Eat more to lose more??!! what??

turtle080808

So I have been doing so well up until about 2 weeks ago. Hit a wall!! been working out and eating right and nothing! then 3 lb gain!! So I did some research and asked my trainer for help. Who knew that I have to eat more in order to lose weight!?? makes no sense right?? Well apparently starvation mode is REAL! I was eating 1200 cals a day per MFP. Now I was told by my trainer to eat at least 1800. What was happening was my body was starving so it stored everything as fat and ate away at my muscles......this is odd to me but its real. anyways I just wanted to know if anyone else had this issue?? Any advice on what to eat so I dont feel like a huge pig!??

cherylcole15

I'd also like to know what to eat to bump up the calories! Preferrably something nice to eat as well!

sparklebritches

I went to maintenance 3-days ago (about 1900-2000) and lost 1.5 lbs. Had been about 1600-1800 calories the last 25 and lost nothing. It could be a fluke. Only time will tell.

Melanie1967

This is to funny. I just posted this as a response to someone else's scale standing still problem. I found out the hard way 2 weeks ago. My MFP is 1230. I was getting 900-1050, thinking I would go down quicker. WRONG! Started going up up and away! Started reading about it on here, and thought, noway I need to eat more, but I did. Got my calories back around 1150-1200, and scale is going back in the right direction, DOWN!! Keep up the good work!

jennifer771

Never had an issue with eating too little calories. I do know that theory your talking about is very true. Your supposed to eat small meals every 2-3 hours.

aippolito1

MFP recommends changing your goals every 10 lbs. lost and I'm TOLD it reminds you (I haven't lost 10 since being on here so I don't really know) but you may have just missed that and that's why you weren't losing weight... because your goals weren't changed.

stylistchik

raw and natural foods are best. If you're eating clean you can virtually eat anything and not become obese. f you're trying to add calories find nutrient-calorie dense foods. Peanut butter is calorie packed with good fats. a High quality protein supplement could do the trick, too.

sweetrevenge

So I have been doing so well up until about 2 weeks ago. Hit a wall!! been working out and eating right and nothing! then 3 lb gain!! So I did some research and asked my trainer for help. Who knew that I have to eat more in order to lose weight!?? makes no sense right?? Well apparently starvation mode is REAL! I was eating 1200 cals a day per MFP. Now I was told by my trainer to eat at least 1800. What was happening was my body was starving so it stored everything as fat and ate away at my muscles......this is odd to me but its real. anyways I just wanted to know if anyone else had this issue?? Any advice on what to eat so I dont feel like a huge pig!??

I do know that starvation mode is real but I think I was in denial. 1600 + calories a day seemed like SO much to me and everyone was saying that I need to up my calorie intake, I wouldn't listen and now I have also gained 3 pounds!! UGH!!! So funny that you posted this because just an hour ago I finally gave in and changed my goals to allow for more calories. I have been doing this for 2 weeks and so far all I see is a 3 pound gain. So I guess we will see what happens.

Oh and what to eat......well I plan on making a HUGE pot of mixed veggies (asparagus, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, onions, brocolli, cauliflower, garlic) and just snack on cooked veggies everytime I get hungry between meals. You can just cook a bunch of them every 3 days or so, heat some up when you want them and not stress about being bad. You can totally pig out on veggies, which is great because as an "ex-vegan", I LOVE veggies!!!!

Aid_B

I've been on 1300 cals for about 6 weeks and haven't lost a thing.

I've been hoping to loose 2lb a week , but Nothing !!!!!

decided to increase cals this week to 1800 to see if that makes a difference :O)

ericaquin

the exact thing happened to me when I want down to 1200 cals a day. It took me playing around with my calories to find the right formula which is 1500 cals a day. but here is the weirdest thing... when I hit the wall I go and eat something unhealthy ( like a loaded chipotle burrito AND a bag of their chips with guacamole) and I am able to break through the wall. You have to trick your body and tell it "ne we are not on a diet so here is some bad food for ya"

LittleSpy

Of course starvation mode is real. Our bodies are really interested in keeping us alive!

