Increased my calories but too frightened to carry on...
lozzieemayjenkins
Posts: 71 Member
Little brief -- I've lost 32lbs since January 15th through basically zig zagging calories and eating as low as 1000 calories for six days of the week and then having a high calorie day of 3000 calories on a Saturday.. so that averages out to 1285 calories daily.
The weight was coming off nicely but when I measured my inches and body fat percentage on Sunday I was shocked to realise that I haven't lost any inches or body fat percentage, and actually feel flabbier and softer than I did before!
So after researching and reading through posts on here such as in place of a road map, I decided to up my calories and now am eating 20% below my TDEE which is 1900 calories. I'm burning an extra 400 calories daily through weight lifting and cardio at the gym, so really I'm netting 1500 calories.
Everything I'm eating is as clean and healthy as I can possibly get it to be -- protein shakes, eggs, salmon, chicken, vegetables, peanut butter, almonds, flaxseed, oatmeal, Greek yogurt etc.
It's admittedly only my second day of increased calories, but I feel really bloated and puffy & just fat. I haven't weighed cause I know that the scales will more than likely go up for the first week or two until they trend down...
But I'm just scared that higher calories may not work for me & I could get heavier and bigger?
I know people may say to wait it out.. but in 7 weeks time I'm having surgery and need to lose quite a bit more weight by then and I'm frightened I won't.
Advice?
The weight was coming off nicely but when I measured my inches and body fat percentage on Sunday I was shocked to realise that I haven't lost any inches or body fat percentage, and actually feel flabbier and softer than I did before!
So after researching and reading through posts on here such as in place of a road map, I decided to up my calories and now am eating 20% below my TDEE which is 1900 calories. I'm burning an extra 400 calories daily through weight lifting and cardio at the gym, so really I'm netting 1500 calories.
Everything I'm eating is as clean and healthy as I can possibly get it to be -- protein shakes, eggs, salmon, chicken, vegetables, peanut butter, almonds, flaxseed, oatmeal, Greek yogurt etc.
It's admittedly only my second day of increased calories, but I feel really bloated and puffy & just fat. I haven't weighed cause I know that the scales will more than likely go up for the first week or two until they trend down...
But I'm just scared that higher calories may not work for me & I could get heavier and bigger?
I know people may say to wait it out.. but in 7 weeks time I'm having surgery and need to lose quite a bit more weight by then and I'm frightened I won't.
Advice?
0
Replies
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DId you work out at all? not cardio, but lifting weights. And not weights that weigh the same as most peoples purses?
Cant do one without the other and expect to get firmer.0 -
Change your workouts,sometimes we get to a point that you dont lose weight or inches that plateau can be nasty when we get to that point.Then I notice eat healthy carbs for breakfast or early afternoons you burn them off faster then at night time.your doing the right things but sometimes you get stuck losing inches.Good luck.0
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I used to go to weight watchers meetings and have learned there that while you might lose weight with extremely low calorie diets, over the long haul they will not work.....they teach that when calories are too low to sustain your activity level, your body starts feeding off your muscle because it thinks that you are starving it. The best way to rev up your weight loss is to eat enough to make your body feed off the fat and then work on the muscle with exercise....while the wild fluctuations in calories may work for a while, when you start eating "normal" again, all of the weight will come right back on and your body will, in fact, start turning more of it into fat for the next wild calorie reduction.
At first, after such an enormous weight loss that you had, and the way that you were eating, eating "normal" amounts of food will make you feel bloated and fat. You just need to be patient with your body and let it get used to eating a healthy, adequate amount of food so that it will not make it all into fat. Keep up the exercise and the healthy eating, any soon you will see the pounds come off!0 -
Exercise?0
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DId you work out at all? not cardio, but lifting weights. And not weights that weigh the same as most peoples purses?
Cant do one without the other and expect to get firmer.
I wasn't working out when I was zig zagging low & high calories no.. Now I'm working out & lift as heavy as I can, which isn't much on upper body at the moment but 75kg on lower body.0 -
You will benefit from the book, "New Rules of Lifting For Women"0
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DId you work out at all? not cardio, but lifting weights. And not weights that weigh the same as most peoples purses?
Cant do one without the other and expect to get firmer.
I wasn't working out when I was zig zagging low & high calories no.. Now I'm working out & lift as heavy as I can, which isn't much on upper body at the moment but 75kg on lower body.
keep going! thats the only advice there is!0 -
I used to go to weight watchers meetings and have learned there that while you might lose weight with extremely low calorie diets, over the long haul they will not work.....they teach that when calories are too low to sustain your activity level, your body starts feeding off your muscle because it thinks that you are starving it. The best way to rev up your weight loss is to eat enough to make your body feed off the fat and then work on the muscle with exercise....while the wild fluctuations in calories may work for a while, when you start eating "normal" again, all of the weight will come right back on and your body will, in fact, start turning more of it into fat for the next wild calorie reduction.
