Giving up on eating above my BMR

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

I don't know if anyone else has found this, but when I first joined MFP I was eating the 1,200 calories they recommended for me and lost 7 pounds in the first few weeks of that. Then my weight loss stalled and I came to the forums for advice, I was told about BMR and calculated that I need to eat between 1,500-1,600 calories and you WILL lose weight and it's better for long-term health. I was told to give my body a month at least to adjust. I ate that way for a month and a half and lost maybe one pound during that time.

This past week I have gone back to eating at 1,200 calories and I have dropped 3 pounds. It's really made me wonder if eating above your BMR does work for everyone and reset your metabalism, or if some people will just get better results eating at 1, 200 calories?

Has anyone else had a similar experience to mine? I didn't mind eating above my BMR for healthier and slower weight loss, even just half a pound a week would have been fine and I would have felt like I was getting somewhere, but at the end of the day I did join MFP to lose some weight and it felt like I was getting no results at all that way, Even losing the pound I did lose was a struggle as twice I gained it back again, it felt like I was going nowhere

peachstategal · July 2013

I think everyone is different and you should do what works for you. It all depends on your body build, age, and activity level. Also, your metabolism and hormones. There is no way I can lose weight eating over 1200 calories a day. Right now I am maintaining but I still need to lose 25 pounds. It will take me a long time because I am older and not very active but I will get there.

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

I was hoping eating that way would reset my metabolism, but yeah I'm wondering if we are all different and it just won't work for some people? (I'm 31)

Right now I'm planning to stay at 1,200 calories, and then hopefully gradually increase it each week back to 1,500-1,600 once I'm ready to start maintaining my weight. But it was getting ridiculous when I was trying to cut my weight and seeing no results for at all for that length of time. I think that amount of calories must be what I need to eat to maintain my weight

rochey_1 · July 2013

this is the problem i feel..Everyone is different, and that's why i feel when it comes to diet/nutrition/fitness there is so much conflicting information and it confuses the hell out of me.

I think our bodies all have different settings...So someone could under eat and lose and others could under eat and stall.

All i can say is listen to your body...Eat as clean as possible, work out, and if your body wants food give it food, everything balanced and in moderation.

Eating right and staying active i think is the key.

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

this is the problem i feel..Everyone is different, and that's why i feel when it comes to diet/nutrition/fitness there is so much conflicting information and it confuses the hell out of me.

I think our bodies all have different settings...So someone could under eat and lose and others could under eat and stall.

All i can say is listen to your body...Eat as clean as possible, work out, and if your body wants food give it food, everything balanced and in moderation.

Eating right and staying active i think is the key.

Yep, I'm wondering if some peoples metabolisms really are slower than average and there's nothing we can do about it, eating at 1,500 calories sure didn't make mine move any faster

Francl27 · July 2013

The problem is you're probably going to end up stalling again.

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

So then what is the solution for me? Because my weight loss stalled more on 1, 500 calories than it ever did on 1, 200

UnicornBaconsEsq · July 2013

I see a lot of women who get very good results eating above 1200 calories, but I think it really works better if you're exercising. I'm just about to turn 34 and I'm only 5'1, so I'm not sure that I really need upwards of 1500 calories. I always find it difficult to eat that much anyway and I usually feel sluggish and gross if I try. if I'm not working out hard I won't lose at all if I go much over 1200 unless I keep my carbs very, very low.

I think you should listen to your body for the most part. I just started the Insanity workouts this week so I've been eating a little more than usual, but not tons. If I'm hungry I eat, but I've cut the majority of crap out of my diet as well so that limits the damage I can do and it's harder to overeat. That stuff just isn't in my house so I can't have it. I do not "eat back" my exercise calories every day, I just adjust based on if I'm hungry or whether or not I have the energy to get through an intense workout. I haven't been tracking my food very closely lately, but I tend to come in between 1200 and 1400 a day, sometimes a little higher or lower. And I'm losing at a satisfactory pace when I stick to this. I'm not sure I buy the "resetting your metabolism" thing works for everyone.

Small people, sedentary people and older people just don't tend to need as many calories as younger, bigger or more active people. I think it's sort of common sense but you tend to hear a lot about eating more to lose more in the forums here without really taking into consideration that some people just don't need to do that.

