Will upping my calories help me lose weight?
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danigirl1011 wrote: »I disagree with most the people on here. If you are eating 1200 calories a day and are active 9 hours a day PLUS gym time and weight lifting 1200 calories is not enough. You would have to be getting close to netting only a few hundred or negative calories every day? That is way too much of a deficit. If you are logging correctly (and that means EVERYTHING you are putting in your mouth) then from what i have read, you should be eating back half your calories. I would try to log your daily activity at work, as well as the gym, and see what your net is and go from there. I'm not sure where you ever got on 1200 calories? MFP asks you when you start if you are active, and if so, they don't start you at 1200. I am eating around 1500. Sometimes i go to the gym, sometimes i dont. Sometimes i have a walk on my breaks during the day and i am averaging a 10 pound weight loss per month. I would increase your calories.
If OP isn't losing weight over a significant period of time, the problem isn't that she has too much of a deficit.13 -
If you are not losing it means you are eating more than burning.
The end.
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Are you using a gram measure food scale and also measuring liquids like oils that you cook with? Are you counting everything you drink as well as what you eat? You're verifying the labels and WEIGHTS not quantity right (if it says 1 tbsp [28g] you weigh 28g, not 1 tbsp), etc?
At 1200 calories, if you're not losing weight and are that active, something is off... you're logging incorrect, you're "eating back" exercise calories, you're eating more than 1200 calories, you're moving less than you estimate (or at less intensity), or you have a metabolic disorder. More food will not yield more weight loss.
BMR(female) = 10 * weight(kg) + 6.25 * height(cm) - 5 * age(y) - 161
BMR = 10 * 63.5029 + 6.25 * 162.56 - 5 * (age in years) - 161
So your BMR would be something akin to 1400 at age 18, 1090 at age 80.
That DOESN'T count exercise or activity level *AT ALL*.
With your food diary locked from public view, it's hard to see where you might be making likely mistakes... but eating more, if you want to lose weight, is not the answer.
("Starvation Mode" doesn't work how many people perpetuate it here. See also: http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm, http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/, etc, etc, etc.)1 -
Hi everyone, thanks for the replies. I know myself that I don't eat enough food throughout the day for all of you who think I'm overeating. In the past I have had an eating disorder that has probably caused significant damage to my metabolism. I've reached a stage where I just want to be healthy and strong so I have decided to up my calories slowly and see how it goes from there. Thank you2
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1200 calories is about the lowest you should go if you aren't very active. Since you're so active I would shoot for 1500.1
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So let me state this. At some point, when you want to maintain, you'd have to increase calories. Secondly, there are a lot of factors that can influence total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). Someone blindly saying, that answer is never to eat more calories is wrong. There are a variety of factors that can influence TDEE and it's components. Severely cutting calories, while having an active job and exercising is most likely not doing you any favors and more than likely doing more harm. And while there are not a ton of studies around the topic, some of the experts like Lyle McDonald, Layne Norton, etc.. can see improvements in metabolic efficiency with their clients by removing them from a large deficit, such as in the below post: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html .
Many people look at TDEE as a static number. But it's not. In fact, it's highly variable because it not only includes metabolism (BMR), but calories burned through exericse (TEA), daily activities (NEAT) and calories burnt during digestion (TEF). As you already noted, you are often exhausted which is one indicator that you are not receiving adequate nutrients. This in turn would suppress calories burnt from TEA and NEAT; eating low calories would also decrease TEF.
So what I am getting at, if you feel that you have addressed logging accuracy and consistency, I would recommend increasing calories by another 300 to 500 calories and monitoring progress over 4 to 6 weeks (know that if you increase carbs as will replenish glycogen/water, so you might show a few lbs on the scale within the first week or two... this is why you need to evaluate over a prolonged period to do an accurate assessment). I went from 1800 to 2300 and saw more consistent increases. I attribute it to greater compliance, ability to push harder in workouts and increases to daily activity increase my TDEE a lot.
