Can I REALLY eat more & weigh less?!?!

bb_tiu

So I have met with a personal trainer, a nutritionist and looked online and all of them are telling me that to lose my remaining last 10 lbs of fat and build muscle I should be eating closer to 1800 calories a day.

I am 5'7, 135 and work out 6 hours a week mixing weights and cardio on average. I have always stuck to 14-1500 calories a day and cant imagine I will actually lose weight and inches when I increase my calories by like 300 calories a day. I am worried I will gain?

From experience have any of you guys increased calories to lose? Does this really work? Should I break my low cal mind set? I guess its worth a shot because I've stopped seeing results at this point.

_Fatty2Fitty_

According to Scoobys workshop, your tdee is 2,243 cals.......so you shouldnt gain any weight if you eat at or below this number! I am just starting to eat more to weigh less and I am worried, but It makes sense that in order to provide our bodies with the calories and nutrients we need to exercise more.....we have to eat more! Who said we have to deprive ourselves and eat 1200 cals to lose weight!

You should join the Group EM2WL!

Good luck!

slkehl

Upping the calories is great for building muscle! You want to make sure you're only burning fat during your workouts and not muscle tissue.

GonnaLose100

Yes!! I know it sounds crazy but it's absolutely true! I felt just like you did when they told me that at my weight Watchers meeting but I found out they were right. I listen to them and after doing at their way for a week I lost another 3 pounds after being at a standstill for over a month. then several other people that had been in Weight Watchers longer than me told me they experience the same thing and several of them it was because once they lost weight they were increasing their fitness levels and your body needs more calories to keep up and not think it's starving so it burns fat instead of muscle. of course it also really matters what kind of calories you add. you don't want to add more calories of junk food, but rather more calories of nutritious foods such as protein, vegetables, fruit, whole grains, & dairy. Good luck to you!!!

Helloitsdan

This works for many.
PM if you have any Qs!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

tyraskanks_

Most definitely! Your TDEE was estimated earlier... and then eat at a fifteen percent deficit and YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT. If that is your true maintenance. It may be more and it may be less.

If you don't eat enough, you will eventually hit a plateau and then where will you go? If you're eating 1200 calories already you'll just have to keep cutting until you are down to nothing. Haha. And then once you start eating again you'll gain a crap ton of weight because your metabolism will be shot.

tyraskanks_

But yeah, I would listen to them. Upping your calories, I hear, really helps.

joy31021

bump

banks89202

I started eating more and now the lbs are falling off of me!

dad106

I'm 2 inches taller then you at 5'9, and I do fine at 1800 calories.

I maintain at about 2000 or so... and ate between 1500-1800 all while losing.

reneecgc

I increase my calories and have maintained my weight no problem People keep telling me I am losing more weight and my clothes are fitting a little looser. I probably lost inches but my weight has stayed the same. I am around 155 lbs at 5'7". I wear a size' eight and medium to small tops. Everyone thinks I am around 135lbs, but I am not. The other day I was coming out of an exercise class and I heard to women talking in the hall. I heard them say there she is ask her. They heard I had lost a lot of
weight and liked how my arms looked. I told them to make sure you are never hungry and that you eat 5 times a day. If you
are hungry you are doing something wrong. Eat lots of protein and drink lots of water. You seemed to be doing everything right. My suggestion to you that if you up your calories just do it with foods that are in high in nutrition. Upping my calories was never a problem but I did it slowly. Try upping them gradually. Start at 1650 and see how you feel. Good luck!!!!

v70t5m

It did not help me. I started gaining big time by doing the EMTWL schedule. I'm back to where I was when I plateaued (1400 cal/day), cut to only eating half my exercise calories, and have finally begun to lose again ... after gaining 6 pounds!!! It was a horrible experience.

I'm small boned with a low body temp ... you have to find the caloric intake that works for you, not for someone else.

And as you exercise, your body becomes more efficient, not less. The closer I get to my goal, the closer I have to shave my caloric intake.

AND, I lift heavy 3x per week. Just because EMTWL works for some, does not mean it works for all. I am an example.

skylark94

It's working for me. I'm 5'4", 36 years old and eat 1,800 per day. I'm actually considering increasing to 2,000. I'm working on losing my last few pounds of fat (at 20.7 goal is 18%). I'm pretty sedentary but I am doing P90X every day.

HeatherTransformed

I've hit two plateaus during my weight loss. Both times I've upped my calorie intake and both times it's helped me get out of the plateau and start losing again. Something to think about....

Colbyandsage

YES! Try it for a month and you will not regret it. I am 5'3 and 130. I eat around 2000 a day and some weeks I lose.

MissTattoo

My TDEE is 3000. I'm 5'11.

I fell into the "You have to eat less" death trap and was not losing at 1800 calories. My nutritionist and online research said I should be eating at least 2200! I go anywhere between 2200 and 2400 and lose about 1.5 pounds a week.

invisibubble

Yup. Got me outta my rut. Now I'm eating at TDEE and staying stable. Dan knows what he's talking about.

Helloitsdan

It did not help me. I started gaining big time by doing the EMTWL schedule. I'm back to where I was when I plateaued (1400 cal/day), cut to only eating half my exercise calories, and have finally begun to lose again ... after gaining 6 pounds!!! It was a horrible experience.

