Going up to 1500 Calories..

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I wanna go up to 1500 cals instead of 1200, and I've tried it for 3 days and I've put on weight? The only problem with 1200 is I burn SOOOO many calories everyday and the scale isn't really moving. What should I do? I need help, bad. I feel really fat even though I know I'm no where close to be considered overweight but ugh! :(

Replies

  • Allie_Dreams
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    Before I started this last week I was consuming over 2000 calories a day. I was not about to crash and burn. For me that drastic of a move was not good for me. So I set mine currently to 1640. I am losing last week I lost six pounds. As I lose weight I will decrease my caloric intake. This is working for me, it is not the same for everybody. But I have to do what is good for me and what will help me continue to achieve my goals. I encourage you to do the same. As long as you are eating less calories than before and getting some form of exercise you should be fine. Good luck !:happy:
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
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    We don't have enough information. How many calories do you burn a day on average? How many calories do you consume? Are you near your ideal weight? How long have you been eating in the 1200 range and exercising tons.
    Most people exercising tons need to be eating much more than 1200 or their body will settle into a slower metabulism to maintian it's weight. Often called starvation mode. This isn't fun because it will take less calories and more exercise to lose and you won't have enough food in your diet to get half the nutrition you need. Enter the info into MFP and eat the calories it perscibes. Eat healthy and be happy.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    You know what, I wouldn't recommend such a high jump right off the bat. I would recommend a 50 to 100 calorie jump per day for at least a week or two, see how it goes, then adjust from there. That's my $.02.
  • pickledlilly
    pickledlilly Posts: 98 Member
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    I'd like to see the replies on this, I've just bumped mine up to 1400 cals per day,
  • juliaodea
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    I have exactly the same issue, I am exercising 4 times a week (each time burning about 450 to 650 calories). I kep track of everything that I eat or drink and my allowance is 1230 cals a day. On the days that I exercise I have cals left over as I don't manage to eat up the exercise cals, on the days that I don't exercise sticking to 1230 is tough!

    I started this weight loss challenge just over a month ago and the scale isn't budging. I am in the healthy range for my height and age but I want to trim down, tone up and lose about 4 kilograms.

    At the moment I am still motivated, even though the results are hardly noticeable. Any tips on how I can speed things along while maintaining a healthy balance of cals and exercise?
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
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    Interesting. I think if you started a topic like "right weight, wrong shape, please advise" you might get some answers as to how to get leaner while at your ideal weight. I think your body almost needs a different recipe for that. Good luck.
    (for julia)
  • Mookz0r
    Mookz0r Posts: 143
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    How many calories were you eating before you started cutting back (ie how many were normal for you)? What's your BMR? What's your maintenance number of Calories?

    I really don't believe anyone should just drop to the minimum "healthy" amount. I'm eating 1550 +/- 100 every day and have lost a steady amount. My BMR is around the 1230 mark and my maintenance is 1950-ish. My thinking is that anything between those two figures is a/ what my body needs to function and b/ will provide me with a deficit.
  • juliaodea
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    How many calories were you eating before you started cutting back (ie how many were normal for you)? What's your BMR? What's your maintenance number of Calories?

    I really don't believe anyone should just drop to the minimum "healthy" amount. I'm eating 1550 +/- 100 every day and have lost a steady amount. My BMR is around the 1230 mark and my maintenance is 1950-ish. My thinking is that anything between those two figures is a/ what my body needs to function and b/ will provide me with a deficit.

    My BMR is 1382 and to maintain my current weight I need to consume 1730 according to MFP. I wasn't counting cals before so I would guess that I was having around 2000 or possibly more a day. The thing is that my diet has always been healthy - ie I don't take sugar, or eat sweets or any sort of junk food. I don't really drink either, so trying to cut out the bad things is quite tough for me.
  • pickledlilly
    pickledlilly Posts: 98 Member
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    The 1730 to maintain, does this include exercise as well? Or is this amount you just need to live please.
  • Mirabilis
    Mirabilis Posts: 312 Member
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    When I started here (*cough* not very long ago *cough*) I made the common error of less is better. So I exercised my head off, didn't eat my exercise calories and strictly kept to 1200 per day. Very common mistake.

