Plateau - anybody increase calorie intake and have success?

chbruns

I'm keeping my calories at about 1200/day and not really eating back my exercise calories. I've hit a killer plateau and have lost a pound, gained it , lost it, and gained it again.

I know 1200/day is low and people have suggested increasing my intake but I have an irrational fear that increasing to 1400 or 1500 per day is going to make me gain even more weight.

Has anybody had any luck increasing calorie intake to break through a plateau? Can you share your experience?

mk9562

I'm in the same boat and I have been gradually increasing. Trying to get 20% less my TDEE. I know it can take a few weeks to work. I'm on week two. Waiting patiently.

jzammetti

I lost 40 pounds on VLCD (1200 calories) in the beginning of this journey. Then I hit a plateau for 5 months. I upped to my TDEE-20% (1700 calories) and immediately began to lose again. In the process of upping them again due to a new plateau...

HealthyLeeLee

I'm wondering the same thing. I've been eating the MFP recommended 1220 calories per day but have not lost weight, I've been gaining (which I am pretty sure is due to increased strength training). I recently looked up my TDEE-20% which is about 1600 calories per day. I've been doing 1600 for about a week and a half, bracing myself and hoping I don't gain. My clothes are currently feeling "snug"--hoping it's just by body adjusting...

iceqieen

Yebb, I increased my calories in Januar to 2000-2200 pr day. Gained a bit in Jan/Feb but in March it started going down again.

Go check this out for help in how to calculate and set MFP:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974889-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

ashleymcn01

When I joined MFP back in March, I did 1200 calories for about a month and dropped 5lbs, increased the calories in April to 1400 and dropped 1lb. I just increased them to 1700 yesterday but will be doing a gradual increase to hit that goal. I've been stuck at the same number for exactly a month, so I'm going to give it a shot. All the research I've done on this topic says this is what works!

I've also been weight training, I know I've lost inches and muscle tone has definitely improved. Hopefully increasing the calories will be the last piece to the puzzle to drop these last 5lbs..

dulinh

I initially lost weight at 1200 calories - then it just stopped so I upped to 1400 and lose much better at that intake. I almost never eat back workout calories

cindyjoesousa

I lost 85 pounds and hit a 2 month plateau..I increased my calories by 125 calories/day and do not eat back my exercise calories now..I lost a little over a pound last week in doing so..this is only my second week so we shall see..

claramfboo

I need help well I've started a new account but I eat 1200 calories a day and I workout 6 days a week and I burn 450 calories after a workout and I've lost weight by eating 1200 calories I've been eating that amount for like 2 months now but they say I need to be eating around 1600 calories because supposedly I need to eat back the calories I burn but I'm scared of gaining that weight back and I still need 20 pounds to reach my goal of 115 pounds o yeah my height is 5'1 I currently weight 130 but overall what should I do !!!!

HaggisWhisperer

I lost around 40lb after I started my diet and then hit a killer plateau which has lasted almost 6 months. I started using MFP to track how much I was eating and discovered my daily average was only 1200 cal (I had thought it would be higher) - as I haven't been hungry (I've been following a lower carb diet with more emphasis on good fats and quality protein) . I increased to about 1500 cal/day (keeping my carbs around 50g/day) and the very next week I was down 2lb (that was last week). This week I am also down 2lb so far but my weekly weigh in isn't until tomorrow so it may end up being more (or less - my birthday was this week and chocolate roulade was involved LOL).

Xhellokitty5588x

bump

AmyRhubarb

Best move I ever made was getting off the 1200 calorie train, calculating my BMR and TDEE and eating according to the info in this topic: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

I have been steadily losing fat/inches/weight for over a year without a single plateau, reaching goal weight, dropping sizes, sailing through the holidays and vacations without gaining it back.

Do not be afraid of properly fueling your body! Will you gain a little if you up your cals? Probably, especially since you've been netting less than 1200 by not eating back exercise cals. :noway: Will it be fat gain? Permanent? Worth freaking out over? Absolutely not. You have to stick with any adjustment for a good 4-6 weeks to allow the body time to adjust to the new intake.