If you're stalling at 1200 but not losing at 1500, it might help to add some exercise. Even walking a few days a week if you're not in great shape is a good start. Also take a look at the types of food and quality of food you're eating. For instance, if I eat a carb heavy diet or a lot of grains (even whole grains and "good" carbs), or I eat low calorie but with a lot of sugar or junk food, I will not lose and I've even gained weight on 1200-ish. same goes for alcohol, I'm not sure if you drink but more than a drink or two a week tends to stall me out big time for a few days. But if I'm making sure I eat a high quality diet, it seems to matter less how much I eat. Don't forget to drink water and get plenty of sleep and take good care of yourself in general too, I've found as I get older these things impact my weight and overall well being a lot more.

Keep in mind that everyone is an individual and your body will react differently than other people's to different ways of eating. There's nothing wrong with playing around with your diet a little to see what works best for you. The idea is that you're making a lifestyle change to keep the weight off, so you have to make sure the changes you make are also sustainable when you get to maintenance.

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

I see a lot of women who get very good results eating above 1200 calories, but I think it really works better if you're exercising. I'm just about to turn 34 and I'm only 5'1, so I'm not sure that I really need upwards of 1500 calories. I always find it difficult to eat that much anyway and I usually feel sluggish and gross if I try. if I'm not working out hard I won't lose at all if I go much over 1200 unless I keep my carbs very, very low.

I think you should listen to your body for the most part. I just started the Insanity workouts this week so I've been eating a little more than usual, but not tons. If I'm hungry I eat, but I've cut the majority of crap out of my diet as well so that limits the damage I can do and it's harder to overeat. That stuff just isn't in my house so I can't have it. I do not "eat back" my exercise calories every day, I just adjust based on if I'm hungry or whether or not I have the energy to get through an intense workout. I haven't been tracking my food very closely lately, but I tend to come in between 1200 and 1400 a day, sometimes a little higher or lower. And I'm losing at a satisfactory pace when I stick to this. I'm not sure I buy the "resetting your metabolism" thing works for everyone.

Small people, sedentary people and older people just don't tend to need as many calories as younger, bigger or more active people. I think it's sort of common sense but you tend to hear a lot about eating more to lose more in the forums here without really taking into consideration that some people just don't need to do that.

If you're stalling at 1200 but not losing at 1500, it might help to add some exercise. Even walking a few days a week if you're not in great shape is a good start. Also take a look at the types of food and quality of food you're eating. For instance, if I eat a carb heavy diet or a lot of grains (even whole grains and "good" carbs), or I eat low calorie but with a lot of sugar or junk food, I will not lose and I've even gained weight on 1200-ish. same goes for alcohol, I'm not sure if you drink but more than a drink or two a week tends to stall me out big time for a few days. But if I'm making sure I eat a high quality diet, it seems to matter less how much I eat. Don't forget to drink water and get plenty of sleep and take good care of yourself in general too, I've found as I get older these things impact my weight and overall well being a lot more.

Keep in mind that everyone is an individual and your body will react differently than other people's to different ways of eating. There's nothing wrong with playing around with your diet a little to see what works best for you. The idea is that you're making a lifestyle change to keep the weight off, so you have to make sure the changes you make are also sustainable when you get to maintenance.

Thanks for this post, that was really helpful! Honestly if anything I think that I was starting to overeat on 1, 500 calories. It sounds silly, but I had a post asking about it cause when you're sticking to lots of healthy fruit and veg, an egg for breakfast (mine weigh in at 103 calories) etc, my meals just weren't all that huge or above 300/400 calories average, so I kept wondering if I should add in a lot of snacks to make up my daily allowance of 1,500. But I found it hard for healthy snacks to add up to enough that way, because really how many apples or other healthy snacks do you have to eat to add a lot of calories! If you're eating snacks of less than 100 calories then it adds up to a lot of extra snacks which didn't feel right, I was told that it doesn't matter if you eat less than healthily/bigger calorie snacks provided I keep to the allocated calories, but doing it that way I felt like my eating wasn't as clean.

UnicornBaconsEsq · July 2013

Glad it was helpful. I think I'm trying to write a novel today!

Also bear in mind that weight loss will not be constant. Everyone plateaus at times and there's a lot of good advice about breaking plateaus that you can try to shake things up a little if you get stuck in one. I think it gets harder/slower to lose the closer you get to your goal weight as well.

I think one of the reasons people say "you'll stall out at 1200 calories eventually" and things like that is because of how a lot of people tend to diet. Say someone lowers their calories initially to 1500 and is losing weight. Weight loss slows down, so they cut down to 1400 to compensate. Eventually they stall so they lower to 1300, to 1200, etc. After a while you can't go much lower, and especially if you start at 1200.