At first, after such an enormous weight loss that you had, and the way that you were eating, eating "normal" amounts of food will make you feel bloated and fat. You just need to be patient with your body and let it get used to eating a healthy, adequate amount of food so that it will not make it all into fat. Keep up the exercise and the healthy eating, any soon you will see the pounds come off!
That's what I've been hearing all over the boards -- that restricting calories for too long will lead to loss of lean muscle mass which in turn lowers metabolism and will cause a flabby soft look.. which is why I thought I should bump my calories up to a healthy number and what's recommended for fat loss & inch loss..
I just feel like I can't possibly lose weight eating this much! I'm only netting 1500 a day though so I suppose that's not that high..
I just wanna see results. I work my *kitten* off in the gym & really push myself so I expect the inches to come off and my body fat percentage to lower!0 -
I personally feel that you should stop dieting until after your surgery. So that your body has not been starved right before your surgery. eat what would be a maintenance diet for you until after you have recuperated from your surgery . Just my humble opinion.
When it comes to eating more calories. I am having the same debate in my head. The fact that eating more calories can encourage the body to loss more just seems like a contradiction to me. I am slowly increasing my carbs to where this program feels that I should be eating. I am diabetic and keep my blood sugars where I feel that they ought to be by walking 2x a day - 2 miles each walk. So timing of when I eat is important if my blood sugars are going to be back down to where I want them to be before bedtime. I'd like to believe that my body is going to lose more by eating more but so far I am NOT convinced that this is going to work for me. I've got 22 lbs left to lose to reach my goal of 120 lbs. I'm not trying to start any conflict here ...just sharing my concerns about this concept working for someone that isn't a jock and doesn't do a lot of exercising at a gym. I like the terminology referred to here of being a "snowflake" - no I don't think that I am a snowflake. I am currently following Dr Hyman's Blood Sugar Solution. Which is working for me -0 -
I used to go to weight watchers meetings and have learned there that while you might lose weight with extremely low calorie diets, over the long haul they will not work.....they teach that when calories are too low to sustain your activity level, your body starts feeding off your muscle because it thinks that you are starving it. The best way to rev up your weight loss is to eat enough to make your body feed off the fat and then work on the muscle with exercise....while the wild fluctuations in calories may work for a while, when you start eating "normal" again, all of the weight will come right back on and your body will, in fact, start turning more of it into fat for the next wild calorie reduction.
At first, after such an enormous weight loss that you had, and the way that you were eating, eating "normal" amounts of food will make you feel bloated and fat. You just need to be patient with your body and let it get used to eating a healthy, adequate amount of food so that it will not make it all into fat. Keep up the exercise and the healthy eating, any soon you will see the pounds come off!
That's what I've been hearing all over the boards -- that restricting calories for too long will lead to loss of lean muscle mass which in turn lowers metabolism and will cause a flabby soft look.. which is why I thought I should bump my calories up to a healthy number and what's recommended for fat loss & inch loss..
I just feel like I can't possibly lose weight eating this much! I'm only netting 1500 a day though so I suppose that's not that high..
I just wanna see results. I work my *kitten* off in the gym & really push myself so I expect the inches to come off and my body fat percentage to lower!
i dont know your stats, but i am 5ft5, 130ish lbs, and i NET 1800 cals per day and i am losing bodyfat. on exercise days (i am doing insanity) i am eating about 2200 -2300 cals... but i am losing bodyfat - it can be done,0 -
DId you work out at all? not cardio, but lifting weights. And not weights that weigh the same as most peoples purses?
Cant do one without the other and expect to get firmer.
I wasn't working out when I was zig zagging low & high calories no.. Now I'm working out & lift as heavy as I can, which isn't much on upper body at the moment but 75kg on lower body.
If you've just started lifting heavy, you will retain some water, initially, while your body gets used to the new routine. This has some good info in it:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/584556-water-retention-from-exercise-trainers
:flowerforyou:
ETA: I lift heavy 3-4x a week, and have been eating TDEE - 20% (1800 cals) and have been losing steadily.
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I used to go to weight watchers meetings and have learned there that while you might lose weight with extremely low calorie diets, over the long haul they will not work.....they teach that when calories are too low to sustain your activity level, your body starts feeding off your muscle because it thinks that you are starving it. The best way to rev up your weight loss is to eat enough to make your body feed off the fat and then work on the muscle with exercise....while the wild fluctuations in calories may work for a while, when you start eating "normal" again, all of the weight will come right back on and your body will, in fact, start turning more of it into fat for the next wild calorie reduction.
