So far, I'm sold on eating more calories to lose weight...

karaks
karaks Posts: 108 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
(Sorry this turned out so long!)

I have always worked out, even when moderately overweight. But I haven't always been really fit and muscular (like I want to be). It seems like I have always been on a "diet". And I have lost lots of weight, several times. But I was always hungry and couldn't ever seem to really build muscle. I think plenty of times in my life I have been what people would call "skinny fat". I would always inevitably gain the weight back.

Then 4 years ago, I had a very rare knee surgery that had me on crutches for four months. It took a total of 2 years to fully recover from it. In the time since that surgery, I have gained 25 lbs and haven't been able to lose it. I have tried Weight Watchers, counting calories, low carb, etc. You name, I have tried it. I have lost 9 lbs in that four years and that was recently when I went low carb for awhile.

A few weeks ago, I was fed up with it and went to my doctor specifically to ask him to help me lose weight. He did blood work and tested my thyroid, blood sugar, etc etc. Everything came back normal. We then had a long talk and he recommended I get my RMR tested. He said he thought I might not be eating enough.

I had my RMR tested. Every online calculator says my RMR should be around 1550 and that's around what I've been eating over the last 4 years...+/-200-300 calories. I have experimented many times above and below that RMR number and the scale hasn't budged.

According to my test, my RMR is 2140 and BMR is 2010. TDEE is around 2800-3000.

I should've realized this a long time ago, but didn't. I wear a BodyMedia Fit armband and it usually says I burn around 2400-2500 on a lazier day and 2800-3300 on a busier day. One day it said my personal best in calorie burn was 3785. I always assumed it wasn't accurate. Hypothyroidism has affected a few people in my family and I figured that's what I had too. In that case, I've read that the armband sometimes doesn't recognize the slowed metabolism and can give skewed results. It turns out that maybe it was right all along.

In the last week, I have upped my calories to around 2400. That was pretty scary and kind of hard to do. I never thought I'd complain about having a problem eating all of my calories for the day. Anyway, since I upped my calories, the scale has gone up a pound or two. But I swear my jeans fit a little looser this morning. Enough that it was the first thing I noticed when I buttoned them. Lol. I have slept better this week, don't seem to be constantly tired, and generally feel much better. I took a weight lifting class last night and used higher weights than ever before.

I started thinking about it and I think maybe the reason I lost weight on the low carb diet was because I wasn't counting calories specifically. I was paying more attention to carb % and I think that resulted in eating more calories. I only did the low carb diet because I have (for the last few years) felt that I am borderline hypoglycemic. If I don't eat frequently, I get shaky and lightheaded. I mentioned that to the tech doing the RMR test and she said "Obviously, I don't know you or your history. But based just on what you've told me, and given your blood sugar numbers were normal when they were tested, I would say you are not hypoglycemic. I would say you simply need to eat more." I am now thinking she was right.

I'm sure I'll have to keep experimenting with my calorie intake because I'm not exactly sure what I should net. But I am okay with gaining a few pounds in the beginning, if it leads to long term weight loss. So far, I'm sold on eating more. :smile:

Replies

  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    I'm sure I'll have to keep experimenting with my calorie intake because I'm not exactly sure what I should net. But I am okay with gaining a few pounds in the beginning, if it leads to long term weight loss. So far, I'm sold on eating more. :smile:

    People get caught up in allthe numbers of fitness they forget to think about how their body feels and what kind of results they get. It is an experiment and not an exact science, no matter how many people tell you that you aren't a snowflake.

    I would always recommend someone start with knowing their BMR and TDEE, and what TDEE 20% is, but there is variation from the general formulas that should be explored.

    I just recently upped my calories a bit and I am still losing weight (instead of 5 pounds a week I lost 2+, but I am feeling better with more calories...lol duh). I will ride this out for a month then see what I might tweak to see different results - maybe just more strength training or food sources.