    When nothing was happening on the scale I started listening to the experts here and upped my intake to 1470 (recommended cals for 1 lb. per week loss for me by MFP) and started losing weight again. That wasn't immediately.. it took a week or so to normalize, but I'm now down 12 lbs in 6 weeks, which is more than I planned.

    I also backed off on the exercise to a liveable level and started eating some (not all) of those calories as well, which is harder than I would have expected some days. Those regular small meals throughout the day are essential.

    EDIT: OH YEAH -- don't forget to recalculate your BMR/daily cals every 10 lbs or so. It goes down!

    Mirii
  • Mookz0r
    Mookz0r Posts: 143
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    How many calories were you eating before you started cutting back (ie how many were normal for you)? What's your BMR? What's your maintenance number of Calories?

    I really don't believe anyone should just drop to the minimum "healthy" amount. I'm eating 1550 +/- 100 every day and have lost a steady amount. My BMR is around the 1230 mark and my maintenance is 1950-ish. My thinking is that anything between those two figures is a/ what my body needs to function and b/ will provide me with a deficit.

    My BMR is 1382 and to maintain my current weight I need to consume 1730 according to MFP. I wasn't counting cals before so I would guess that I was having around 2000 or possibly more a day. The thing is that my diet has always been healthy - ie I don't take sugar, or eat sweets or any sort of junk food. I don't really drink either, so trying to cut out the bad things is quite tough for me.

    I've always eaten healthily too - I don't have a sweet tooth, so yes, most of my changes were to do with portion size and choice of snacks..

    At the end of the day, any change needs to be workable long term. It's not just about losing weight but also about training yourself (mind and body) to live healthily - exercise every spare moment and eating a very low amount of calories isn't a long term thing!
  • juliaodea
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    The 1730 to maintain, does this include exercise as well? Or is this amount you just need to live please.

    1730 to maintain.
  • juliaodea
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    When I started here (*cough* not very long ago *cough*) I made the common error of less is better. So I exercised my head off, didn't eat my exercise calories and strictly kept to 1200 per day. Very common mistake.

    When nothing was happening on the scale I started listening to the experts here and upped my intake to 1470 (recommended cals for 1 lb. per week loss for me by MFP) and started losing weight again. That wasn't immediately.. it took a week or so to normalize, but I'm now down 12 lbs in 6 weeks, which is more than I planned.

    I also backed off on the exercise to a liveable level and started eating some (not all) of those calories as well, which is harder than I would have expected some days. Those regular small meals throughout the day are essential.

    EDIT: OH YEAH -- don't forget to recalculate your BMR/daily cals every 10 lbs or so. It goes down!

    Mirii

    The figure of 1230 is the figure that MFP said I should consume to lose the recommended 1lb per week. Congrats on your loss!!
  • ashtonscoggins
    ashtonscoggins Posts: 105 Member
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    I feel this is my problem as well. I cut my calories in half and I exercise and I gained weight! Or I do everything by the book and still gain weight or lose nothing. This is the highest weight ive ever been, about 30 pounds away from a normal weight for my height and age. Im not big on exercising EVERYDAY so I just keep to the 1200 calories recommended on here (although every website I get on is different). I feel like the days I do exercise and burn those calories I dont want to eat them again. What would be the real point in that? Burn calories to go home and eat them again?? So majority of the time I dont even log them. Im not perfect and sometimes I go over 1200 calories but never over 1500. A couple of months back I was on a 1500 calorie diet and lost four pounds that was it. I beyond understand the hopeless feeling of trying so hard and not losing anything. I guess I will just keep trying, thats all I can do. Any pointers would be great.