Eat More to Lose More? Really?

MoreBean13

Yes, it works, if you are eating at TDEE minus 20%. You eat at TDEE if you want to maintain your weight.

Not really. I am on maintenance and I don't eat at TDEE. I eat around 10 to 15% below, and doing fine.

TDEE is defined as the calories required to maintain your weight at your activity level. If you are maintaining, you are by definition eating your TDEE. The calculator predictions don't work for everyone.

jzammetti

I can see how it might work if you're pretty close to your goal, but if you have a significant amount to loose, it really doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I guess because as you get smaller, your BMR and TDEE get lower, so you would have to adjust your calories down as you get closer to goal, which doesn't sound like much fun to me, lol. Something I have heard that makes sense is to take the stats of your goal weight (weight, height, etc.) and plug those numbers into the TDEE calculator. Then just eat that, or plug them into the BMR calculator and eat that plus exercise calories. I didn't really figure all this out in time though and just went with the MFP recommendations and adjusted up as I got closer to my goal. I am now working on maintaining and it's been nice to be able to increase my calories as I lost weight rather than decrease them.

All that being said, I guess it would work as long as you continued to reduce the calories as you got smaller.

I do the TDEE thing - but instead of TDEE -20%, I set my TDEE based on my goal weight and eat at that level (this way i do not have to adjust for every 10 pounds, etc.). I have continuosly lost and am still losing about a half pound a week with only 8 to go.

sandradev1

Yes it definitel works

Listen to Dan :drinker:

norcal_yogi

If eating more caused you to lose more I'd be emaciated

lol.

you can eat more volume of food...healthy whole food and still lose weight. still comes down to eating less than you burn.

lilmissbamaqueen

The thing that confuses me is a lot of the people that preach about eating TDEE numbers are the same ones that talk about doing "heavy lifting" for their exercise. Well, I'm trying to eat at TDEE -20% (which for me is 1740), but I have symptoms of fibromyalgia (no official diagnosis yet), and I do well to go home at night and use my Wii Fit for 30 minutes. So, should I not do TDEE -20? I'm really afraid of gaining a whole bunch of weight because I'm not doing the same high-impact exercise as the ones that are seeing good results.

It should still work for you if you entered all the info correctly for your activity level.

As for heavy lifting - I wouldn't consider myself a "heavy lifter" because I don't have access to the big barbells or adjustable weights. I have dumbbells at home, and have worked up to using my 10, 12 & 20lb dumbbells, and my own bodyweight for the exercises I do - basically doing the best I can with what I've got. I do about 30 minutes with the dumbbells three days a week, followed by a quick 20 minutes with a kickboxing DVD, or a walk with my dogs. The other three days I run for cardio.

So based on my 5-6 days a week of working out, I have my activity level figured at moderately active in the tools linked in the Road Map thread. If I worked out less, I would lower the activity level and my TDEE would drop accordingly. And of course, sometimes it's trial and error - you stick with the plan for a month or so, and make adjustments up or down as necessary.

I have myself listed as "lightly active", which I think is correct. I do my 30 mins 4 to 5 days a week, and I do a little bit of walking around at work, but I'm mostly at a desk. We'll just have to see. Thanks.

lilmissbamaqueen

The thing that confuses me is a lot of the people that preach about eating TDEE numbers are the same ones that talk about doing "heavy lifting" for their exercise. Well, I'm trying to eat at TDEE -20% (which for me is 1740), but I have symptoms of fibromyalgia (no official diagnosis yet), and I do well to go home at night and use my Wii Fit for 30 minutes. So, should I not do TDEE -20? I'm really afraid of gaining a whole bunch of weight because I'm not doing the same high-impact exercise as the ones that are seeing good results.

The lifting will be figured in to the calorie goals of the lifters- so it's not like you will be eating the same number of calories as some clone version of yourself that lifts heavy 3x/week. Everyone's numbers should take in to account the activity that they do personally.

That makes sense. Thanks!

roro73

I was going to post & say this never really worked for me BUT I just pulled my fit bit numbers for the last week and guess what...I'm eating at TDEE -11% and have lost 2lbs this week.

I think when I plugged numbers into the TDEE calculator I was using the wrong activity level so my estimation was too high. Since I've had the fit bit, I just plugged my numbers in MFP to lose 1.5lbs per week (which gave me 1230) but then eat all my exercise calories back (so I end up eating about 1700-1800 calories a day). It ends up working out to TDEE -11%...who would've guessed it...lol.

jayliospecky

Why would you be terrified to eat that much? That's how much I eat. It's easy. Wish I could eat more in fact.

