Will upping my calories help me lose weight?

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  • shadus
    shadus Posts: 424 Member
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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.)
  • leanneconnolly975
    leanneconnolly975 Posts: 9 Member
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    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
  • tiffanyhj1
    tiffanyhj1 Posts: 6 Member
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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.
  • leanneconnolly975
    leanneconnolly975 Posts: 9 Member
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    psuLemon 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 :)
  • DietPrada
    DietPrada Posts: 1,171 Member
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    Yep, just like putting a ski jacket on will help you cool down in summer.
  • bunny_347
    bunny_347 Posts: 10 Member
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    leanneconnolly975 wrote: »
    psuLemon 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!
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    gebeziseva wrote: »
    So many fat people out there. If only they were eating more...

    love this!!
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
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    gebeziseva wrote: »
    So many fat people out there. If only they were eating more...

    Exactly
  • carriebeary8
    carriebeary8 Posts: 8 Member
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    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.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    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.

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