Do I need to eat more to lose fat?

jkleddy92
jkleddy92 Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am a notorious yo-yo dieter and everytime I have ever lost weight it was by restricting my calories (to the point where it was unhealthy) and doing tons of cardio and light weight lifting. I've always been able to get to my goal weight losing 1-2 pounds a week that way and have been happy with my results, but they are obviously not lasting or healthy and caused many binges. I have gained about 13 pounds over the past 6 months, partially from over-eating while studying abroad, but also partially because I stopped restricting so much and began eating a more balanced diet. I have a lot of extra fat on my stomach and thighs that I am trying to lose but I am trying to do it the healthy way. For the past 3 weeks I've been focusing more on weight lifting and less cardio, eating a 90% clean diet (I drink on the weekends), increasing my protein intake, but have seen little changes. I have been eating about 1300-1400 calories a day and even though it's a small number I feel like I am eating a ton of food! It's all healthy stuff like oatmeal, chicken, veggies, fruit, greek yogurt, etc. but I'm not sure if I am eating too few calories to see results or if I just need to wait longer. I'm afraid of increasing my calories and gaining more weight.

Replies

  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    For the past 3 weeks I've been focusing more on weight lifting and less cardio, eating a 90% clean diet (I drink on the weekends), increasing my protein intake, but have seen little changes. I have been eating about 1300-1400 calories a day and even though it's a small number I feel like I am eating a ton of food!

    How tall are you? How often do you work out and for how long and what activities? How much do you drink and do you log it? (depending on what you drink you can be consuming 200-700 calories in 1 drink) What little changes? More information is needed before we can have you go in a direction but 1300-1400 calories is probably a bit low.. but if you drink 3-5 hrs on a saturday you can have well over 1000 calories and there goes your deficit.
  • maryhitt
    maryhitt Posts: 12 Member
    Just a couple of ideas, FWIW. Several years ago, I worked with a trainer and finally lost 30 lbs. I kept it off for about 2 years, but then was in a serious car accident and couldn't exercise for a long time. So I gained most of it back. I am now able to exercise, so here we go again .. . .

    My trainer told me that it takes your body 2 days to recover from drinking alcohol. One reason is that alcohol is actually a poison, so when it hits your system, your liver immediately starts to work to filter it out. While it does that, the alcohol takes priority, so anything else you consume can't be used for energy and instead, gets stored as fat. (One reason, among several, why severe alcoholics have an enlarged abdomen). So you may not need to quit alcohol forever, but if you can give it up while you are trying to lose weight, that would be helpful.

    He also said that when you do cardio, you should really ramp it up and work as hard as you can, so that you are really seating. But stop at 30 minutes. He said that basically, after 45 minutes, your body has used up all it's stored energy, so itstarts breaking down muscle for energy. You want to build muscle, not break it down.

    And yes, you might need more calories, especially protein. I actually didn't start losing weight intil i increaed my calories to about 1,700, with 40% of that coming from protein. (I am a female, 5' 6" tall). Hope this information helps.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Nothing wrong with cardio, you just have to eat more to make up for it. The key is to eat at a reasonable deficit. So what you eat depends on your activity, but you can be as active as you want really.

    Just follow MFP. Pick 'lose 1 lb a week', eat back your exercise calories to keep a reasonable deficit, and you're good.
  • jkleddy92
    jkleddy92 Posts: 2 Member
    I am 5' 7" and usually do 30-40 min of running outside or on the treadmill (sometimes HIIT training) or 30-40 min on the eliptical, plus lifting weights 7.5-10 lbs for about 30 min. This is similar to what I've always done but I am trying to challenge myself more with the weight lifting and I am eating cleaner than ever, just more than in the past. I know the alcohol will limit my progress but being a senior in college and finally 21, I'm not sure it's something I am ready to give up right now. The last few times I've lost weight I was able to without cutting out alcohol so I know that it is possible, maybe just a little harder.

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