Eat more lose more
Belma24everyday
Posts: 3 Member
I am very confused about how my diet is supposed to be. I was told recently that I must eat more in order to lose more. I don't understand how to do it properly. Can anyone explain this to me?
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Replies
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I now eat more volume than I used to-- because I am concentrating on high fiber foods like big salads and lots of vegetables (about 45 grams of fiber a day) that make me fuller longer than smaller portions of high-fat or high-calorie foods.2
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I wrote this to another poster, but it is applicable to your question.
The idea is to maximize the energy consumed for your body to run at optimal levels but eat fewer calories than you need to achieve weight loss. It's objective is to minimize the impact on hormones that can cause metabolic adaptations (in reality prevent the acceleration of adaptive thermogenesis) and support muscle retention and/or growth (the latter may occur if you follow a good progressive overload lifting routine). In an essence, not starve yourself thin and concentrate on fat loss (not just weight loss)
When people aggressively cut calories, it makes it harder to maintain muscle mass and increase the chances of metabolic adaptation (a reduction in TDEE), which them makes it harder to create a deficit over time. The decrease in calories tends to lead to binging or completely falling off the boat. But now your maintenance levels are suppressed which leads to the increased ability to regain weight at a higher rate. So when you go for a more balanced approached, and people aren't starving, they tend to have greater dietary compliance, which enables them to have prolonged periods of time in a deficit (thence leading to greater success). Additionally, it increase the ability to retain muscle and even improve performance in the gym. Better performance = more calories burned and more strength gained/
Where people get in trouble is they maintain faith based on calculations and don't adjust for real life results. Most calculators under represent the amount of calories I need to maintain. Often they have it between 2700-2800, but reality is, I maintain at 3k. But for many people, the calculators are a bit high or the user tends to over estimate calorie expenditure. This is why it's very critical to adjust your intake after 4 to 6 weeks and continue to assess it quarterly or even monthly.
So I hope that gives you some perspective. If you have more questions let me know.
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Eat more to lose more has more to do with dietary adherence than anything...a secondary factor would be less stress on the body and less jacking around with hormones.
The key to efficient weight loss isn't setting the most aggressive goal possible so you can lose weight the fastest...this often backfires actually...the key to efficient weight loss is consistency over what is often a fairly long period of time.
Being overly aggressive and overly restrictive can often lead one to "stop and start" over and over again...a year goes by and maybe they've made some headway, but it has been limited due to being unable to sustain a consistent effort whereas someone who was less aggressive and a bit more relaxed in their approach, while not set up to lose as quickly, may in fact lose more within that same year simply due to being able to better adhere to the plan.
A 1 Lb per week target is pretty painless for most and not all that difficult to stick to long term...more aggressive approaches (2+Lbs) tend to be much more difficult for people to be consistent with...it basically becomes a tortoise and the hare kind of thing. Unfortunately, people seem to have little patience so often opt for the most aggressive approach possible and just end up doing the whole "start and stop" thing over and over again and basically spinning their wheels and complaining that nothing works.2 -
Most people come to MFP, and immediately set themselves at a 2lb per week loss rate. It's too much for many people to sustain. They falter and give up. You're better off setting yourself at a 1lb per week loss rate, then allowing exercise to earn you back a few calories (in my opinion anyway). If you eat a little bit more (still at a deficit mind you) you have the option of improving muscles and getting fitter all while burning fat. Throwing yourself in a severe deficit sets you up for losing fat along with muscle mass and will not give your muscles the energy they need to sustain exercise. I also fell into this trap, set myself at a huge deficit and worked out like a mad man at first 7 days a week.. it got me injured more than once. It's not all about calories and weight loss, it's also about fitness, so bear that in mind.
Get a food scale, weigh every solid food that passes your lips for accuracy. Don't lie to your diary and eat at a moderate (not severe) deficit with a good mixture of exercise and you'll do fine.3 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Eat more to lose more has more to do with dietary adherence than anything...
My suspicion is that you are right. There are too many people coming here saying "I ate more and started to lose faster" for it to be total bunk imo - but I can't accept the idea that it's because of metabolic adaptation. Sure, the metabolism adapts, the body makes savings, but there's no way it can make savings big enough to wipe out a thousand calorie deficit (or more).