    That is part of the fun of it.
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    Yes, I am definitely feeling better eating more calories, both physically and mentally. It's nice to now have an idea of what I am burning each day. Now to just figure out how much to eat. But I think I am most excited about having the strength to lift heavier. It seems that way now anyway. It's kind of renewed my excitement for seeing what I can do. :smile:
  • Davina_JH
    Davina_JH Posts: 473 Member
    :drinker:
  • Beckyloo80
    Beckyloo80 Posts: 1,088 Member
    I'm with you! I upped mine from 1300 to 1750 and BAM, have been losing at least .4 lb each week!
  • KristyHumphrey
    KristyHumphrey Posts: 248 Member
    :tongue: :wink:
  • Rozieq84
    Rozieq84 Posts: 38
    Yeah, I've been at a plateau for about 3 months now, so I decided let's just bump up that daily calorie count and see what happens. I haven't seen any scale movement, but I've gone down a bra size and had WAY more energy. Here here to eating a little more (& keeping it healthy more often than not) and feeling better.
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
    You might want to look into http://eatmore2weighless.com/
    they have an MFP group, too, that you can reach out to :)

    glad you are getting some good fuel into your engine!
  • Querian
    Querian Posts: 419 Member
    Can I ask where and how you had your RMR tested? Did your doctor do that or did he send you somewhere to have it done? :smile:
  • celebrity328
    celebrity328 Posts: 377 Member
    My Body bug says I do about 21-2200 a day just laying around the house all day doing much of nothing :) I up my calories to my BRM and have seen great results in the last 2 months since doing that. I can eat 2000 calories a day and still lose weight?! OK! I feel so much better, more energy and just overall am happier! This is a lifestyle change I can live with!
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    Can I ask where and how you had your RMR tested? Did your doctor do that or did he send you somewhere to have it done? :smile:

    I just did a google search for RMR testing in my city. A few places came up. One or two were gyms, but were a little more expensive and you had to have a membership to get the testing done. I then found this place that I can only describe as a "health store". It's kind of like a GNC or Vitamin Shoppe, in that they sell things like vitamins and protein supplements, but the lady that owns it is a nutritionist and has a staff that also do things like acupuncture and massage. It's a weird little place, but pretty cool too.

    Thanks for the replies! It's good to hear from others that this really does work. :smile:
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    My Body bug says I do about 21-2200 a day just laying around the house all day doing much of nothing :) I up my calories to my BRM and have seen great results in the last 2 months since doing that. I can eat 2000 calories a day and still lose weight?! OK! I feel so much better, more energy and just overall am happier! This is a lifestyle change I can live with!

    Wow, congrats on your weight loss! That is an amazing number! :drinker:
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    You might want to look into http://eatmore2weighless.com/
    they have an MFP group, too, that you can reach out to :)

    glad you are getting some good fuel into your engine!

    I'm going to look into this website and group tonight! Thanks for the tip! :smile:
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    My Body bug says I do about 21-2200 a day just laying around the house all day doing much of nothing :) I up my calories to my BRM and have seen great results in the last 2 months since doing that. I can eat 2000 calories a day and still lose weight?! OK! I feel so much better, more energy and just overall am happier! This is a lifestyle change I can live with!
    similar to me! ive been wearing a bodymedia fit for about a month and on my laziest day in bed watching tv, i did about 2100.. on days i actually clean the house/exercise/walk the kids to school and/or go to work i can easily hit 3000+ burned. lately ive just been using it to monitor my weight while pregnant, but i see it being a huge help when the baby is born and i go back into weight loss mode.
  • surfteam1689
    surfteam1689 Posts: 73 Member
    Well, I started the Ideal Protein diet - and 850 Calories per day diet where you stay in Ketosis the healthy way. on February 5th (200 lbs) and this morning I weighed in at 181.4 lbs. That just over 18 pounds of body FAT lost. I eat three meals per day + a snack - their way, not my way - and way easier than trying to track all my calories the way I was tracking with MFP over a year ago. Non-complex carbs and sugars are OUT! Every 1 gram of Carbs is turned into 4 grams of sugars by the insulin your pancreas produces. If not used up, they get stored as FAT. Since I need about 2000 calories per day minimum, my brain then tells my body to use the fat stores. I am losing between 3 and 5 pounds of FAT every week and keeping my muscle mass. Most obese people don't know they are losing muscle mass on these diets, which is why the gaining the weight back is so common. My Ideal Protein Coach is giving away a FREE program for one person this Friday night at the Doctor's formal presentation - yes, this is all doctor approved. :-)
  • Emma_Jayne1982
    Emma_Jayne1982 Posts: 1 Member
    Hi, this sounds interesting but please can someone explain what BRM, RMR and TDEE all mean so I can have a better understanding?

    Thanks in advance x
  • Kelbelle30
    Kelbelle30 Posts: 32 Member
    I'm inclined to try it too, reading that.

