Would this theory work? Yes/no?!

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NatashaAlexandra
NatashaAlexandra Posts: 70 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Okay so after HOURS of reading through lots and lots of topics about food and exercise... I've learnt that after a short period of time, your body will become used to what you are doing and stabilise - therefore you need to vary exercise and also your diet from time to time..

I have been eating around 1300-1400 calories a day for most of the past year trying to lose weight and nothing has really happened, I've also exercised frequently and varied it, but still no significant loss in weight or in inches..

This will sound ridiculous, but going from what A LOT of people are saying, I wondered something:

If my body is now used to the 1300-1400 intake, and also some exercise as well as that, what would happen if I start eating 1800 calories a day for 2 weeks, and then the next 2 weeks I ate 1300? Would my weight go up and down or would I just simply confuse my body and either gain/lose weight?

A few people are telling me that I need to 'UP' my calories in order to lose weight, but in all honesty even though the data is true - if I upped my calories, I would DEFINITELY put on weight. - there is no two way's about it.
I know all about the starvation mode situation and how if I only ate 1200 calories or less, my body wouldn't be able to function properly therefore going into state of starvation... which basically tells me, I'm always going to be the same weight.

I can't go up without gaining weight, I can't go down without going into 'starvation' and even though exercise is involved, I will never be able to burn 500 calories a day (to make 3500 calories a week = 1 pound loss) by exercise as my body would not be able to handle it.

I have probably confused people as I'm not making much sense, but basically, what I'm asking is... how am I supposed to lose weight when my body is used to everything I'm doing and my calorie intake of 1300-1400 a day for the past year has not changed A THING!!

Replies

  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
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    i upped my cals from what mfp told me, 1200, plus what i was working off..i upped it to 1475, plus what i was working off, and oddly enough, i started losing weight FASTER eating more cals..i don't think i would suggest going to such extremes in cals tho..best of luck
  • JenBrown0210
    JenBrown0210 Posts: 985 Member
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    I zigzag. For a week or two take the calories you eat weekly, 9200 but eat less on one day and then more another but still total your 9200 for the week. Search zigzag and there are all kinds of post about it. You can also up it as the 1800 per day. As long as you are not going over your matanence(sp) calories you will be fine.

    Sidenote-Ahhh I cannot for the life of me find the spelling for that word. Sorry!
  • millerll
    millerll Posts: 873 Member
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    When you don't have much to lose, you have to be extra diligent about your diet. I recommend cutting processed foods (spaghetti hoops, pizza, etc.) and adding lots of fresh fruits and veggies. You're not eating many of those now.

    Make sure your portions are exact - weigh and measure everything. Same with your exercise - get a heart rate monitor if possible to make sure you're logging calories accurately. Finally, eat your allotted calories. Many days you under eat. Good luck!
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
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    what i do is i work on the 80/20. so 80% of the time i keep my net calories pretty low. the other 20, i let them fly. i've been consistently losing both weight and inches.

    a friend of mine that hadn't seen me since christmas (which means she missed the part where i ballooned up from not smoking) didn't even recognize me the other day.
  • Ben2118
    Ben2118 Posts: 571 Member
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    Quick look at your diary and on a lot of days you aren't really eating enough, you should net a min of 1200, thats after exercise...so if you eat 1300 cals and do 300 cals of exercise then your net is only 1000.

    I would up your calories on the days you workout a lot and I am pretty sure your weight loss should speed up.

    Hope this helps

    Ben.
  • blueeyeddragon2115
    blueeyeddragon2115 Posts: 146
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    My suggestion is to move to 1600-1800 calories for a coulple of weeks then a week at 1400 and then another week around 1500... See what happens. You may find that you lose weight faster. I know that i maintain for a while and then when i go back to dieting i start to lose like crazy, like 7lbs in a week crazy. Just make sure you are watching your calories and if you start to gain weight cut them back again. Good Luck!!!
  • cutmd
    cutmd Posts: 1,168 Member
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    When you don't have much to lose, you have to be extra diligent about your diet. I recommend cutting processed foods (spaghetti hoops, pizza, etc.) and adding lots of fresh fruits and veggies. You're not eating many of those now.

    Make sure your portions are exact - weigh and measure everything. Same with your exercise - get a heart rate monitor if possible to make sure you're logging calories accurately. Finally, eat your allotted calories. Many days you under eat. Good luck!

