Eating back your calories?
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JMS0291
Posts: 4 Member
OK. So as of September 23rd 2014 I drastically changed my eating habits. I'm 5'2 and last I checked I weighed 159.4 lbs. I used to weigh 135 before my 2 kids and I was happy at that weight. That's were I would like to get back to. I now try to eat things you could only get straight out of a garden or meats like fish or chicken or turkey. "Clean" eating.... i m eating 1200 calories a day. I exercise 5 days a week. I do Brazilian Butt Lift from Beachbody. Its resistance and cardio mainly. So weight lifting involved. About 50-70 mins a day. By my math I should easily be losing 2lbs a week but I'm only doing about 1 lb a week... this seems small... for what I'm eating a the exercise I'm doing... considering 5 weeks ago I was eating nothing but crap and never exercising... I'm losing inches... but not much weight. I can feel muscle in places I haven't in years but I don't understand the scale stall? Many people are telling me that at eating 1200 calories and burning 300-500+ a day I'm not eating enough and I need to eat back my calories? None of those people are professionals or have ever lost huge weight before themselves so I'm looking for advice from those who have? Is that my problem? Am I putting my body in "starvation mode"? I'm scared to eat more... don't want to make my results slow down even more. I started at 166.8 I believe on Step 23 and a. As of Oct 17th I was 159.4... haven't weighed since. I get discouraged if I weigh to
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Replies
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Starvation mode doesn't exist.
You only have 25 pounds to lose, a pound per week is what you should be losing. Eat back half of your exercise calories to keep your body going. Netting below 1200 calories risks you not getting the nutrients you need.0 -
EAT MORE. What's the point of starving yourself? What will happen when you finally lose all your weight and want to maintain? You won't be able to eat much. You have to remember that it's about more than losing weight. I'm sure you want to be healthy as well considering you're eating clean.
Look at it this way: Your BMR is probably about 1300 calories give or take considering your height. Your body needs these calories just to function. You start burning more when you get out of bed in the morning. So if you are only eating 1200 calories and burning 500, you are only giving your body 700 calories to function on. Your organs can not function this way for a long period of time. And you'll be burning muscle, not fat. I assume you want to burn fat?
My advice for what it's worth is start eating about 100 calories more a day and gradually increase weekly to about 1500 calories a day and see how that goes.0 -
Did I read this right? You've lost just over 2 lbs per week according to your last sentence: 166.8 lbs to 159.4 lbs is a loss of 7.4 lbs over 3.5 weeks (or 2.1 lbs per week). What am I missing?0
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The first 10 days I lost 6 lbs of that because I did an Advocare cleanse(Sep23-Oct 3)... so between October the 3rd and Oct 17th I only lost 1.4 lbs... haven't weighed since then because I was discouraged about the 1.4 lbs in two weeks... sorry, I guess that was important info I failed to relay... I get discouraged by the scale easily so trying to only weight once every two weeks... so this Friday I am due to weigh again... maybe 1.4 isnt too bad for two weeks... I guess I just want it to come off faster than realistic... I've just seen people lose way more than I am in a week... I guess just wondering if there is something more effective I can do.0
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6 lbs in ten days is a LOT! You should not expect to see that kind of weight loss on a consistent basis. The people who are losing a lot of weight quickly are typically the ones who have a lot of weight to lose to begin with. You are not in that category. Stop comparing yourself to others. As someone else mentioned, 1 lb a week is more realistic for you.0
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You're losing inches, you are making progress. Sometimes it takes the scale a bit to catch up.
Weight – So many things can affect weight, because of this it shouldn’t be the only way you track your progress. Things to keep in mind:- Always use the same scale – Different scales can show different weights. You will get the most accurate number for tracking when using the same scale.
- Don’t move the scale – Carpet, uneven flooring, different types of flooring…can all affect the weight on the scale. So when you weigh, you want it to be approximately the same spot for the most accurate number for tracking. [/color]
- 3500 calories – To gain 1lb of fat you need to be over maintenance by 3500 calories.
- Muscle Repair – Muscles will hold onto water to repair, because of this it is not uncommon to see a gain for a little while after a workout. This weight comes right back off when they are done repairing.
- Sodium – Can cause you to retain water. This can also be amplified if you don’t drink enough to flush it out of your system. This is also another reason for temporary weight gain.
- Water – Not drinking enough water can actually cause you to retain water. Recommended amount is 8 cups or 64oz. I drink 64 oz to 128 oz of water a day. It doesn’t have to be plain water either. I like to flavor mine with crystal light or tea.