Find your numbers, set you goals, eat your calories, exercise, sleep. Take photos and measurements as well - don't rely solely on the scale, because it's a dirty little liar and will mess with your head. Example - I went six months without losing anything on the scale - plateau? Nope - during this time I lost many inches, lots of fat, and dropped a full pants size. I laughed at my silly scale and went out and bought new jeans. :bigsmile:

sydneyplainjane

For some reason, whenever I've reached a plateau in the past, eating something "bad" usually gets me out of it. Movie theater popcorn, for instance (skipping the butter). I'm not sure if it's due to something in the popcorn....or the fact that I just added 500 more calories for the day! And, it's funny because the only reason I would be at the theater and be eating the popcorn was because I was so depressed over not losing any weight that I decided to forget dieting for a day. But eating something like that, or a chocolate bar every now and then, does wonders for me. So, I guess extra calories do help sometimes!

HealthierFoodie

I was doing 1500 a day and had plateaued for months- I upped to 1650 a day and eat back about half of my exercise calories and have started losing again.

It works for some people, but not all. Play around with it until you find what works for you and BE PATIENT. Nothing works overnight.

dejamos

I had been eating at a deficit for well over a year (with a setting to lose a pound a week, netting 1200 and eating back my exercise calories) and recently hit a plateau. I was going out of town over the Labor Day weekend and decided to eat at maintenance during that time as I had just read through this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss

I ate at maintenance for the four days I was in Austin. When I weighed myself the day after I returned, I had lost 3 pounds. It's only been a week later, but I've lost just under another pound since then as well.

So yes, it worked for me.

AmyRhubarb

This topic was just posted - if you need more encouragement, go read it: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1097444-finially-dropping?page=1#posts-16929405

:bigsmile:

TheCaren

I plateaued about ten pounds from my goal weight. Upped my calories from 1240 to about 1500 per day. After a couple weeks the weight was dropping again.

Hezzietiger1

If ur not losing u need to decrease cal intake, increase cardio, or add weight training. My suggestion, if ur not lifting, lift. If u r, more cardio. I wouldnt drop cals lower than about 1100. Im at 1100 now. Crossfit 5 days, 20-30 min cardio 4 days heavy lift 3 days b4 crossfit. Syill losing 1-2 per week.

llbennett74

I was doing the exact thing you were doing and realized I was netting between 700 and 1000 calories a day and going up and down the same pound so I totally feel your frustrations! This week I began eating more. I was fearful of adding more calories but ready for the temporary gain on the scale but it actually hasn't been as bad as I thought. I'm only up like a pound which I realize will level off once my body aclimates. The formula I was given was Figure out your TDEE choosing the sedentary option. Then follow this formula. (non-exercise TDEE + exercise) - 15% = eating goal. This is because I use an HRM and want to log my calories specifically. Otherwise you can figure your TDEE and minus the 15 or 20% to come up with your calories for the day and not add in the addition exercise calories. I am already finding that I have more energy to power through my workouts.

doctorsookie

Haven't hit the plateau yet but that is my goal. to increase it slightly and see what happens.

darkrose20

I did (sorta). I increased my calories this week and lost a pound and a half. I had MFP set for me to lose 2 lbs and upped the calories to 1 lb per week. I'd only lost 0.5 lbs with the 2 lb deficit, but I lost 1.5 lbs with the 1 lb deficit. Who knew?:glasses:

helenrosemay

I've increased my calories the last few weeks from 1200 to 1400-1500 a day. I'm still losing at the same rate. I haven't hit a plateau, but noticed I was feeling more hungry on days I exercised and thought I'd try eating more calories. It's working.
If you think about it, you're not losing now anyway so why not try it, if you gain go back to eating less, if you lose you're winning. In the grand scheme of things it's only a couple of weeks to see if it works.