At first, after such an enormous weight loss that you had, and the way that you were eating, eating "normal" amounts of food will make you feel bloated and fat. You just need to be patient with your body and let it get used to eating a healthy, adequate amount of food so that it will not make it all into fat. Keep up the exercise and the healthy eating, any soon you will see the pounds come off!
That's what I've been hearing all over the boards -- that restricting calories for too long will lead to loss of lean muscle mass which in turn lowers metabolism and will cause a flabby soft look.. which is why I thought I should bump my calories up to a healthy number and what's recommended for fat loss & inch loss..
I just feel like I can't possibly lose weight eating this much! I'm only netting 1500 a day though so I suppose that's not that high..
I just wanna see results. I work my *kitten* off in the gym & really push myself so I expect the inches to come off and my body fat percentage to lower!
I also felt the same way, that I couldn't lose weight eating that much. But it has proven that it is working. I have lost a total of 10 lb over the last 10 weeks. And I didn't see any type of downward trend until I started eating more. MFP had me at 1200 per day, I have been eating 1600 or more and losing. I will tell you that the first 2-3 weeks, I stayed level, then on the 4th week of increased calories, I had a big loss all at once. I have been steady at losing 1 lb per week since then, which is what I have my goal set for.0 -
I used to go to weight watchers meetings and have learned there that while you might lose weight with extremely low calorie diets, over the long haul they will not work.....they teach that when calories are too low to sustain your activity level, your body starts feeding off your muscle because it thinks that you are starving it. The best way to rev up your weight loss is to eat enough to make your body feed off the fat and then work on the muscle with exercise....while the wild fluctuations in calories may work for a while, when you start eating "normal" again, all of the weight will come right back on and your body will, in fact, start turning more of it into fat for the next wild calorie reduction.
At first, after such an enormous weight loss that you had, and the way that you were eating, eating "normal" amounts of food will make you feel bloated and fat. You just need to be patient with your body and let it get used to eating a healthy, adequate amount of food so that it will not make it all into fat. Keep up the exercise and the healthy eating, any soon you will see the pounds come off!
That's what I've been hearing all over the boards -- that restricting calories for too long will lead to loss of lean muscle mass which in turn lowers metabolism and will cause a flabby soft look.. which is why I thought I should bump my calories up to a healthy number and what's recommended for fat loss & inch loss..
I just feel like I can't possibly lose weight eating this much! I'm only netting 1500 a day though so I suppose that's not that high..
I just wanna see results. I work my *kitten* off in the gym & really push myself so I expect the inches to come off and my body fat percentage to lower!
I also felt the same way, that I couldn't lose weight eating that much. But it has proven that it is working. I have lost a total of 10 lb over the last 10 weeks. And I didn't see any type of downward trend until I started eating more. MFP had me at 1200 per day, I have been eating 1600 or more and losing. I will tell you that the first 2-3 weeks, I stayed level, then on the 4th week of increased calories, I had a big loss all at once. I have been steady at losing 1 lb per week since then, which is what I have my goal set for.
Have you noticed much inch loss or body fat loss? I don't mind actual weight loss being slow permitting my body is changing shape quickly and I'm losing inches quickly!0 -
I think you are right on track. You have done your research. It is scary to increase calories. I was at a similar point last February when I realized that I was not eating enough. I increased my calories from 1200 to 1500, and then again to 1650 ( even though the online calculators indicated I should be at 1800... That was too scary!). I have been losing about 1.5 per week. This past weekend I had my resting metabolic rate tested and found that my estimate of 1650 was pretty spot on. I would suggest that you gradually up your calories until you get to the point where you are feeling energetic. As long as you are eating above your BMR and below your TDEE, you will lose weight. Good luck with your upcoming surgery.0
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Hey girl. This is so funny to me because this sounds exactly like me when i was starting out! I thought i was doing all the right stuff i dropped my calories to about 1100 to 1200 a day and man the weight was flying off! Then i realized while the weight was falling off i wasn't losing inches. The thing i was lacking was the exericise because while you lose weight your skin becomes saggier that is why you need to build muscle in the place of fat to really be sucessful! The journey to a healthy weight loss was definitely a scary one. I had to up my calorie intake, but as i did i started working out and burning a lot of calories so it made it a little less scary. Since i started my weight loss the right way i have lost 22 pounds and 10 inches!!! since february. Cardio and low carb has been my saving grace! If you need any advice I am here for ya girl! Good luck!0
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I don't mind actual weight loss being slow permitting my body is changing shape quickly and I'm losing inches quickly!
none of this works quickly if it is done in a healthy sustainable way! especially when you are down to the last few 'vanity pounds'0 -
For me, when I have days that I feel flabby and my stomach seems squishy instead of firm, then I'm about to have a "whoosh," that is, a decent-sized drop on the scale.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html0 -
I don't mind actual weight loss being slow permitting my body is changing shape quickly and I'm losing inches quickly!
