Eating more to lose more: not working!

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  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,306 Member
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    I visited the eat more to lose more thread and no way would I want to gain a bunch of weight to MAYBE lose better. nope. not me. Sounds like you fudge on your food it you're a junk food junkie. I don't think it is so much unclean eating..it is the calorie reporting. Remember restaurants and fast food chains..are by law..allowed to be 20percent off in their calorie estimations. That could be the problem To me, eating out is the biggest way to screw up. I like what one poster on the forum said..that they either eat less of the restaurant item and track the reported calories for the full meal.. or increase the calories reported by 1/4.

    Why don't you try packing your lunch...eating in...do everything else the same.. see what happens in a week and go from there.
  • wgn4166
    wgn4166 Posts: 771 Member
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    I had my settings on losing 1 pound a week. For over a month I didnt lose a single pound. i was losing inches tho. I decided to change my settings to 1/2 pound a week, which meant more calories.
    Now that I have done that, along with exercise, the weight is starting to come off!
    Good luck!
  • Barbellerella
    Barbellerella Posts: 1,838 Member
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    The scale usually isnt very nice when you up your calories at first, you are probably holding onto some water weight. Just be patient and stick to your plan for a few more weeks, no need to freak out just yet.
  • sweetbippy
    sweetbippy Posts: 189 Member
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    ^^^^^ Honestly, only you can figure it out. It took me quite some time to figure out what worked for ME.

    Completely agree. What works great for one person is not going to work for all. I was on a vegan diet for 3 months. I ate all whole foods, clean, healthy, and lost not 1 pound. I went to the doctor to have my blood, thyroid, etc. checked. He said it all checked out. I showed him my food diary and exercise log. He told me to drop my calories to 1000 and cut out all grains, including whole grain pasta and rice. I have found for myself, I must work extremely hard (2 hrs. daily) and eat around 1000-1200 to budge the scale even a bit, and I can gain 3 lbs. in a day. Maybe it is water, but it shows up as 3 lbs. I am trying a variety of things to see what works for me. Take heart! This is a great forum for advice. Only you are an expert on you. Good luck!
  • cjc166
    cjc166 Posts: 222
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    I checked your diary. I noticed that you eat mostly processed foods and animal products, probably more than 90% of your calories. I suggest eating 90% of your calories from whole plant foods (veggies, fruits, and beans) and I guarantee the weight will come off.
  • cjc166
    cjc166 Posts: 222
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    ^^^^^ Honestly, only you can figure it out. It took me quite some time to figure out what worked for ME.

    Completely agree. What works great for one person is not going to work for all. I was on a vegan diet for 3 months. I ate all whole foods, clean, healthy, and lost not 1 pound. I went to the doctor to have my blood, thyroid, etc. checked. He said it all checked out. I showed him my food diary and exercise log. He told me to drop my calories to 1000 and cut out all grains, including whole grain pasta and rice. I have found for myself, I must work extremely hard (2 hrs. daily) and eat around 1000-1200 to budge the scale even a bit, and I can gain 3 lbs. in a day. Maybe it is water, but it shows up as 3 lbs. I am trying a variety of things to see what works for me. Take heart! This is a great forum for advice. Only you are an expert on you. Good luck!

    Indeed, eating lots of grains on a vegan diet is not consusive to weight loss. I eat all vegan, but barely any grains (1 cup of cooked steel cut oats per day), and certainly no processed or refined foods. My wife and I have been eating this way for over a month and the weight is flying off.

    It might be worth your time to look into 'Eat to Live' by Dr Fuhrman, since it appears that your almost eating that way anyhow. I highly recommend it!
  • HerpDerp745
    HerpDerp745 Posts: 223 Member
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    There's so much bad advice in this thread.
  • love22step
    love22step Posts: 1,103 Member
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    Sorry you're discouraged, but don't give up. You've made great progress! You may have to try different combinations. Basically, I like the idea of eating healthy foods (unprocessed, as much as possible), cardio, and strength training three times a week. Keep trying, and you'll figure out what works for you! You may want to mix up activities and the number of calories consumed. God bless you!
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
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    Seriously, I have idea what to do. Either I completely clean up my eating so that I can lose, OR what I eat makes no difference as long as I am under TDEE. Either I need to cut the amount of calories to lose weight OR I need to increase it. Either I need to lift weights and do less cardio OR I need to do more cardio and skip the weights. Either I need to eat the same amount of calories each day OR I need to stagger them up and down daily. Very, very confused.
    That's not true. You're making all of this into these black and white decisions and it just doesn't work that way. You can eat clean and under your TDEE. You can stick to a calorie range in the middle and see what happens. You can do both weights and cardio. You can eat the same calories for most days and then spike it every once in a while.

