Why Eat MORE calories?

Options
2»

Replies

  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    Options
    I think people like to use it as an excuse to make themselves feel better for eating just under their BMR. I also don't get people eating exercise cals back? I'd rather not exercise!

    I am a die hard 1200 cal girl and Im going strong, and loosing at a great rate.

    Yeah...whatever...
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    Options
    Why does everyone say eat more calories and you will lose weight?
    I could make my diary public if you guys want to look and tell me if it looks ok or not. I am trying to keep carbs down. Carbs just stick to me.
    I just started 2 weeks ago and lost 2 lbs so far. It feels very slow......

    Well, it is false that eating more directly leads to weight loss.

    But eating more may help you continue long term rather than short term.
    Depends on what "eating more" is referring to. To the girl earlier today who decided to eat 900 a day and asked if that was good, many people told her no -it's not and she needs to eat more and will have better success if she does. To those who eat everything in sight and don't watch their diet at all, then of course eat more is not good advice for them.

    Rather than just "eat more", most of us who offer that advice are meaning specifically, eat more than the standard 1200 that MFP spits out when everyone sets their loss goal for 2lbs a week, even if they only have 10-20lbs to lose. That's too aggressive a goal, and leaves them with too large a deficit.

    So rather than just "eat more" - eat the PROPER amount of calories for your stats - m/f, height, current weight, activity level and goals. Basically in between your BMR and your TDEE. MFP works beautifully when used correctly - info and goals entered accurately and reasonably, and when exercise cals (at least a good portion of them) are eaten back, bringing daily NET cals at or very near goal, and you're still at a deficit for the day.

    Those who are set at 1200 cals and refuse to eat a single exercise cal "because it's stupid after all that hard work" will get an "EAT MORE" from me every time. Food is fuel, and you will have your best success if you're properly fueling your body for your daily life and exercise. Fat comes off, lean muscle is preserved, and you get to your goals in a sustainable manner that you can stick with. Drastic calorie cuts and huge deficits lead to burn out and yo-yo dieting.

    That's why some of us say eat more. :smile: Besides - why limit yourself to 1200 when you can eat more (1800-2000 in my case) and still lose the fat and inches? I'd much rather enjoy life and the foods I love while dropping the weight than restricting myself and having to cut out so many things to try to stick to a lower number.

    love~ :love:
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Options
    Why does everyone say eat more calories and you will lose weight?
    I could make my diary public if you guys want to look and tell me if it looks ok or not. I am trying to keep carbs down. Carbs just stick to me.
    I just started 2 weeks ago and lost 2 lbs so far. It feels very slow......

    Eat more (or less) is all relative to how much you are consuming and burning. Like the previous poster said, you need to figure out how much YOU need to be eating based on your stats and level of activity. There is no one size fits all. The weeks I lost the least amount of weight were when I stuck to 1200 and didn't eat exercise cals back. I was also very tired and stressed out. It didn't work for me.
  • pilatesXOpixie
    pilatesXOpixie Posts: 70 Member
    Options
    It has taken me years to work this out. I never eat breakfast had hardly anything for lunch small night meal. Told by dieatation I'm not eating enough. Yeh that's why I'm fat I'm trying to loose it. Took advice changed to 3 meals increased my calories I've lost 14 pound in 4 weeks. The body needs the fuel to burn the fat fact it works.

    So essentially you were eating 2 very small "meals" a day? Good lord, that's why upping calories worked for you. Your body was starving, any calories you DID consume your body was turning to fat.

    As for me, 1200-1300 is working pretty well now and wasn't what lead to me straying from a healthy lifestyle. I don't feel weak, I haven't had to cut many things from my diet so it hasn't lead to binges personally, and I don't feel hungry. However I do assume this has to do mostly with my size and activity level which isn't as much as I'd like yet since I'm working a desk job. Also assume that I'll have up the calories some as I increase the amount of time I workout (Still easing in and doing as much research as possible to do this right.)
  • ParkerH47
    ParkerH47 Posts: 463 Member
    Options
    Honestly it is NOT TRUE that if you eat more calories you will lose more weight. BUT!! IF you chose to go on a very low calorie diet a few things happen:
    - it slows your metabolism so when you go back to eating "normally" you gain most of the weight back
    - it also makes daily life less enjoyable and more difficult to sustain your diet - making you more susceptible to binging and "falling off the wagon"
    - losing weight at a slow and steady pace is healthier for you and makes maintenance easier and more successful
    - you also need to make sure you're consuming enough calories to sustain yourself otherwise you may be at risk for losing lean muscle mass instead of purely fat (though you'd have to be at a pretty low cal intake)

    Think of it as readjusting your metabolism - so some might experience improved results, while others may not. The most important thing to do is to try many things and find what works for YOU. 1000-1200calories might be reasonable for SOME people, but certainly not for everyone. Find something that works for you that you can get behind, and go with that :)

    Good luck!
  • mmipanda
    mmipanda Posts: 351 Member
    Options
    I think the 1200 thing is too low in the majority of cases. Remember that the diet industry wants you to fail, so they make more profit.

    Not even talking about starvation mode or any of that.... 1200 is a lot harder mentally than say, 1600. Its harder to stick to, you're more likely to mess up and cheat. If you bump it up to something more reasonable, you're less likely to feel deprived and miserable.
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
    Options
    Mostly people don't say eat more in order to lose more weight. They see eat more to lose mostly fat (instead of mostly muscle) and to be healthy. But there is some evidence that eating at a more severe deficit leads to moving around less (to conserve energy). Eating more calories can provide the necessary energy to workout harder as well as increase daily activity like taking the stairs or walking to work.