ReginaM49

I hit a plateau for over a month. Read that I should up my calories. I was scared but I did it. I've lost 3 pounds sine then. It definitely works. I was amazed!

themommie

Thanks for sharing

DanIsACyclingFool

Unfortunately, I've had many plateaus. Not a single one was broken by upping my cals. I also don't lose eating at anywhere near my calculated tdee. The only thing that makes me lose is to decrease my cals.

I analyzed my net cals and my daily weigh ins for the last year and the data shows my bmr is about 25% lower than my stats suggest. My weight curve precisely correlates my net cal curve. PRECISELY. If i stay at my own empirically calculated cal level, I lose. The further above it I go, the less I lose. No magic, simply energy balance in action. The few experiments I've done increasing cals were dissappointing to say the least.

No one wants to believe in the idea that more cals is better more than I do. For me at least, it doesn't seem to be true.

ice1200s

That's what appears to have blasted mine a couple of weeks ago.

dianamatienzo

Well, you shouldn't increase to 1400 or 1500 in one day; that's when it's really likely that you'll gain weight.But you most likely should increase your caloric intake! I would recommend increasing calories slowly Maybe by around 50 calories every 2 days until you get to about 1350. Then I'd stay there for about 2 weeks and see how it goes. If you're still stuck, increase again to about 1450/1500. Good luck!

shellyabby

Hello. Like u I am scared to add more. I have mine at 1200. How far did u up your calories to? If u don't mind me asking.

strick1982

Why are people so afraid to gain a couple of lbs. if they up their calorie intake? If increasing doesn't work for you then decrease again or amp up your work outs. You can lose any weight you gain if a caloric increase isn't your fit. You've already lost some weight before hitting the plateau so you know its doable. Take a chance and give it some time, what do you have to lose? Nothing but more weight.

I was in a plateau for 9 months. Working out harder wasn't doing it. Bottom line, my calories were way too low. In the last two weeks I've increased my caloric intake by 100 calories a day. I'll raise that 100 calories once I plateau again. Guess what? The weight is starting to come off again. You just have to figure out how many calories to consume to lose the weight while doing it safely.

MrsMX

I was on 1200 and had been on a Plateau for months ...

Upped to 1600 and still on the same plateau


FRUSTRATING to say the least ..........................................................................................................................:grumble:

DanIsACyclingFool

I've thought about this a LOT. Sadly, I've yet to discover any peer-reviewed scientific studies that suggest that increasing your daily cals will help bust a plateau.

Every piece of serious scientific literature I find on the subject agrees that if your body levels off at a certain TDEE, increasing your cals will not increase your TDEE by the same amount that you up your cals. The same is true in reverse. There is adaptive thermogenesis that takes place when you decrease your intake, but the decrease in daily burn never outpaces the reduction in intake. Why would it? It doesn't make sense that nature would design you that way. It's a shame that the Minnesota Starvation studies have ethical considerations that preclude further investigations, because it provided some powerful data.

You do get diminishing returns, that is true. But DIMINISHING, not reversing. The term "Starvation Mode" is thrown around WAAAAAAAAAAY too much. The only people in Starvation Mode are LITERALLY starving. That's not most of us. Even most of those with VLCDs.

I'm really not doubting the people who had success with increasing their calories. There are many reasons why it may work for them, notably the increase in workout intensity that they are able to generate from having more calories available in the first place. But from a purely energy balance standpoint, it shouldn't work. If you are going to consider increasing your calories I think you should do it with the intent of working harder in the gym, and tailor your physical output to match.

I'm also a firm believer that fat loss is entirely a dietary challenge, and exercise is for improving the abilities of your body. In other words, fat loss is accomplished in the kitchen, and fitness is accomplished in the gym. The two efforts DO fit together symbiotically. Used together properly you have a powerful 1-2 combination to transform your body. Used separately you may encounter difficulties because you aren't taking a "balanced" approach.

At the end of the day, when the dust settles, the smoke clears, and the reverberations from the explosions die off you still need to eat less than you burn to lose fat. So perhaps evaluate how balanced your approach is and decide whether you need to up your exercise or down your intake and set your cals accordingly. Just my $0.02 on a subject I have a vested interest in.