Eating more to lose vs spike diet

rlw0031

Hello, I am having a real challenging time losing weight. I have about 15 to lose and have for years. I will lose 5 pounds with a lot of effort and it will come back. A lot of the weight is in my stomach...

I am really confused about how to lose, thought low cal was the way to go as mfp tells me to eat net 1200 daily. This is impossible really to maintain and I am not losing. Did spike diet last year where you cycle low and bmr days with one cheat day. Lost the 5 pounds that way, gained it back over holidays and now am not losing. People on here tell me to eat more and I discovered the eat more 2 lose philosophy...to reset metabolism

My main question which way do you think it would be more effective to lose:

Eat more 2 lose : Eating at TDEE daily how...often are you supposed to exercise or does it not matter?

Spike Diet: 3 low days below BMR, 3 days eating to BMR , 1 cheat day. You are to do cardio on low days to decrease calories below BMR.

paintlisapurple

I can sympathize with you.I am not an expert and I have no certifications whatsoever but I can tell you what worked for me.
I had been on the 1200 daily and had initially lost a few pounds doing it...then stalled completely. I got tired of working so hard and getting no where, so I gave up for a while. Of course I gained some back rather quickly. Bummer.
Not too long ago I upped my allotted calories to the above my bmr, but below my tdee range. I figured that the most that could happen is that I would gain a couple pounds while I tested the theory of upping calories. Well, its working. I'm still active (even more so because of the energy lift), and I'm eating well. Sometimes, I still have trouble getting the calories into the day, but I'm not stressing over it. I'm still working on balancing my caloric intake with my daily activity in order to lose at an optimal level, but I'm very happy with my success thus far. I've always drank lots of water so I didn't really have to adjust anything there.
Your body does require a certain amount of fuel in order to function properly. Find out your bmr and tdee so that you can find out where your numbers need to be for optimal performance.

86_Ohms

Spike Diet: 3 low days below BMR, 3 days eating to BMR , 1 cheat day. You are to do cardio on low days to decrease calories below BMR.

That sounds terrible. It might work for that quick 5 lbs to lose, but you'll probably gain 7 after because of your confusion. Commonly termed as "yo-yo" dieting.

I direct most people towards this post for low-calorie mindsets:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

There's a follow up on 'starvation mode', not that it happens instantly, but why you might not see results as fast:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/777-why-is-starvation-mode-so-bad

Optional literature:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8977-your-body-s-thoughts-on-calories

That big green number on MFP is what your goal is. You want to eat around that number, and it's even ok to go above it. REALLY recommend you don't do the 2lbs/wk unless you're going to go through a medical procedure in the next month due directly to your weight or heart.

Net calories is food minus exercise. So, if you really are for some reason at 1200, you need to eat to 1200 (seems low). IF you go to the gym and burn off 300 calories, then you need to take in 1500 calories TOTAL (net) for the day (1200+300).

Feel free to add. I lurk on friend's daily intakes :drinker:

rlw0031

Thanks for the advice. My big green number on MFP is 1200, that is what they recommend for me to lose 1 pound a week. I will look into upping my calories as I don't want to continue eating so little if I am not going to lose.

Kate_UK

I've just started eating 80% TDEE. When I calculated my numbers it seemed a lot of calories. The weight will probably come off slowly, but if it stays of it'll be worth the wait.