But nobody said you have to eat the exact same number of calories a day either. I think it's good to have a general goal to aim for, but it's not always going to be possible or desirable stick to it. For instance, I did one of the "easier" Insanity workouts yesterday and so I ate a lot less. But today was one of the harder ones and I will be starving all day long, so I will most likely eat more (within reason). I've also found that if I mix up workouts and eat according to how hungry I am that I do not stall out as frequently.

You would think this stuff is super obvious, but for me hearing years of conflicting information on nutrition and how to lose weight have confused me a lot. So for ages, I've been constantly bouncing up and down the scale and finally I hit a point where I was gaining and gaining and nothing would budge it. Over the last 6 or 8 months, I've started really paying attention to how I feel versus what I'm "supposed" to do and I'm finally seeing weight come off at a good clip. One good side effect of this is that it's forced me to be very mindful of whether I'm really actually hungry or I'm eating for various other reasons. I think that this is sort of what that intuitive eating thing is all about, and it's made a huge difference in the way I look and feel.

I do have a lot more weight to lose but I've also found that losing it is way less emotionally fraught if I attack it like this, as opposed to "going on a diet". Just from the examples you gave, it sounds like your diet is generally pretty good, so don't be discouraged if you hit a few stalls or setbacks here and there either. It happens to everyone, and sometimes all you can do is kind of keep at things and wait it out as your body adjusts itself.

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

Just from the examples you gave, it sounds like your diet is generally pretty good, so don't be discouraged if you hit a few stalls or setbacks here and there either. It happens to everyone, and sometimes all you can do is kind of keep at things and wait it out as your body adjusts itself.

That's part of why I was confused at all the advise of you will maintain at 2,200 and lose at 1,500. Because I can't say for sure obviously, but I don't think that I was eating all that much above 2000 calories when I gained weight in the first place. I wasn't measuring calories so I can't say for sure, but I've never been that big an eater so I'm sure that I wasn't going over it that much on a regular basis, and yet I still managed to gain quite a bit of weight over the years

I'm down to 10 stone 11 now and I've got a stone and a half to go, so hopefully I will be able to manage that without stalling too much at the last hurdle

Exersise is what I suck at! I've lost weight so far just from eating alone. I do walk the dog kind of exericise, but nothing high intensity at all. I always end up doing like one running session or an exercise video one time, and then dropping it cause I'm so bored. I've never been very athletic. I'm thinking I will need to start getting more disiplined with exercising to lose those final pounds though

yanniejannie · July 2013

Why am I a fan of 1200???? It works!!! I am at goal................and I ate right about 1200 the whole time (rarely 1000 and sometimes 1400, but mostly 1200 ). I've lost 28lbs. in a little more than 6 mo. with no major exercise effort, a little a few days a week........basically yoga, tai chi, a very light exercise class, some walking and eliptical.

Best advice: protein is your friend............get a scale and weigh EVERYTHING...........don't drink your cals..........

Good luck!!!

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

Thanks!

kazsjourney · July 2013

I agree do what works for you. Also the BMR calculations you get on websites are not 100% accurate. They are guestimates based on averages. You may indeed have a much lower BMR then the calculators online say

DevraJensen · July 2013

I know what you mean. Same here. Sticking to the 1200/day works for me. I'm 49 yrs. 5'5"; close to my goal weight and have a desk job. Currently I can't workout due to severely low iron but once the doc get my iron levels back up I'll be back to Jillian's Body Revolution. While working out I eat back half or all of my calories burned (depending on if I'm still hungry). I've tried switching to maintenance mode of 1480 cals/day and it just made me gain - after two weeks of that I went back to 1200 calories a day and started dropping again. I will say that I do have hungry days and I listen to my body. I feel there are some days my body just appreciates the calorie intake getting hiked up 300 calories. :glasses:

sbatz111 · July 2013

I agree with the above. My calculated BMR was 2200ish when I started, and I never lost a thing. It's much lower now, but I still eat below it, and I have for months. The weight comes off at a normal pace, and I feel fine. Many people will tell you that you HAVE to eat your BMR, but many people are wrong. If you feel healthy, you are probably doing well.
Good luck!

jjrichard83 · July 2013

We are not all "snowflakes". We are not different. Unless you have a medical condition - what works for one will work for another.