What I think is happening is that people are white-knuckling it with a huge deficit, and as a result, body and mind are rebelling. Portions look smaller than they really are, snacks become more tempting and easier to forget, exercise seems harder and longer and if the fitbit tells them they burned 800 calories, they're not going to argue! And then there are the binges, which either get under-logged or (more likely) not logged at all because of shame (understandable, but counterproductive) and are rationalised as "just a weekend treat".
And so the body and brain work together to strong-arm you into eating enough to maintain your weight - because that is the aim of every part of your being apart from the one little outnumbered, outgunned region we call "consciousness". I don't think people are lying at all. I think they're genuinely unaware of this. I think it's a very primal defence mechanism, like locking an insane captain in the brig to stop him sinking the ship.
So then someone says "eat more to lose more" and it sounds weird, but maybe they say something about metabolic adaptation and it seems to make some kind of sense, so you try it. And suddenly your body finds you aren't trying to starve it any more. Sure, you're still in a deficit, but a 500 or 250 calorie deficit is small enough that it doesn't feel like starving. Your body isn't THAT good at judging how much food it needs, the margin of error is pretty high, and after a couple of weeks adapting, this feels like enough, or at least not like a famine.
So the red alert gets cancelled, the captain is unlocked from the brig, all the dirty tricks stop and you find you can actually do this. And in a few weeks, guess what? You're losing weight! And faster than when you were eating "less". It's a miracle!
So how do you do it? Set up myfitnesspal to lose 1lb or half a lb a week, then log all your food and exercise, honestly and as accurately as you can. Don't cut out foods unnecessarily, leave room for treats, do exercise that you enjoy, and repeat. Repeat every day. That's all.
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CattOfTheGarage wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Eat more to lose more has more to do with dietary adherence than anything...
My suspicion is that you are right. There are too many people coming here saying "I ate more and started to lose faster" for it to be total bunk imo - but I can't accept the idea that it's because of metabolic adaptation. Sure, the metabolism adapts, the body makes savings, but there's no way it can make savings big enough to wipe out a thousand calorie deficit (or more).
What I think is happening is that people are white-knuckling it with a huge deficit, and as a result, body and mind are rebelling. Portions look smaller than they really are, snacks become more tempting and easier to forget, exercise seems harder and longer and if the fitbit tells them they burned 800 calories, they're not going to argue! And then there are the binges, which either get under-logged or (more likely) not logged at all because of shame (understandable, but counterproductive) and are rationalised as "just a weekend treat".
And so the body and brain work together to strong-arm you into eating enough to maintain your weight - because that is the aim of every part of your being apart from the one little outnumbered, outgunned region we call "consciousness". I don't think people are lying at all. I think they're genuinely unaware of this. I think it's a very primal defence mechanism, like locking an insane captain in the brig to stop him sinking the ship.
So then someone says "eat more to lose more" and it sounds weird, but maybe they say something about metabolic adaptation and it seems to make some kind of sense, so you try it. And suddenly your body finds you aren't trying to starve it any more. Sure, you're still in a deficit, but a 500 or 250 calorie deficit is small enough that it doesn't feel like starving. Your body isn't THAT good at judging how much food it needs, the margin of error is pretty high, and after a couple of weeks adapting, this feels like enough, or at least not like a famine.
So the red alert gets cancelled, the captain is unlocked from the brig, all the dirty tricks stop and you find you can actually do this. And in a few weeks, guess what? You're losing weight! And faster than when you were eating "less". It's a miracle!
So how do you do it? Set up myfitnesspal to lose 1lb or half a lb a week, then log all your food and exercise, honestly and as accurately as you can. Don't cut out foods unnecessarily, leave room for treats, do exercise that you enjoy, and repeat. Repeat every day. That's all.
Why I did it, I was following the TDEE method. I started with 1800 calories and bumped to around 2300. I found I was just more consistent. It's possible that I also saw transient increases in expenditure output from exercise and daily activity since I was less tired.1 -
I ate more to lose more after a few months of consistent effort and success in losing weight. I set myself up to lose 2lbs/week. That meant a 1200 calorie diet. I was aggressive because I learned from my doctor that I was at risk for metabolic syndrome and weight loss "could" lower my blood pressure and cholesterol numbers. He was right. After losing my first 20lbs I started moving more. Since I was moving more, I needed more calories in my diet to keep my energy levels up. That meant eating more. I continued to lose weight by eating more because I was burning more. My energy levels were high and the motivation to move was constant.