Eat whatever you normally eat. I personally love adding a little extra lean protein to my meals (eating 6-8oz servings instead of 4oz) and one of my very favorite ways to increase my calories is to eat a tablespoon or 2 of natural peanut butter. You can drink an 8oz glass of milk with 2tbs peanut butter and quickly add 300 cals to your day. All nuts, olive oil (& some other oils like grapeseed & more), yogurts with some fat, etc are good ways to add *healthy* calories to your day. The important thing to remember is to keep those extra calories healthy. Alcohol, cookies, cake, etc. are empty calories which mean they're not providing your body with the nutrients it needs to go along with those extra calories. I mean, of course it's okay to treat yourself with a small amount of those calories or to splurge every now and then, I'm just talking on a general day to day basis here.

cbullock115

I just hit the 10 lb mark and MFP told me to lower my calorie intake so I don't know, I am confused now???

kvsweatt

You said you were working out but still only eating 1200 calories? You should factor in the calories burned through exercise, that should put you back up to eating 1800 or so calories. You say you gained weight but what are your measurements? I have found that I can actually go up in weight but down in inches. Since muscle takes up a smaller area than fat, that is a better indication of fat loss. Unless your doing a true fat/muscle ratio you really wouldn't know if your losing muscle mass, and those tests can be expensive. Your body needs the calories to keep the metabolism up, whick in turn (as you know) burns the fat. As far as your body eating your muscles, I would suggest eating more lean proteins to help fill you up. I'm no professional but I am also done with college for a BS (Nutritional Science) and have spent the past 15 years learning about nutrition and fitness. These are just some of my thoughts. Hope this helps...

LittleSpy

I just hit the 10 lb mark and MFP told me to lower my calorie intake so I don't know, I am confused now???

You lower your cal intake because generally, people who weigh less burn fewer calories with their day to day activities. You may not be set at a good calorie deficit to begin with. Losing 2 pounds a week is a really really really aggressive goal and may not be appropriate for many (most) people. It's pretty much all about creating a calorie deficit that YOUR body can be comfortable with. That varies greatly from person to person.

For example, when I was very obese, my body did just fine dropping all kinds of weight with a 1500-2000 calorie deficit most days. Then SLAM into a wall and now I'm finding my body isn't even comfortable with a 1000 calorie deficit. This week I've decreased my deficit to 750 (which means I'm set to lose 1.5 pounds a week & I'm eating nearly ALL of my exercise calories) to see how it does with that. Take it from someone who knows, climbing back out of "starvation mode" isn't so much fun. :ohwell:

PattyTheUndefeated

I was watching on documentary on girls with eating disorders and alot of them would eat less the 300 calories a day. When they resumed a normal eating partern of 2000 calories a day they actually lost weight dramatically in the first week (2-4lbs) because they went from having a extremely low metabolism (because of starvation) to and extremely high metabolism. I thought this was interesting because you'd think they'd gain weight. They eventually do, obviously, but the initial shock to their system of all those calories actually increased their metabolism dramatically.

mommyhof3

This was me too. I have upped my calorie intake and have since been losing steadily. I was actually set up to lose 2lbs a week and decided to make it 1lb a week and I lost 2.1 lol Some things are not meant to make sense

lisawest

As I get closer to my goal, I've started upping my calories so that maintenance isn't a shock to my system. That is why I've done some research into WHAT I can eat that's still healthy AND calorie packed. Here's what I've found:

nuts/nut butters- any kind, they are all calorie packed with loads of good fats in them
regular dairy products- I used to buy "reduced fat" or "fat free" dairy thinking it was better, now I am eating the regular (and less processed!) stuff
red meat- please don't shoot me for suggesting!! (as I duck and cover) I LOVE to eat cows. I buy the extra lean (don't want to add un-neccessary fat!), and trim as much fat as possible off of steaks. But I am eating them again in the CORRECT PORTION SIZE (4 oz is one serving of beef)
any food that does NOT say "diet," "reduced fat," or any other buzz words- the regular versions of so many foods are much better for you because they don't go through as much processing, and they typically will have a few more calories

I hope this gives you some ideas!

lisa811

If you like 'em, avocados are an excellent way to up your calories. And a great source of healthy fats, which your body needs.

jamie31

I am currently going through this. My deficit is extremely high though. MFP says I should be eating 3,500 calories a day ( i workout 3 hours a day) and I have only been eating 1200-1500 ( at the most). I have been slowly upping my calories by 100 a week. last week i made sure I ate 1700 calories a day and this week I am eating 1800 a day. I will eventually cut down on my workouts but I am trying to train myself for the military so I dont really want to do that.

Last week when I upped my calories I expected to gain weight but actually lost 1 lb. Of course it was my t.o.m so maybe that had something to do with it. I will keep you updated on my progress if you do the same

Rhyssa6

I'm having trouble with this too. I burn about 550 calories a day through exercise so I'm supposed to eat about 1750 calories. I'm finding that really hard to do. The last 5 days my weight has been exactly the same every day, not even a 1/10 pound move in either direction. Normally it varies by between 1/2 pound and 2 pounds each day.

It's really disheartening to see the scales not moving at all with all the work I'm doing but I keep telling myself to hang in there til friday and see what my measurements say.

To make matters worse I often feel like doing another walk in the afternoons, but then I'd have to try to eat another 200 calories.