The Eat More To Lose Weight Theory

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zachherda
zachherda Posts: 47
in Motivation and Support
WORKS! I am pretty good with nutrition and know what my body usually needs but even I found it really hard to start eating more to lose weight. It is not that it is hard to eat more lol that is why I am overweight, but the thought of it was hard to break. I started Insanity about a month ago at 242 lbs and dropped the first 12 fairly easy. I then could not shake the 230 plateu. This week I finally upped my calories because I knew I needed to and month 2 is coming and it is suppose to be hell. Dropped from 230 to 225. Yesterday I ate the worst I have since the start of the program and still lost a lb. long story short, get over that fear and feed your body!
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Replies

  • skparker2
    skparker2 Posts: 132
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    Good for you, Zach!!! I totally agree with you and it's true.

    If you are workin' out like crazy but not fueling your body with enough, then it freaks out and holds onto the weight!!! I tried 1200 when starting out and hated it (and almost always went over!) Didn't lose any weight until a month and a half later, when I bumped up to 1400! Then I lost my first two pounds.

    Flash forward four months. The end of this week marks my 4 months with MFP and progress has been slow but steady. I'm ALMOST to my 20 pound mark! I'd like to get there before the end of the week!
  • Blessedbythebest1
    Blessedbythebest1 Posts: 971 Member
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    I agree, I loving eating more to lose weight!
  • TakeTimeToCare19
    TakeTimeToCare19 Posts: 32
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    I just started the Eat More 2 weigh less thing. It just makes so much sense to me. eating 1200 or even 1400 calories is just not sustainable when you are working out and living life.
  • dpiercey75
    dpiercey75 Posts: 8 Member
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    I want to believe this but even when I up my calories, I end up feeling bloated. I'm having a hard time figuring out macro-nutrients since slowly moving away from a "low-carb" diet. I still try to watch my carbs and not eat more than 150-170, but I know I need to make sure to eat them since starting Insanity 3 weeks ago. I gained after my first weigh-in and have not weighed since. I see more definition in my mid-section, but I still can't seem to find the right amt of calories and macronutrient ratios that seem to work for me. Perhaps I've done low-carb so long that my body just wants to bloat whenever I even look at a carb...

    I'm glad upping your cals worked for you! Plateaus are frustrating. Keep up the good work!
  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
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    Unfortunately, whenever you restrict carbs severely, it takes time for your body to adjust to consuming it again. So you'll need to up it slowly and understand that your body will replenish glycogen stores, which means some gain, and the bloating will subside as you adjust.

    That's truly why we say, whatever you do for weightloss, you have to think about whether you'll want to do that forever. I personally believe unless for medical reasons...eat whole foods and enjoy your treats...all within moderation and your macros.

    So we promote...eat at a small deficit which should reduce the closer you get to goal, so you are almost at maintenance calories at the end.

    Start with the Scooby calculator to determine your TDEE and BMR...matter of fact please take a moment and stop by our site www.eatmore2weighless.com and you will find links to Scooby and to the forum that talks about upping after low carbing..."What to expect when upping cals".

    Hope this helps!
  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
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    HAH! LOVE IT!
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Doesn't work so hot for people who are simply underestimating their intake.
  • shimmer615
    shimmer615 Posts: 55
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    Glad it's working for you! In my lulls at work today I have been reading about that. It's REALLY hard for me to think that it's ok for me to eat more when that has what has caused my predicament in the first place. Not to give myself too much credit - but I'm a pretty smart person - and I am still somewhat confused after reading the "in place of a roadmap" thread.
  • bekah818
    bekah818 Posts: 179 Member
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    I'm so glad you posted this, because I find that whenever I hit a plateau, I up my calorie intake (all the while still keeping track without going too crazy), but I would eat more calories by 300-500 calories extra, and within the following week or two I'd lose weight.

    I have to keep reminding myself that you have to eat more to lose, because it's so ingrained in my head that the smaller I eat the more I'll lose. And there are times where I'd go a whole month without dropping a single lb because I didn't eat enough.