I never understood eating back exercised calories while losing weight. Eating around your BMR to drop weight and see results is a good idea as long as you can create healthy habits by the time you reach your goal!

phyllisgehrke · July 2013

I am 66 years old.
I eat 1200 calories a day sometimes less.
I do minimal exercise because of health problems

This has worked for me and I have lost 20 pounds. One more pound to go and then on to Maintenance.

birdiecs · July 2013

Unless you are very tiny it's not likely your BMR is less than 1200.

michellekicks · July 2013

Yeah if you don't exercise, you don't need that much. You probably did reset your metabolism - you reset it to maintain on 1500-1600 calories, so when you cut down to 1200 you started losing again.

Would it work if you were to reset at 1800 calories? 2000 calories? Maybe. If you did and your maintenance calories became 2000 calories through systematically increasing your metabolic capacity, you'd be able to lose on, say, 1700 or 1600 calories... but if you're not willing to go through the waiting and possibly gaining that would take place while you increase your maintenance to 2000, you will not be happy.

If you don't mind eating 1200 calories, do it. Once you lose all the weight you want, you'll be eating 1500-1600 daily to maintain. Forever. If you're okay with that, there's no problem.

dianesheart88 · July 2013

Exersise is what I suck at! I've lost weight so far just from eating alone. I do walk the dog kind of exericise, but nothing high intensity at all. I always end up doing like one running session or an exercise video one time, and then dropping it cause I'm so bored. I've never been very athletic. I'm thinking I will need to start getting more disiplined with exercising to lose those final pounds though

^This is what can make all the difference. I have been eating the 1200 or much less for 5 weeks and haven't lost a pound. I believe my body is in starvation mode. Now... I am trying to eat the majority of my allowed calories including exercise. No two people are alike so it does come down to what works for you. I would consider accelerating your burning machine with some exercise and see how that works. Good Luck!

Mom2Lizzy · July 2013

1 1/2 years ago I used MFP and lost 30 pounds in a few months - using their recommendations. I exercised some, but mainly the weight just started dropping off. At some points I worried that I had cancer, because I just kept losing. It was effortless (pretty-much). After a few months of maintenance, I stopped logging. I ate reasonably, not as strict as I had been, but I started to gain. I felt tired all the time. Sometimes just getting out of bed and making breakfast made me so tired I had to lay back down. I just kept gaining, and gaining, and felt exhausted most of the time. When summer came, I was very discouraged that none of my clothes fit. My size 6 shorts laughed at me. I'm now up the entire 30 pounds I had lost. I started logging again about 27 days ago, and have finally stopped gaining, but I'm not losing either. I'm being very strict about logging, eating healthy, exercising, and NOT LOSING. I've had my thyroid tested, my TSH was normal. I'm convinced that something in my hormonal makeup is not right... But, I'll need more testing. SO, to those who say that we are not different - YOU ARE WRONG. In just 1 1/2 years - even I am different. I am not losing weight, despite eating a balanced diet. In addition, I gave up most gluten and most processed food - in hope that that would help. I feel better, not as tired, not having headaches all the time, but it is frustrating to have extra weight that won't budge. You need to do what works for you. Best of luck to you.

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

Would it work if you were to reset at 1800 calories? 2000 calories? Maybe. If you did and your maintenance calories became 2000 calories through systematically increasing your metabolic capacity, you'd be able to lose on, say, 1700 or 1600 calories... but if you're not willing to go through the waiting and possibly gaining that would take place while you increase your maintenance to 2000, you will not be happy.

I was told through online calculators that my maintaince for my size was ALREADY 2,200 calories and that I would lose at 1,500, no one said that you has to eat more to first train your body to maintain on 2,000?

Frelling_Tralk · July 2013

I agree with the above. My calculated BMR was 2200ish when I started, and I never lost a thing. It's much lower now, but I still eat below it, and I have for months. The weight comes off at a normal pace, and I feel fine. Many people will tell you that you HAVE to eat your BMR, but many people are wrong. If you feel healthy, you are probably doing well.
Good luck!

Thanks

I have since decided to eat at around 1,500 calories when I'm very active at work and on my feet all day, but in my days off I'm still going to stick to 1,200 calories as that seriously seems to be the only way that I can lose weight. Some people refuse to believe that the BMR calculations don't work for everyone and you have to give it time, but I did spend a month and a half eating the recommended amount and I was not losing weight at the end if the day.

toutmonpossible · July 2013

Fitness experts -- people with education and credentials -- have written here that you can safely eat below your BMR. I would go back to whatever worked.

michellekicks · July 2013

Would it work if you were to reset at 1800 calories? 2000 calories? Maybe. If you did and your maintenance calories became 2000 calories through systematically increasing your metabolic capacity, you'd be able to lose on, say, 1700 or 1600 calories... but if you're not willing to go through the waiting and possibly gaining that would take place while you increase your maintenance to 2000, you will not be happy.