    For me personally that seems to be the case. I have chronic fatigue syndrome and I can't handle much of a deficit before I'm too lethargic to get up and move around.

    What she said.

    You need a deficit to lose weight, but if your deficit is too large than

    1) Your body tries to consume less energy to make up for it
    2) You might not be getting enough nutrients.
    3) It is less sustainable long term
    4) More likely to loss lean body mass as well as fat.

    However, I don't know if YOU need to eat more because I don't know what you are eating.
  • crystal075
    crystal075 Posts: 33 Member
    Options
    Mostly people don't say eat more in order to lose more weight. They see eat more to lose mostly fat (instead of mostly muscle) and to be healthy. But there is some evidence that eating at a more severe deficit leads to moving around less (to conserve energy). Eating more calories can provide the necessary energy to workout harder as well as increase daily activity like taking the stairs or walking to work.

    For me personally that seems to be the case. I have chronic fatigue syndrome and I can't handle much of a deficit before I'm too lethargic to get up and move around.

    Smart lady right here.

    I agree. Im trying to lose weight, but mostly fat specifically and maintain my muscles. If you eat too little your body begins to use muscle as a source of energy. I eat more on my days that I exercise more intensely.
  • marjoleina
    marjoleina Posts: 189 Member
    Options
    I ate around 1200 calories for a lot of years and did not eat my exercise calories back either. This is a very bad idea. Sure you lose weight initially and then hover around the same weight, up 0.5 pounds down 1.0 pound and so forth. It becomes extremely frustrating, so then I tended to just quit for a while and start the whole thing back up again. So, after reading on this site, and asking for some input, I calculated my TDEE and eat at that less 20%, or about 1500-1600 calories. I exercise still but I don't go to a gym since I moved back to Europe and I can't find one that has what I want when I can go. I ride my bicycle to work, I run 2x a week on average ( I am slow) and I do some push up and things like that at home. I am losing 0.5 Kg (about 1 american pound) a week, and have lost 2.2 Kg in the past month, after being stuck at the same weight for a long time. So, for me, eating more worked. It more or less works out to following MFP and NETTING 1200 calories. If you use the MFP method, eat your exercise calories.
  • sbarella
    sbarella Posts: 713 Member
    Options
    Mostly people don't say eat more in order to lose more weight. They see eat more to lose mostly fat (instead of mostly muscle) and to be healthy. But there is some evidence that eating at a more severe deficit leads to moving around less (to conserve energy). Eating more calories can provide the necessary energy to workout harder as well as increase daily activity like taking the stairs or walking to work.

    For me personally that seems to be the case. I have chronic fatigue syndrome and I can't handle much of a deficit before I'm too lethargic to get up and move around.

    +1, same for me. I started at 1200 calories then I upped to1500 and now I'm losing more, because at 1200 I become lazy and lethargic, skip workouts and occasionally binge.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    Options
    I agree..."eating more" has its context. Taking it out of its context is meaningless.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Options
    I think people like to use it as an excuse to make themselves feel better for eating just under their BMR. I also don't get people eating exercise cals back? I'd rather not exercise!

    I am a die hard 1200 cal girl and Im going strong, and loosing at a great rate.

    :huh:

    If I didn't eat back exercise cals, I could net under 1000 calories....does that make sense? MFP designs your caloric deficit as if you weren't exercising outside your daily routine. When you exercise, it makes that deficit even bigger. In many cases this deficit would now possibly drop individuals below BMR, or be at a rate that is unsustainable, or keeps the individual from properly fueling the body.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    Options
    the more I read on this forum the more I become to understand why so many arguments go around...most likely people argue about something like "this doesn't work for me so it SHOULDN'T work for you."
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Options
    Mostly people don't say eat more in order to lose more weight. They see eat more to lose mostly fat (instead of mostly muscle) and to be healthy. But there is some evidence that eating at a more severe deficit leads to moving around less (to conserve energy). Eating more calories can provide the necessary energy to workout harder as well as increase daily activity like taking the stairs or walking to work.

    ^^^^^ this - and all the points made above about adherence

    there are many pitfalls from eating too little:

    - in the long term it can lead to physical and mental health issues, decrease the metabolism and make body composition worse (lower bone density, less muscle, high body fat percentage)

    - in the short term it can make you hangry, lacking in energy (so you move less and therefore burn less) and prone to compensatory overeating or even bingeing, which basically undoes all the benefits of a larger deficit

    If the goal is fast weight loss, then ask yourself if you want to stay at goal weight for life, because if you revert back to your old habits, or start cycling between undereating and overeating, you're likely to gain it all back again. So by making the goal long term maintenance rather than how fast you can lose the fat you focus more on making lifestyle changes you can sustain for life, figuring out what size portions you can eat so you can enjoy all the foods you want while staying within your calorie goal, and also on maintaining your bone density and muscle mass and just losing fat, rather than trying to reach a number on a scale in a short time.

    So, by "eat more" what people are actually saying is "don't starve or deprive yourself" and "you can still lose weight and actually have better health, more energy, be stronger and fitter, and have an easier time maintaining your goal weight if you eat more than the people who are aiming for fast weight loss." More is relative... it means more than what you get on a fast weight loss diet. It doesn't mean "eat more than the amount you did that made you fat" (unless you drasticallay increase your exercise levels to be able to do that, which is a legit way to lose weight and be healthy if you really want to eat tons of food and still lose weight)
  • Serena272
    Serena272 Posts: 53 Member
    Options
    Bump

Categories