EATING MORE to LOSE WEIGHT!?! Anyone else had this experience!?!?
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I totally get what you are talking about. I was trying to maintain a very low calorie count and was at a very long plateau (even while doing P90X and running almost everyday) then I did a quick calculation (obviously not as good as a personal one from a nutritionist) but I was eating at something like a 1400 calorie deficient without adding in all the exercise. I have increased my intake to around 1700 and I feel much better and think i may have finally gotten out of that plateau. Since I am just starting to eat so much more, it is really hard for me to be ok with it. But I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that your body needs energy to be able to burn calories and when you limit yourself to ~1000 you aren't giving it the energy it needs. Bonus: I find that I am able to run better and I am more energetic during workouts.3
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I'm starting to see this too!
I've always been a firm believer in calories in and calories out and used to think this eating more thing was rubbish.. I have about 80lbs to lose in total. I had been eating 1400 cals and losing 1.5lbish a week. I struggled to stick with it, i end up giving in at some point.
I started doing meditation to help with some background issues i have, to help me feel more positive and confident in being healthier and to see if i could make this more natural to me and so stay with it. As part of that, i realised that i've spent most of my life eating what other people expect me to eat - not eating how or what or when i myself actually wanted to eat.
So I decided i'd stop calorie counting for a few weeks and eat how my body WANTED to for a while. I would still log everything though. I accepted i'd probably eat tonnes, and gain weight but i felt it was important to feel this eating freedom for me for at least a few weeks as part of the longer term process. I started eating when i feel physically hungry, and i eat what i like! Whether its weird, healthy or not healthy! If i want a prawn cocktail at my desk at 3pm, thats what i eat. I eat til i'm nearly full. If i don't feel hungry at dinner time, i don't eat. If i do, i eat. There's no rules! If i wake and i'm starving for protein, i have a hot breakfast. I have to say, my body hasn't really wanted junk food which has shocked me. I've been wanting nuts and fruit and fish.
Anyway, to cut to it, I tend to end my day between 1800-1900 calories now. I've lost 3lbs, 4cm off my waist, 1cm off my thigh in a week.
I don't understand how this is happening. How can there be a table of cake near me at work and I'm not interested? Is it the meditation? Is it that i know i can eat it if i want it? I do seem to be moving more, i don't feel so tired and i sleep better from not eating big meals on a night now. Perhaps its that?
Whatever case - if this works for you, go for it. No more following the rules when it comes to our bodies, we are all so different - we make our own rules.2 -
Eat more, do more (people tend to forget that last bit.)
For many people low calorie equates to feeling sluggish, unconscious activity falls (sometimes dramatically), planned exercise is done at a lower intensity, less often and for a shorter time frame (either consciously or unconsciously.) This means that CO does not remain at the same level as it was before the diet commenced which results in a smaller than expected calorie deficit.
Also, with low calories there can be a greater likelihood of secret / unconscious / unaccounted for eating / binging again leading to a lower than expected calorie deficit.
So yes, sometimes eating more does lead to greater weight loss. CI can affect CO.11 -
NewMEEE2016 wrote: »EATING *MORE*- believe it or not- has worked for me!!! Has anyone else had this experience??? I am ASTOUNDED at how EASY it has been for me-
Good on you. I was surprised that anyone was critical or defensive, or suggesting you don't know how to count calories, people's bodies are different and do different things. I find it easy to sit on 1200-1400 cals per day when I am focused like now, and not exercising. When I exercise I eat more. Some days I just want more and have it. Occasionally I have a low cal day 1,000, and I like mixing it up because it seems to allow my body to stay awake.
We all have such different metabolisms, such different microbiomes, what works for one, does not work for all, so good on you for finding what works for you, listening to your body (and dietician) , and tuning in to what you need.3 -
Eat more, do more (people tend to forget that last bit.)
For many people low calorie equates to feeling sluggish, unconscious activity falls (sometimes dramatically), planned exercise is done at a lower intensity, less often and for a shorter time frame (either consciously or unconsciously.) This means that CO does not remain at the same level as it was before the diet commenced which results in a smaller than expected calorie deficit.
Also, with low calories there can be a greater likelihood of secret / unconscious / unaccounted for eating / binging again leading to a lower than expected calorie deficit.
So yes, sometimes eating more does lead to greater weight loss. CI can affect CO.