Perhaps terrified is the wrong word. I'm just not a crazy hungry person. I am definitely satisfied at 1600/day. I tried to up my calories a few days ago with nuts and avocado - hit nearly 2000 and was incredibly and uncomfortably full. My diary is open. I eat all the time. I drink wine. I eat chocolate. I'm not starving by any stretch of the imagination. So to think of adding 1000 calories a day just doesn't seem feasible while still eating a healthy diet.

Well, there are a few possibilities. One, you may be overestimating your TDEE. Maybe it's not over 2000, like you think. You may be overestimating how many calories you are burning through exercise.

Also, your body will compensate for lower calories if it's done for an extended period of time. It will conserve energy where it needs to if you don't take in more calories, especially if you've been doing it on a regular basis.

I wish I was satisfied eating 1600 calories. I'm just not. *shrugs*

Aviva92

I lost 12 pounds on the goal mfp gave me of 1200 calories and 13 pounds prior to joining mfp. I think I was probably eating around the same 1200 calories back then too though. I also lost the weight in pretty much exactly the time period the website said I would lose it.

Didn't really have much desire to eat more. Once in a while I'd have cheat days though, more often as I got closer to my goal weight.

i went from 140 pounds to 115 pounds at 5'4" with this method.

PetulantOne

Yup, I've lost 30 pounds so far. And just so you know, if you use MFP the way it was designed the numbers should be pretty close.

PetulantOne

I can see how it might work if you're pretty close to your goal, but if you have a significant amount to loose, it really doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I guess because as you get smaller, your BMR and TDEE get lower, so you would have to adjust your calories down as you get closer to goal, which doesn't sound like much fun to me, lol. Something I have heard that makes sense is to take the stats of your goal weight (weight, height, etc.) and plug those numbers into the TDEE calculator. Then just eat that, or plug them into the BMR calculator and eat that plus exercise calories. I didn't really figure all this out in time though and just went with the MFP recommendations and adjusted up as I got closer to my goal. I am now working on maintaining and it's been nice to be able to increase my calories as I lost weight rather than decrease them.

All that being said, I guess it would work as long as you continued to reduce the calories as you got smaller.

Really you increase your calories as you get closer to goal, because you want to have a smaller deficit when you have less to lose.

PetulantOne

eat more to lose more doesnt mean eat lots and lots more calories. it means that you need to eat smaller meals more often. Time intervals should be more like no more than 4 hours apart. I had Dr. in a wt loss clinic tell me that eating some small amount of protein every few hours helps keep the hunger under control and helps keep your blood sugar from spiking which in turn causes insulin issues. Good luck with your journey. You will get lots of advice from your peeps here, but do whats right and working for you!

No it doesn't

Yacki

If eating more caused you to lose more I'd be emaciated

hahahaha


i workout pretty hard everyday, so my TDEE -20% is something like 2600 cals/day. there is no way i could eat that if i tried while still eating healthy. i just stick with my appetite. i eat when i am hungry. i would be terrified to try to eat 2600 calories in a day.

I agree with you. It is all an estimate any way - unless you have way to truely count every calorie burned or eaten.

4summer38

Sorry to thread jack, but if someone is hypothyroid, would the eating more concept apply to them too? I'm all for eating more!!

woodsygirl

Eating more doesn't necessarily mean you are eating more calories than you burn, it means not messing up your metabolism and being able to eat a healthy amount of food.

It works if you do it correctly, you can't be afraid to gain a bit at first while you repair the damage from low calorie diets. Once you fix your metabolism, you can cut your calories a bit and lose the weight.

It works for many of us, but not everyone. Some people are just afraid to eat more and get frustrated. Honestly, I didn't become overweight by not eating, I love to eat so starving myself just isn't an option. I can lose weight eating 2000 calories and feel healthy.

carfamily08

The thing that confuses me is a lot of the people that preach about eating TDEE numbers are the same ones that talk about doing "heavy lifting" for their exercise. Well, I'm trying to eat at TDEE -20% (which for me is 1740), but I have symptoms of fibromyalgia (no official diagnosis yet), and I do well to go home at night and use my Wii Fit for 30 minutes. So, should I not do TDEE -20? I'm really afraid of gaining a whole bunch of weight because I'm not doing the same high-impact exercise as the ones that are seeing good results.

