Who has increased their calories with success?

13

Replies

  • TamTastic
    TamTastic Posts: 19,224 Member
    Like Lauryn, I was eatin only 1200 plus exercise cals... Hit a plateau, raised them to 1420 plus exercise and started to lose weight again.

    Oh thank you Carrie... motivation to eat more! :laugh:

    1200 cals is just so ridiculous I think. 1400 makes me actually feel like im getting enough and am not hungry all the time. Eating more is awesome especially if you love food hahaha
    It allows me a little light ice cream at the end of the day!! :wink: :laugh:
  • may_marie
    may_marie Posts: 667 Member
    songbyrd, can you give us more info on how to calculate your bodyfat % with your fingers ??

    Hehe...no my dear...I was just joking! It's not actually possible. :flowerforyou:

    ho men . now i feel really silly,,, only me does things like that .lol
  • jadaigle
    jadaigle Posts: 161 Member
    This is really interesting. I always get down to about 124 or 125 when I'm ready for a race but shoot back up to 130 or 131 right after. I think I'll try to up my calories too and see how that works. I sometimes have a hard time eating all of my exercise calories, however, unless I'm drinking wine that is.
  • may_marie
    may_marie Posts: 667 Member
    This is really interesting. I always get down to about 124 or 125 when I'm ready for a race but shoot back up to 130 or 131 right after. I think I'll try to up my calories too and see how that works. I sometimes have a hard time eating all of my exercise calories, however, unless I'm drinking wine that is.

    i have the same problems.. my days are filled up with tons of healthy food as it is and couldnt imagine eating more !! if i do then i always end up eating too much cards,, its always what i go for ...

    so i did too things,, i shortened my work outs,, i use to work 75 + (more often +) a day.. this week i went to 60 min,, used to burn 750+ cals.. now 550- .. used to eat 1750+ now eat 1650
    im quite happy with that routine...
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    songbyrd, can you give us more info on how to calculate your bodyfat % with your fingers ??

    Hehe...no my dear...I was just joking! It's not actually possible. :flowerforyou:

    ho men . now i feel really silly,,, only me does things like that .lol

    Haha I thought it was very cute of you to ask though!
  • may_marie
    may_marie Posts: 667 Member
    hello all

    i said i was going to do an update, well here it is... i have only lost an other half a pound in the last week.. after losing so much in a couple of days it stoped..

    im still eating more then i normaly would.. its going to take me a while to take that mental block and up my calories more,, its a longg process in my head... i will at the very least wait an other 2 weeks and see what happens...

    i hate the last 10 lbs .lol
  • cherapple
    cherapple Posts: 670 Member
    I've increased my calories again! I got a body fat scale a few weeks ago so that I could truly see what's going on with my body -- am I losing and/or gaining fat, or muscle? Well over the last couple of weeks, both my weight went down and my body fat percentage went down. I thought that was *good* news until I did the calculations and realized I had lost muscle as well as fat! (I've increased my weight training, so I should be gaining muscle.)

    For those of you who have been reading this thread, you'll know I started out at MFP's recommended 1200 calories. I didn't lose anything for several months, so I decided to try increasing my calories. I went from 1200 to 1300, then to 1400, and lately I've been eating at a base of 1550. My weight is still pretty much staying within the same five pound range, with minor ups and downs every now and then. Learning that I'm losing muscle, however, changes the whole picture again. I'm now increasing to 1650!

    Who ever would have dreamed that at 5'2" I could eat so much? I'll report back with my progress. :happy:
  • jessmomof3
    jessmomof3 Posts: 4,590 Member
    I've increased my calories again! I got a body fat scale a few weeks ago so that I could truly see what's going on with my body -- am I losing and/or gaining fat, or muscle? Well over the last couple of weeks, both my weight went down and my body fat percentage went down. I thought that was *good* news until I did the calculations and realized I had lost muscle as well as fat! (I've increased my weight training, so I should be gaining muscle.)

    For those of you who have been reading this thread, you'll know I started out at MFP's recommended 1200 calories. I didn't lose anything for several months, so I decided to try increasing my calories. I went from 1200 to 1300, then to 1400, and lately I've been eating at a base of 1550. My weight is still pretty much staying within the same five pound range, with minor ups and downs every now and then. Learning that I'm losing muscle, however, changes the whole picture again. I'm now increasing to 1650!