    You need to find the middle ground with these things. Few people are happy operating at either extreme; most people will find success by pulling out what works and rejecting what doesn't rather than following one hardline rule or another.
  • LoseFatGainMuscle
    LoseFatGainMuscle Posts: 7
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    I had a plateau too, give it 6 weeks before saying it doesnt work for you..
  • Stephanie_Autry
    Stephanie_Autry Posts: 228 Member
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    I've gained three pounds in two weeks since I started eating more calories. I had been stuck for weeks at the same weight while eating 1200 calories daily so, following the advice of many on mfp, I upped the calories. First week, I thought I might be okay in spite of a minor gain but after two weeks of gaining, I am thinking this doesn't work for me. Ugh. I've been at this for over a year and a half and had very slow losses the whole time but now, this is getting ridiculous!

    Eat between your BMR and you're TDEE! I eat right at my BMR which is 1490 / day. I was eating 1200 calories in the beginning and lost water weight, but then plateau like everyone else for 2 months. I had increased physical activity and still nothing. I was eating a clean diet for that time being but no weight loss!!!! Then, I upped my calories by 100 each week until I got to 1490, then I dropped like 5 pounds this week. The funny thing is I'm not eating as clean as I was before, but I'm eating more.

    Maybe give it more time to see results- like I said I waited 2 months before I saw any loss!

    I'm 18 though, so I enjoy eating foods now as a kid. I am trying to limit my intake is all I'm doing... I have my whole life ahead of me to eat healthy. If you're much older than me it'd be best to eat a clean diet while eating enough calories for your body. Listen to what your body wants, mine is starving when I'm eating 1200 calories so 1490 makes me completely satisfied.
  • nsalerno90
    nsalerno90 Posts: 68
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    I can't believe I am actually adding in here but seriously, you are not giving your body anything it needs. Diet coke, buttercream frosting, fast food and diet products are not doing any good. You are not 20 and you have to feed your body the things that actually provide nutrients for bone health, muscle health, heart health, etc. I would keep the calories moderate - maybe 1500 - and fill up your food diary with high volume, low calorie foods like vegetables, fruits, low fat cheeses, whole grains and lean protein. You would be amazed how huge a 400 calorie salad can be and with dressing! First, I think you will feel a whole lot better (which is part of all this) and your body will begin to respond. I eat more calories and have begun to lose - but I also weight train and exercise daily because I know that at 45 my metabolism has slowed WAY down. Good luck -- I can hear your frustration and I get it. It is a bit of an experiment and will take time but you can do it.
  • TonyaBtrfly
    TonyaBtrfly Posts: 118 Member
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    There's so much bad advice in this thread.



    ^^^^^^^^^^^^ This! Completely horrible!
  • AFitJamie
    AFitJamie Posts: 172 Member
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    There's so much bad advice in this thread.



    ^^^^^^^^^^^^ This! Completely horrible!

    Than in my view BOTH of you should try to help out and help correct misunderstandings instead of posting what amounts to useless words.


    To the OP. Lots of advice here - Obviously lots of people are stressing the quality of the calories you are eating, and while I would disagree that poor calorie quality will keep fat on you and stop you from losing weight, it certainly isn't helping your body be healthy - I'm not referring to weight loss here, I'm talking giving your body what you need for a healthy operating body...

    However, eating a low calorie crap diet will also allow you to lose weight... you may not be all that healthy doing so however.... There isn't a lot of data to go on here, but based on what you have reported, I'd put some pretty decent money that the problem lies in your measuring, recording and counting of calories.

    1) You were not losing for an extended period of time (meaning your body was getting the calories it was burning - that is how it works - energy doesn't come from the ether magically - if you were not losing weight you were consuming what you were burning...)
    2) you upped your calories and gained weight (Not REALLY long enough to know you have actually gained and not just had water retention for whatever reason, but if it holds true, then you are now eating more than your body is burning)

    So the point here is you need to understand that it isn't magic - you were in calorie balance when you were not losing... you want to make sure your body is burning calories and that you are indeed accurate in measuring.