- Time of day – Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day. So for the most accurate tracking, you want to weigh at around the same time.
- Frequency – This is up to you, but if small fluctuations bother you than only weigh once a week or less.
- Lightest Weight – Will be naked, first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom
- Multiple times a Day – Don’t Do It. As I said before, your weight will fluctuate throughout the day. What you eat, what you’re wearing, ect will all affect weight.
- Clothes – If you weigh with clothing on, keep in mind that the scale will show your weight plus the weight of your clothes. (Jeans are heavy)
- TOM - A lot of women will retain water around their TOM, but its just temporary and will go away.
And yes, I think your calories are on the low side.
My weigh in's for the last 90 Days. (started logging daily fluctuations on 9/11)
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shadow2soul wrote: »You're losing inches, you are making progress. Sometimes it takes the scale a bit to catch up.
Weight – So many things can affect weight, because of this it shouldn’t be the only way you track your progress. Things to keep in mind:- Always use the same scale – Different scales can show different weights. You will get the most accurate number for tracking when using the same scale.
- Don’t move the scale – Carpet, uneven flooring, different types of flooring…can all affect the weight on the scale. So when you weigh, you want it to be approximately the same spot for the most accurate number for tracking. [/color]
- 3500 calories – To gain 1lb of fat you need to be over maintenance by 3500 calories.
- Muscle Repair – Muscles will hold onto water to repair, because of this it is not uncommon to see a gain for a little while after a workout. This weight comes right back off when they are done repairing.
- Sodium – Can cause you to retain water. This can also be amplified if you don’t drink enough to flush it out of your system. This is also another reason for temporary weight gain.
- Water – Not drinking enough water can actually cause you to retain water. Recommended amount is 8 cups or 64oz. I drink 64 oz to 128 oz of water a day. It doesn’t have to be plain water either. I like to flavor mine with crystal light or tea.
- Time of day – Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day. So for the most accurate tracking, you want to weigh at around the same time.
- Frequency – This is up to you, but if small fluctuations bother you than only weigh once a week or less.
- Lightest Weight – Will be naked, first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom
- Multiple times a Day – Don’t Do It. As I said before, your weight will fluctuate throughout the day. What you eat, what you’re wearing, ect will all affect weight.
- Clothes – If you weigh with clothing on, keep in mind that the scale will show your weight plus the weight of your clothes. (Jeans are heavy)
- TOM - A lot of women will retain water around their TOM, but its just temporary and will go away.
And yes, I think your calories are on the low side.
My weigh in's for the last 90 Days. (started logging daily fluctuations on 9/11)
My chart looks very similar with the fluctuations! It's nice to see someone elses
Don't be discouraged just by a number on the scale. Focus on continuing what you are doing - getting healthier! You are making a lifestyle change if you want this to be maintained, just because you reach your goal weight shouldn't be the reason to go back to old ways. You'll end up gaining back all that you had worked for. Instead of looking for quick results try to focus on long term success that is sustainable.0 -
I'm about your height and when I was at 135, I was eating about 1400 set to lose .5 a week. I generally eat half of my calories back so some days when I have bigger burns and smaller days just depends. I'm never more than 1200 calories under my goal for the week and that was a week that I really pushed myself (that includes the .5 loss that's factored in). I lose between .5-1 pound a week.
My guess is that 1200 calories (assuming MFP gave you that) is not the actually calories it would take for you to lose 2 pounds a week. That's a big loss for someone that doesn't have that much to lose. 1 pound a week is more realistic. And 2 weeks of a 1.4 is indeed good. And if you're only weighing every 2 weeks, there's a possibility that loss isn't even accurate since a given day can be higher than what you actually weight for a wide range of reasons. It's really not enough time to accurately say you're not losing what you should be losing.
I suspect you may also be eating more than you think because at 1200 with a 500 burn and not eating anything back, you'd be very hungry and indeed losing more weight. But that really isn't safe of sustainable that low.
But you're losing and on the right track. The early weight loss is always higher than what we will normally lose in a week. You're not in "starvation mode"...you're body is doing what is normal. For the sake your energy, I'd probably try to eat back some of those calories and just make sure you're logging accurately.0 -
The first 10 days I lost 6 lbs of that because I did an Advocare cleanse(Sep23-Oct 3)... so between October the 3rd and Oct 17th I only lost 1.4 lbs... haven't weighed since then because I was discouraged about the 1.4 lbs in two weeks... sorry, I guess that was important info I failed to relay... I get discouraged by the scale easily so trying to only weight once every two weeks... so this Friday I am due to weigh again... maybe 1.4 isnt too bad for two weeks... I guess I just want it to come off faster than realistic... I've just seen people lose way more than I am in a week... I guess just wondering if there is something more effective I can do.
