Upping calories?

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woodsy0912
woodsy0912 Posts: 323
in Health and Weight Loss
I have successfully lost over 100 lbs in under a year now eating below my BMR. I am still losing steadily. But from all the literature I am reading, I am wondering if I should be eating more? My body feels fine at what I currently eat (around 1400 calories a day, a couple hundred more on weekends).

I have about 55 more pounds to lose until my goal weight (I am 5'7). I was thinking of upping my calories to my current BMR. (1745). This though terrifies me because I have been doing so well but this is a lifestyle change and I want to make sure I am doing things right.

Should I stick to what has been working so far? Or change up the system? Maybe wait until I am closer to goal? I am sure I will eventually want to eat more, I am just not sure when the best time to do it is.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: also, I do workout 5 to 6 days a week. A mix of workout DVD's, elliptical, and running. Usually burn 400 to 500 calories on workout days.

Replies

  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
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    I tend to believe that TDEE s the way to go to maintain proper health. With the low calorie (under your BMR) diets, you will eventually stall because your organs do not function properly...but I would have expected that to happen already (you said a year, right?). So, maybe you are the exception...

    I stalled for 4 months eating below my BMR (after about 8 months of steady loss). When I upped to TDEE I began to lose again.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Yes, eating at your BMR is a great idea! But the closer you get to goal weight, the closer you should eat at TDEE until you are on maintenance.
  • woodsy0912
    woodsy0912 Posts: 323
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    I know I do want to do the TDEE - 20% but I am still losing so well I didn't know if should yet or not.

    It will be a year for me in April and I was planning to start the new calorie plan then. (I would be about 30 pounds away from goal then.)

    I have been thinking of maintenance plans now and I know I do not want to shock my body drastically by suddenly upping the calories to TDEE as soon as I hit my goal.

    I have not yet hit any long term plateaus eating what I have been and have been losing at a rate of 2 to 2 1/2 lbs a week since I started.
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    Have a read of http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-to-estimate-maintenance-caloric-intake.html

    To summarise it, eat: ~11-13 cal/lb of bodyweight.
    For example, I weigh 155lbs so for fat loss I should eat between 1705 (11*155) and 2015 (13*155) calories per day. To be "specific" I should eat 20% less than my maintenance which is 2325 (15*155)) so that's 1860 per day.
    Set protein to 1g/lb of weight.
    Set fat to 0.5g/lb of weight.
    Fill the remaining calories with carbs.

    Eat the same on ALL days, regardless of whether you are training or not.
  • woodsy0912
    woodsy0912 Posts: 323
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    I am reading road map now. even cutting my TDEE by 25% gives me a scary number of 2200 calories per day. I don't know if I am ready for that kind of leap yet.

    I think I will do TDEE-20% when I have 30 lbs to lose, then -15% when I have 20 to go, and -10% for those pesky last 10 lbs.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    I guarantee you are losing lean muscle mass if you're not a) eating lots of protein and b) lifting weights. I have done it. The weight came off - 60 lbs of it. 13 of those lbs were muscle :(

    You should start reducing your daily deficit to more manageable numbers: around 500 calories/day to lose 1 lb/week. Increase calories slowly if a gain of 3 or 4 lbs is going to freak you out. That would likely be water weight from increased glycogen storage when you eat closer to TDEE.

    Also, the online calculators are for the average person and may not be right for everyone. The average person hasn't eaten under their BMR for a year. Your actual TDEE may be way under what the calculated TDEE estimate is for your weight; by eating less, you have taught your body how to function on less. Your BMR could be suppressed.

    Having said that, in 2012 I lost weight eating an average of 2100 calories daily to take me from 194 lbs to 158 lbs. And that was with 5-7 hours of cardio-based exercise weekly, so not dissimilar to your schedule. Your body could possibly handle 2200/day and still lose, but it would probably be much slower than you're used to.

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