    One of the comments replying to your post said that eating more doesn't work for everyone because people underestimate, but that's the thing.. .just because you're eating more doesn't mean you don't still keep track and make good choices! Eat more but still keep track along with exercise and lots of water and you're sure to lose!
  • ClareWantsProgress
    ClareWantsProgress Posts: 173 Member
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    Everyone raves about this theory, but I cannot get it to work. I understand that if you eat too little your metabolism stalls, but I've never had the weight loss occur from eating more. When I eat too little I don't lose any weight, but I stay the same (15 -20 pounds overweight). So I try eating more (adding a hard boiled egg, a few more slices of turkey) and the scale immediately goes up 4-5 pounds. Obviously I haven't hit on the magic balance.
  • cherrybomb_77
    cherrybomb_77 Posts: 411 Member
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    <
    53 pounds lost in a little over a year. Hell yeah it works.
  • ClareWantsProgress
    ClareWantsProgress Posts: 173 Member
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    I just went to the site and plugged in my height, weight, etc. into the calculator, and it said my TDEE is 2193 just to maintain. Yet MFP with the same information tells me to net 1500 calories. That's quite a difference!!! No wonder I'm confused.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    Everyone raves about this theory, but I cannot get it to work. I understand that if you eat too little your metabolism stalls, but I've never had the weight loss occur from eating more. When I eat too little I don't lose any weight, but I stay the same (15 -20 pounds overweight). So I try eating more (adding a hard boiled egg, a few more slices of turkey) and the scale immediately goes up 4-5 pounds. Obviously I haven't hit on the magic balance.

    This is why:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/993576-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut

    The answer is do it for longer. Keep going eating "more" until the gain stops (after 5-7 pounds at the most) and it will start going the other way. This is, of course, if your plateau was from eating too little.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    I just went to the site and plugged in my height, weight, etc. into the calculator, and it said my TDEE is 2193 just to maintain. Yet MFP with the same information tells me to net 1500 calories. That's quite a difference!!! No wonder I'm confused.

    TDEE includes exercise. MFP doesn't; MFP only includes regular daily activity. And MFP's 1500 is to lose, right? Surely it's not giving you that to maintain unless you're tiny.
  • LearnFromTheRed
    LearnFromTheRed Posts: 294 Member
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    Yeah, I've got the same issue. MFP says I should be eating 1200 calories, which immediately seemed very low., so I've allowed myself to go over by up to about 150 calories.

    Then I ran a calculation through Scooby's and it said nearer to 1600, and on another kind of calculation 1700, which is a big difference. It's very confusing as to what is 'right'!
  • My0WNinspiration
    My0WNinspiration Posts: 1,146 Member
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    It's working for me too!
  • Hotdawgnothotdog
    Hotdawgnothotdog Posts: 179 Member
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    I've heard about the theory but haven't actually looked into it? Can someone tell me what it is? Sounds good to me… ;)
  • ashleyisgreat
    ashleyisgreat Posts: 586 Member
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    I'm a noob at this, but from what I've read, it's also important to consider the difference between losing "weight" (i.e., muscle + fat) and losing fat. Muscle weighs a lot more than fat, and if you're eating at a really high deficit, you WILL be losing muscle along with fat, hence a higher loss on the scale. But is that really a desirable loss? When you up your cals and feed your body, you lose much less muscle and much more fat, hence a smaller loss on the scale and a higher loss in inches. Much better, IMO.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974889-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    Eat between BMR and TDEE to lose weight. Closer to TDEE than to BMR. Read ^^.
  • ANewLucia
    ANewLucia Posts: 2,081 Member
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    Unfornately, when you eat low calories for an extended period of time, your metabolism resets itself to the lower intake level. The moment you eat above that, your body takes in those calories and stores it as fat, for energy to be used later when you go back to starving it again. God made us to survive and eating below BMR or at significant deficits for an extended period forces it to go into survival mode.

    In this case we suggest doing a metabolism reset...yes it is a mental challenge because you have to eat above what you are used to and you MAY gain some weight..>BUT after a while your body will start to trust you and start burning calories as it should because it is no longer in conservation mode because you are fueling it properly, and the weight gain stops at some point....Then, you can take a small cut and start to see loss again. Never again needing to slash calories in half but taking off 5-15% tops for a 4-8 wk period and then go back to TDEE for a week or two so your body doesn't adapt to the reduced calories. You continue that cycle and reduce that cut the closer you get to goal...shoot never again do you have to eat like a bird...

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