Was increasing calories a mistake?

kisses4dylan

This! Love it!

rodow

In a nutshell, here is the deal. The holy grail of "losing weight", is really losing FAT without losing MUSCLE and doing it fairly quickly. The reason this should be EVERYONE's goal when losing weight is because the more muscle you have, the more calories you need ("faster" metabolism). It isn't really faster, per se, your body just needs more calories to maintain the muscle. When you are significantly overweight, you actually have a pretty good amount of muscle underneath (takes a lot of muscle to move the weight all day). If you can preserve that muscle for the entirety of your weight loss, you will be leaps and bounds above the average person's physique. So, the way to preserve that muscle is to make sure you are eating plenty of protein (1 g/lb LBM or so), lifting weight helps, and keeping your net calories and essential nutrients high enough to sustain your lean body mass.

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, honestly, it is. But, you have to get YOUR mind wrapped around eating the right things and the fact that quicker isn't necessarily better. Like LadyRaven68 said, QUALITY weight loss is what you're after and that takes some time.

In the long run, if you try to lose too quickly, you will lose too much muscle, then have to build that back at the end. Building muscle takes even longer than losing fat, so you are better off to keep the muscle you have.

Awesome. I just saved this clip to Evernote so I won't lose it.

methridg

I'm not trying to be mean, but there are so many things wrong with your post I think my head might explode!

Ok, now that I got that out of the way, let me actually try to be useful!

1) You can't really compare your first few weeks of a new diet to any other timeframe. You are almost always going to lose big during those few weeks when you start eating less and eating cleaner. Then, even if you had stayed at 1200 you would start slowing down. So, you are trying to compare apples and oranges.

2) at 1500 calories, you are losing 0.5 lb/wk. Since you are using the roadmap, I assume you went with the 20% reduction so your TDEE is 1875 cal/day? If so, then 0.5 lb/wk is actually right on track (in the ballpark). Theoretically, you would lose 0.75 lb/wk, but 0.5 lb/wk is close enough that I'd say you are on track.

3) Did you include your exercise routine when you did the roadmap calculations? IE, you told it that your exercise 1-3 hours a week or whatever. If so, you shouldn't eat back your exercise because it is already included. If you told it you are sedentary, then you should (and technically you aren't following the roadmap at that point).

4) Can you lose weight faster by eating less? Yes. Will it be healthy? no. Will it be the type of weight you want to lose? no. Will it get you the body you picture in your mind that you want to look? probably not.

In a nutshell, here is the deal. The holy grail of "losing weight", is really losing FAT without losing MUSCLE and doing it fairly quickly. The reason this should be EVERYONE's goal when losing weight is because the more muscle you have, the more calories you need ("faster" metabolism). It isn't really faster, per se, your body just needs more calories to maintain the muscle. When you are significantly overweight, you actually have a pretty good amount of muscle underneath (takes a lot of muscle to move the weight all day). If you can preserve that muscle for the entirety of your weight loss, you will be leaps and bounds above the average person's physique. So, the way to preserve that muscle is to make sure you are eating plenty of protein (1 g/lb LBM or so), lifting weight helps, and keeping your net calories and essential nutrients high enough to sustain your lean body mass.

Sounds easy enough, right? Well, honestly, it is. But, you have to get YOUR mind wrapped around eating the right things and the fact that quicker isn't necessarily better. Like LadyRaven68 said, QUALITY weight loss is what you're after and that takes some time.

In the long run, if you try to lose too quickly, you will lose too much muscle, then have to build that back at the end. Building muscle takes even longer than losing fat, so you are better off to keep the muscle you have.

Well since I am new to eating better and working out then I guess there would be "so much wrong with my post".

That said, I do appreciate the informative post. It makes a lot of sense to me.

duckiec

No ideas, but just wanted to say this is EXACTLY where I am today, too. Confused as all get out, and trying to work through it to determine a plan.

I tried asking about it but didn't phrase it right- your answers were a lot more informative. So thanks to you for posting, and everybody else for your helpful info.

CM9178

It is going to naturally be slower weight loss, because it is less of a reduction in calories, but, eating at the lower number, you would most likely lose muscle as well. So in the long run, lose it slower at the higher calorie number and hold on to that muscle.

You lose muscle normally at any deficit. You just lose less with a smaller deficit.

OP, you may of damaged your metabolism a touch since you said you weren't eating your exercise calories back and therefore lost a lot of muscle and were not giving your body enough fuel. Keep NETTING 1500 for at least another few weeks and I'm sure you will see results. Consistantly eating too far under your BMR will hurt your efforts. With your losses at 1200 cals I would imagine a very large portion of those losses were from muscle.

I understand you lose muscle at any deficit, I just didn't say "less". And I also don't agree that she would've already damaged her metabolism by eating so low.. she hasn't been doing it long enough.

Naomi_84

I was in the same boat as you, increased my calories again to 1700 last week and have started losing weight again. I'm finding it hard to eat that much after months on between 1200-1400 a day but I'm certainly enjoying eating more healthy fats and tons of protein.

Height 5ft 1"
Current weight 172 lbs
Goal weight 120-130 lbs

RetiredAndLovingIt

bump

rosiereally2

I too baby stepped my may up to the Roadmap's recommended calories because I was afraid to take the plunge. It can be hard to wrap your head around eating more and still losing. But I'm glad I made the change, and I think you will be, too, if you give it time.

Since increasing my calories by more than 600 calories ~7 weeks ago, I have lost "only" 5 lbs on the scale. BUT, I have lost 14 lbs of body fat, and gained 9 lbs of lean muscle.