So many people are confused by exercise calories. They are scared to eat them but they are extra calories that give us energy. I've seen so many people get burnt out because they ate too little in comparison to what they were burning.
Walking 30 minutes per day is a great way to start moving more but if that totally drains you from moving more throughout the day you will not lose as much weight. Why? Because you are moving less throughout the day because you don't have the energy to move more. Where does that energy come from? You guessed it...from eating more.
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I must be weird. I lose less (or gain) when I eat more.1
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Adaptive thermogenesis and even outright freakin' fatigue can enter into it at too high a deficit, too. (Basically, when you eat way too little, you may be less energetic in many small things throughout your day, and those missed activity calories can add up in a surprising way. Somewhere in there - we hope - is a "just enough calories" level that keeps you moving energetically through your days, but still has enough deficit for weight loss.)1
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I must be weird. I lose less (or gain) when I eat more.
How do you gain in a deficit? Eat more doesn't mean eat in a surplus which is what you would have to do to gain.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I must be weird. I lose less (or gain) when I eat more.
How do you gain in a deficit? Eat more doesn't mean eat in a surplus which is what you would have to do to gain.
OIC Silly me. I thought eat more meant, well, eat more than you are currently.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I must be weird. I lose less (or gain) when I eat more.
How do you gain in a deficit? Eat more doesn't mean eat in a surplus which is what you would have to do to gain.
OIC Silly me. I thought eat more meant, well, eat more than you are currently.
If you're in a 1,000 calorie deficit and you decide to eat more...say like 500 calories more...how do you gain...you're still in a deficit?0 -
CattOfTheGarage wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Eat more to lose more has more to do with dietary adherence than anything...
My suspicion is that you are right. There are too many people coming here saying "I ate more and started to lose faster" for it to be total bunk imo - but I can't accept the idea that it's because of metabolic adaptation. Sure, the metabolism adapts, the body makes savings, but there's no way it can make savings big enough to wipe out a thousand calorie deficit (or more).
What I think is happening is that people are white-knuckling it with a huge deficit, and as a result, body and mind are rebelling. Portions look smaller than they really are, snacks become more tempting and easier to forget, exercise seems harder and longer and if the fitbit tells them they burned 800 calories, they're not going to argue! And then there are the binges, which either get under-logged or (more likely) not logged at all because of shame (understandable, but counterproductive) and are rationalised as "just a weekend treat".
And so the body and brain work together to strong-arm you into eating enough to maintain your weight - because that is the aim of every part of your being apart from the one little outnumbered, outgunned region we call "consciousness". I don't think people are lying at all. I think they're genuinely unaware of this. I think it's a very primal defence mechanism, like locking an insane captain in the brig to stop him sinking the ship.
So then someone says "eat more to lose more" and it sounds weird, but maybe they say something about metabolic adaptation and it seems to make some kind of sense, so you try it. And suddenly your body finds you aren't trying to starve it any more. Sure, you're still in a deficit, but a 500 or 250 calorie deficit is small enough that it doesn't feel like starving. Your body isn't THAT good at judging how much food it needs, the margin of error is pretty high, and after a couple of weeks adapting, this feels like enough, or at least not like a famine.
So the red alert gets cancelled, the captain is unlocked from the brig, all the dirty tricks stop and you find you can actually do this. And in a few weeks, guess what? You're losing weight! And faster than when you were eating "less". It's a miracle!
So how do you do it? Set up myfitnesspal to lose 1lb or half a lb a week, then log all your food and exercise, honestly and as accurately as you can. Don't cut out foods unnecessarily, leave room for treats, do exercise that you enjoy, and repeat. Repeat every day. That's all.
Why I did it, I was following the TDEE method. I started with 1800 calories and bumped to around 2300. I found I was just more consistent. It's possible that I also saw transient increases in expenditure output from exercise and daily activity since I was less tired.
Same...
And to the bolded...I think maintenance is a lot higher than I thought it would be because of this...as I upped calories I had more energy and worked harder and did more and it was this sort of perpetual snowball to about 3,000 calories when I thought maintenance would be more like 2,500 given the rate at which I was losing when I went to maintenance.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I must be weird. I lose less (or gain) when I eat more.
