Has anyone increased their diet and LOST weight doing that?

laurenpcatchu · March 2014

Yesterday I went to a doctor who gave me a website, similar to this, to track my health (Cornerstonewellness.md)
I've been tracking my calories, and I'm always way under what I should be eating... So I force myself to add in calories (http://gyazo.com/f75c60b64ffe753d4bf04e88c92c33fe http://gyazo.com/d9c598767d14f817daede723a7c05bc5 here is an example of my meals )
I use to be vegetarian and probably only got 1000 calories a day for 2+ months .. didn't lose a single pound

I feel like I'm eating so much.. and don't understand how I'm going to become more fit eating this much.. I felt like I ate less than this for 4 months and never lost more than 5 pounds..

Has anyone had the issue where 'their body was in starvation mode', increased and improved their diet.. and actually lost weight doing that? I feel like that's impossible.. (btw I gym for an hour+ 5-6 times a week )

gimpygramma · March 2014

I am waiting to see if you get an answer on this. Bump.

editorgrrl · March 2014

Weight loss takes a whole lot of trial & error to find what works for you. Your goal should be to find the maximum number of calories at which you lose weight, not the minimum.

Trust the system & follow your MFP calorie goal for two weeks. Log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Weigh your food. Log your exercise & eat back your calories. Reevaluate. If you haven't lost, follow your MFP goal for another two weeks, but eat back half your exercise calories. Reevaluate.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

SezxyStef · March 2014

starvation mode is a myth.

As for your intake do you weigh your food?

Chances are if you aren't losing weight you are eating more than you think.

Tangosgrandad · March 2014

Yes, I wasn't eating enough calories and hit a wall after the intial newbie weightloss. Upped my cals to 17-1800 and bang, the weight started dropping off. The same applied to my daughter too, so its no coincidence. The maths and science are pretty simple and the results always speak for themselves.

AJ_G · March 2014

starvation mode is a myth.

As for your intake do you weigh your food?

Chances are if you aren't losing weight you are eating more than you think.

^This. Most people who say "I'm only eating X number of calories a day and not losing weight" are usually not weighing their food or recording every single piece of food that goes into their mouth. I HIGHLY doubt you're actually eating 1000 calories a day and not losing weight unless A) you have a metabolic condition that you don't know about or

weigh 100 lbs and you just lie in bed all day and never move.

AJ_G · March 2014

Yes, I wasn't eating enough calories and hit a wall after the intial newbie weightloss. Upped my cals to 17-1800 and bang, the weight started dropping off. The same applied to my daughter too, so its no coincidence. The maths and science are pretty simple and the results always speak for themselves.

Science does not support what you just said. Increasing calories never leads to faster fat loss. It may be that you hit a plateau or your weight loss stalled due to too much sodium or not enough water or a combination of the two or a change in carbohydrate intake. It could be a number of things but there is no "starvation mode". Your increase of calories that lead to "faster weight loss" was a coincidence and it DID NOT lead to faster FAT LOSS.

laurenpcatchu · March 2014

I ate nothing but lettuce for a month so I doubt I was eating more than I thought I was..
the whole starvation mode is a myth seems silly since every doctor seems to say other-wise.

laurenpcatchu · March 2014

Thank you! This helps give encouragement...
I'm not use to eating so much protein and 1400~ cals a day but I'm going to try for two weeks to see if I get better results

dannatona · March 2014

This is a lot longer than I expected it to be. So, if you don't want to read the whole thing, long story short I'm eating 300-800 more calories a day and still losing weight.

I was eating 1200 calories or less for about 2 years, I lost about 35lbs doing so, but after literally passing out at random times a few times my doctor told me I was eating too little. So since about last June I slowly increased my calories to 1500 on a non active day and 1750-2000 calories on a day when I workout. I try very hard to keep my net calories above 1200, even when I burn 1000 calories from working out (eating back all those calories is REALLY hard sometimes).

When I first upped my calories I kept working out 2-3 days a week, like I did when I was eating 1200 calories... and I gained about 15lbs back. I wasn't really thinking about the fact that I was eating more, so I needed to workout more because my body wasn't used to the extra calories.

Now, I'm working out 4-6 times a week for at least half an hour and I'm losing about a 1lb a week. I don't ever feel hungry or like I'm depriving myself of anything. I think of it as a lifestyle change, not a diet. I know my body needs more calories to thrive, and at the end of the day my goal is to live a LONG healthy life.

MzHornedOne · March 2014

I used to eat 1350 calories a day...I went to 1800 calories a day and my plateau was broke!

RobynMWilson · March 2014

I know that i"m 41 yrs old and maintain my weight loss at around 1800-2000 cals per day. I do not have a naturally fast metabolism but I eat several times per day and have built muscle, but you can most definitely put your body in starvation mode by eating too little and overtraining. Not to mention making yourself sick and exhausted!

kshubeck · March 2014

I upped my calories to 1800-2000 and gained 15lbs. That was a couple years ago and I have yet to lose even one pound. I eat healthy foods, just a lot of it- quinoa, veggies, legumes, nuts, etc. I'm cutting back down to 1400 and see where it gets me. I was also doing a lot of healthy fats like coconut oil, nuts, etc. I'm reducing those also. So instead of 20 almonds for a snack, it's now 6 plus a grapefruit, for example. I'm also removing the oils unless I need it for cooking. No more coconut oil in my smoothies.

AJ_G · March 2014

I ate nothing but lettuce for a month so I doubt I was eating more than I thought I was..
the whole starvation mode is a myth seems silly since every doctor seems to say other-wise.

You're kidding right? How much protein and fat do you usually eat a day? In grams...

nannymarty04 · March 2014

bump

fercar3000 · March 2014

I increased from to 1200 to 1500-1600 calories and today I dropped another pound

braves1girl · March 2014

Check out the group Eat More to Lose Weight. They have a ton of great information and advice on their stickies. Good luck!

Boogage · March 2014

Yup. I was netting around 800 for a few months and hit a wall. As soon as I started to slowly increase the cals the weight started to come off again. I instantly felt better and I stopped falling asleep all through the day. My body had the energy to do what I wanted it to do rather than just trying to keep my organs functioning. I'm currently up to 1600-1750 most days. The last couple of weeks I've been lacking energy again and yesterday I had a cheat meal which took me way over my calories and today I feel great and have my energy back so I'm planning on really trying to hit the 1750 this next week to see what happens. Upping the calories was a real chore as I wasn't used to eating much but it gets easier with time.

MarliQQ · March 2014

I can honestly say that this did happen for me, but in a shorter tome frame. It was not an extreme. Not knowing too much about stuff like TDEE or what a proper caloric amount would be for me, I started at about 1310, and stayed that way for like over a month. 1310 was an amount set by MFP by the way. I lost weight but wasn't really happy with the amount of food I was eating. So I increased my intake by about 500 cals, and I didn't gain weight, actually lost weight initially, but the immediately after, the scale did not budge for like a month. Now I am back to losing weight again, but it was stressful wondering whether it was the wrong move.