Who didn't lose weight until they upped their calories?

jzammetti

I started losing regularly when I upped mine. Slowly, but surely.

Would you mind telling me what your first calorie set point was at and what you upped it to?

Me too - It was 1200 and I stalled for 5 months. Upped it to 1700 and starting losing again almost immediately. Now I am 12 days into upping them again to 2000 after a 3 month plateau.

justjenny

Bumping to read responses. I tried and didn't lose by eating more...

mycupyourcake

Did you lose by eating less? What was your original calorie set point? What did you bump it up to? What is your TDEE?

mycupyourcake

Did you lose by eating less? What was your original calorie set point? What did you bump it up to? What is your TDEE?

Those questions were for justjenny.

swimmer_chick

Me me me! I used to refuse to go over 1200 calories.. ugh. Now I just eat more but do more too and it's so much better, my old eating plan seems so obviously bad now! :embarassed:

mycupyourcake

bump

04ward

Check out the Eat More to Weigh Less group

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also the Eat, Train Progress group. Great folks moderating and great information. Be sure to read the stickies so you understand what each group is trying to tell you.

FYI - at 1200 calories I didn't lose a pound. At 1700 and eating back my exercise calories I lost 29. 5'3" started at 177 now at 153 and building muscle like noone's business!

EAT, TRAIN, PROGRESS
Yes, it's that simple.

^^ This ---- I went 10 weeks trying to eat 1200-1300 calories even though my BMR was 1527 and Calories Burned Daily averages 2200. 3 of those weeks when I felt like I "fell off the wagon" and ate 1700+, I lost, when I cut back, I gained. I started tracking to find a pattern. Last week I consistently forced myself to eat at 1700/day even if it was finishing out the day with a hand full of almonds to get the calories up and without exercising all week, drinking 64 oz of water daily and eating my macros, I lost 3#. Doing the same thing this week but with exercising and eating back exercise so I don't net under my BMR. I think the problem is most people up their calories and then show a gain then drop them right back down. Your body is going to hold on to every little bit extra you give it in the beginning because it knows you're going to cut back again but if you fool it and keep it up there, it will start slowly letting go.

mycupyourcake

bump. Still looking to hear from people who upped their calories when they couldn't lose weight on lower calories.

Koldnomore

I'm 5'6 currently 168 ish lbs. I started at @220 and have been upping my calories starting from 1200 - 1400- 1600 - 1800 pretty well every time I stalled for more than a couple weeks. Right now I have my NET goal set to just above my BMR at 1307. I used the "roadmap" to figure out my sedentary calories (because I do not do the same activity daily so I can not use TDEE reliably) I eat back every single calorie that I earn via activity which normally puts me somewhere between 1600-1900 calories + (gross)

I did have to come down a touch because my BMR was actually lower than I thought - based on my losses and calories consumed over the past 9 months. I now have it to a great point where I am losing .5-1lb / week (which is perfect for me). If you are set to your BMR then you need to be eating back a good chunk of your calories from exercise. You also need to understand that you should NOT lose 2lbs/ week when you only have 20lbs to lose in the first place. A healthy rate for you is no more than about .5 / week (10% cut from your TDEE)

happymom2013

I still need to be convinced of this whole "not enough calories" thing. I still go back to the cliche "you don't see any fat Ethiopians". It just doesn't make sense. If you don't have enough calories, your body will use what it has for energy. This is why professional athletes, college athletes, high school athletes, people in third world countries who have to walk 4 miles a day just to get water for their family, active children, marathon runners, gym rats, etc. etc etc. are all lean. This whole concept of having too much of a caloric deficit is ridiculous, and another excuse for people to eat more and sit on their *kitten*. Move, move, move. That's all there is to it. You can't be a highly active person, eat a clean diet, and be fat. Our bodies just don't work like that. As long as you are getting enough nutrition and working your butt off, you will be lean. Period. If your not losing fat, move more, lift more. Eat enough to meet your macro and micro requirements and stay the course. It will come off. It can't not.

No, you don't, but who wants to look like an Ethiopian? Have you seen any healthy ones? They are skin and bone, no muscle. That is not an image to aspire to so don't eat like they do.

I've upped my calories since I started weight training (very recently). I haven't lost any pounds yet, but my body is changing for the better. It's important to fuel your workouts.