How do you gain in a deficit? Eat more doesn't mean eat in a surplus which is what you would have to do to gain.
OIC Silly me. I thought eat more meant, well, eat more than you are currently.
If you're in a 1,000 calorie deficit and you decide to eat more...say like 500 calories more...how do you gain...you're still in a deficit?
Correct. But I'm not in a 1000 calorie deficit.
But out of curiosity, if I'm in a 1000 calorie deficit and I decide to eat 500 calories more, how do I lose more?1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I must be weird. I lose less (or gain) when I eat more.
How do you gain in a deficit? Eat more doesn't mean eat in a surplus which is what you would have to do to gain.
OIC Silly me. I thought eat more meant, well, eat more than you are currently.
If you're in a 1,000 calorie deficit and you decide to eat more...say like 500 calories more...how do you gain...you're still in a deficit?
Correct. But I'm not in a 1000 calorie deficit.
But out of curiosity, if I'm in a 1000 calorie deficit and I decide to eat 500 calories more, how do I lose more?
See my first post...
Dietary adherence...plenty of people fail with aggressive deficits and are much more consistent with smaller deficit...thus over the long run they lose more.
You've been here awhile...I know you really just like to argue and start *kitten* so I'm done with you at this point...some people are actually trying to help the OP make sense of it.
I'm sure you've read the tortoise and the hare...apparently never actually learned anything from that little story though...2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I must be weird. I lose less (or gain) when I eat more.
How do you gain in a deficit? Eat more doesn't mean eat in a surplus which is what you would have to do to gain.
OIC Silly me. I thought eat more meant, well, eat more than you are currently.
If you're in a 1,000 calorie deficit and you decide to eat more...say like 500 calories more...how do you gain...you're still in a deficit?
Correct. But I'm not in a 1000 calorie deficit.
But out of curiosity, if I'm in a 1000 calorie deficit and I decide to eat 500 calories more, how do I lose more?
See my first post...
Dietary adherence...plenty of people fail with aggressive deficits and are much more consistent with smaller deficit...thus over the long run they lose more.
You've been here awhile...I know you really just like to argue and start *kitten* so I'm done with you at this point...some people are actually trying to help the OP make sense of it.
I'm sure you've read the tortoise and the hare...apparently never actually learned anything from that little story though...
So, I don't lose more because I eat more, I lose more because I set a more realistic goal and stick to it? That makes more sense.2 -
Belma24everyday wrote: »I am very confused about how my diet is supposed to be. I was told recently that I must eat more in order to lose more. I don't understand how to do it properly. Can anyone explain this to me?
What I've learned is that if you eat 6 small meals a day that contains about 200 -400 calories each, you are able to lose more weight week by week
also just by eating more protein and lesser carbs your able to loose even more!!!!! I suggest you to try it as well. 0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I must be weird. I lose less (or gain) when I eat more.
How do you gain in a deficit? Eat more doesn't mean eat in a surplus which is what you would have to do to gain.
OIC Silly me. I thought eat more meant, well, eat more than you are currently.
If you're in a 1,000 calorie deficit and you decide to eat more...say like 500 calories more...how do you gain...you're still in a deficit?
Correct. But I'm not in a 1000 calorie deficit.
But out of curiosity, if I'm in a 1000 calorie deficit and I decide to eat 500 calories more, how do I lose more?
The thing people leave out is eat more, lose weight, over more time (at least that's how I interpret it). Some people cannot stick with a 1000 calorie deficit (causing them to binge often and blow all their efforts). But a smaller deficit? That they might be able to stick to without needing to binge.
Consider a person who refuses to try anything other than a 1000 calorie deficit. They start fresh.. then within 3 weeks they're "off the wagon" and eat at a surplus for 3 weeks. Then they "get back on track" and do it all again. They may have a next zero effect (no loss over the 6 week cycle). Or they may even gain.
But a person who simply eats a 500 or even 250 calorie deficit will at least consistently lose weight (and have a lower chance of "falling off the wagon").
Of course if one could stick to the 1000 calorie deficit, they would lose the SAME amount of weight over less time (because hopefully this person STOPS losing weight when they reach their goal). But it takes a pretty special person to do that long term.1 -
CattOfTheGarage wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Eat more to lose more has more to do with dietary adherence than anything...
