Success with 2,000 calories?

NJL13500

I eat 2,000 calories per day but my goal is no longer weight loss. My goal is fat loss. I want to keep the lean muscle mass I have and lose the fat! I have a BodyMedia armband and I usually burn 2600-2800 calories per day, so I still eat at a small deficit. I do heavy lifting 3 times per week, HIIT training 2 times per week, 1 long run to train for my half marathon in April and 1 easy/rest day. I was really worried about gaining weight back, but I have not. I have been steadily losing body fat and gaining muscle for the past 3 months although my weight has basically stayed the same. With the exception of my long run days I spend about an hour in the gym each day.

Good luck and I would listen to the professionals. When I changed my calories and goals I told myself that I would be fair and give it 6 weeks. I figured I could always go back to what I was doing before. 6 weeks in the grand scheme of things is not a lot of time to figure out if something works for you.

amanda_gent

Of course you can lose weight/maintain and build muscle on that number of calories - but you need to prove it to yourself by calculating your BMR, and your TDEE. You don't need a "professional" to tell you that! I'm 5'3", 47 years old and I maintain at around 1900/2000 calories. Before MFP, however, and specifically Eat More to Weigh Less, I had never heard of the term TDEE.

Great success to you!

Missjulesdid

I had zero success and yes, I was meticulous about logging ALL calories.. every stick of sugar free gum, every cherry tomato got logged. I worked with a dietician and I did 60-90 minutes of cardio 5 days a week. She wound up reducing my calories substantially and we did see some loss but the weightloss was excruciatingly slow and she admitted that there was definitely something more sinister going on in my body.. and I felt like I was starving. I finally went to the endocrinologist and started treatment for some metabolic issues that are causing me to hold on to the weight, but even I still can't eat a lot of calories.

MANY people can lose on 2000 calories a day. That's great for them. They should do what works for them, but it does not work for everyone.

stumblinthrulife

A piece of non-calorie advice - don't discuss your weight loss goals with your friends. At all. Let the results speak for themselves, and even then if someone asks how you did it just saying something vague like "I ate less" or "healthier eating and some exercise". Trust me on this one.

As the old saying goes - opinions are like *kitten*, everybody has one. And their opinions will rarely help and often hinder, confuse or demotivate.

bcf7683

A piece of non-calorie advice - don't discuss your weight loss goals with your friends. At all. Let the results speak for themselves, and even then if someone asks how you did it just saying something vague like "I ate less" or "healthier eating and some exercise". Trust me on this one.

As the old saying goes - opinions are like *kitten*, everybody has one. And their opinions will rarely help and often hinder, confuse or demotivate.

:drinker: :drinker:

jaz050465

I think you should be focussing more on getting your eating under control rather than losing weight. Is the latter what helped cause the problem in the first place? Have you dieted too strictly which made you binge. You have plenty of time to lose weight but you need to get this sorted. I read a great book on over eating/ binging by Gillian Rilet- Eating less. It's great bayou should read it. It's really helped my binging.

mindbodystrength

I lost all my weight eating 2000 cals on average. It was slow, but I never felt like I was on a "diet" so I was very happy with that. I also struggle with binges, and I can tell you that if I restrict myself too much, it always leads to a binge. I also worked out pretty much 7 days a week (just for full disclosure) with a combination of lifting and cardio. So my vote is to try it for a few months...you can always tweak as needed.

Freak j/k! (i read ur profile)

You look awesome too!!

Lol! Thank you!! Whoot, I love being called a freak! You ROCK!! :flowerforyou: