Afraid To Up Calories! Any Success Stories?!

karirenae
karirenae Posts: 106 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So according to the Scooby method, my TDEE is 1875, My BMR is 1562. It suggests 1500 calories daily for a 20% deficit. Im currently trying to stay around 1200 and am usually approx 1200-1400 daily, with about 30 minutes of elliptical at LEAST 3 days a week. I will lose a pound, then gain 2, then lose 3. Its all a vicious cycle. Ive seen alot of people suggesting uping calories. But im afraid to do this... I know it's all just because when I began using MFP, it recommended 1200 daily, so that numbers just been stuck in my head. Im afraid of gaining, and then taking a step back in my journey. Should I eat 1500 NET or 1500 Then minus the calories burned for around 1300 net? Im confused, and to be honest, the roadmap is really confusing to me :( Im awful with numbers.
I have a desk job
im approx 169 lbs and 5'4.
ANY SUGGESTINS AND SUCCESS STORIES IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!

Replies

  • paygep
    paygep Posts: 401 Member
    bump
  • betmcb10
    betmcb10 Posts: 8 Member
    This summer I lost 17 pounds because I would make sure to eat from about 1200 to 1550 calories per day and make sure I focused more on what my calories consisted of! I know its scary, but MFP kind of sucks in a way that they make you think you NEED 1200 calories to lose weight.

    Good luck!!
  • BamaBreezeNSaltAire
    BamaBreezeNSaltAire Posts: 966 Member
    Yes. 29 pounds worth. Check out the group EM2WL (Eating more to weigh less) Please be sure to read the stickies so you fully understand. 1200 calories left me hungry, cold, irritable, not losing and everything in between. Now I eat 1800 a day at minimum and that's NET, not gross.

    http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/index2.html
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    I recently upped mine from 1360 to 1520 and yes! I can tell you I am still losing, no problem. Over 5 pounds easily in 3 weeks. I eat most of my exercise calories back. Sometimes leaving my walk the dog cals on the table. I am otherwise sedentary outside my exercise. I do weigh more than you by 25 pounds. I hit a mini plateau 1 week after raising them, while I was panicking (so I totally get you) I stuck with it, and whoosh! I upped my calories to slow my loss to 1.5 pounds a week and saw two weeks (with that plateau in between) with over 3 pounds each. Try it, stick with it for a month.
  • juliep1974
    juliep1974 Posts: 222 Member
    What you're doing now isn't working for you so you don't have much to lose by changing things up. I lost about 6 lbs in Dec/Jan netting about 1575 a day. I'm 5'6", 144lbs with a BMR around 1420 and a TDEE between 1800 and 2200. I eat back almost all of my exercise calories (so my calorie goal was about 1560 and with exercise I'd eat 1900 to 2100). There will be an adjustment period and you might gain initially. Put the scale away for a month and give it a go. If it doesn't work, you can always go back to 1200.
  • fittiephd
    fittiephd Posts: 608 Member
    It worked for me! I guess the way I thought about it was, do I want to be stuck eating 1200 calories for the rest of my life? Nope. The realization that my body NEEDED more food and that food was not the enemy was key as well. Also just remembering that gaining a couple lbs for a few weeks while my body adjusts is not a huge deal. Even though it may seem like it, a month is not a long time in the aspect of all the weight loss that you're going to do. I've been eating healthier and getting fit for 1.5 years now, it's an ongoing process, there's always room for improvement. It's just something you have to realize has to be a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. If you do 1200 calories, it will either fail or be a quick fix because you'll either give up because you're so hungry, or "cheat" or "binge' Because you're not eating enough on a regular basis, or when you do lose all the weight you'll gain it back when you try to maintain because your body's metabolism wll be screwed.

    Also when you eat at that big of a deficit you lose muscle mass and bone density which is not what you want to do.

    I'm 5'8" 133 lbs and I eat 1950 calories per day PLUS exercise calories. I guess you can look at my pics yourself and decide if I've been successful :P

    Just do it and don't get on the scale for a month when you do. I promise it's worth it.
  • dsimmons107
    dsimmons107 Posts: 387 Member
    I am not sure if this is what you are looking at. If it is sorry for the repeat but it is worth reading and it does work.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    I would net at least your BMR. My BMR is slightly above 1600.. I eat 1600 daily plus exercise calories and lose most weeks.

    Weight loss is not linear so you won't see losses each week (as you already noted).

    When I first started I was eating low amounts of calories (mine was set to 1300). I found I was hungry, wasn't getting enough nutrients and wasn't able to go 110% in my workouts so I switched my calories. I don't lose every week but I lose much better than I did when I was eating too low.

    MFP probably set you for 1200 because you selected a weight loss goal that is too agressive. Too high of a deficit doesn't always help (can actually lead to being tired, not getting proper nutrients in and losing muscle).