I was told through online calculators that my maintaince for my size was ALREADY 2,200 calories and that I would lose at 1,500, no one said that you has to eat more to first train your body to maintain on 2,000?

You shouldn't have to first train your body to burn more, unless you have first trained your body to function on less - like 1200 calories a day for a long period of time. If your body has become accustomed to getting only 1200 calories per day for months or even years, it is absolutely not capable of burning 2200 calories in a day. You would have to re-hab your metabolic capacity by slowly increasing calories to the point where you can eat 2200 calories in a day without gaining weight. Then you could cut at a reasonable intake.

Watch this Layne Norton video on Metabolic Damage/Adaptation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk

Dr. Layne Norton's education:
BS in Biochemistry from Eckerd College with honors (>3.5 GPA) in 2004
PhD Nutritional Sciences with honors (>3.5 GPA), University of Illinois 2010

luvnumbers · July 2013

I do know that all calories are not created equal. If the additional calories included sugar and processed foods, thats not good. If the additional calories were from natural fruits and veggies, that is whats desired. If you are getting in additional healthy calories, the metabolism will burn and you will lose weight I am told. The program I am in said I need to be consuming some form of healthy food every two to three hours to keep the metabolism turned up. The problem is, I don't like veggies! So its hard for me to get in that many healthy calories.

galilanee26 · July 2013

Thanks for this thread.

Lynn_babcock · July 2013

I was eating the 1,200 calories they recommended for me and lost 7 pounds in the first few weeks of that. Then my weight loss stalled.... eat between 1,500-1,600 calories and you WILL lose weight and it's better for long-term health. I was told to give my body a month at least to adjust. I ate that way for a month and a half and lost maybe one pound during that time.

This past week I have gone back to eating at 1,200 calories and I have dropped 3 pounds. It's really made me wonder if eating above your BMR does work for everyone

Each pound lost is 3,600 calories deficit. The instant weight you are loosing by cutting back has got to be colon content weight. You are talking the difference of @300-400 calories a day, over a week that is the difference of 2100-2800 calories. So the numbers say it is less than a pound a week more you would loose.

If you believe 1200 calories a day works for you.. then why did you stall? Slow and steady...

Personally I believe in changing up your calories so your body doesn't accustom to a certain calorie mark and holds onto weight.

kita_254 · July 2013

Everyone is definitely different. I have found success with slowly increasing my calories. I just increased my calories to 1700 and lost over 2 pounds. I do workout 5 days a week burning around 500 calories a day. The whole idea is to lose weight and be able to sustain the weight loss. You don't want to get to your goal weight and gain back or gave to diet the rest of your life. Remember, no one can tell you how you should lose weight, they can only give advice. Good luck on your journey! You can do it!

walleymama · July 2013

For instance, if I eat a carb heavy diet or a lot of grains (even whole grains and "good" carbs), or I eat low calorie but with a lot of sugar or junk food, I will not lose and I've even gained weight on 1200-ish.

As with the above quote, I have lost weight readily on a high calorie diet by cutting way down on carbs. That is just my body and I get that it might not work for everybody. My point is that everybody is different. My Dad could eat carbs all day and never gain weight. I just look at a bagel sideways and gain a pound.

I'm now experimenting with eating more carbs but watching caloric intake to see if that works, and to compare it to my past success with low-carb/high-fat. I'm much more active now than when I did the other diet, and I'm hoping this will let me "get away" with eating more carbs (because, frankly, I enjoy such things as rice, beans, sandwiches, etc). My prediction is that I will also lose weight this way, although perhaps not as quickly and easily.

All this is to say that an individual's weight loss depends on so many things. It isn't as simple as caloric intake. You will have to experiment to figure out what works best for your body. Age, current weight, BMR, activity level, eating patterns, types of food you are eating, even the time of year (some people, like myself, tend to gain a couple of pounds in winter and lose in summer and I think it is simply b/c my body doesn't need as much fuel to keep warm as it does in colder weather); all these can affect weight loss.

Giving up on eating above my BMR

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