Scared to go out of the box!

nitaot
nitaot Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello out there...

This weight loss is slow and frustrating. I am going to the gym five days a week, which is a huge change for me. I am so confused as to whether I should up my calories to follow the "eat more to weigh less" approach, or stick with the traditional 1200 calories a day. I'm scared to death to mess up the small loss I have had so far!

Ideas/thoughts would be awesome!

Anita

Replies

  • Capt_Inzane
    Capt_Inzane Posts: 733 Member
    I'm not one to talk but everyone says calorie deficit and exercise is the way to go. You can eat back some of your calories gained by exercising and some even recommend boosting calorie intake if your plateauing. If I've given any wrong information please someone set me straight!
  • Fit_French
    Fit_French Posts: 134 Member
    I don't know your whole story, but i think 1200 is too low, even when netting. When you signed up, did you say you wanted to lose 2lbs a week? If so you might want to go back in and change it to around 1lb. The slower the weight loss, the better the results you'll have. slow and steady! I think you need to go to scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-counter/ to figure out what you should be eating calorie wise. Hope that helps!
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    When you put your information into MFP it figures your daily calories with a deficit so you need to be sure you're eating back your exercise calories or the deficit gets too large.

    I'd suggest figuring your BMR and TDEE with the -% and eating near that amount. I think most people who get the 1200 calories on MFP have less to lose and/or set it to 2 lbs a week.
  • RowenaBernice
    RowenaBernice Posts: 17
    I have a little advice based on personal experience. I too was eating 1200 calories a day since January while also working out 5 days a week with cardio and lifting weights. I refused to up my calorie intake a couple months ago (and I seriously regret that I didn't but oh well) because I was POSITIVE I would gain weight. And then I gained weight anyway on the 1200 calories after losing MAYBE 5 lbs to begin with. I don't know how you feel on 1200 calories a day, but I think any normal person would not react well to this. I personally was cranky ALL the time, tired and felt very fatigued in terms of bodily movement, though I still forced myself to workout. I recently took a break from the calorie counting and am now back eating at 20% of my TDEE, and it's only been a couple days but I FEEL completely better. It makes sense to think if you're depriving your body that it's not gonna let go of fat. And the less body fat you have to lose the more you're supposed to eat (within your BMR & TDEE calculations respectively of course). I would recommend reading a few of these links as they really help to explain it well.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975707-fat-loss-tactics-guide

    Good luck with your calorie upping!
  • mreeves261
    mreeves261 Posts: 728 Member
    I posted this in another thread but I think it works here as well. This is what I went through/am going through with Insanity. But it would work with any exercise or sedentary life style. I strongly urge you to look into finding your TDEE and BMR. Read up on them. I'm not saying this is the only way to go. All I am saying is the more you learn and try different things out the better equipped you will be to make good decisions regarding your health and weight.

    Week 1 - 1200 calories = exhausted, grumpy, unmotivated. Lost nothing
    Weeks 2-3 - 1400 calories = not as tired, not grumpy, not really motivated after working out. Lost a couple pounds and inches

    Discovered a BMR - TDEE Thread

    Weeks 4-7 - 1550 calories = felt much better, had stamina all day, didn't dread exercise at all. - Lost about 6 pounds
    Weeks 8-9 - Recalculated TDEE, bumped up to 1690 = Feel great, feel like I could run a marathon except I hate running and try to only do it 70 feet at a time during softball season. Lost about 5 more pounds. Through 3 weeks ago I had lost about 13 inches overall. Scheduled to take final measurements on Saturday.

    ETA: Just in case you aren't familiar....
    TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure - What you burn through the day
    BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate - What you would burn in a coma.
  • jukyu
    jukyu Posts: 80 Member
    have you calculated your TDEE? how do you know 1200 is your magic number for weight loss? I feel like everyone defaults to this figure without calculating their actual needs.
  • nitaot
    nitaot Posts: 14 Member
    Thank you everyone for the great information! I am working tonight on doing a better figure of my BMR and TDEE, and going to work on increasing the calories without feeling guilty...and stepping up the workout intensity!

    I love these boards!!!!!

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