You know i think this is whats been happening for me recently! Whatever is going on, its a nice freedom to feel.2 -
Yes, totally agree with you, at 53, menopausal & a tobacco quitter, I have tried practically everything out there and have now realised that the problem with the need to eat all the expensive calories is caused by us starving ourselves between meals, by "topping up" our fuel at regular intervals with sensible calories, the need to binge on carbs and anything else is removed. After doing a LOT of study/investigation, I have found the thing that works for me and yes, just like you I AM EATING MORE food which obviously is a more sensible use of my calorie goal, but not leaving me hungry or craving any of those expensive foods. We are still being told not to eat between meals, this is absolutely the WRONG track to take3
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PS I got my mother on MFP because she was yo-yo-ing around the same weight and wanted to lose a few more kilos, I already suspected she wasn't eating enough & sure enough I was right...by making her eat more, her weight loss has become regular and is actually happening, much to her surprise and delight.0
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Yes!!! due to a brain injury and meds I have taken for years all food tastes the same and literally has no appeal. I was eating maybe 5 or 600 calories a day. Now I make sure to get all the nutrients I need and at least 1100 calories. My body is functioning normally but it takes conscious effort to consume what I need.0
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This happen to me as well. I was not loosing weight at all, and I barely ate. I worked with a a health coach, and they looked at my calorie intake and said I was eating enough. I was like you inwoulpd go all day and not eat. I was so frustrated, I even koine do gym and hired a trainer and was seeing no results. I went to a health coach through work, she said not eating enough is a recipe for being over weight. Now my lunch bag is full, in three weeks I have lost 3lbs. MFP has been really helpful! Before I was only eating like 600 calories aday know I eat 1500.1
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Not exactly, but I do better and am leaner when I am more active and eating more. My body responds really well to exercising and not very well to dieting. When I was injured and had to rest, ate less but gained. When I am active, eat more and lose. It's still in vs out though, that's physics. But for me it's easier to increase the out than to reduce the in, I guess.
With women training extreme distance sports (not me) there is an actual phenomenon where the body will not lose fat until they eat more calories, but that's an unusual situation.1 -
I've eaten close to maintenance for a week just to break myself out of a plateau before, but eating more for me usually equals instant weight gain. My guess is when you're heavier your body requires more calories just to move and function than it does when you are leaner. But, being leaner and exercising tends to speed up your metabolism. Quality of what you eat counts too, but if the OP is truly eating more than in the past and losing weight, I would consult a physician because it just doesn't work like that. Something is not working right.3
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Last time I fell for this mantra I stalled for a year cause I rationalized "EAT MORE 2 LOSE WEIGHT HEHEHEH11!!"
Not gonna fall for it again.8 -
PS I got my mother on MFP because she was yo-yo-ing around the same weight and wanted to lose a few more kilos, I already suspected she wasn't eating enough & sure enough I was right...by making her eat more, her weight loss has become regular and is actually happening, much to her surprise and delight.
EXACTLY!!!
Again, for those who haven't through all above- I am NOT suggesting that we eat more than our daily maintenance requirement. That would cause weight gain. I am also not suggesting that actually STARVING ourselves would not cause us to lose weight (albeit in a very unhealthy way.) I am suggesting that keeping ourselves at NEAR-starvation levels for a prolonged period of time will NOT cause weight loss in the long term and may actually PREVENT fat loss. (I'm also suggesting that our actual minimum maintenance requirement may be a lot higher than most online calculators indicate- and can ascertained more accurately through testing by a doctor or dietician).3 -
This happen to me as well. I was not loosing weight at all, and I barely ate. I worked with a a health coach, and they looked at my calorie intake and said I was eating enough. I was like you inwoulpd go all day and not eat. I was so frustrated, I even koine do gym and hired a trainer and was seeing no results. I went to a health coach through work, she said not eating enough is a recipe for being over weight. Now my lunch bag is full, in three weeks I have lost 3lbs. MFP has been really helpful! Before I was only eating like 600 calories aday know I eat 1500.
YES! BINGO! It's counter-intuitive, right? We have been so conditioned to deprive ourselves in an effort to "lose weight" when in actuality the opposite is true.
Obesity is all about DEPRIVATION- both physiologically, nutritionally and emotionally- not caring for ourselves enough to give ourselves what we truly deserve: enough sleep, plenty of good *healthful* food, strong beautiful bodies.3 -
you are not eating very much at all. I thought you were going to say you're eating 2800 calories a day or something. However.. you can eat more in low calorie foods…very easily and be eating all the time and full. I get that.0
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elisa123gal wrote: »you are not eating very much at all. I thought you were going to say you're eating 2800 calories a day or something. However.. you can eat more in low calorie foods…very easily and be eating all the time and full. I get that.
Were you referring to me? My point isn't that I'm eating bulkier foods and feel fuller. My point is that I am eating a lot more calories than I did when I was heavier & not able to "release" the weight. I'm now eating 1500 cals a day and still losing- slowly (on purpose)- and am going to try upping it slowly to the level my nutritionist recommends which is 1700-ish. I always thought I would have to eat 1000 or less to lose weight.3 -
Sometimes when I switch things up I have noticed it is beneficial to definitely eat more. I lost weight when I went out to eat at a restaurant who gives out huge portions and it worked for me though I couldn't say I could always do it and still lose weight it is just a once in a while thing when all else is failing but yeah I believe it does work! This happens when I am constantly eating to little.0
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I'm weirded out by why everyone is struggling understanding this. If you eat a small amount of calories, it lowers your metabolism because your brain compensates. So if you eat a reasonable amount of calories but still at a deficit, you will generally lose weight faster than someone at a severe deficit. Congrats!8
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I'm weirded out by why everyone is struggling understanding this. If you eat a small amount of calories, it lowers your metabolism because your brain compensates. So if you eat a reasonable amount of calories but still at a deficit, you will generally lose weight faster than someone at a severe deficit. Congrats!
Exactly. Thank you! I am blown away by how *easy* it has been to lose this weight that has plagued me for decades. Easiest thing I have ever done.4
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