I thought the "eat more food" people were crazy

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Replies

  • Censor76
    Censor76 Posts: 48 Member
    1500 calories a day seems like way too little for a guy.

    Good for you and when and if this stops working play around with your calories until something else works!

    YAY!
  • Could you please tell me what TDEE means? I see it on a lot of posts but do not understand what you are referring to. Thank you!
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    Could you please tell me what TDEE means? I see it on a lot of posts but do not understand what you are referring to. Thank you!

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure -- basically all the calories you burn in a day from everything -- basal metabolic activities, exercise, non-exercise movement, etc.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Don't underestimate the power of metabolism. When you eat too little your body down shifts into starvation gear, burns less calories to keep you alive longer. Keep your body thinking you're fine by distributing your calories throughout the day--5-6 small meals are better than 3 big ones. Also, people think if they drink a lot of water they will bloat up. Wrong. The opposite is true and you can sabotage your weight loss by not drinking your water (8 or more cups per day). Water, lots of it, washes your fat away. Fat weighs something--it's heavy. Keep at it. You'll soon see the pounds disappear and then you'll be hooked on MFP. Good luck.
    Ummm, no. Not a single thing here is true.
  • MRSCHAZZY
    MRSCHAZZY Posts: 42 Member
    HAAA snark monsters!:laugh:
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    OP- I'm curious how long you were eating at 1500 and losing 1 lb. a week.
  • curlygirl513
    curlygirl513 Posts: 199 Member
    I'm not ocd about weighing and I've noticed that for days the scale is stuck and then whoosh, a lose several pounds. I also notice days where I'm releasing water because I never go that much and I'm not drinking more than usual, but now I will have times were I'm in the bathroom several times a day and releasing a lot of water.

    Weight loss is not a steady process. It is a metabolic process and the body is working in lots of complex ways. keeping up our end of the bargain works, you know keeping within our limits and if we go over not extremely.

    I've had a day where I went over by 4 hundred calories in the 2 weeks I've been on the program, and a couple days I was close to 100 over, and it hasn't stalled my weight loss as far as I can tell.

    But I have given up sugar and I eat whole foods for the most part and I'm vegan now. I'm happy you are losing weight.
    You are clearly doing it right. :)

    You don't have to be a control freak perfectionist to lose weight, but if that works for some people, more power to them. No criticism here. I just need to be more mellow with myself.
  • curlygirl513
    curlygirl513 Posts: 199 Member

    you know what is even funnier? many haven't event tried their "own way" before telling others what the best way should be...

    (giggle)
  • missjeanlouise
    missjeanlouise Posts: 80 Member
    Don't underestimate the power of metabolism. When you eat too little your body down shifts into starvation gear, burns less calories to keep you alive longer. Keep your body thinking you're fine by distributing your calories throughout the day--5-6 small meals are better than 3 big ones. Also, people think if they drink a lot of water they will bloat up. Wrong. The opposite is true and you can sabotage your weight loss by not drinking your water (8 or more cups per day). Water, lots of it, washes your fat away. Fat weighs something--it's heavy. Keep at it. You'll soon see the pounds disappear and then you'll be hooked on MFP. Good luck.
    Ummm, no. Not a single thing here is true.

    So water won't wash my fat away?
  • Mykaelous
    Mykaelous Posts: 231 Member
    I believe that the effect is similar to a cleanse. You aren't loosing fat, you are simply ****ting out the crap that is in your intestines. I'm just guessing that when you are eating 12-1500 calories that you aren't getting enough roughage in your diet(unless you are eating a lot of vegetables) and combined with the fact that most tend to be eating protein rich foods which causes long term constipation. I get the same effect by simply upping my fiber and vegetable intake for 2-3 days in a row once a month.
  • 2dayirunforme
    2dayirunforme Posts: 171 Member
    Glad to hear your progress!! Great move by you to up your calories.
  • Topsking2010
    Topsking2010 Posts: 2,245 Member
    Bump
  • BigSpoonSA
    BigSpoonSA Posts: 38 Member
    Here is a good explanation as to why you are losing though eating more: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

    As long as you are eating below TDEE you should continue to lose weight, but if you were eating well below TDEE (more than 20% deficit) your weight loss may stall for reasons in the above article. Eating at a rate closer to your TDEE for a day or so every few weeks can kick start metabolism and increase weight loss.
  • Megais
    Megais Posts: 28 Member
    I have just raised mine also and had the same thing happen. I find it confusing but I will take what I get :)
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    I'm not saying this is the case for the OP, but sometimes when people "up their calories" it really equates to finally just logging their calories properly.

    It's not uncommon for a person to think they're eating at a much bigger deficit than they really are. Then they're told "eat more" to lose, they start accurately weighing, measuring, and logging in order to get in more food, and viola, they think they're losing by "eating more" when they're actually eating less, but logging more accurately.

    Otherwise I agree with this:
    ^^^ what he said

    well fed people move more. they do better workouts. they fidget more. they move around more when not exercising. they feel warmer, their bodies generate more heat, more energy goes to non-essential functions... some of this is increased activity due to feeling more energetic, some of it is adaptive thermogenesis. but the upshot is, if you eat more (i.e. a moderate deficit compared to an extreme deficit), your TDEE tends to go up as well........ lots of people find that when they raise their calories for bulking, that they dont' gain weight right away, they sometimes have to raise their calories again, and again, before they start gaining weight, because of their TDEE going up due to these issues. Your TDEE isn't a static number, your body's in a constant state of flux, adjusting to what's going in. Of course, there are limits in both directions, because your body can only adjust so much, and so people can become obese or starve to death. But the body is more adaptable than people give it credit for.