    Should you decide to up your calories you may gain the first week or two (I did) but that is just because your body isn't used to the extra calories. After about two weeks my weight started to go down again.

    The roadmap is a great tool!!!!! It can take a bit to understand but once you get the hang of it than it's easy! There are TONS of people who follow the advice and have done great !
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    So according to the Scooby method, my TDEE is 1875, My BMR is 1562. It suggests 1500 calories daily for a 20% deficit. Im currently trying to stay around 1200 and am usually approx 1200-1400 daily, with about 30 minutes of elliptical at LEAST 3 days a week. I will lose a pound, then gain 2, then lose 3. Its all a vicious cycle. Ive seen alot of people suggesting uping calories. But im afraid to do this... I know it's all just because when I began using MFP, it recommended 1200 daily, so that numbers just been stuck in my head. Im afraid of gaining, and then taking a step back in my journey. Should I eat 1500 NET or 1500 Then minus the calories burned for around 1300 net? Im confused, and to be honest, the roadmap is really confusing to me :( Im awful with numbers.
    I have a desk job
    im approx 169 lbs and 5'4.
    ANY SUGGESTINS AND SUCCESS STORIES IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!
    BMR: ~1350
    Sedentary TDEE: ~1650 (I rounded up to 1700 since I move more then a brick even when I sit around).
    Active TDEE: Usually leaves me over 2000, which by RDI standards is what the average female adult should be having to keep healthyy.
    Activity: I use to be sedentary and it worked. I changed to active and it worked. It's math, it works. If you want to look even better, add strength training. You can't take in less then you expend and gain weight. If your guess is off your metabolism may be slowed, there are ways to increase it (eating more works for example). The side effects (sometimes gaining water temporarily) are short lived and worth it.

    Previously: I use to net 1200. I thought I was comfortable. Boy do I ever feel better now. My sister continued to eat 1200 after I upped. She may have lost some weight in hair (she started losing it from malnutrition since like I said the recommended RDI standards for her is about 2000 calories to get all her nutrients). But I lost weight and gained my finger nail strength back and stopped being cold all the time. A lot of people (like myself back in the day) think to themselves they're making a healthy change when they do the 1200 calorie thing despite not being able to get in proper nutrition via just food. Then they pop a vitamin pill and tell themselves they are alright. What they don't seem to realize is that they can't absorb half of what's in the vitamin pill since most nutrients are fat soluble and aren't nearly getting enough fat.

    13599033_378.jpg

    I wish I could tell people a million times over not to do the low cal thing. I did not see any benefit to it, and I did not lose weight tons faster (in fact my sisters weight like many doing 1200 cals came to a halt for a while). I didn't run into any stalls, and you'll find many people initially posting in the eat more to weigh less groups will be the 1200 cal people initially starting complaining about stalls...The effects are reversible and everyone else is happy as a lark and not complaining at all because they know exactly what to do. The thing about eating low cals is your body only has as much energy as you give it, period. If you don't give it very much, it will stop or slow other functions to cope. One of many reasons why the low cal diets make people cold. Thermogenesis slows dramatically.
  • monicabuc1
    monicabuc1 Posts: 41 Member
    bump
  • justjenny
    justjenny Posts: 529 Member
    bump
  • Ritzbrit
    Ritzbrit Posts: 211 Member
    It worked for me! And I was also scared to up them. I went from the 1200 to my BMR 1677 and I feel great and finally got past a stupid plateau that I was stuck on for months. It'll take a week or 2 for your body to adjust, you may feel bloated. But give it a chance, it works!
  • mumreeder
    mumreeder Posts: 222 Member
    I am in the same boat as yourself! I have plateaued now for over 4 weeks and it's really getting me down. It has taken 5 months to lose 11 lb which doesn't seem as much as some people lose, but I stuck with it. Now the scales (and measurements) aren't moving it's getting pretty depressing! I am thinking of upping my calories - I did up them at the beginning from the 1200 suggested to 1300 as I was so hungry all the time, but I am, like you, scared of what might happen if I up it again. I am watching this thread with interest!
  • Scottb4857
    Scottb4857 Posts: 38 Member
    Don't fear fueling your body. I'm a lot bigger than you stature wise (6'5"), but on a previous journey I went from 225 to 205 while eating 2500-2700 per day. I do use a lot of vigorous exercise as I believe in burning off the fat versus starving it off. Learned the hard way after a month of utter frustration while trying to keep at around 2000 for a long time and just couldn't drop a pound. Like the other reply's, after eating enough to at least keep above my BMR I consistently dropped the pounds without destroying muscles and lean tissue mass.

    Long story short, starving yourself (also known as a 1200 cal diet unless your 4 ft something and weighing 80) pretty much makes your tired, grumpy, no energy to exercise or even enjoy life.

    Just my $.02 worth - wishing you all the best on your fitness journey!
  • tjungkunz
    tjungkunz Posts: 39
    bump

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