Upped Calories based on TDEE...When Will I Start to Lose?

A -20% cut for someone who maintains at 1700 calories is a 340 calorie deficit per day, or almost 11 days to lose one pound (1 pound = 3500 calories) or twenty two days to lose 2 pounds. If your maintenance calories or TDEE is less, then a 20% cut will take even longer to lose 1 pound. With variations in hydration levels and water weight, you could go weeks without seeing a loss on the scale. 15 days to go from 149 to 148 on the scale..

And that's without ever ever EVER ever ever ever ever cheating or going over. If your cut isn't as drastic, if you don't quite keep to your goals each day, the loss will take longer. I don't know about you but when I get serious about my cut, a week and a half of not seeing the scale budge is pretty discouraging.

And then, what happens if the calculator is over-estimating your daily needs (as I suspect that most of them do)?? You could spin your wheels in perpetuity trying to figure out whats wrong.

I have to ask, what's wrong with MFP's built in calculator? Find your BMR, multiply it by the sedentary (1.2) multiplier, and you've got your total daily energy expenditure. Any exercise burnt off is just bonus then.

The problem with internet calculators is that they require you to know your BMR. All of the formulas are based off of that one number, and using an internet calculator for such a specialized, specific number means that they could be as much as 15% high or low, depending on who you are and what your lifestyle and genetic factors are.

Think of the genetic differences between all of us, as humans, and think of how some people can eat like sumo wrestlers and be thin, while others of the same height eat moderately and gain tons of weight. You can't really identify those people based on any physical factors, BMR has to be measured.

Find a bod pod, and get your BMR measured in real life, and then you can run all the math you want

Otherwise, your math and numbers might be close, but when we're talking a cut in the range of 10 to 20% less, you could blow your whole cut for the day with one delicious cookie.

When I increased calories I gained a pound and held onto it for exactly one month. About two weeks in I started to get really impatient but I didn't want to give up so I decided to take my measurements and do my best to be patient. I lost over 5 inches in about two weeks but never lost a pound.
After that really, really long month I lost a pound. A few days later I lost another pound and a week later another pound.

The pound you gained isn't a pound of fat. It's just water weight from eating more. Take your measurements and use clothes to monitor your progress. Keep in mind that the scale can show only part of your progress or sometimes it doesn't reflect any of your success as in my case. It's possible to burn fat and not lose pounds. Give it a month and hang in there. If you feel like the scale is bringing you down put it in the garage or a closet for a month or at least two weeks.

And don't get me wrong...I totally know what it's like to want to lose pounds. I hate my weight but I'm not one of those people that steadily drops pounds whether I eat 1700 calories or 1200 calories. I have to accept my weight loss as it happens and just do my best to keep making it happen. We have to be patient and not give up.

Here are my stats:

CW: 174.2
H: 5'3
AGE : 25
Female

GW: 140
UGW: 125

TDEE- 1903 (at no exercise) and 2180 at light activity...and at moderate activity its 2458

BMR- 1504

BMI- 31

BF- 35.7

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I workout 6 days a week doing turbo fire and in a couple weeks i will be starting p90x...

Are you saying that this method will not work for me?

Not at all, I'm saying that a -20% cut will take weight off much slower than setting a goal of how many calories to "un-eat" for the week.

and the change in weight from upping calories is more likely due to water retention or *weight* gain from the weight of the food you ate and water you drank.

Take an empty gallon jug, and fill it with water.

Weigh yourself on the scale, and then weigh yourself AGAIN holding the gallon of water.

Water weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon.

That's 2 pounds per quart

or 1 pound per 16 ounce large glass of water.

This is why fighters will dehydrate the before the weigh in, making them sweat off as much water as possible, they can lose double digit pounds simply by shedding the water.. and because being hydrated can mask any changes in bodyfat composition, if you're slightly more hydrated than your last weigh in, or if you had more salt in your last meal, your body will have more water in it. (salt and water maintain a balance, a ratio in your body, so if you eat more salt, your body will retain more water to maintain the proper ratios)

You can't weigh in daily if you want to see a real change, because daily weighing only shows you changes in how much you WEIGH, not in how much fat you have. Food weighs too.. so if you think about it.... many different factors play a role in how much you WEIGH.

You can't gain a pound by eating slightly more calories than you were before, to gain fat you have to eat at a calorie surplus.

As to how you should go about conquering your weight gain and getting into the body you want, you should find a strategy that works best for you, your personal preferences, what fits your days the best, choose a strategy that you like.

Personally, I like Intermittent Fasting, it's easy for me to keep track of my caloric intake when I'm only eating in an 8 hour window, and fasting for 16 - 4 hours before bed and 4 hours after waking. It isn't exceptionally difficult, but a lot of people might not like it.

Some people may prefer eating every few hours, and may stay full from small frequent meals. Some people may eat at maintenance all week, and fast for 24 hours once or twice a week, consuming 20% less calories over a week than they need (from a book called Eat, Stop, Eat)

The key to it all is eating less than you need. The more you uneat, the faster the weight will come off. The problem with trying to do it quickly, of trying to tear off fat is that your body will adapt to a drastic calorie cut, and your BMR will temporarily drop. In which case you will need to refeed in order to reset your body.

You could do a -20% cut, and stick with losing 1 pound a week. With a small calorie cut like that, no refeeds are necessary, but it will take days or weeks to see small changes on the scale. You won't get the frequent reinforcement of the scale telling you that you're on track.

So what fits your personality? What kind of weight loss strategy are you happiest with, what catches your fancy?

I gained at first too, it took me about 10-12 days to get back to my weight when I started TDEE-20%, but every body is different, I have heard to give it (or any major diet change) at least 6 weeks and then reevaluate from there

Here's a link on how to add calories to a restricted diet. Add them up slowly letting your body adjust and vary the amount.


http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/battlingbinge