    Additionally, I just want to repeat the point that "eat more" does not mean "eat over your TDEE" it means "it's better to have a moderate deficit than an extreme deficit"

    Why the assumption that as they ate more, they likely simultaneously started being more meticulous with measuring the food? Why not just use the existing process and add a couple hundred calories? I know you just expressed a hypothesis, just wondering what's the basis for it.

    Assuming that they're being honest in follow up posts, why not report that they found that they were actually eating 2000 calories per day before rather than 1200, and actually dropped to 1800?

    A lot of times people don't even realize they're inaccurately logging. You see it here all the time with the "I'm barely eating but I'm not losing" crowd. People will think they're eating at this severe deficit, but as is common with dieters, they're underestimating their food intake.


    Did you ever see an episode of that UK show Secret Eaters? Where every week they followed a family who swore they couldn't lose weight, even though they weren't overeating? I remember one woman was eating around 3000 calories a day while swearing she was eating around 1200. If she logged accurately and "upped" her calories to 2000, she might lose. If Secret Eaters didn't reveal to her that her 12000 really equalled 3000, she might go on believing that upping her calories to 2000 was the trick. I've seen that happen on this board before.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    I'm not saying this is the case for the OP, but sometimes when people "up their calories" it really equates to finally just logging their calories properly.

    It's not uncommon for a person to think they're eating at a much bigger deficit than they really are. Then they're told "eat more" to lose, they start accurately weighing, measuring, and logging in order to get in more food, and viola, they think they're losing by "eating more" when they're actually eating less, but logging more accurately.

    Otherwise I agree with this:
    ^^^ what he said

    well fed people move more. they do better workouts. they fidget more. they move around more when not exercising. they feel warmer, their bodies generate more heat, more energy goes to non-essential functions... some of this is increased activity due to feeling more energetic, some of it is adaptive thermogenesis. but the upshot is, if you eat more (i.e. a moderate deficit compared to an extreme deficit), your TDEE tends to go up as well........ lots of people find that when they raise their calories for bulking, that they dont' gain weight right away, they sometimes have to raise their calories again, and again, before they start gaining weight, because of their TDEE going up due to these issues. Your TDEE isn't a static number, your body's in a constant state of flux, adjusting to what's going in. Of course, there are limits in both directions, because your body can only adjust so much, and so people can become obese or starve to death. But the body is more adaptable than people give it credit for.

    Additionally, I just want to repeat the point that "eat more" does not mean "eat over your TDEE" it means "it's better to have a moderate deficit than an extreme deficit"

    Why the assumption that as they ate more, they likely simultaneously started being more meticulous with measuring the food? Why not just use the existing process and add a couple hundred calories? I know you just expressed a hypothesis, just wondering what's the basis for it.

    Assuming that they're being honest in follow up posts, why not report that they found that they were actually eating 2000 calories per day before rather than 1200, and actually dropped to 1800?

    A lot of times people don't even realize they're inaccurately logging. You see it here all the time with the "I'm barely eating but I'm not losing" crowd. People will think they're eating at this severe deficit, but as is common with dieters, they're underestimating their food intake.


    Did you ever see an episode of that UK show Secret Eaters? Where every week they followed a family who swore they couldn't lose weight, even though they weren't overeating? I remember one woman was eating around 3000 calories a day while swearing she was eating around 1200. If she logged accurately and "upped" her calories to 2000, she might lose. If Secret Eaters didn't reveal to her that her 12000 really equalled 3000, she might go on believing that upping her calories to 2000 was the trick. I've seen that happen on this board before.

    THis is an extreme case. I do agree that many of us can't really get an accurate logging and overeat but seriously, 3000 vs 1200? isn't this a bit an insult to other's intelligence? If it's the same database we all are using, and similar method, I don't see how some are feeling "more superior" than others when it comes to logging. I am tired of seeing posters judging others “lying to themsevles” as if they themselves were perfect loggers.

    ps, I didn't mean to attach you although I directly quoted wha you posted. :) I just made a general observation. :drinker:
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    THis is an extreme case. I do agree that many of us can't really get an accurate logging and overeat but seriously, 3000 vs 1200? isn't this a bit an insult to other's intelligence?

    Unfortunately study after study shows that dieters have a tendency to underestimate their intake, sometimes quite severely.
    If it's the same database we all are using, and similar method,

    That's the thing, a lot of people don't use the same methods. They profess to calorie counting yet you discover they don't weigh their food every time, or do a lot of guesstimating.
    I don't see how some are feeling "more superior" than others when it comes to logging. I am tired of seeing posters judging others “lying to themsevles” as if they themselves were perfect loggers.

    ps, I didn't mean to attach you although I directly quoted wha you posted. :) I just made a general observation. :drinker:

    Thanks, because I don't even calorie count to lose weight. Still I know that many, many people just don't truly know what they're eating. It's so very common.