OMG!! This is very ignorant. I am assuming you have never been to Ethiopia and you probably don't have any Ethiopian friends, you only know what you see on TV..SMH let me tell you this.. They eat clean, just like your trying to do here to lose weight , except it is a lifestyle for them and they don't drive to the corner store. People walk everywhere , they don't have to schedule a 30min walk a day. Same as majority of the people from Africa, they are lean because of their lifestyle , they are athletes as well if you watch the Olympics. So that means they do have muscles!! Lol if they were skin and bones they would not be winning gold medals. I just had to say something because I was born at the neighboring country of Ethiopia and I am pretty sure I have family with Fat cells.. Lol

happymom2013

bump. Still looking to hear from people who upped their calories when they couldn't lose weight on lower calories.

I did.. I was stuck like you and I upped my calories so that way it was above my BMI and I lost weight and I continue to increase when I get stuck and it works!!

happymom2013

bump. Still looking to hear from people who upped their calories when they couldn't lose weight on lower calories.

I did.. I was stuck like you and I upped my calories so that way it was above my BMI and I lost weight and I continue to increase when I get stuck and it works!!

That should say BMR

flitabout

I am about 9-10 days in and I have lost a pound in the first couple of days and now as of this morning I have put on 2lbs. So I'm not sure what to do. I am going to stay the course for another week and then I am going to rework it all again.

Alta2000

I am about 9-10 days in and I have lost a pound in the first couple of days and now as of this morning I have put on 2lbs. So I'm not sure what to do. I am going to stay the course for another week and then I am going to rework it all again.

It is too early and depends how low you were eating before, whether you started new exercise regimen or heavier lifting, salt intake, TOM, other changes. To gain 2 lbs it means that you ate 3500X2=7000 calories ABOVE your daily TDEE.

jlapey

I still need to be convinced of this whole "not enough calories" thing. I still go back to the cliche "you don't see any fat Ethiopians". It just doesn't make sense. If you don't have enough calories, your body will use what it has for energy. This is why professional athletes, college athletes, high school athletes, people in third world countries who have to walk 4 miles a day just to get water for their family, active children, marathon runners, gym rats, etc. etc etc. are all lean. This whole concept of having too much of a caloric deficit is ridiculous, and another excuse for people to eat more and sit on their *kitten*. Move, move, move. That's all there is to it. You can't be a highly active person, eat a clean diet, and be fat. Our bodies just don't work like that. As long as you are getting enough nutrition and working your butt off, you will be lean. Period. If your not losing fat, move more, lift more. Eat enough to meet your macro and micro requirements and stay the course. It will come off. It can't not.

No, you don't, but who wants to look like an Ethiopian? Have you seen any healthy ones? They are skin and bone, no muscle. That is not an image to aspire to so don't eat like they do.

I've upped my calories since I started weight training (very recently). I haven't lost any pounds yet, but my body is changing for the better. It's important to fuel your workouts.

OMG!! This is very ignorant. I am assuming you have never been to Ethiopia and you probably don't have any Ethiopian friends, you only know what you see on TV..SMH let me tell you this.. They eat clean, just like your trying to do here to lose weight , except it is a lifestyle for them and they don't drive to the corner store. People walk everywhere , they don't have to schedule a 30min walk a day. Same as majority of the people from Africa, they are lean because of their lifestyle , they are athletes as well if you watch the Olympics. So that means they do have muscles!! Lol if they were skin and bones they would not be winning gold medals. I just had to say something because I was born at the neighboring country of Ethiopia and I am pretty sure I have family with Fat cells.. Lol

I assumed the person I was quoting was referring to the commercials on TV. It was not my intention to offend.

InspiredSAM

So the low calorie thing didn't work for me. Maybe I need to cut lower, say to 800 a day and if that doesn't work I WILL start sitting around on my *kitten* and eating cupcakes and pizza all day. Maybe that will work. If not I am off to Ethiopia to walk 4 miles a day for my household water.....:sad:

^Being frustrated is easy, sticking to your guns is hard. I really wouldn't recommend going down to 800 calories a day. Not only will your body not have enough substance to sustain itself, you will be miserable, weak and grumpy. Try to re-evaluate the calories you are eating and don't worry so much about the macros. I've had huge success in the past with the lower carb, higher lean protein diet. It's just as much about eating the right calories as how many calories.

Good luck!

silvercanoe

bump

CallMeCupcakeDammit

bump. Still looking to hear from people who upped their calories when they couldn't lose weight on lower calories.

Did you check out the Eat More to Weigh Less group???

TedStout

I've been stalled for about 3 weeks not losing anything so on recommendation of lots of people on here upping calories I have everyday and I've started losing again.

Before I was doing about 1200-1400 NET... now i'm doing 1600-1800 and i'm losing about 1#/week again.

Same experience.

bonniecarbs

I gain. I've tried the formula so many times cause I think I'm doing something wrong, but I still gain. I said the same thing about people who don't have enough food to eat like we do, they stay lean.