    Perhaps an example will help: if I am a *bit* off measuring a higher volume/lower calorie food it simply doesn't have as large an impact - lets pick something like baby carrots to snack on - If I'm off by a few carrots, it isn't a big error in calories - If I'm off by 14 carrots in my measuring, I'm only off by 30 calories... if however, I am inexact on a calorie dense food, then I have a problem.... If I miscount when counting ripple chips, 14 chips is around 150 calories! Ouch!

    Also, the whole eat more to lose more seems to come up because many people who increase their calories for a while find they start losing weight - but this occurs for a number of reasons - one reason that is often cited is because they have enough calories in their body that they feel better in a day and are more physically active. As you deprive your body of calories, there is evidence that yes, your BMR does decrease, (Not enough to totally compensate for the lack of calories) but ALSO that we are actually physically less active... I don't mean exercise, I mean simply moving ourselves around...you may simply be decreasing your activity in response to the lower calories - you do need to ensure you get yourself moving - Again, I'm not referring to exercise here, just moving yourself around. Exercise would certainly be a bonus.

    My money would be on the idea that you are misestimating your calorie intake fairly significantly, This would be a large part as a result of the foods you are choosing to eat. If you move to lower calorie dense foods, you may find this estimation error is significantly reduced. But from here, everyone is an armchair expert.

    Best of Luck
  • Bucky2BeBetty
    Bucky2BeBetty Posts: 79 Member
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    There's so much bad advice in this thread.



    ^^^^^^^^^^^^ This! Completely horrible!

    Than in my view BOTH of you should try to help out and help correct misunderstandings instead of posting what amounts to useless words.


    To the OP. Lots of advice here - Obviously lots of people are stressing the quality of the calories you are eating, and while I would disagree that poor calorie quality will keep fat on you and stop you from losing weight, it certainly isn't helping your body be healthy - I'm not referring to weight loss here, I'm talking giving your body what you need for a healthy operating body...

    However, eating a low calorie crap diet will also allow you to lose weight... you may not be all that healthy doing so however.... There isn't a lot of data to go on here, but based on what you have reported, I'd put some pretty decent money that the problem lies in your measuring, recording and counting of calories.

    1) You were not losing for an extended period of time (meaning your body was getting the calories it was burning - that is how it works - energy doesn't come from the ether magically - if you were not losing weight you were consuming what you were burning...)
    2) you upped your calories and gained weight (Not REALLY long enough to know you have actually gained and not just had water retention for whatever reason, but if it holds true, then you are now eating more than your body is burning)

    So the point here is you need to understand that it isn't magic - you were in calorie balance when you were not losing... you want to make sure your body is burning calories and that you are indeed accurate in measuring.

    Perhaps an example will help: if I am a *bit* off measuring a higher volume/lower calorie food it simply doesn't have as large an impact - lets pick something like baby carrots to snack on - If I'm off by a few carrots, it isn't a big error in calories - If I'm off by 14 carrots in my measuring, I'm only off by 30 calories... if however, I am inexact on a calorie dense food, then I have a problem.... If I miscount when counting ripple chips, 14 chips is around 150 calories! Ouch!

    Also, the whole eat more to lose more seems to come up because many people who increase their calories for a while find they start losing weight - but this occurs for a number of reasons - one reason that is often cited is because they have enough calories in their body that they feel better in a day and are more physically active. As you deprive your body of calories, there is evidence that yes, your BMR does decrease, (Not enough to totally compensate for the lack of calories) but ALSO that we are actually physically less active... I don't mean exercise, I mean simply moving ourselves around...you may simply be decreasing your activity in response to the lower calories - you do need to ensure you get yourself moving - Again, I'm not referring to exercise here, just moving yourself around. Exercise would certainly be a bonus.

    My money would be on the idea that you are misestimating your calorie intake fairly significantly, This would be a large part as a result of the foods you are choosing to eat. If you move to lower calorie dense foods, you may find this estimation error is significantly reduced. But from here, everyone is an armchair expert.

    Best of Luck

    Thanks. This is helpful.
  • josyjozy
    josyjozy Posts: 117 Member
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    I looked at 4 days of your diary and stopped looking. What you eat matters as much as how much in your case. Needing something sweet? try fruit. Need chocolate? Try a protein bar with chocolate, I am in no way saying never eat processed foods or meats or anything, but better options would make you feel better. I could never justify as many empty calories as you have in your diet. Calories are what you spend to get nutrients to live. You are buying fools good instead of platinum.

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