Should I eat more? Less?

MallisaMott
MallisaMott Posts: 30 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Getting so frustrated with my progress lately. I have been embracing the three meals and 2-3 substantial snacks throughout the day. I went from a 1200 cal diet to a 1400 and I burn a lot of calories doing cardio that I eat back almost always. I haven't made any progress at all since I made these changes and on top of that I find myself eating when I'm not actually HUNGRY- just because I feel like I need to keep my metabolism fueled?

Is this the right way to go about doing things? I'm thinking about lowering my calories allotted per day again because that's when I was seeing results. I was crediting my weight gain/maintain to muscle mass, but I haven't been lifting hardly at all in the last two weeks?

I'm still interested in building muscle, and eat a lot of protein and fiber. I just can't seem to figure out what this plateau is about. That or the fact that I'll gain a pound or two here and there for no apparent reason? Any thoughts or opinions?

Replies

  • jl300
    jl300 Posts: 33 Member
    I don't know but I am in a similar situation. Started on mfp at 1200 cals per day. My nutritionist wanted me to up it to 1300 at least and eat back exercise cals. I've been trying that but not losing. I tried the "in place of roadmap" recommendations and bumped up my cals even more for 3 weeks and gained. So now I'm thinking that I need to go even below 1200 to lose. I see my nutritionist on Thursday but I don't think she will like that idea. But nothing is working. Also, she had me eating 300 calorie breakfasts. A lot of days I'm not hungry til a few hours after I wake up, and I'm ok with a 150-200 cal breakfast, or just having a bigger brunch type meal around 10:30 or 11. Seems like I should just go with my hunger . . .
  • pmiller624
    pmiller624 Posts: 3 Member
    I am a firm believer that meal placement is unimportant. Eat to get your nutrition and hit your macros not because you feel like you have to for your metabolism's sake. There are diet plans that completely consist of only eating during a small feeding period of the day. LeanGains is one of those diets. I am currently trying it out and I see great results. I eat two huge meals a day, one at 3pm and the other at 10:30pm. The gist of LeanGains is to fast for 16 hours a day..that can and should include sleeping. Once the fasting period is over, the other 8 hours, you eat your whole days worth of calories and nutrition. Studies have shown that light fasting has numerous benefits.

    As for your calories, it's hard to say without knowing more about you. Although 1400 does seem a little high for a female. My first time dieting I couldn't seem to lose fat..every week I reduced my calories more and more until I was finally losing about a pound a week. One thing that I do is never eat my exercise calories back.

    It's very hard to build muscle while on a calories deficit diet. In order to build a good amount of muscle, you must be on a calorie surplus diet. My suggestion, is to of course, continue to workout but only focus on either losing fat or building muscle. When you feel like your lean enough go into a surplus and build some muscle.
  • jfrankic
    jfrankic Posts: 747 Member
    This is great info - everything you need to know for a fat burning diet, while maintaining or building LBM. Dan is awesome! There's also an IPOARM group.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
    This is great info - everything you need to know for a fat burning diet, while maintaining or building LBM. Dan is awesome! There's also an IPOARM group.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Look at this, it's actually great advice. Please know 1400 cals is not too high for a female. SMDH.
  • MallisaMott
    MallisaMott Posts: 30 Member
    Thanks for the feedback. That post is very helpful!
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Your metabolism won't be an issue unless you go 3-4 days with very little or no food. I eat very little and do IF and I've gotten pretty small and I'm never hungry.
  • darleyschroeder
    darleyschroeder Posts: 322
    Eat at 1,200 and if you are really hungry after working out then go ahead and eat some or all of your workout calories. I wouldn't eat if you're not hungry :)

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