Have u increased cals to loose more? I need proof!

NINAjustdoit
NINAjustdoit Posts: 80 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My weight loss has stalled and I am having a major dilemma. I am 5'8'' (160lbs) and have been eating 1300-1400 calories a day (I take one day off a week). I lost 10lbs and the weight loss has now stalled. After some reading and doing some calculations, it appears I should be eating 1600 calories a day (TDEE - 20%). I need to INCREASE my calories?? This feels like the total opposite of what I should be doing ... right??

Has anyone out there lost weight/achieved their weight loss goals (mine is 145lbs) eating MORE??

Replies

  • NINAjustdoit
    NINAjustdoit Posts: 80 Member
    bump
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,222 Member
    No, can't say that ever worked for me in the past. Now I generally eat to get stronger and faster, so if I'm not moving forward with these goals I eat more and generally don't lose much overall weight, fat yes. I will say eating too little would absolutely stall my goals indefinitely and I'd get smaller and weaker.....happens every time.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    YES! I am your height and I started at 162lbs. Last week I hit 134. :bigsmile: I lost some of the weight following the 1200 plan, then upped it a bit here and there, fell off the wagon and gained some, got back on and lost some.

    About a year ago I started the TDEE method, and have had the absolute best success during that time. Fat and inches gone, new jeans and shorts and shirts because all my clothes were suddenly too big, the scale moved slowly, because I was near goal weight, but who cares - fat and inches were coming off! And they still are. I'm eating 1800+ calories a day now, which is a 15% cut from my TDEE. Switching to this method was the best move I've made - I only wish I had done it sooner!

    Check my profile pics - there's one in there that shows progress on my tummy in less than a year's time - and that's one of my biggest problem areas.
  • Flowers4Julia
    Flowers4Julia Posts: 521 Member
    I can tell you that I lost 35 the 1200 MFP way and as soon as I switched to "maintenance" I gained 5 pounds! So now, I do TDEE minus 10% and it is coming back off. I've lost 4 pounds in 5 weeks and considering I am about at goal weight, this is fast enough. And, for me (I am 5'9"), that is 1600 a day given that I do aerobic/cardio type workouts about 5 hours a week. Some days, it is hiking, some days it is elliptical, some days dancey DVD's. I also do resistance work for strength, but not heavy lifting.

    See, what happens on the low calorie 1200 thing is that the body stalls because it adapts to it, just like in famine times, people survived because human bodies are designed to do that. For most folks 1200 is below your BMR and that is really hard on the bodies systems.

    It takes some time for the body to get some calories and understand you are not starving, then it can let go of stored fat.
  • NINAjustdoit
    NINAjustdoit Posts: 80 Member
    Thank you!! I am going to give this a shot!!

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