I'm small boned with a low body temp ... you have to find the caloric intake that works for you, not for someone else.

And as you exercise, your body becomes more efficient, not less. The closer I get to my goal, the closer I have to shave my caloric intake.

AND, I lift heavy 3x per week. Just because EMTWL works for some, does not mean it works for all. I am an example.

How long did you diet before trying the higher calories?

I had a woman who I did numbers for, she gained at first then maintained then lost all on the sane number.

Could it be a reduced RMR/BMR?

soulfulsally

It did not help me. I started gaining big time by doing the EMTWL schedule. I'm back to where I was when I plateaued (1400 cal/day), cut to only eating half my exercise calories, and have finally begun to lose again ... after gaining 6 pounds!!! It was a horrible experience.

I'm small boned with a low body temp ... you have to find the caloric intake that works for you, not for someone else.

And as you exercise, your body becomes more efficient, not less. The closer I get to my goal, the closer I have to shave my caloric intake.

AND, I lift heavy 3x per week. Just because EMTWL works for some, does not mean it works for all. I am an example.

Hi, how long did you try upping your calorie intake? I just recently started to experiment with the EMTWL and am curious about your lack of results.

v70t5m

Just because EMTWL works for some, does not mean it works for all. I am an example.

Hi, how long did you try upping your calorie intake? I just recently started to experiment with the EMTWL and am curious about your lack of results.

I tried it for three months. I tracked my weight, ate carefully (love my veggies, not a junk fan), and my heart just sank as I watched the scale rise and rise (and my pants got tighter and tighter).

Weight lifting helps strengthen the muscles, but if you are eating excess, the weight will pile on regardless of the exercise schedule. I found what works for me and will adjust as needed. I encourage everyone to tweak a diet and exercise plan to find what works for you!

Best of luck.

bernadettenz

It did not help me. I started gaining big time by doing the EMTWL schedule. I'm back to where I was when I plateaued (1400 cal/day), cut to only eating half my exercise calories, and have finally begun to lose again ... after gaining 6 pounds!!! It was a horrible experience.

I'm small boned with a low body temp ... you have to find the caloric intake that works for you, not for someone else.

And as you exercise, your body becomes more efficient, not less. The closer I get to my goal, the closer I have to shave my caloric intake.

AND, I lift heavy 3x per week. Just because EMTWL works for some, does not mean it works for all. I am an example.

I am the same.

I was eating 1200 a day from the start and lost eight kilos over about three months. 86kgs down to 78kgs. Then I stopped losing and just stayed on 78kgs for around five months. I stuck at it because I figured eventually I must start losing again. Nope.

So I followed the "eat more" advice off here and upped my calories to between 1400 and 1600. And gained two kilos over the next two months (80kgs). Went back to 1200 and sat on 80kgs for the next however many months - I figured at least I wasn't gaining!

Six weeks ago I decided I was going to drop my calories. I now have between 900 to 1000 a day and have lost four and a half kilos and it's still coming off slowly but steadily. As soon as I up to 1200 I stop losing (but don't gain). I am eating pretty healthily and as I have a lot of veges/food I don't feel hungry at all on that amount.

I understand this site doesn't like people talking about eating less than 1200 because of people with eating disorders. I certainly don't have one though and it is a bit frustrating when I am sure there are others out there like me. Things I would like to discuss would be height - I am short, (5'3) this must have some bearing on it. Also I have only gained weight in the last five years after 35 years of being slim, a lot of people on here say they have struggled with their weight their whole life - I wonder if this also has any bearing.

Anyway - the eat more to weigh less obviously works for most people, but certainly not all.

v70t5m

I'm small boned with a low body temp ...

And as you exercise, your body becomes more efficient, not less. The closer I get to my goal, the closer I have to shave my caloric intake.

How long did you diet before trying the higher calories?

Could it be a reduced RMR/BMR?

Three months.

On the scale of human metabolic furnace efficiencies, I'm lower than average.

I gain on a 2k cal/day diet. I gain on a 1700 cal/day diet. I lose on a 1400 cal/day diet. I've learned my limits and stay within those delineated limits (MS Excel and other spreadsheet programs are a wonderful tool to track caloric intake versus weight).

Everybody's chemistry and biology is different, this is what makes us amazing. It can also contribute to difficulty in this weight loss/improved cardiovascular health journey we take together. Applaud and appreciate the successes, but don't be afraid to change it up if something is not working for you.

EMTWL does not work for me, but it might work for you.

*A toast* to everyone's individual journey - Hear, Hear!

snowfox1

Bump

rezn8

Absolutely, I hit a plateau myself and until I increased my calories was stuck for about 3-4 weeks. I up my calories by 300 daily and started losing again. It's not fast but I have lost about 3 lbs in 2-3 week period. I'm actually finding it hard to eat that much after being used to my previous total.

Helloitsdan

OP read this site http://rippedbody.jp and read the whole thing.
It's a good source for what you can do to lean out while gaining lean mass.
The program on Ripped Body is only 3 hours a week working with compound moves and almost no cardio but youll get better results.
Enjoy!
=D