My suspicion is that you are right. There are too many people coming here saying "I ate more and started to lose faster" for it to be total bunk imo - but I can't accept the idea that it's because of metabolic adaptation. Sure, the metabolism adapts, the body makes savings, but there's no way it can make savings big enough to wipe out a thousand calorie deficit (or more).
What I think is happening is that people are white-knuckling it with a huge deficit, and as a result, body and mind are rebelling. Portions look smaller than they really are, snacks become more tempting and easier to forget, exercise seems harder and longer and if the fitbit tells them they burned 800 calories, they're not going to argue! And then there are the binges, which either get under-logged or (more likely) not logged at all because of shame (understandable, but counterproductive) and are rationalised as "just a weekend treat".
And so the body and brain work together to strong-arm you into eating enough to maintain your weight - because that is the aim of every part of your being apart from the one little outnumbered, outgunned region we call "consciousness". I don't think people are lying at all. I think they're genuinely unaware of this. I think it's a very primal defence mechanism, like locking an insane captain in the brig to stop him sinking the ship.
So then someone says "eat more to lose more" and it sounds weird, but maybe they say something about metabolic adaptation and it seems to make some kind of sense, so you try it. And suddenly your body finds you aren't trying to starve it any more. Sure, you're still in a deficit, but a 500 or 250 calorie deficit is small enough that it doesn't feel like starving. Your body isn't THAT good at judging how much food it needs, the margin of error is pretty high, and after a couple of weeks adapting, this feels like enough, or at least not like a famine.
So the red alert gets cancelled, the captain is unlocked from the brig, all the dirty tricks stop and you find you can actually do this. And in a few weeks, guess what? You're losing weight! And faster than when you were eating "less". It's a miracle!
So how do you do it? Set up myfitnesspal to lose 1lb or half a lb a week, then log all your food and exercise, honestly and as accurately as you can. Don't cut out foods unnecessarily, leave room for treats, do exercise that you enjoy, and repeat. Repeat every day. That's all.
^ I generally agree with this, nice post ^1 -
CattOfTheGarage wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Eat more to lose more has more to do with dietary adherence than anything...
My suspicion is that you are right. There are too many people coming here saying "I ate more and started to lose faster" for it to be total bunk imo - but I can't accept the idea that it's because of metabolic adaptation. Sure, the metabolism adapts, the body makes savings, but there's no way it can make savings big enough to wipe out a thousand calorie deficit (or more).
What I think is happening is that people are white-knuckling it with a huge deficit, and as a result, body and mind are rebelling. Portions look smaller than they really are, snacks become more tempting and easier to forget, exercise seems harder and longer and if the fitbit tells them they burned 800 calories, they're not going to argue! And then there are the binges, which either get under-logged or (more likely) not logged at all because of shame (understandable, but counterproductive) and are rationalised as "just a weekend treat".
And so the body and brain work together to strong-arm you into eating enough to maintain your weight - because that is the aim of every part of your being apart from the one little outnumbered, outgunned region we call "consciousness". I don't think people are lying at all. I think they're genuinely unaware of this. I think it's a very primal defence mechanism, like locking an insane captain in the brig to stop him sinking the ship.
So then someone says "eat more to lose more" and it sounds weird, but maybe they say something about metabolic adaptation and it seems to make some kind of sense, so you try it. And suddenly your body finds you aren't trying to starve it any more. Sure, you're still in a deficit, but a 500 or 250 calorie deficit is small enough that it doesn't feel like starving. Your body isn't THAT good at judging how much food it needs, the margin of error is pretty high, and after a couple of weeks adapting, this feels like enough, or at least not like a famine.
So the red alert gets cancelled, the captain is unlocked from the brig, all the dirty tricks stop and you find you can actually do this. And in a few weeks, guess what? You're losing weight! And faster than when you were eating "less". It's a miracle!
So how do you do it? Set up myfitnesspal to lose 1lb or half a lb a week, then log all your food and exercise, honestly and as accurately as you can. Don't cut out foods unnecessarily, leave room for treats, do exercise that you enjoy, and repeat. Repeat every day. That's all.
Awesome post. I think you're pretty much spot on.0
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