Eating more to lose more - TESTIFY HERE!

angiechimpanzee

I've read the threads about TDEE and BMR and how important it is not to eat below a certain number if you want to lose weight, okay.

Now I want to hear how many of you guys actually experienced this phenomenon firsthand - little to no weightloss eating less, and faster, more consistent weight loss eating more. How much were you eating before when your weight loss slowed? How much did you start eating for it to start again? At what rate were you losing both times? I don't want to hear the science behind it, I just want to hear results, because I'm nearly convinced that maybe I need to try the same thing.

Gramps251

Just try it for a couple weeks. If it doesn't work of you, no big deal.

I've brought my net calories up by not exercising and started losing again. Did the increase in net calories cause the change or the lack of exercise or was it just time for me to start losing again? I don't know but it's easy to try something and see what happens.

Purplelynny

good question, i want to know too.... thanks. :bigsmile:

melcasa

I was only eating around 1000-1400 kcals a day before I started lifting weights and early into my lifting. I didn't start to see weight loss until I increased my food intake (esp. protein). I think my metabolism was stalling out and I was also exhausted from not eating/drinking enough prior to and after working out. It also helped when I ate something small for breakfast (300-400 kcals) and snack, lunch, another snack, then dinner. I felt sustained throughout the day and it was great.

jaysonhijinx

I was eating 1500 calories a day + exercise calories and was losing for a while then it tapered off and stopped. Thought I'd cut down on what I ate and went to 1200 + exercise calories and was feeling hungry a lot and wasn't very energetic some days. I did lose a bit of weight, but I couldn't keep doing what I was doing. Went back to 1500 and went nowhere for a while and started getting frustrated. After this I did a bit of reading which resulted in me making the choice to up my calories to 1650 a day and lo and behold, at my next weigh in, I had lost a bit of weight!

I gave it a couple more weeks at 1650 and was still losing but very slowly so I went and upped my calories to 1800. Losses continued, I had more energy and could put more intensity into my workouts and I didn't spend half the day starving!

At the moment I'm trying to put on new muscle mass and am eating around 3500 calories a day but when I want to go back to cutting I'll probably be more around 2200-2500 and confident that I'll be able to steadily drop body fat and overall weight.

I for one am a firm believer through my personal experience that sometimes in order to break through a plateau and resume losing weight, eating more (while keeping at a deficit) is the key.

jodif

When you eat less, your body uses your muscles for energy, therefore you need less energy to survive. This is a disaster for the long term, because when you go back to normal, you put back on the weight plus more. You are better off to stick to about 1200 cal, build muscle mass back up, so your body will burn more at rest, and possibly still lose weight- if you put on .5kg muscle and lose 1kg per week, its .5kg weight loss, but you can eat more, and your metabolism gets faster!

I was doing low carb, and finding myself not hungry between meals, resulting in my intake just 3 meals of about 300 cal. I lost about 6kg in the first 2 weeks while I was snacking, but then stopped, then I cut the snacks and hit a plateau for the next 8 weeks or so- eating only 900cal per day!

Now I am snacking a good 200 cal snack between meals, fruit and protein, and still have the 300 cal low carb meals and the weight has began dropping once more. I have more energy and I love eating again! I have hope now that I can slowly increase my food once I have more muscle too.

sheribrasington

Bump for later

alexapin

Bump!

mearlie

:glasses:

TinGirl314

Honestly I wouldn't say that it has made me lose faster...
The weight loss from 1200 calories is about the same at 1700...but why make it harder than it has to be?
Of course everyone's needs are different, you will have to go through the calorie-go-round to find what's really gonna work for you.

TheViperMan

Worked for me - absolutely. I was doing 1400 calories (male, 215 pounds, 5'11") and stuck with weight loss. I upped to about 1900 and dropped 2 pounds the first day, and continued losing weight daily for nearly 2 weeks. I got stuck again, but have had some functions to attend that weren't exactly low-cal...

I definitely subscribe to "eat enough to lose enough" - what I'm trying to figure out now is whether or not to eat back exercise calories. I am currently enrolling into the "yes you should" class with moderate success.

Athena98501

I've read the threads about TDEE and BMR and how important it is not to eat below a certain number if you want to lose weight, okay.

Now I want to hear how many of you guys actually experienced this phenomenon firsthand - little to no weightloss eating less, and faster, more consistent weight loss eating more. How much were you eating before when your weight loss slowed? How much did you start eating for it to start again? At what rate were you losing both times? I don't want to hear the science behind it, I just want to hear results, because I'm nearly convinced that maybe I need to try the same thing.