OK, that's not how it works, though. Your average for the three weeks is over 2 pounds per week. That first week was not six pounds of fat, so the next couple of weeks as you lost more fat but regained more water, it leveled out some.
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Starvation mode doesn't exist.
You only have 25 pounds to lose, a pound per week is what you should be losing. Eat back half of your exercise calories to keep your body going. Netting below 1200 calories risks you not getting the nutrients you need.
COMPLETELY WRONG AND IGNORANT. SCIENCE SHOWS US WHAT IS WRONG.
THE BODY RESPONDS TO EVEN A 10 % OF BODY WEIGHT LOSS BY INVOLUNTARILY REDUCING TOTAL EXPENDITURE BY 25 % THIS IS FARRRR BELOW WHAT COULD BE EXPECTED BY THE WEIGHT CHANGE.
ADD TO THIS INCREASED EFFICIENCY IN EVERYTHING. THE BODY IS FIGHTING YOU AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.
STOP THE LIES. ROSENBAUM SHOWED THIS AND FRIEDMAN TOO
YOU ARE SO INCORRECT IT IS LAUGHABLE...
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Hoo boy. Here we go.0
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IgorFigscreed wrote: »Starvation mode doesn't exist.
You only have 25 pounds to lose, a pound per week is what you should be losing. Eat back half of your exercise calories to keep your body going. Netting below 1200 calories risks you not getting the nutrients you need.
COMPLETELY WRONG AND IGNORANT. SCIENCE SHOWS US WHAT IS WRONG.
THE BODY RESPONDS TO EVEN A 10 % OF BODY WEIGHT LOSS BY INVOLUNTARILY REDUCING TOTAL EXPENDITURE BY 25 % THIS IS FARRRR BELOW WHAT COULD BE EXPECTED BY THE WEIGHT CHANGE.
ADD TO THIS INCREASED EFFICIENCY IN EVERYTHING. THE BODY IS FIGHTING YOU AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.
STOP THE LIES. ROSENBAUM SHOWED THIS AND FRIEDMAN TOO
YOU ARE SO INCORRECT IT IS LAUGHABLE...
Nope0 -
IgorFigscreed wrote: »Starvation mode doesn't exist.
You only have 25 pounds to lose, a pound per week is what you should be losing. Eat back half of your exercise calories to keep your body going. Netting below 1200 calories risks you not getting the nutrients you need.
COMPLETELY WRONG AND IGNORANT. SCIENCE SHOWS US WHAT IS WRONG.
THE BODY RESPONDS TO EVEN A 10 % OF BODY WEIGHT LOSS BY INVOLUNTARILY REDUCING TOTAL EXPENDITURE BY 25 % THIS IS FARRRR BELOW WHAT COULD BE EXPECTED BY THE WEIGHT CHANGE.
ADD TO THIS INCREASED EFFICIENCY IN EVERYTHING. THE BODY IS FIGHTING YOU AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.
STOP THE LIES. ROSENBAUM SHOWED THIS AND FRIEDMAN TOO
YOU ARE SO INCORRECT IT IS LAUGHABLE...
Nope
Plus this person is trolling most likely, so...0 -
IgorFigscreed wrote: »Starvation mode doesn't exist.
You only have 25 pounds to lose, a pound per week is what you should be losing. Eat back half of your exercise calories to keep your body going. Netting below 1200 calories risks you not getting the nutrients you need.
COMPLETELY WRONG AND IGNORANT. SCIENCE SHOWS US WHAT IS WRONG.
THE BODY RESPONDS TO EVEN A 10 % OF BODY WEIGHT LOSS BY INVOLUNTARILY REDUCING TOTAL EXPENDITURE BY 25 % THIS IS FARRRR BELOW WHAT COULD BE EXPECTED BY THE WEIGHT CHANGE.
ADD TO THIS INCREASED EFFICIENCY IN EVERYTHING. THE BODY IS FIGHTING YOU AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.
STOP THE LIES. ROSENBAUM SHOWED THIS AND FRIEDMAN TOO
YOU ARE SO INCORRECT IT IS LAUGHABLE...
Well at least we're both laughing at things 0 -
Thanks for all the input. Some were very helpful.0
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