eat more to weigh less folks

jen_u_win

Problem for me is that my TDEE is over 3000 based on how much I workout and that just feels so difficult to eat without eating crap.

This is the tiniest bowl I own. Inside of it is 600 calories of cashews.



I would probably eat 10 of these bowls in one sitting if I didn't restrain myself.

You can find lots of other nutritious foods to make up a healthy diet.

I love almonds and other nuts...but how do you keep all your columns (fat, sat. fat, protein, sugar, etc.) in check without going over? I'm eating 1,300-1,500 calories per day before exercising off anywhere from 500-900 calories/day 6x per week. Even at that low calorie amount I'm over in several columns. My TDEE - 20% = 2,465.6

My diary is open. I'm not a "clean eater"...too picky(!) but I do try to eat good snacks. I've been losing an avg. of 2-2.5 lbs per week. BTW...Today was not an average day...BK turkey burger was not so "lower-calorie" after all, lol!! I usually research ahead if I eat out...and I try to avoid BK, etc. altogether.

JustMQ

TDEE - 15%! Works so much better than trying to eat only 1200 cals, saying "eff it" and binging on 6 cookies!

nebslp

I joined mfp in Jan. and found em2wl a few weeks into it. Joining em2wl has changed my life. I no longer feel guilty about eating foods I need or want. I just try to stay under 1600 calories/day but don't always succeed. I'm making better choices though. I've been losing about 1 lb. a week. Now I need to up the exercise and see what happens. This is something I could live with for the rest of my life. No more binges, no more starvation... no more guilt! It's amazing!

DebbieLyn63

I began a few weeks ago eating the correct calories for my current weight aiming for 20% body fat reduction. when I began I weighed 180 pounds. thanks to you guys I lost 4 pounds so far in the two weeks I'm doing this. I am feeling full and satisfed.
I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks and I only eat when I am hungry. if my calories are under and I am full I accept my end day calorie count.

I don't know if there any any eat more to weigh less folks still on mfp since y'all have your own forum but if there are I wanted to thank you guys so much for helping me in my struggles. your the best:):heart: for the eat more to weigh less folks who are here would love for you to add me. the bigger the support system the better. you will receive the same support right back.

Great it is working for you. How many calories were you eating before and how many are you eating now?

tatd_820

I JUST started this yesterday! Trying to get near to that TDEE is more difficult that I imagined. After staying at under 1290 for a while, it's hard to jump up to 1884 a day. Hoping to have great results too!

EmGetsFit

I readjusted my #s following IPOARM/EMTWL at the beginning of this year. I aim for TDEE - 20%. So far, so good! 6 lbs down so far in 2013. (I'm only aiming to lose 25-30 lbs overall so my loss is a bit slower than some.) I eat lots of fresh fruits, veggies, protein & still make room for treats & wine. Great job on your weight loss, everyone!

mamapuddin17

Did you all gain weight by upping your calories? If so when did it start to level off and when did you start to lose?

dixiewhiskey

Here here :drinker: :drinker:

oliviazab

I feel like this is just what I needed to read! I have been feeling guilty if I ever go above my calorie allowance, but I just calculated what I could be having if I did TDEE %20 and it seems much more doable for me. Love this!

JeneticTraining

Ooooo yes.


I like that.

shinkalork

Yes...possible.

I've lost lots of weight and wants to gain so i started to bulk but clean...
I eat a lot....many meals etc and still lose weight so.... just eat clean and well and more often...your system will burn it all the time and you will lose weight.

pandabear_05

I restarted mfp 3 weeks ago with my setting at 1580 cal. The first week and a half I lost 6 lbs and was ecstatic! Then I stopped losing even though I was eating the same calories and exercising every day. Then I GAINED 3 lbs! I was so, so disappointed because I have 90+ lbs to lose total, and if I was doing everything right and gaining what more could I possibly do? Then I googled bmr and tdee because I had no clue what ya'll were talking about. Lol I upped my cals to 2,000 based on my numbers and in two days I have lost 1.8 lbs! Whew! Thank you all so much for this info! I'm also trying my hardest to educate family without being annoying about it. It's so crazy that you can eat and be satisfied and actually lose! So awesome!

astronomicals

Problem for me is that my TDEE is over 3000 based on how much I workout and that just feels so difficult to eat without eating crap.

so youre one of those guys that lifts way too often and doesnt provide enogch calories or time for recovery.... and in turn you see super slow gains.... You can try and sit in denial like this isn't the truth, but, thats fine... Well know whose right when I blow by you in the weightroom... put on your dust mask


either that or you miscalculated tdee

More is NOT better... Youd probably see better gains by working out less often with better programming

ETA: stop eating "clean".. eat some oreos or a spoonfull of lard.. get the cals in

ETA: I will admit that transitioning from a cut to a bulk is a practice you need to get used to and it does feel strange... easiest way is to set the number and just make sure you hit it... enjoy it man... the cutting sucks... stuff your face with a pizza and have no shame...

volume77

em2wl friends feel free to add me tooooooooooooooooo

LesaLu4

bump

tstancom

Hmm. My TDEE-20% is exactly the same as my net cals on MFP set to lose 1.5lbs a week. Well, that's easy.

