So who's upped their calories to lose?

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  • MissJJ74
    MissJJ74 Posts: 111 Member
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    I am debating on raising mine, MFP has me at 1200 calories, but when I finally did the correct calculations with a spreadsheet that was posted on these forums, I saw that my BMR is 1500 and my TDEE -20% is actually 1750.

    While I have lost 23 lbs so far maintaining 1200, I'm kind of stalling and losing weight slowly now. I was told that once you get below 30% BF, it gets harder to lose weight. I'm now below 30% so that's likely part of the stall.

    I may slowly raise my calorie intake, probably will change it to 1350 now and then 1500 in April.
  • jsilpoch
    jsilpoch Posts: 1 Member
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    honestly whether I eat 1200 cals or 1600 cals, I can't seem to lose....not sure what else to do! I'm 5'4" 140lbs and I need to lose fat off my belly and upper inner/outer thighs. I work out 5x/week and and pretty healthy! I don't get it. I DO have digestive issues which may cause problems....not sure though. Any thoughts?
  • kazitykaz
    kazitykaz Posts: 87 Member
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    I was eating 1200 a day and lost about a pound per week but last week I put on 0.5 and someone said I was undereating. I have now decided to still do the 1200 but to also eat the calories I burn while exercising. I'm hoping this will work for me. I am so scared that I'm going to put on weight this week because I'm eating more. I don't get the logic of eat more to lose weight but I'm still giving it a try. Fingers crossed.
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    I was eating 1200 a day and lost about a pound per week but last week I put on 0.5 and someone said I was undereating. I have now decided to still do the 1200 but to also eat the calories I burn while exercising. I'm hoping this will work for me. I am so scared that I'm going to put on weight this week because I'm eating more. I don't get the logic of eat more to lose weight but I'm still giving it a try. Fingers crossed.

    It is likely you will put on weight this week, but it is water weight. It take 3-5 weeks for your metabolism to reset.
  • deb3129
    deb3129 Posts: 1,294 Member
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    I think the problem is when people get here they follow MFPs goals without thinking much about it. I know that I did. It told me to eat 1200 calories and that is what I was doing. Then I was confused as to why I was gaining weight at that level.

    True enough, mfp built in calorie calculator can be confusing. Surely they would have seen all the 1200 calorie threads littered all over the forums by now, and tried to improve their calorie calculation system!

    This is exactly what I did, follow the MFP quidelines because I did not know any better. It worked really really well for a long time, but then I stalled. By this time I had been here a while, and done a lot of learning. So I upped my calories, and I am losing weight and getting fitter!
  • sniperzzzz
    sniperzzzz Posts: 282 Member
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    I was eating 1200 a day and lost about a pound per week but last week I put on 0.5 and someone said I was undereating. I have now decided to still do the 1200 but to also eat the calories I burn while exercising. I'm hoping this will work for me. I am so scared that I'm going to put on weight this week because I'm eating more. I don't get the logic of eat more to lose weight but I'm still giving it a try. Fingers crossed.

    The logic is that you may not have needed to eat that low a calorie deficit to lose weight, you possibly could have lost weight eating more if you had started with a gentler deficit to begin with. Now it sounds like your body has adapted to your caloric intake of 1200, now you have a few options do more cardio, eat less " not the best option if you have a fair way to go" Or you could try to increase your calories slightly for a few weeks to see if your body can adapt and allow you to lose more weight whilst eating more. Its a gamble it may work it may not.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    honestly whether I eat 1200 cals or 1600 cals, I can't seem to lose....not sure what else to do! I'm 5'4" 140lbs and I need to lose fat off my belly and upper inner/outer thighs. I work out 5x/week and and pretty healthy! I don't get it. I DO have digestive issues which may cause problems....not sure though. Any thoughts?


    Define digestive issues? Are we talking IBS or something? If so, it's the one of the situations where I think a low carb diet can be beneficial. I know with my wife's medical issue, she has to eat low carb. But I mean low carb, adequate calories. My wife is 5'2 and 140, does't exercise and still loses at 1400 calories. When she exercises, she will be eating 1600-1800.
  • krhn
    krhn Posts: 781 Member
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    If you do hit a plateau and you do want to attempt to up your calories, remember only to get UP to (you don't have to reach it) your daily maintenance calories - remember, any higher than that number and you WILL GAIN WEIGHT! :sad:

    Also remember to get an updated version of your maintenance because assuming you have already lost weight, your maintenance depending on the amount of muscle your body has increased/decreased will go down!:drinker:
  • lisapisa81
    lisapisa81 Posts: 68 Member
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    i switched from about 1280 (what MFP told me) to TDEE - 20% (between 1700 and 1900) about two weeks ago, after getting frustrated seeing the same pound come and go. since then i've lost almost 3 pounds and will hopefully be down another tomorrow! i think it keeps my metabolism going because my body doesn't get used to a constant net calories per day...it differs day to day (since i don't workout every day) but there is a deficit overall across the whole week which keeps the weight loss going.
  • lunnay
    lunnay Posts: 66 Member
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    My BMR is 1500, my TDEE is 1800. I sit at home most of the day, my outside trips are usually brief 10-30 minute walks.