Considering all things, most women I know (especially those exercising) see good loss around 1600 to 2000 calories (some even more). So it's not too unreasonable to have a starting point at the lower end of that. Whats the worst thing that could happen, you gain a few lbs and you will have had a good diet break.16 -
So let me state this. At some point, when you want to maintain, you'd have to increase calories. Secondly, there are a lot of factors that can influence total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). Someone blindly saying, that answer is never to eat more calories is wrong. There are a variety of factors that can influence TDEE and it's components. Severely cutting calories, while having an active job and exercising is most likely not doing you any favors and more than likely doing more harm. And while there are not a ton of studies around the topic, some of the experts like Lyle McDonald, Layne Norton, etc.. can see improvements in metabolic efficiency with their clients by removing them from a large deficit, such as in the below post: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html .
Many people look at TDEE as a static number. But it's not. In fact, it's highly variable because it not only includes metabolism (BMR), but calories burned through exericse (TEA), daily activities (NEAT) and calories burnt during digestion (TEF). As you already noted, you are often exhausted which is one indicator that you are not receiving adequate nutrients. This in turn would suppress calories burnt from TEA and NEAT; eating low calories would also decrease TEF.
So what I am getting at, if you feel that you have addressed logging accuracy and consistency, I would recommend increasing calories by another 300 to 500 calories and monitoring progress over 4 to 6 weeks (know that if you increase carbs as will replenish glycogen/water, so you might show a few lbs on the scale within the first week or two... this is why you need to evaluate over a prolonged period to do an accurate assessment). I went from 1800 to 2300 and saw more consistent increases. I attribute it to greater compliance, ability to push harder in workouts and increases to daily activity increase my TDEE a lot.
Considering all things, most women I know (especially those exercising) see good loss around 1600 to 2000 calories (some even more). So it's not too unreasonable to have a starting point at the lower end of that. Whats the worst thing that could happen, you gain a few lbs and you will have had a good diet break.
Thank you4 -
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Yep, just like putting a ski jacket on will help you cool down in summer.3
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leanneconnolly975 wrote: »Hi everyone, thanks for the replies. I know myself that I don't eat enough food throughout the day for all of you who think I'm overeating. In the past I have had an eating disorder that has probably caused significant damage to my metabolism. I've reached a stage where I just want to be healthy and strong so I have decided to up my calories slowly and see how it goes from there. Thank you
I don't think you are overeating - I think you are eating at maintenance, as indicated by you maintaining your current weight at your current intake.
Given you think you may have some metabolism damage, I would echo the above poster who suggested you see a doctor to talk about why you are feeling so exhausted and not losing weight.
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leanneconnolly975 wrote: »So let me state this. At some point, when you want to maintain, you'd have to increase calories. Secondly, there are a lot of factors that can influence total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). Someone blindly saying, that answer is never to eat more calories is wrong. There are a variety of factors that can influence TDEE and it's components. Severely cutting calories, while having an active job and exercising is most likely not doing you any favors and more than likely doing more harm. And while there are not a ton of studies around the topic, some of the experts like Lyle McDonald, Layne Norton, etc.. can see improvements in metabolic efficiency with their clients by removing them from a large deficit, such as in the below post: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html .
Many people look at TDEE as a static number. But it's not. In fact, it's highly variable because it not only includes metabolism (BMR), but calories burned through exericse (TEA), daily activities (NEAT) and calories burnt during digestion (TEF). As you already noted, you are often exhausted which is one indicator that you are not receiving adequate nutrients. This in turn would suppress calories burnt from TEA and NEAT; eating low calories would also decrease TEF.
So what I am getting at, if you feel that you have addressed logging accuracy and consistency, I would recommend increasing calories by another 300 to 500 calories and monitoring progress over 4 to 6 weeks (know that if you increase carbs as will replenish glycogen/water, so you might show a few lbs on the scale within the first week or two... this is why you need to evaluate over a prolonged period to do an accurate assessment). I went from 1800 to 2300 and saw more consistent increases. I attribute it to greater compliance, ability to push harder in workouts and increases to daily activity increase my TDEE a lot.