    I've just changed my targets from maintaining weight (I gave up smoking so cut myself some slack!) to losing a lb a week. However, I'm starving! I'm cycling 6-10 miles a day commuting although I have a desk job. Then on top of that, I'm doing circuit training or moderate impact cardio aerobics three to four days a week and yet I've seen my weight go up!

    So, next week, while MFP recommends 1800 for me, I'll try 2400 :)
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    This is exactly why I love my BodyMedia Fit. I tried to cut back to 1800 a day (should have been fine according to BMR and TDEE), but I could last only 3 days before I'd binge. When I started wearing the BMF, I found that I was burning WAY more calories than the calculations. Now I can eat 2200 and still have a deficit.
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    Hi, this sounds interesting but please can someone explain what BRM, RMR and TDEE all mean so I can have a better understanding?

    Thanks in advance x

    My understanding is that your BMR, Basal metabolic rate, is the amount of calories that you would burn if you were in a coma. That is, the amount of calories your body burns simply functioning and doing things like breathing.

    RMR, Resting metabolic rate, is the amount of calories you would burn in you were awake, but laid in bed all day.

    These two are usually very close in number. Mine were 2010 and 2140.

    TDEE, Total Daily Energy Expenditure, is the average amount of calories you burn in your day to day life when you are running around and exercising.

    Mine on an average day is anywhere from 2800-3400.

    Sorry, I'm not very good at explaining these type of things, so maybe someone more knowledgeable could chime in. :smile:
  • Querian
    Querian Posts: 419 Member
    Can I ask where and how you had your RMR tested? Did your doctor do that or did he send you somewhere to have it done? :smile:

    I just did a google search for RMR testing in my city. A few places came up. One or two were gyms, but were a little more expensive and you had to have a membership to get the testing done. I then found this place that I can only describe as a "health store". It's kind of like a GNC or Vitamin Shoppe, in that they sell things like vitamins and protein supplements, but the lady that owns it is a nutritionist and has a staff that also do things like acupuncture and massage. It's a weird little place, but pretty cool too.

    Thanks for the replies! It's good to hear from others that this really does work. :smile:
    Thanks! I think getting this testing done is a very good idea. Glad it is working for you so far! :flowerforyou:
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    I just had to post an update. So it's now been about two weeks since I upped my calories. For the last week, I've been on vacation seeing family out of state that I haven't seen in years. I decided when I got here that I was going to take a "diet break" since I've been working on losing weight for 4 years with no success. So this week I've been logging food, but eating the higher calories. I haven't been going way overboard, but I've eaten things that I never would've eaten before...I.e. full fat milk, 8oz sirloin, etc.

    I have no idea what I weigh right now because I also decided I wouldn't step on a scale this week. However, I had to go to the mall yesterday and buy a new pair of jeans because the pair I had on were falling off. They've never been really tight, but they were so loose, I was walking around holding them up. I needed a belt. I don't even care what the scale says. This is the best vacation ever. Lol. :smile:
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    Hi, this sounds interesting but please can someone explain what BRM, RMR and TDEE all mean so I can have a better understanding?

    Thanks in advance x

    Google is your friend
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    I just had to post another update because I'm so excited over the results I'm getting so far. I guess it's been a little less than a month since I had my RMR tested and started upping my calories. At first, I gained like 4 lbs. I've since lost those 4 lbs. But, at this moment, I don't even care what the scale says.

    I had stopped wearing my BMF armband awhile back when I thought it wasn't accurate. I started wearing it again about 2 weeks ago. In another thread I had posted that I was wondering if it might be *underestimating* my calorie burn since they base their calculations on a formula that itself comes in way lower than my actual RMR. Heybales, awesome person that he is, gave me some advice on how to check it and adjust it, along with my MFP settings. I made those adjustments and all I can say is WOW! The other day, I had a really, really busy day. I worked out, did a little yard work, ran some errands, etc etc. The armband estimated that my burn for the day would be just over 4000 calories. I couldn't believe it! But I decided to stick with this process and I ended up eating about 3400 calories that day. Talk about crazy! I've never intentionally tried to eat that many calories. Lol!

    Now, mind you, I haven't taken measurements for this month or weighed myself, but when I woke up this morning, I just felt like I was a little smaller. I've been feeling that way a lot recently and it's awesome. Anyway, I just went out and ran into a friend that I see pretty regularly. She knows what I normally look like and also the problems I've had losing weight. Out of the blue, in the middle of a different conversation, she asked if I'd lost weight and said she could really tell that whatever I was doing was working. I'm LOVING this! :smile:

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