    I lost most weight with 1,200 calories as my goal, but regularly went over (weekends, Christmas, 'cheat' days, new year's, birthdays, dinners with friends, etc). I never had a stall, and lost weight regularly. The calculations give me a 400 kcal deficit from my TDEE to lose the weight I did in the time I did, but while some days I went up to 2,000 kcals, most days I ate just under 1,200. (I tried couch-to-5k for a while. When I exercised, I /always/ ate back exercise calories.)

    That said, I recently upped my cals to 1,500 because I was starting to feel more sluggish than usual. I weight every day, and it's obvious when my body drops weight (it goes up and down for a few weeks, then the 'down' is more pronounced, and the following 'ups' are below the previous 'downs' if that makes sense). Since then (granted it's only been a month) I've been losing way more quickly, with drops/new lows every week. So yeah, more anecdotal evidence that upping your calories will help you lose, and you'll feel better too. :)
  • winterpaws
    winterpaws Posts: 6
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    I am trying to change my mindset about food as I am having a huge battle every time I eat.

    At the moment I am trying to eat 1300 or so calories a day but binging all the time because I am hungry, and therefore I undo all my hard work.

    If I calculate my TDEE as 2147 (light exercise) and then eat say 1800 caories a day? My light exercise is just horse riding, cleaning stalls, farm work etc

    What would then happen with other exercise I do like yoga and a fitness program. Do I then eat back those calories every day? In some power yoga sessions I can burn 500 calories, so on those days eat 2300?

    Also can I ask if people look at things like carb etc when eating these calories. I just want to eat a sandwich for lunch and not feel guilty for eating carbs :o

    I'm still at 85kgs and a good weight for me would be around 60....
  • gsdz4me
    gsdz4me Posts: 66 Member
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    Do you think we under estimate our activity when we first start out? Originally because I do work in an office at a desk, I had myself as sedentary until I read the road map message. So I changed my activity level as I do walks during the day and it upped my calories which meant I was not feeling as hungry and have lost steadily. Tomorrow after weigh in I will review it again.
  • pineygirl
    pineygirl Posts: 322 Member
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    I am. I really tried to do the 1200 calorie thing, and many other times I've tried to lose weight I was eating barely 900 calories a day.

    For me 1200 would be totally fine if all I did was sit around all day and do nothing, since my BMR is around 1170, but I'm pretty active. way more active than I thought I was. Just at work I can walk up over 20000 steps and didn't realize that there are days where I climb 50 flights of stairs (thanks Fitbit).

    My average TDEE is around 2000 (ranges from 1700-2300 daily).

    I eat 1500-1800 calories a day based on my activity.

    I'm just under 5'0 and weight 115lbs.
  • juliekaiser1988
    juliekaiser1988 Posts: 604 Member
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    I'm at 1500 this week. I admit I am scared to climb to 1800. LOL

    Do it.

    Don't look back.
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    I'm at 1500 this week. I admit I am scared to climb to 1800. LOL

    Do it.

    Don't look back.

    Thanks! I am. :)
  • learnerdriver
    learnerdriver Posts: 298 Member
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    Thanks! I am. :)

    i'll be scared with you.
  • NaH2DC
    NaH2DC Posts: 5
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    I am a bit confused with the TDEE calculation. Based on http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ , I get around 1700 calories with just sleeping and doing office work. If I do my intense 45min running and another 30min weights training, the TDEE goes to 1800.
    2 questions:
    1) why some that weight less than me are set at 2300 calories?
    2) some says to eat back your calories. I normally burn 600-700 calories. Based on the calculator it doesn't make sense. 100 < 600-700!
  • dangerouscurvesNZ
    dangerouscurvesNZ Posts: 23 Member
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    Lightbulb moment! Thanks everyone. I randomly stumbled upon this post. Two weeks ago i dropped my intake to 1320, because i wanted to lose quicker and i gained both weeks. I run 5k 5 times a week and walk on rest days or do weights.. I've been tired and grumpy since i dropped and i stopped eating most of the cals i earned from running. Curious to know how many you think i should be eating. I am 5ft 6 and 171 looking to lose another 20lb
    I have a desk job 4 days but i have a crazy two year old so might be more active than i think. All fedback welcome. Thanks for the thread.!
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    Lightbulb moment! Thanks everyone. I randomly stumbled upon this post. Two weeks ago i dropped my intake to 1320, because i wanted to lose quicker and i gained both weeks. I run 5k 5 times a week and walk on rest days or do weights.. I've been tired and grumpy since i dropped and i stopped eating most of the cals i earned from running. Curious to know how many you think i should be eating. I am 5ft 6 and 171 looking to lose another 20lb
    I have a desk job 4 days but i have a crazy two year old so might be more active than i think. All fedback welcome. Thanks for the thread.!

    Check this out!

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    Thanks! I am. :)

    i'll be scared with you.

    Oh good a partner! :drinker:

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