Considering all things, most women I know (especially those exercising) see good loss around 1600 to 2000 calories (some even more). So it's not too unreasonable to have a starting point at the lower end of that. Whats the worst thing that could happen, you gain a few lbs and you will have had a good diet break.
Thank you
I'd go with this. Having had an Eating Disorder in my younger years (BMI 11) i also find it very hard to loose weight now. For me lowering my calories too much and over-exercising results in water retention, pain, misery and eventually uncontrollable binge eating. By trying to loose weight in this way I caused unneccesarry misery. Go to your doctor, get all your blood tests and hormones checked (i had low vitamin D, increasing levels helped me in many ways). Remember weight loss is about overall health, you should feel better on loosing weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle not worse. It took me years to work this out!2 -
If you're currently at maintenance, adding 500 calories a day is a great way to gain 1 pound per week. I would reassess whether you're actually eating 1200 calories a day or you're eating more and unaware of it. A lot of people severely underestimate how much they eat.8
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So many fat people out there. If only they were eating more...15
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gebeziseva wrote: »So many fat people out there. If only they were eating more...
love this!!3 -
gebeziseva wrote: »So many fat people out there. If only they were eating more...
Exactly3 -
I was at a stall because I was eating to few calories. I upped my calories by changing my activity level from sedentary to lightly active and I'm suddenly losing again. So it is actually possible to lose weight by eating more calories. Just because 1200 calories woulda for one person, doesn't mean it works for all.2
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carriebeary8 wrote: »I was at a stall because I was eating to few calories. I upped my calories by changing my activity level from sedentary to lightly active and I'm suddenly losing again. So it is actually possible to lose weight by eating more calories. Just because 1200 calories woulda for one person, doesn't mean it works for all.
lol - nope. if only that were the solution just think of all the thrilled people that could eat MORE to lose!8 -
Muscleflex79 wrote: »carriebeary8 wrote: »I was at a stall because I was eating to few calories. I upped my calories by changing my activity level from sedentary to lightly active and I'm suddenly losing again. So it is actually possible to lose weight by eating more calories. Just because 1200 calories woulda for one person, doesn't mean it works for all.
lol - nope. if only that were the solution just think of all the thrilled people that could eat MORE to lose!
Then you should probably not listen to folks like Layne Norton or Lyle McDonald because many of their clients are also experiencing similar things.
Also, if you want to see the explanation, I already provided it above. EE is not linear and many things influence EE. Highly suppressed calories can also lead to direct or transient reductions in NEAT, TEA and TEF; also, long periods of times dieting will cause reductions basal metabolic functions.
Edit: Apparently, it's way to early to write coherently.10 -
It sounds to me like you should see a dr about possible health issues preventing you from losing weight. Sorry but at 1200 calories and all of the activity that you get, you should be losing weight, even if you are underestimating calorie counts here and there, like everyone here thinks you are doing. Just my opinion.0
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Muscleflex79 wrote: »carriebeary8 wrote: »I was at a stall because I was eating to few calories. I upped my calories by changing my activity level from sedentary to lightly active and I'm suddenly losing again. So it is actually possible to lose weight by eating more calories. Just because 1200 calories woulda for one person, doesn't mean it works for all.
lol - nope. if only that were the solution just think of all the thrilled people that could eat MORE to lose!
Then you should probably not listen to folks like Layne Norton or Lyle McDonald because many of their clients are also experiencing similar things.
Also, if you want to see the explanation, I already provided it above. EE is not linear and many things influence EE. Highly suppressed calories can also lead to direct or transient reductions in NEAT, TEA and TEF; also, long periods of times dieting will cause reductions basal metabolic functions.
Edit: Apparently, it's way to early to write coherently.
I also subscribe to the eat more, have more energy, do more theory - when I started working with my RD, they upped my calories (from about 1500 to 2100) - I had more energy, which meant my workouts improved, I was recovering better and could do more. I'm down 12lbs since November, and they have periodically adjusted my calories up (I'm at between 2300 and 2500 now and weight stable)6
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