Lose weight the week i eat over my calorie allowance

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Blair2374
Blair2374 Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Morning all,

MFP allocates me a daily allowance of 1200 calories. I tend to gain at least 300 calories per day exercising (spinning 4 days a week and walking baby the other days) so eat 1500-1600/day.

I have noticed the weeks where I only eat 1200 I don't loose weight. However, the likes of last week when I didn't log as much and ate more I lost 2lbs. Wondering should I be eating more?

Thanks :)

PS for info, I have lost 49lbs with 8lbs left to loose. I know it will be harder to loose the last 8lbs to get to pre-pregnancy weight.
The last 11weeks I've lost 6lbs, so it's roughly 1.8lbs per week which seems normal?

Replies

  • Blair2374
    Blair2374 Posts: 50 Member
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    Anyone? :)
  • djpro1337
    djpro1337 Posts: 68 Member
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    It seems kind if weird, but a lot of people have bitten plateaus and once they increase their calories a bit, they are able to lose the weight. I would stay where your at and keep at it. Great job!
  • Nicola0000
    Nicola0000 Posts: 531 Member
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    It could be 1200 is too low for you. Maybe try upping your calories by 200 and see what happens?? I lost more weight when I ate at 1600 than I did 1200.
  • trainguy917
    trainguy917 Posts: 366 Member
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    Could be a sign 1200 is too low to keep your metabolism up. But I've experienced the same thing. I had a terrible weekend food-wise and have already lost weight this week. I wouldn't be surprised if weight you lose one week has less to do with what you did that week than with previous weeks and your body is catching up.
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    Great job so far! You're pretty close to your goal weight so you should be eating closer to your maintainance calories (a much smaller deficit).

    Give this a read and reset your calorie goals. Getting all this under your belt will also help keep you at your target weight once you reach it.

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

    (PS: I maintain at 2500 and lost most of my body fat weight eating at 2200 daily, regardless of exercise for the day.)
  • 1Cor1510
    1Cor1510 Posts: 413 Member
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    This happens to me all the time. I've been in a deficit (1500-1700 Cals) since January, but occasionally I will have a day where I eat at maintenence about 2100 calories. Usually within a day or two the scale will drop. I don't know if it's just the body saying "okay, we're not starving here, let go of some of this weight now" or what, but it seems to help. If I feel like the weight's not dropping for a long period of time, I actually eat more for a day on purpose now to help the process along. Don't know and don't care if there's scientific evidence to back this up or not, it just seems to be the way my body works.
  • Returnsnull
    Returnsnull Posts: 4
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    Just because you're eating over the calories allotted to you by MFP's generic (and awful) calorie wizard doesn't mean you ate over your actual maintenance calories.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    The rate of digestion and weight loss varies from week to week due to normal body fluctuations such as bowels, water retention, exercise, etc.

    You should eat enough to meet all of your nutrients' requirements (carbs, dietary fat, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.) and properly fuel your workouts. It is hard for many people to do this on 1200 calories. With only 8 lbs. left to lose, shooting for almost 2 lbs. a week is aggressive.

    Here is some information you may find helpful:

    As a rule of thumb, the following weekly targets would give a balance between minimizing negative side effects and seeing a reasonable weekly weight loss:

    More than 75 lbs. 2 lbs./week
    40-75 lbs. 1.5 lbs./week
    10-40 lbs. 1 lb./week
    Less than 10 lbs. 0.5 lb./week

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • Fit_Housewife
    Fit_Housewife Posts: 168 Member
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    I've seen this too. I currently shoot for 1200 plus exercise calories, which is usually 1200-1500. But I've had stomach issues where I had difficulty eating ( even hospitalized ). I was eating very little and not losing much , not that that was my major concern at The time. It is interesting, I am losing now, very slow but that's fine.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    It could be 1200 is too low for you. Maybe try upping your calories by 200 and see what happens?? I lost more weight when I ate at 1600 than I did 1200.
    Think how much you'd have lost at 2000!

    The only way you could lose more at 1600 than 1200 is to burn at least 401 more calories per day.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    PS for info, I have lost 49lbs with 8lbs left to loose. I know it will be harder to loose the last 8lbs to get to pre-pregnancy weight.
    The last 11weeks I've lost 6lbs, so it's roughly 1.8lbs per week which seems normal?
    6lbs. in 11 weeks is .55 lbs/week, not 1.8lbs. but nice job!

    Regarding losing in the weeks you eat more, it could just be that is when your body would've lost at the original calorie level. It's never even week to week with me. Though there is some adaptive thermogenesis where we do move less at lower intake levels so you could just be moving more during weeks you eat more. Though it'd have to be a lot more, like all day you're being more active without realizing it.
  • achantee
    achantee Posts: 18 Member
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    Research reverse dieting. Sometimes when people restrict their calories for too long, your metabolism takes a hit and your leptin levels (good for burning fat) derease. Thats why a lot of people recommend and occassional cheat meal. If increasing your calories work for losing weight, then its probably something you should consider.

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