I do TDEE-20% (while more like -15% now since I'm closer to goal) and I've lost almost 35lbs doing Jililan Michaels' DVDs and Walk at Home DVDs. No heavy lifting here

Rogiefreida

I have found that I do best in losing inches when I eat ~1600-1800 kcal per day, depending on whether I workout or not and how hungry I am. This is approx. my TDEE-20%. It really does work, but it's not going to work overnight. I've done the 1200 coma train diet. I have 0 energy and am crabby. I can fuel my workouts (weights or cardio) this way.

That being said, I don't have a lot of pounds to lose. I would like to gain muscle and lose fat and this is working well for me. So, the scale number isn't changing drastically but my measurements are and I wear smaller clothes. That's what I want. Someone who has a larger amount of weight to lose may fare differently. All I can tell you is that based on my goals, eating more works.

Dlacenere

I was such a skeptic and had a really hard time grasping this concept and was also scared to death to gain weight, but it really does work. I have just raised up to 1900 calories and that is even with a suppressed thyroid - and after being stuck in a plateau, I am losing again. Once my thyroid levels back out, I plan to do a full TDEE diet break at 2200 calories and can't wait. Your metabolism adjusts where you keep it, eat 1200 calories and your metabolism will adjust and you will have to eat less and less to lose - raise your calories and your body will adjust up as well. I never ever thought I would be one of those people that could eat so much (probably 90-95% clean) and be able to lose weight. It's a total life changer. If you are stuck in a plateau or what you are doing isn't working then what have you got to lose?

underwater77

Well, there are a few possibilities. One, you may be overestimating your TDEE. Maybe it's not over 2000, like you think. You may be overestimating how many calories you are burning through exercise.

Also, your body will compensate for lower calories if it's done for an extended period of time. It will conserve energy where it needs to if you don't take in more calories, especially if you've been doing it on a regular basis.

I wish I was satisfied eating 1600 calories. I'm just not. *shrugs*

HA! I must have screwed that up the first time. My TDEE is 2420, so - 20% is roughly 2000.
That is manageable for sure. It will take a little getting used to, but I am definitely willing to try.
I do feel satisfied at 1600 but throw in an extra avocado at breakfast and I would be pretty damn close to 2000.

I think I may go ahead and go for it.

I do workout 7 days a week (not for calorie burn, for anxiety and to stay off medications), but I definitely take it easier
one of the days a week. I spin 6 days a week, swim a good 4000 meters 3 days a week, and yoga 5 days a week.

I think I may take the plunge.

Oh and as for my calories burned, I use a HRM except for when I swim, and I try not to even remotely "count" those calories because I know MFP overestimates them.

jayliospecky

Well, there are a few possibilities. One, you may be overestimating your TDEE. Maybe it's not over 2000, like you think. You may be overestimating how many calories you are burning through exercise.

Also, your body will compensate for lower calories if it's done for an extended period of time. It will conserve energy where it needs to if you don't take in more calories, especially if you've been doing it on a regular basis.

I wish I was satisfied eating 1600 calories. I'm just not. *shrugs*

HA! I must have screwed that up the first time. My TDEE is 2420, so - 20% is roughly 2000.
That is manageable for sure. It will take a little getting used to, but I am definitely willing to try.
I do feel satisfied at 1600 but throw in an extra avocado at breakfast and I would be pretty damn close to 2000.

I think I may go ahead and go for it.

I do workout 7 days a week (not for calorie burn, for anxiety and to stay off medications), but I definitely take it easier
one of the days a week. I spin 6 days a week, swim a good 4000 meters 3 days a week, and yoga 5 days a week.

I think I may take the plunge.

Yeah, that is a lot of activity so your TDEE is very likely that high. I say add the avocado!!

It's also a good idea, when trying something new, to give it a good 4-6 weeks of consistency and then reevaluate. That way you can truly see what's happening. But it sounds to me like you could easily eat 2000 and lose. If you don't quite feel ready to jump to 2000, you could always do it in increments, I suppose. Do 1800 for awhile, then 2000.

Eating 2000+ is awesome, though, for the record.

I seem to be able to lose slowly eating 1800, which is okaaaayyy, but I wish I could lose eating even more.

Dang, I love food.