Upping calories~why so scary?

mirandamayhem
mirandamayhem Posts: 772
in Health and Weight Loss
Why is it so terrifying to think about upping the calories from 1200 to, well, anything!
I lifted my calorie limit to 1700 yesterday, but I couldn't eat to it. I ended up only eating just over 1300 calories. And to be honest I wasn't hungry, and didn't want to eat without a point. BUT considering I'm 205lbs, and have obviously been able to eat wayyyyy over my calories for a long time. What is the deal with suddenly not being able to eat more to hopefully weigh less!

I'm just going to keep tuning in to myself and seeing what I'm thinking. Mantra "This is a life style change, this is a lifestyle change!"

Replies

  • uwdawg07
    uwdawg07 Posts: 372 Member
    I'm going through the same thing right now! I want to up my calories, but I'm terrified, and haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet.

    But at 205 pounds, you really need to be eating more than 1200 calories!!
  • mirandamayhem
    mirandamayhem Posts: 772


    But at 205 pounds, you really need to be eating more than 1200 calories!!

    I know! Definitely going to make more effort today! Think I'll go cook up a nice veg and rice dish!
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    We've kind of been trained all our lives that we need to eat less to lose weight. Your psychological conditioning is resisting the idea that eating more will result in weight loss, and is necessary if you exercise regularly.

    Just give it a try for a little while, and if you are unhappy with the results, try switching things up again until you find something that is working for you.
  • uwdawg07
    uwdawg07 Posts: 372 Member


    But at 205 pounds, you really need to be eating more than 1200 calories!!

    I know! Definitely going to make more effort today! Think I'll go cook up a nice veg and rice dish!

    Awesome! Just make those extra calories healthy and then you don't have to stress yourself about it. :)
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    Throw in an avocado if it's looking a bit light :-)
  • mirandamayhem
    mirandamayhem Posts: 772
    Throw in an avocado if it's looking a bit light :-)

    Funnily enough I've been having one of those a day the last 3 days! Such great gorgeous food!

    How did you get past the psychological block of "eat less to lose weight"?
  • carolyn002
    carolyn002 Posts: 55 Member
    I agree!

    When I started MFP 4 months ago, I was finding it difficult to eat even 1200 cals, and never loosing any weight, in fact I was putting on weight!!! ; (

    Wow, was I scared to increase the cals. I am 270lbs, and I have been putting on weight for years, and eating very little. All my friends would comment how little I eat, and they were quite small in build - well within their weight range for their height and build.

    I am now eating 2300 - 2500 cals per day.

    I eat clean, and to get to those cals I suppliment with Atkins bars. If I don't use these bars I can't eat over 1800cals. I have worked up to this and continue this regime for 2 months now. But having only just got to 2300 over the past 4 weeks I need to try to keep closer to 2400 when I can. But it is jolly hard to do and continue doing.

    I thought I would enjoy eating more - Hey, I'm a big girl - who everyone thinks eats a lot - but I know this is not true.....it is hard, very hard! ; )

    I am looking forward to eventually cutting the cals. But I know I can't do it yet. I have to keep this up for at least another 4 weeks minimum! I have no idea how to cut or what to expect when I do cut, but I do want to go back to eating very clean. I am committed to getting there! One way or another and look forward to eventually getting to half my current size.

    Let's do it girls - do it with confidence and self commitment.

    My body unfortunately went into starvation mode due to health issues - food and chemical allergies and irritable bowel syndrome. My body could not absorb the nutrients due to ill health - which I gather means it was in starvation mode all the many years.

    I believe my body can heal itself given the right opportunity and tlc, and me being mindful of what I feed it. ; ))

    Good luck everyone in your new venture to healing both body and mind.

    Love to all. xxxx

    Carolyn ; )
  • Alohathin
    Alohathin Posts: 360 Member
    Throw in an avocado if it's looking a bit light :-)

    Funnily enough I've been having one of those a day the last 3 days! Such great gorgeous food!

    How did you get past the psychological block of "eat less to lose weight"?

    I got passed it at first by trusting my best friend, who is a nurse and a personal trainer, and also has a degree in nutrition. Then, when I realized how much more energy I had from eating more food, while still losing weight, I was sold.

