Am I need of more calories?

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JarrodNewton82
JarrodNewton82 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've been doing well losing weight with my Jawbone Up24 program. It seems like here lately though I've been struggling with lack of energy. (I've been getting plenty of sleep) Although I did have a cheat day a few days ago and the morning after had like the best workout I've had in a month. This has me questioning if I'm eating enough calories. It seems like my weight loss progress has stalled as well. MFP recommends that I eat at a daily deficit of 1,000 calories in order to reach my goals. On my rest days, this takes me well below my BMR. Just wondering if I start eating more calories each day if it will kick start my weight loss once again? Thanks for the help.

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  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    Define "stalled."
  • JarrodNewton82
    JarrodNewton82 Posts: 8 Member
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    Stuck in my weight loss for the last two weeks even though my calorie levels and activity have been around the same. Not losing inches either.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    I think the consensus is that two weeks isn't that big of a deal.

    I'm eating at a substantially higher deficit than you are and last week I didn't lose anything (for the first time since i started at the end of April). Two weeks like that wouldn't be out of the question, even if you're correct on your caloric intake and burns.

    As between the two, I'd be more concerned about the lack of energy. I think this is the first time that I've ever recommended eating more, but if your energy level is that low, you have plenty of room to bump up your calories and still be at a meaningful deficit. The smaller deficit will still take care of the loss, over time, but if you aren't eating enough to maintain a reasonable energy level, that's probably not going to work well for you.

    (All of this presumes correct weighing of food, no other issues, etc.)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,412 MFP Moderator
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    So how many calories are you actually eating? And what is your workout routine? And if you are running a steep deficit, I wouldn't be surprised if you saw a great workout post cheat day. That means there was more available energy for your body to use.
  • bigsistruck
    bigsistruck Posts: 125 Member
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    I am no expert but I will tell you my personal experience. I have NEVER lost more weight by eating MORE but I have by cutting out some of the exercise. I was working out for almost an hour a day for 6 days a week. I felt so worn out and lost nothing the week I worked out the most. So, I cut back on my workouts and now I never do more than 30 minutes a day. I didn't change my diet and I started losing again. I think my body responded to being too tired and worked too hard by holding on to weight. I think the "starvation mode" thing is complete crap and have never known anyone who lost weight by eating more.
  • segovm
    segovm Posts: 512 Member
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    So there's never a point where eating more will cause you to lose more. It's a logical absurdity that seems to get repeated over and over again but it's obviously just nonsense.

    There is however a point where eating more will give you more energy that in turn can help fuel productive exercise.

    The real trick is finding out how much you need to eat to get the maximum amount of work out of your body. For me, I eat a total of about 2000 calories a day to fuel about 4.5 hours of bike riding which burns about 1750 calories a day. If I eat less I'm normally pretty hungry and if I sustain it I tend to be pretty weak.

    Most people on MFP suggest eating back exercise calories but my personal experience has been that as long as I eat around 2000 calories a day I can do pretty much anything. I do eat more when I go for 8-12 hour bike rides but those are pretty rare.

    The real trick is trying to figure out if you are hungry or just have the freaking munchies.

    Last but not least, two weeks is nothing in the weight loss time frame. The key is to know for a fact you are in a deficit (i.e. weigh and measure everything while properly logging exercise) and then you can confidently wait out the scale.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,412 MFP Moderator
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    I am no expert but I will tell you my personal experience. I have NEVER lost more weight by eating MORE but I have by cutting out some of the exercise. I was working out for almost an hour a day for 6 days a week. I felt so worn out and lost nothing the week I worked out the most. So, I cut back on my workouts and now I never do more than 30 minutes a day. I didn't change my diet and I started losing again. I think my body responded to being too tired and worked too hard by holding on to weight. I think the "starvation mode" thing is complete crap and have never known anyone who lost weight by eating more.

    The eating more thing comes about because it will allow you to push harder during a workout as there is more available energy. If you have a large deficit and you feel tired, the quality of your workout will suffer, which in turn means you will burn less calories through exercise or "Bonk" out and not be able to finish.

    The other aspect is how hormones response to steep deficits and how cortisol comes into play. Unfortunately, there isn't as much research (that I have seen) on the affects of cortisol in response to large deficits.


    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
  • JarrodNewton82
    JarrodNewton82 Posts: 8 Member
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    I average about 5-6 hours of exercise per week. I burn an average of around 800 cals for each workout. I net around or a little less than my BMR each day. My exercise is made up of cycling and fast walking. When I do workout, its usually for right at a hour each time. I'm probably running right at an average of a 700 calorie deficit each day.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,412 MFP Moderator
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    So how many calories are you actually eating? And can you open your food diary?


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

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