Eat More to Weigh Less? I THINK NOT!

xxtaliaxx

So I took the advice from people here and I upped my calories by 480 (to 1680) because apparently I should be eating more so I can lose weight. I have been doing this for a couple of weeks now and NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. I weigh exactly the same if not a pound or 2 more. I've been going to the gym and doing cardio mixed with some weight training on certain days and I even try to get some workouts in while I'm at work. I've been trying to do this because I have weigh ins coming up and I'm now about 5 pounds over my maximum weight and now I'm scrambling to drop it before then. My TDEE is around 2400 and my BMR is somewhere around 1600. So I've been eating as much as I should. This is going to sound bad but since I'm now in a rush to lose these 5 pounds that I gained by trying to eat right and up my calories I don't have time for this. I need to drop this ASAP so I don't fail my PFA. If you think you can help, please, by all means. My diary is open but be warned I have not logged since around 26 MAR because I didn't think it was working. And before anyone says that I gained the weight because I haven't logged that's not true. I've weighed this for the past like 3-4 weeks. WTF.

Iron_Feline

How long did you give it before you decided it wasn't working?

Are you new to weight training? Did you up your exercise?

If you TDEE is 2400 then 1680 is still to low as it should be TDEE - 20 %. = 1920 cals a day

Not logging means if you bosy had decided to start dropping the weight you might have countered that by over eating.

EDIT: loking at your food diary you only gave it two weeks before deciding it wasn'y working. Before that you logged under 1000 cals on several days - is this accurate?

xxtaliaxx

I ate around 1920 on days I worked out. And no, I'm not new to weight training; I started back up after a while of not doing it though. And I've been eating like this for maybe 5 weeks now? Somewhere around there.

Iron_Feline

Sorry, edited my post look up ^^^^^

aberc

If you were planning to lose 5 lbs very soon by eating more, you didn't do enough research. Increasing your calories from what your metabolism is used to usually makes you gain a little in the first few weeks as your metabolism readjusts. Also If you're strength training, you could also be gaining weight because of your increase in muscle (building muscle usually requires more calories..)

It could also be water weight. The extra food might be making your body retain some extra water?

I say increase it a little more, or drop it back down again and see what happens. If it's not working where its at, change it.

bethanytowell

I honestly think that the "eat more to weigh less" suggestion works better for those of us who lift heavy. For someone who is mostly doing cardio and "strength training" it is probably counter-intuitive. Thats just my 2 cents.

3dogsrunning

I went all the way back to March 1st. There were a couple of days in the second week where you were near your new goal,, the rest you were significantly under or didn't log at all.

I don't think eat more to weigh less is the issue.

Ed98043

Upping your calories by 480 might have been too big of a jump - try dropping it a couple hundred and see what happens. It have found that it's an ongoing process of playing with calories and trying to find that "sweet spot" that results in measurable weight loss. For me, 1200 calories daily didn't work, but mixing higher calorie days with lower calorie days does the trick.

As for needing to lose 5 lbs in a hurry to meet a weigh-in requirement - that's not going to happen with healthy weight loss because it isn't fast. If I needed to drop pounds quickly I would do a juice fast. It works as a diuretic and leaves minimal solids in your system...not true fat loss but will make the scale go down temporarily.

FireEngineRedHead

Bump. Having similar problems.

Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door

what works for one person doesn't necessairly work for another. there is no one size fits all. I think eat more to weigh less works for people like me who ate way under calories and was in starving mode since eating more + 30 day shred I am losing the weight. for someone who has zero trouble in eating healthy and keeping her calories undercontrol it may be a different story.

infamousmk

You probably should give it a little more time.

Iron_Feline

Honestly looking at your diary I suspect you ate more anyway, you have a large number of days where you haven't logged and several where you ate under 1000 cals a day - if you logged correctly.

On days you seem to log fully the amount bounces between 1200 and 1900 cals - so I would think you are still undereating.

Oh and aberc is correct - it takes about 6 weeks for the body to sort itself out as your body needs to adjust to the extra calories and realise it doesn't need to hold onto fat.

Eat more is not a quick weight loss - it's about losing slowly and healthily without messing up your metabolism. I think you may not have realised this.

violinkeri

Nothings going to work if you dont log--how do you know accurately what you ate? I bottomed out on 1200 very quickly. Now I lose slow and steady at 1600.

Also important is that the less you are trying to lose, the slower it will be. especially because a difference of 5 lbs is likely all within a healthy body weight for you.

cmriverside

Two weeks? How about eating more like 1800 for a month. You are still undereating. And your body doesn't turn on a dime. You've been undereating for so long, you really SHOULD eat at Maintenance for a month and then drop back down to 1800. You need a good reset.

Don't blame the tool. It's the operator.


"Why won't my car run?" -

"Did you try putting gas in it?"

Kid4life68

Try carb cycling every other day to keep your metabolism guessing and don't focus so much on cardio. Try lifting more as that has a greater EPOC effect and your body will keep burning calories long after the cardio session.