In the first 2 months I was on MFP (at 1300 calories), I only lost 5 pounds. This was extremely discouraging working as hard as I was (especially given how far I had to go), depriving myself so much, and having so little to show for it.

When I did my own calculations at http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ & www.fat2fitradio.com, I found that MFP had underestimated my BMR & TDEE, and had me eating at between 1300-1400 daily deficit, which is well above what is medically recommended.

At that point, I starting researching EM2WL, and decided I would benefit from a metabolic reset. This probably isn't necessary for all, but I felt it was for me.

In the last 2 months, I've lost 10 pounds eating 1700-1800 with a 30/30/40 split (the 40 being fats). The only way I feel at all deprived is with carbs, but I have a metabolic disorder which makes it harder to lose on the default split MFP uses.

With all that said, if you only need to lose 3.8 pounds, you should be eating at a MUCH smaller deficit anyway. If I were you, I'd go with Scooby's "gain muscle, lose fat" setting, and pick up this book:

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Rules-Lifting-Women/dp/1583333398/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350777466&sr=8-1&keywords=new+rules+of+lifting+for+women

Several of my friends have had amazing results with that.

autumnk921

Check out the group - Eat More 2 Weigh Less - there are tons of threads with success stories of people eating more and losing weight.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less


It can't hurt just to try it !! :flowerforyou:

rawhidenadz

I don't know about eating less, because I never really did that, but I lost weight fairly steadily (6 pounds a month for almost a year straight) by averaging around 2000 calories and exercising regularly. I have absolutely no idea how anyone can manage on 1200 calories! And I don't know WHY they would when MOST people can lose just as well eating a great deal more than that.

Edit: and I NEVER plateaued, like I see a lot of the 1200ers complaining about doing. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

angiechimpanzee

bump~

LorinaLynn

Apologies in advance for the attention *kitten* photos and links. :laugh: But photos do say more than words.

In almost all my time on MFP, I've fallen into the "eat more" camp because I always ate my exercise calories and gave up on 1200 within a month of joining here.

But years ago, I thought I had to eat under 1000 a day to lose, and weight loss was painfully slow. And I was miserable because I wasn't eating enough. And I was miserable because even when I got to my goal weight, I hated my body. Muffin top, back fat rolls, cellulite, double chin... Naked, I looked like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I thought it was because I was 35, had a slow metabolism, and that was just what my body was supposed to look like.

This time around, I ate about twice as much, weight loss was at it's predictable rate (when aiming to lose one pound a week, I lost one pound a week on average, at a half pound a week, I lost a half pound a week) and seemed effortless. At about the same goal weight, I no longer had back fat rolls, cellulite is all but gone (less than I had as skinny teenager!), one chin, no muffin top... and I'm wearing a size 2 or 4 instead of a tight 8.

Yeah, weight loss was easier at 40 than at 35. So much for a slowed metabolism and "that's the way my body was supposed to look."



http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/752778-how-wrong-i-was-600-days-of-mfp-lotsa-pics

Recently, I switched to Dan's In Place of a Road Map style of eating (pretty much the same as EM2WL), and doing Stronglifts 5x5. My weight isn't changing, and I'm not expecting it to, but my body is still improving.



http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774969-after-the-road-map-switch

CymruBiology

I used to lose faster eating under 1000 calories, I did that for many months..I felt weak, dizzy and had mood swings all the time. Its not healthy in any way to be eating a diet like that(but people actually encouraged me to continue eating that little but I lost a lot of fat at first and quickly went from obese to overweight in terms of BMI).

Now that I've upped my calories to 1700 I'm not losing much weight and I'm binging more but I think overall its better than losing all the fat and lean body mass so quickly.

ExplorinLauren

bump to read

CouleeRunner

I don't think I've ever eaten just 1200 calories and I've lost over 50 pounds. I almost always eat back my exercise calories so I usually eat anywhere from 1600 to 2000 calories a day.

To get those last few off I'm trying Dan's in place of a road map style which will have me eating 1800 calories a day regardless of exercise.

I am a firm believer in eating (and moving) to lose weight.

LovingCruz

bump

kellyirisheyes

I came back from a long weekend home and gained about 3 pounds, even though I stuck to my workout routine every day.
After I got back, I started upping my intake, both food and water, and increased my protein.
Those 3 pounds are now gone within a week, so I highly recommend upping your protein and water, especially if you're exercising.