Helloitsdan

Huzzah!

thehka

wowow thank you for this new info...scale nor measurements wont budge after 3 months of changing my lifestyle and maybe this is why! gonna try this from now on

zumbajheri

I've slowly bumped up after learning more about incorporating strength and EMWL. I've lost 2.5# in the last 2 weeks. Since adding strength training, I've gained 3.3# LBM. I workout 6 days/wk currently netting ~1600 most days. I've gotten a few colds recently, so I'm gonna rest up and not push it too much.

Mads1997

I'm afraid it didn't work for me I gained 4 kilo I then had to lose again.

reerazzle

Any responses to the net calorie question? Is the TDEE-20% our net calorie goal so do we eat our exercise calories?

Thanks.

JustMQ

Any responses to the net calorie question? Is the TDEE-20% our net calorie goal so do we eat our exercise calories?

Thanks.

With TDEE you don't eat back your exercise calories. Exercise/activity is already calculated in the determine your TDEE. Hope this helps

trudijoy

Problem for me is that my TDEE is over 3000 based on how much I workout and that just feels so difficult to eat without eating crap.

This is the tiniest bowl I own. Inside of it is 600 calories of cashews.



I would probably eat 10 of these bowls in one sitting if I didn't restrain myself.

You can find lots of other nutritious foods to make up a healthy diet.

Awesome point made!!

Yummmm...but what about the fat macro?

Achrya

How do you work out how many cals to eat?

Find a TDEE calculator, fill in the info as accurate as possible, then multiply it by .9, .85, or .8 to get a deficit of 10, 15, or 20%, respectively.

I use this one, but there are many others. http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

Just checking to make sure I understand: I filled in as accurately as I could and got 2309. Multiplied that by .85, got 1962. This is the number of calories I should eat period, without eating back exercise calories, right? Because the exercise is already factored in? I read a bit about TDEE when I started but it was a lot of information and kinda intimidating, lol.

tjham1

I've been intimidated by it also. I just went to the link ( http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator) and found that mine is 1379 and MFP has me at 1200. How do I reset MFP for a higher amount?

I already have it set at 1 lb a week. I started at 1230 and when I had lost around 30 lbs, it lowered me to 1200. But I still almost always go over because I was losing at 1230 and I was ticked to lose those 30 calories! LOL

SherryTeach

Those calculators are very useful, though it was disheartening to be reminded that my BMR is 1105 and TDEE 1524. But that number is fairly close to what my fitbit records as my total calories burned. Now that I'm on maintenance, I've very slowly been adding calories. At 1350 now, I suddenly gained two pounds. I think it will take a while longer to figure out exactly ow many calories I will be able to eat. But sadly, it won't be a lot!

AnexRavensong

If you guys are getting really high calories (over 2K) it just means you must be VERY active. Personally I'm doing IPOARM (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013) which is essentially eating at a deficit of TDEE as well.

However, my activity level is just a couple hours of walking a week (don't own a car) and that is about all (in other words, I don't go out of my way to exercise) so my TDEE is 1980 and what I try to aim for is 1640 calories a day (9.9% avg daily deficit). It's already much better than the generic 1200 MFP gave me and the 1400 I did for a while, and even though my weight hasn't moved a whole lot, my inches have gone down A LOT.

Anyway my point being, if you're getting really high numbers and exercise a lot every day, don't freak out. It's normal (you don't eat back exercise calories because they are already included).. but if you're not doing a lot of exercises and you're getting numbers like that, you might want to re-look at your calculations.

If you want another calculator, user Heybales has put together a nice spreadsheet calculator that a lot of us are using (including myself). Maybe it can't hurt to compare the two results.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

Achrya

If you guys are getting really high calories (over 2K) it just means you must be VERY active. Personally I'm doing IPOARM (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013) which is essentially eating at a deficit of TDEE as well.

However, my activity level is just a couple hours of walking a week (don't own a car) and that is about all (in other words, I don't go out of my way to exercise) so my TDEE is 1980 and what I try to aim for is 1640 calories a day (9.9% avg daily deficit). It's already much better than the generic 1200 MFP gave me and the 1400 I did for a while, and even though my weight hasn't moved a whole lot, my inches have gone down A LOT.

Anyway my point being, if you're getting really high numbers and exercise a lot every day, don't freak out. It's normal (you don't eat back exercise calories because they are already included).. but if you're not doing a lot of exercises and you're getting numbers like that, you might want to re-look at your calculations.

If you want another calculator, user Heybales has put together a nice spreadsheet calculator that a lot of us are using (including myself). Maybe it can't hurt to compare the two results.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

Well now I'm wondering if I'm over estimating. using http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ I put in 6 hours for sleep, 4 for life, and the rest in very light (I'm always on my feet at work) but maybe I should shift those four hours into very light? Does being on your feet at work count as light?

kelny

My experience is this
Age 20-37 went from healthy weight to obese (+ 60 pound)
Age 37-40 (present) went from obese to close to healthy weight (loss 52 pound)
Age 20-37 didnt monitor what i ate or how much i ate and very little exercise
age 37-now i ate more healthy (but a lot of food - i have a good appetite!) and began exercise - walking initially, then i joined a gym about 2 years ago doing cardio (a little) and weights.

Best thing is this - during this whole time i have eaten between 2000 (TDEE - about 15%) and 2400 (TDEE) and lost 52 pounds.

To loose weight this way you need patience
And Im female by the way - so you can eat a lot and loose weight

queenbea77

Excellent read. There's plenty of info here to help. Thanks