Machafin

What kind of macros are you at? Make sure you are getting plenty of protein. Healthy fats are also important (avocado, almonds, olive oil, fish oil, etc.) but in lower amounts. Sometimes the quality of a diet makes a difference too

adamalle

Did you do your numbers properly? Follow this, there are maybe one or two people it hasn't worked for. Give it time, it's not a quick fix.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

csheltra26

also another thing to keep in mind is that if you have been undereating for a long time, generally it takes a while for your body to catch back up.

csuhar

If your weight is going to be an issue, I've got to ask if you're measuring using the same scales they'll use for your PFA. It doesn't help to make weight on one scale if the scales they use say you're still over.

My home scale said I was 231, but the scale on base said I was 235. Luckily, it's not as critical for me. But if you're cutting it close, it will help to use their scales.

xxtaliaxx

If I logged on days with low calories, usually it's because I ate something that I have no idea how to log (example: my friend made dinner, and she doesn't know what she put in it and doesn't look at calories) or I went somewhere that doesn't have a nutrition chart OR I just wasn't hungry. And if I'm not hungry, I'm not going to stuff myself because that's just uncomfortable for me.
And I've been doing this for more than two weeks.

Machafin: I strive to meet my macros, especially protein. I try to add things into foods to get to that point; sometimes, it just doesn't work and I end up over or under. certain things.

My Command Fitness Leader said to try juicing...I just don't have a juicer. But a friend of mine does so I might try that. I'm also looking in to getting a personal trainer.

darkguardian419

Did you do your numbers properly? Follow this, there are maybe one or two people it hasn't worked for. Give it time, it's not a quick fix.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

QFT. Remember, keep your TDEE and BMR in mind, but also be mindful of the fact that they are estimates.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE WEIGHING YOUR FOOD. You may think you're eating 1800, but could end up eating closer to 2200 easily. That's been my biggest issue was not properly weighing my food.

JenniferMary_9169

bump

xxtaliaxx

Nothings going to work if you dont log--how do you know accurately what you ate? I bottomed out on 1200 very quickly. Now I lose slow and steady at 1600.

Also important is that the less you are trying to lose, the slower it will be. especially because a difference of 5 lbs is likely all within a healthy body weight for you.

I honestly think thats what my body is doing. It think's I don't need to lose anymore weight (pretty much all of it is concentrated on my midsection) and no matter what I do at the gym by body's like "Oh this is easy...Fun workout time!" And I try to challenge myself every time I go and do something extra...

darkguardian419

My Command Fitness Leader said to try juicing...I just don't have a juicer. But a friend of mine does so I might try that. I'm also looking in to getting a personal trainer.

Your CFL is just a fit individual who went to a week long navy school where most of what they did was cardio. He may know some stuff, but if he's recommending you switch to a juice only diet, I'd think twice before taking his advice.

My lifting partner just went through the CFL certification, and I'm teaching him about nutrition... trust me, being a CFL doesn't make you an expert, it just shows that you can run fast and do some pushups and situps

xxtaliaxx

Did you do your numbers properly? Follow this, there are maybe one or two people it hasn't worked for. Give it time, it's not a quick fix.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

QFT. Remember, keep your TDEE and BMR in mind, but also be mindful of the fact that they are estimates.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE WEIGHING YOUR FOOD. You may think you're eating 1800, but could end up eating closer to 2200 easily. That's been my biggest issue was not properly weighing my food.

I've read this I don't know how many times and went to several different websites to calculate everything. I took the average of those and that's what I've been following.

deksgrl

You need to give it more time and be as accurate as you possibly can before you say it doesn't work. That means not eating things that you don't know the calorie content of. If you are guessing and ball parking, then you can't possibly know how close to your daily goal you really are.

There is no magic to juicing or any other fad.

sweetzoejane

It's been only two weeks and you stopped logging, so you should not be expecting anything to happen right now. Start logging again, be accurate and consistent about it, give up the scale for a month, and be patient. Give it 1-2 months.

Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door

for me I am giving my body a few months to adjust to my calorie change. I feel so liberated eating more. I don't feel hungry at the end of the day. I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks if I have calories left over and not hungry I don't eat. if I am hungry and have some left over I just add another snack. 5 pounds in a week is to unrealistic. on average to lose a healthy amount of weight its 1-2 pounds a week.

dragginfli

I have recently started to track my sodium and it has made a huge difference, I cut back to about 500mg/day. I noticed that the food you were logging put you over the daily sodium levels. This could be why. Hope this helps.

3dogsrunning

I honestly think thats what my body is doing. It think's I don't need to lose anymore weight (pretty much all of it is concentrated on my midsection) and no matter what I do at the gym by body's like "Oh this is easy...Fun workout time!" And I try to challenge myself every time I go and do something extra...

I'm going to be really blunt here - this is BS. I've looked at your diary from February on. You are not logging consistently. You admit on some days there are meals you aren't logging. You are blaming it on upping your calories to 1680 when in the last 63 days you have logged about 14 days (not consecutively) at or near that amount (1400-1680). You have as many days where nothing is logged. Then you have very low calorie days where some of these you admit you ate but didn't know what to log.

Bottom line is you have no idea how much you are really eating.

Mommy4812

I was losing weight fine at 1440 but I would still be hungry and about a month ago I started having dizziness and headaches and some people suggested upping my protein and calories and although it has seemed to help with the dizziness and headaches my weight has only dropped 1-2lbs. but only for a day or 2 and right back up to the same number. I only upped it to 1560 but as others have said it takes some time for your body to adjust so I'm going to give it another week or 2 I guess and go from there.

BTW, what is PFA?