening now. I AM losing. I am working out. I am seeing it and feeling it. I also feel better than I have in years. Im not starving, Im not feeling over tired or craving food. I just plain feel good aside from some muscle pain from the circuit training I do now. Of course I want to do this as right as possible for the best possible long term outcome.

SO......I bring it to the experts. (Im hoping Jynus chimes in)

(eta: my doctors say no less than 1800 but I do find THAT almost impossible to achieve ---for me)

eta2: I am Type 2 Diabetic

xsara_bearx

You'll have to excuse me, I'm new at this, but..are you saying to even out the calories so that at the end of the day I am left with zero? After all the exercise and sweat and tears?