none of this works quickly if it is done in a healthy sustainable way! especially when you are down to the last few 'vanity pounds'
It's not vanity pounds.. I'm 51lbs overweight.0 -
I'm actually really freaking out now and just feel like I'm safer with lower calories and that's the only thing that'll work and get the weight and inches off for sure... I don't have faith that eating 1900 calories a day will get these 51lbs and masses of inches off me!0
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It will. You must have patience.I'm actually really freaking out now and just feel like I'm safer with lower calories and that's the only thing that'll work and get the weight and inches off for sure... I don't have faith that eating 1900 calories a day will get these 51lbs and masses of inches off me!0 -
Everything on me is getting saggier or firmer in weird places. Just keep going, re-evaluate after a month.0
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I could of wrote this post! I went from 1290 calories/day to 1884. Eating at 1884 I'm feeling the same that you describe. I am mainly worried about gaining and getting into bad eating habits again because often I am eating something just to up my calorie intake for the day. If you are looking for friends who eat more, while doing this TDEE -20% thing, add me! I see a lot of my friends eating at 1300 or less and I'm scared that I'm doing this all wrong and all my hard work will be lost as I slowly gain!!!!!!!!!0
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You may not be a special snowflake but you are a diabetic one. The carb setting on MFP is far too high for diabetics.I personally feel that you should stop dieting until after your surgery. So that your body has not been starved right before your surgery. eat what would be a maintenance diet for you until after you have recuperated from your surgery . Just my humble opinion.
When it comes to eating more calories. I am having the same debate in my head. The fact that eating more calories can encourage the body to loss more just seems like a contradiction to me. I am slowly increasing my carbs to where this program feels that I should be eating. I am diabetic and keep my blood sugars where I feel that they ought to be by walking 2x a day - 2 miles each walk. So timing of when I eat is important if my blood sugars are going to be back down to where I want them to be before bedtime. I'd like to believe that my body is going to lose more by eating more but so far I am NOT convinced that this is going to work for me. I've got 22 lbs left to lose to reach my goal of 120 lbs. I'm not trying to start any conflict here ...just sharing my concerns about this concept working for someone that isn't a jock and doesn't do a lot of exercising at a gym. I like the terminology referred to here of being a "snowflake" - no I don't think that I am a snowflake. I am currently following Dr Hyman's Blood Sugar Solution. Which is working for me -0 -
It will. You must have patience.I'm actually really freaking out now and just feel like I'm safer with lower calories and that's the only thing that'll work and get the weight and inches off for sure... I don't have faith that eating 1900 calories a day will get these 51lbs and masses of inches off me!
Agreed. I've lost 106 lbs eating 1800-2200 cals daily. It's not super quick but it works and it ensures that my loss is fat and inches, not muscle.0 -
I was freaked out when I first started dieting, I watched everything I ate, freaked out if it was over 100 calories, and ate probably 300-500 calories under what I was being told to eat, and worried when I'd weight myself that nothing had changed, or looked in the mirror and been scared that nothing looked different. I had to let that go, and it seems like you're at the same point of needing to let go.
This is only your second day of increased calories, of course it's going to feel not right, you're not used to doing it, and it may make you feel like you're puffy and gross, because of all those calories you're consuming, how could this help?! Take a deep breath, have faith in what people are telling you, or at least take the time to see if it actually does, or doesn't work for you, 2 days is not enough time to notice anything but potentially water weight changes. Stressing out over how many calories you're consuming, or not consuming is not going to help with any weight loss. Continue the higher calories, with the exercise alone you'll want to consume more, and the weight/strength training will help you tone and loose the inches. Give the combination 2 weeks or so to see how your body reacts. Just breath. 0 -
I have been having the same issue. I am increasing my calories slowly, 100 at a time, and eating back some, but not all of my exercise calories. I've lost 32 pounds so far and definitely do not want to go backwards on the scale. Feel free to add me!0
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I'm actually really freaking out now and just feel like I'm safer with lower calories and that's the only thing that'll work and get the weight and inches off for sure... I don't have faith that eating 1900 calories a day will get these 51lbs and masses of inches off me!
I also have 50 pounds to lose, and I currently eat 2000ish every day. Some days I go a bit higher. It seriously works. I am still losing consistently by going as high as 2500 (my TDEE) on occasion. Just eat less than you burn. It's that simple.0 -
nothing wrong with going slow and steady0
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If you're eating to the point that you're bloated, I'm going to say that you're eating too much. Conflicting with what most people here say right? I'm sure there is a lot of misinformation in this thread. If you want to get a better answer to your question instead of conflicting information, you can head on over and ask a Licensed Dietition in the link below.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/13155-ask-the-dietitian0 -
Patience you must have0
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