    Agreed - most of the time it's input less than output for weight loss, but insulin also counts. Make sure your counts are accurate, double check your portion sizes and ditch all the sugar and processed food. The milk chocolate bar for breakfast has got to go, and the calories don't add up right, it doesn't appear to be sugar free but no sugars?

    Quit frankly, I can't tell the difference between someone just eating freestyle and someone eating for health and fitness. Which may mean you've been eating closer to maintenance all this time and retaining fat, especially with all the insulin production. Try a week of fruits, veggies, and meat and see how you feel
  • lyrad63
    lyrad63 Posts: 7 Member
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    Definitely cut the processed foods. Prepackaged food is keeping your blood sugar to high. fruit in the morning and veggies during the day plus lean meats or beans for protein. Think calorie density........lots of food with few calories is way better than little food with many calories.
  • NatashaAlexandra
    NatashaAlexandra Posts: 70 Member
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    Agreed - most of the time it's input less than output for weight loss, but insulin also counts. Make sure your counts are accurate, double check your portion sizes and ditch all the sugar and processed food. The milk chocolate bar for breakfast has got to go, and the calories don't add up right, it doesn't appear to be sugar free but no sugars?

    Quit frankly, I can't tell the difference between someone just eating freestyle and someone eating for health and fitness. Which may mean you've been eating closer to maintenance all this time and retaining fat, especially with all the insulin production. Try a week of fruits, veggies, and meat and see how you feel

    It's not a milk chocolate bar for breakfast btw, it's a cereal! The only thing I have in my house for breakfast is either cereal or toast so I mostly have cereal to get me going - normally a healthy one or porridge but recently my sister has been buying the chocolate one for the house!

    I don't eat red meat, but I do tend to eat a lot of chicken.. unfortunately at the moment I can't really afford to go a whole week just those things as fruits, veggies and meat tend to be the most expensive when buying for more than one meal!! If I could do it, then I would, it's just a matter of money which is why I think I'm struggling so much with the weight loss. I live with my mother and sister and they don't really care too much about what they eat - so for me to buy specific things to lose weight would really add more to the food budget!! :(
  • shreddingit
    shreddingit Posts: 1,133 Member
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    Ur eating too few cals, ur body has been storing fat because it doesnt trust you to feed it.
  • Amy62575
    Amy62575 Posts: 422 Member
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    Are you working out at 75-85% of ur max heart rate? It looks like you are doing a circuit but are you doing it high intensity? Also, I agree with the others, it looks like you are eating alot of sugars and refined or processed foods. It is definitely cheaper to eat junk, but if you can try to eat more salads and/or veggies that may help.

    The other question I have is this - Have you taken your measurements? Just because the scale isn't moving doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't changing your body. You may be losing inches and toning. Just a thought.

    Good luck, don't give up :happy:
  • NatashaAlexandra
    NatashaAlexandra Posts: 70 Member
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    Are you working out at 75-85% of ur max heart rate? It looks like you are doing a circuit but are you doing it high intensity? Also, I agree with the others, it looks like you are eating alot of sugars and refined or processed foods. It is definitely cheaper to eat junk, but if you can try to eat more salads and/or veggies that may help.

    The other question I have is this - Have you taken your measurements? Just because the scale isn't moving doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't changing your body. You may be losing inches and toning. Just a thought.

    Good luck, don't give up :happy:

    I have no idea about my heart rate, as I don't have a HRM.. I've been trying to find a really cheap one but they all seem to be over £10 and I am unemployed at the moment so money is very tight! But the circuit training I enter into my exercise is actually Jillian Michaels 30 day shred - and I am guessing it is high intensity because throughout the whole workout my heart is beating like crazy and my face etc goes really red haha!

    Yes, that is my big problem.. In actuality though, most of the food I eat isn't junk. It's only junk compared to you healthy healthy people! I've stopped drinking fizzy drinks and juice, and I've stopped having as much white bread and white rice as I used to.
    The other problem is... I don't like much vegetables. It's not like I choose not to eat them because they are healthy - infact I grew up living on a farm so I have pretty much tried every vegetable out there, and I only like 1 or 2. Which is why I wanted to fill that void with fruit, but again, fruit is expensive to buy in bulk!

    Yes I have taken my measurements, and I check them every 2 weeks and enter the inches into MFP - but unfortunately I have had no change there either. I am more bothered about inches rather than my actual weight, as obviously muscle weighs more than fat etc etc :)

    Thankyou for the motivation though :-)

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