Eating more to lose?

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talysshade
talysshade Posts: 273 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all,

My own weight loss program is going great, so woo, i love this website. But now i have a question about my boyfriend. He moved to come live with me here in holland about a year ago and he's lost about.. 30 pounds since. Right now he weighs 310 pounds still, though and he wants to get down to at least 250 to begin with. However, when he stepped on the scale this morning, he was 2 pounds heavier than 50 days ago. In all fairness, that's not much, but it's not the loss he had been having.

So, in an attempt to actually actively make him lose weight this time (the previous 30 pounds came off just from living here) i signed him up for mfp. MFP gave him a calorie goal of about 2250 calories a day, if he was trying to lose one and a half pound a week.

Keeping track told us that he only eats about 1400-1600 calories most days, except some rare ones where he'll actually get to 2250 or higher. Could he really be eating too little to lose weight? Or is there any other thing he can try?

I've never had this problem myself since i was only 150 pounds when i started and i always struggle to stay under my goal..

Replies

  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
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    Tell him he's a big guy eating like a small woman!

    Seriously, he needs to eat that 2250, and probably some of the exercise calories as well.

    Just to put it in perspective, I'm about 230 and I eat around 2200 per week and I'm losing around 1-3 pounds per week.
  • OnMyWay2STay
    OnMyWay2STay Posts: 144 Member
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    Is he possibly overestimating his activity level? And does he use a measuring cup or scale to accurately measure or weigh his portions? Just a couple thoughts, maybe someone else has more useful advice!
  • Tanamoor
    Tanamoor Posts: 4
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    I've heard that if you eat too little, you body goes into "survival mode" and tries to store fat. I've also read that exercise will help raise your metabolism and that's a good thing. Also read that when you reach a plateau, you should eat more protein and lots of vegies. For some reason that is supposed to help the body get back in gear. I don't really know all the scientific reasons for this....just some ideas and what I have read through the years.
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 MFP Moderator
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    Aye, I'm near 300 pounds myself (started at 330) and I eat over 2000 calories a day before any exercise (I DO eat my exercise calories) and am losing weight just fine.
  • kiwikara
    kiwikara Posts: 65 Member
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    I'm no expert, but I've heard that if you eat fewer calories than you are recommended to eat then your body could go in to starvation mode and begin storing all of your calories as fat instead of using them. It is important to eat the amount of calories your body needs to work properly. Bump him up to the recommended amount and see what happens!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    YES! 1400 calories is not a lot for someone of his size. He needs more nutrients and ESPECIALLY more protein.
  • kiwikara
    kiwikara Posts: 65 Member
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    Haha! I posted something similar at the same time. Rock on!
  • kendlecj
    kendlecj Posts: 2
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    talysshade,

    I am a dietitian in the states and yes it is possible that he needs to eat more to lose weight. If he is not eating enough currently it is possible that his body is in "starvation mode" and wants to hang onto his weight. That being said it is not unusual for weight to fluctuate a couple of pounds daily. It is important to have a carb and a protein with each meal and snack (he should try to eat every 2-4 hours) and example is laughing cow cheese and an orange. It would not be unusual for his weight to rebound and to gain a little at the begining but after a couple of weeks the weight should start to come off. Also remember sodium ladden food can cause water retention and the appearance of weight gain on the scale. To pull excess sodium off, try to drink 1/2 once water for every pound body weight. Good Luck!
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
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    I've heard that if you eat too little, you body goes into "survival mode" and tries to store fat. I've also read that exercise will help raise your metabolism and that's a good thing. Also read that when you reach a plateau, you should eat more protein and lots of vegies. For some reason that is supposed to help the body get back in gear. I don't really know all the scientific reasons for this....just some ideas and what I have read through the years.

    Starvation mode is largely a myth. Yes, if you eat too few calories for too long it will slow metabolism some but you should still lose weight. It will just be slower going. Sometimes people under estimate what they are actually eating. If you are not measuring with a scale and measuring cups then you can't be sure you are on target. Most people are probably off by as much as 25% by eyeballing it, particularly in the beginning.

    The biggest problem with eating too few calories is just poor nutrtion. If you are not eating enough food you are not getting enough vitamins and minerals or any of the macro nutrients. Chances are you are not getting enough fat to maintain hormone levels which can cause some unpleasant issues for men and women. Energy levels are crap and you probably don't feel good in general.

    A 300+ pound man shouldn't be eating 1500 calories per day.
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
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    talysshade,

    I am a dietitian in the states and yes it is possible that he needs to eat more to lose weight. If he is not eating enough currently it is possible that his body is in "starvation mode" and wants to hang onto his weight. That being said it is not unusual for weight to fluctuate a couple of pounds daily. It is important to have a carb and a protein with each meal and snack (he should try to eat every 2-4 hours) and example is laughing cow cheese and an orange. It would not be unusual for his weight to rebound and to gain a little at the begining but after a couple of weeks the weight should start to come off. Also remember sodium ladden food can cause water retention and the appearance of weight gain on the scale. To pull excess sodium off, try to drink 1/2 once water for every pound body weight. Good Luck!


    Meal frequencey means nothing, BTW.

    Intermitant fasting works great and you generally don't eat for 16 hrs on that. As I stated above, "starvation mode" is largely BS.
  • auroreia
    auroreia Posts: 10
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    I've been on here for one week... and while everyone congratulates everyone else on being "under calorie count" I've been getting the following message from MFP when I total my day out and am under calorie count:

    "*Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum."

    This happens even when I'm only a few calories under. My understanding is that MFP has already taken into consideration your weight loss goals and has given you the bare minimum of calories that your body NEEDS to function yet still lose weight.

    I know that it sounds counter intuitive to eat more to lose... but I would suggest that he follow MFP's suggestion, making an effort to eat enough calories while NOT going over carb and fat count. That's the tricky part... especially with such a high amount of calories available to him... what's a burger that's 400 calories when you still have 2,000 left? I totally understand, but if he can do that (lots of veggies, lots of whole grains, lot's of low fat proteins) then I really believe he'll be successful!


    Good Luck!

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