And that's the whole point of the program: retaining your lean muscle mass while shrinking your body. The scale does not tell the full picture. You should be measuring yourself regularly, and charting those changes as you go. When you start seeing that body fat drop percentage, you'll be so glad you gave Dan's Roadmap a try.

Feel free to add me! My diary is open to friends. I'm a fairly shoddy eater, but the math still works. The FREEDOM that those extra calories gives has made me a lot more cheerful. I was miserable on 1200 cals, and it seemed that all I thought about was food.

jonnythan

Since increasing my calories by more than 600 calories ~7 weeks ago, I have lost "only" 5 lbs on the scale. BUT, I have lost 14 lbs of body fat, and gained 9 lbs of lean muscle.

That seems extraordinarily unlikely. Where did you get those numbers?

slynnalex

How long will it take for my metabolism to right itself after eating too little? I've been faithfully following the MFP calorie recommendation since Aug 2012 and have lost ~15lbs since then. I plateaued and was looking at posts to understand whether my intake was on target @ 1340, I'm 5'9" and have a low activity level. After reading the 'holy grail' post of how to calculate calories and working all of that out I found that the recommended calories for me is about 300 more than I've been eating. I'm struggling to understand what I should do. I have about 15lbs to my goal weight.

psuLemon

Since increasing my calories by more than 600 calories ~7 weeks ago, I have lost "only" 5 lbs on the scale. BUT, I have lost 14 lbs of body fat, and gained 9 lbs of lean muscle.

That seems extraordinarily unlikely. Where did you get those numbers?

I would have to agree. It is impossible to lose fat and gain muscle as both are different body states (anabolic vs catabolic).

gammols

so.. am i reading this right that you are SUPPOSED to eat the extra calories it give you from exercise? I jsut started this program and I do Zumba Fitness classes several times a week. when I enter that, it allows me several more calories. I thought I maybe should NOT eat those extra but stick to only my 1200 per day. IF I am reading these posts correctly, I may be sabbotaging my weight loss buy not eating those extra calories.. IS that correct?

BlueEyedTXmom

so.. am i reading this right that you are SUPPOSED to eat the extra calories it give you from exercise? I jsut started this program and I do Zumba Fitness classes several times a week. when I enter that, it allows me several more calories. I thought I maybe should NOT eat those extra but stick to only my 1200 per day. IF I am reading these posts correctly, I may be sabbotaging my weight loss buy not eating those extra calories.. IS that correct?

Yes. But MFP overestimates calories burned from exercise in my experience. I use a HRM and usually burn 600-700 calories in a 1 hour Zumba class. I aim to eat back at least half of them.

mallen404

Search " eat more to weigh less" in the message boards.

There is a lot of people who are losing more weight after upping the calories.

Since you are working out so much, I would up it so you can fuel your work outs

rosiereally2

Since increasing my calories by more than 600 calories ~7 weeks ago, I have lost "only" 5 lbs on the scale. BUT, I have lost 14 lbs of body fat, and gained 9 lbs of lean muscle.

That seems extraordinarily unlikely. Where did you get those numbers?

From my scale, my tape measure, and http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/.

psuLemon

so.. am i reading this right that you are SUPPOSED to eat the extra calories it give you from exercise? I jsut started this program and I do Zumba Fitness classes several times a week. when I enter that, it allows me several more calories. I thought I maybe should NOT eat those extra but stick to only my 1200 per day. IF I am reading these posts correctly, I may be sabbotaging my weight loss buy not eating those extra calories.. IS that correct?

If you don't include it in your lifestyle then yes you should eat back at least 50% of them.

psuLemon

Since increasing my calories by more than 600 calories ~7 weeks ago, I have lost "only" 5 lbs on the scale. BUT, I have lost 14 lbs of body fat, and gained 9 lbs of lean muscle.

That seems extraordinarily unlikely. Where did you get those numbers?

From my scale, my tape measure, and http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/.

Unfortunately, this will not be an accurate way to measure body fat. So It can almost be guaranteed there is no muscle gain unless you are morbidly obese.

rosiereally2

Since increasing my calories by more than 600 calories ~7 weeks ago, I have lost "only" 5 lbs on the scale. BUT, I have lost 14 lbs of body fat, and gained 9 lbs of lean muscle.

That seems extraordinarily unlikely. Where did you get those numbers?

From my scale, my tape measure, and http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/.

Unfortunately, this will not be an accurate way to measure body fat. So It can almost be guaranteed there is no muscle gain unless you are morbidly obese.

Really? Am I reading it wrong? Or should I just disregard that calculator altogether? I'm new to all this, so any help is certainly appreciated.

**Edited to add that I don't want to hijack the thread. so maybe we should take it offline. Best of luck to the OP!

Gramps251

During my 5 weeks at 1200, I lost 10 pounds. Since changing to 1500, which has now been 3 weeks, I have lost 1.5 pounds.

Should I have stayed at 1200??

Well 10 pounds in 5 weeks is a bit much.

1.5 pounds in 3 weeks is a bit low.

The obvious solution is somewhere in the middle: try 1350.

This^^^^

jonnythan

Since increasing my calories by more than 600 calories ~7 weeks ago, I have lost "only" 5 lbs on the scale. BUT, I have lost 14 lbs of body fat, and gained 9 lbs of lean muscle.

That seems extraordinarily unlikely. Where did you get those numbers?

From my scale, my tape measure, and http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/mbf/.

Ah, that explains it. I hate to break it to you, but you didn't put on several pounds of muscle while losing several pounds of fat.

Disregard that calculator altogether. Focus on body measurements and weight. If you really care about body fat, get a body fat scale. The body fat scale won't be super accurate, but can give you a good indication of trend over time.