    I'm currently not eating as much as I should for my weight, but I'm strapped for money right now. Things should be back to normal in a month or so.
  • mirandamayhem
    mirandamayhem Posts: 772
    Thanks, folks.
    Well I'm paying attention to my macros today, concentrating on meeting the protein and making sure I include veg.

    But there also seems to be a bit of a double edged sword, in that if I'm eating fairly cleanly, and focussing on cooking from scratch, I am still going to have a hard time hitting higher calories. Guess I shall just have to see how it goes. Right now I've got some tempeh and vegetable curry and quinoa cooking.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    I had only been going for about 6 weeks on my own on lower calories when I found this site and was secretly delighted when MFP gave me more to eat! I do struggle to eat them all when I've done a couple of hours of exercise but always manage to eat those at the weekend or on rest days :-)
  • jillebean60
    jillebean60 Posts: 78 Member
    I'm going through the same thing right now. Here's what I'm doing to take the edge off that scary feeling: I did calculations from fat 2 fit and figured out that I need to be eating between my BMR and TDEE. Then I figured out my TDEE (after calculating body fat%) and it recommends to eat 200-300 less than TDEE to lose. On non workout days I'll eat 1600 (TDEE= 1921) and on workout days I'll eat 1800 (TDEE = 2176). I'm going to do this for 2 weeks and see what happens. If I haven't lost anything at all then I'm going back to MFP recommendations and staying the course.

    And you're right!! It is VERY SCARY to eat more cals when you're trying to lose.
  • Math_Geek
    Math_Geek Posts: 67 Member
    Why is it so terrifying to think about upping the calories from 1200 to, well, anything!
    I lifted my calorie limit to 1700 yesterday, but I couldn't eat to it. I ended up only eating just over 1300 calories. And to be honest I wasn't hungry, and didn't want to eat without a point. BUT considering I'm 205lbs, and have obviously been able to eat wayyyyy over my calories for a long time. What is the deal with suddenly not being able to eat more to hopefully weigh less!

    I'm just going to keep tuning in to myself and seeing what I'm thinking. Mantra "This is a life style change, this is a lifestyle change!"

    Wow you hit the nail on the head for me too. I ate spinach salad today, got full and felt guilty because I actually ate something. I'm around 1200 a day too, give or take 200. I think I'd freak out if I upped it to 1500. This isn't just a caloric/food battle, it's a psychological battle every single day, for me at least.

    Hang in there.
  • AwakenedInChrist
    AwakenedInChrist Posts: 42
    I feel your pain!! I recently upped my calories from 1200 to 1400. I've increased my exercise so that I'm hungry for more calories :-) . I haven't lost any weight for 6 weeks on a 1200 calorie diet. I hope bumping up the calories rewards us with some weight loss soon!! Have a blesses day!!!
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    We've kind of been trained all our lives that we need to eat less to lose weight. Your psychological conditioning is resisting the idea that eating more will result in weight loss, and is necessary if you exercise regularly.

    Just give it a try for a little while, and if you are unhappy with the results, try switching things up again until you find something that is working for you.

    I was always an overweight child but as I got older I started realizing why my dieting never worked as a kid. I WAS NOT EATING ENOUGH! My dad conditioned me to think that not eating anything was THE way to lose weight. How wrong he was.
  • rcharlee
    rcharlee Posts: 182 Member
    I had that mentality until I joined the Eat More to Weigh Less group. Once joining, I did a metabolism reset and was shocked at the calories I had to consume. After 1 month of the reset, my 2 month plateau broke! I have been eating more since May, and have continually lost weight at my appropriate speed.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    Once you do it initially and see success then your mental block will go away. And once you start looking as calories and not as a bad thing it goes away. I always look forward to increasing my calories. I have done it several times and love it each time.
  • Rubyayn
    Rubyayn Posts: 433 Member
    Once you do it initially and see success then your mental block will go away. And once you start looking as calories and not as a bad thing it goes away. I always look forward to increasing my calories. I have done it several times and love it each time.


    EXACTLY. Nothing I love more than increasing my calories. I do it every time my weight loss slows down and it has yet to fail me. I am actually interested to see how high I can go. I am less than 10 lbs from goal, so it is even more fun now.

    I would go into more detail, but I have 900 more calories to eat. nomnomnomnomnom....

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