    Who ever would have dreamed that at 5'2" I could eat so much? I'll report back with my progress. :happy:

    Good for you, Cheryl! Definitely keep us posted. As you know, I could never got as low as 1,200 cals. I have my baseline as 1,500 and then add in my exercise cals so I generally eat between 1,800- 1,900 cals. AND, I've lost 5# in the last 6 weeks. (after being at a plateau for ages!) So... eat up girl! :bigsmile:
  • 1Corinthians13
    1Corinthians13 Posts: 5,296 Member
    After reading through this, I think I might increase my calories...but not yet. I haven't been really paying much attention to my calories or logging everything...and it's beginning to show.

    I'm also 5'2", and I go between about 115 and 112. I want to get down to 110 and stay there. Right now, my calories are set for 1200 on non-workout days.

    I think for the rest of this week, I'm going to stick to 1200 calories, regardless of my workout (oye that means no wine the rest of the week!!!). Then next week, I'll eat my workout calories, and then the following week, I'll up my calories.

    Maybe.
  • gilly88
    gilly88 Posts: 114
    Cheryl, just to check, are those numbers PLUS exercise cals? as in, 1650 + exercise you are now going up to?
    thanks
  • ldsupergirl
    ldsupergirl Posts: 45
    I have found that even if I eat more than 1200 cals a day I only loose when I eat 40g or more of lean proteins. I can eat only 1200 cals and not loose weight. I then eat 1500+ and eat alot of lean proteins and the weight melts off.
  • 1Corinthians13
    1Corinthians13 Posts: 5,296 Member
    I have found that even if I eat more than 1200 cals a day I only loose when I eat 40g or more of lean proteins. I can eat only 1200 cals and not loose weight. I then eat 1500+ and eat alot of lean proteins and the weight melts off.

    How tall are you though? Doesn't that make a huge difference?

    I'm just kinda scared to up my calories, especially since I think the junk from this weekend at my friend's finally caught up with me today.
  • cherapple
    cherapple Posts: 670 Member
    Cheryl, just to check, are those numbers PLUS exercise cals? as in, 1650 + exercise you are now going up to?
    thanks

    Yes, I eat my exercise calories -- up to a point. The formula that I'm using to calculate my base calories (not MFP's because it only gives me 1200 calories) takes into account the amount of exercise that I do. So even though my current base of 1650 includes exercise, I still add my exercise calories on top of that because I need the extra motivation to get my workout in. :ohwell: However, I try not to exceed my TDEE (total daily energy expended), which is 1950. So right now I will add up to 300 extra calories a day for my exercise. If I burn more than that, I don't add it.
  • cherapple
    cherapple Posts: 670 Member
    Good for you, Cheryl! Definitely keep us posted. As you know, I could never got as low as 1,200 cals. I have my baseline as 1,500 and then add in my exercise cals so I generally eat between 1,800- 1,900 cals. AND, I've lost 5# in the last 6 weeks. (after being at a plateau for ages!) So... eat up girl! :bigsmile:

    Now I'm going above your baseline -- that is scary. :laugh: You're several inches taller than me, and I think you work out more, too. Good job on the 5# (as long as you know it isn't muscle :tongue: )! :happy:
  • cherapple
    cherapple Posts: 670 Member
    After reading through this, I think I might increase my calories...but not yet. I haven't been really paying much attention to my calories or logging everything...and it's beginning to show.

    I'm also 5'2", and I go between about 115 and 112. I want to get down to 110 and stay there. Right now, my calories are set for 1200 on non-workout days.

    I think for the rest of this week, I'm going to stick to 1200 calories, regardless of my workout (oye that means no wine the rest of the week!!!). Then next week, I'll eat my workout calories, and then the following week, I'll up my calories.

    Maybe.

    I used to want to get down to 110, but I don't think I do now. I've changed my weight goal to 112, but I'm not even sure I want to get that low. It all depends on how putting on more muscle affects me. This week, I weighed 116.6, and I feel pretty good at that weight. I no longer want to weigh "next to nothing," LOL. :laugh: I want to be lean, solid, and strong.

    How much do you exercise? 110 is probably reasonable for someone who's 5'2", if you're not interested in the muscle side of the picture, but most weight guidelines do not take muscle into account at all. Body builders will fall in the "over weight" range, even though their body fat percentage is in the teens or single digits! Muscle matters.
  • cherapple
    cherapple Posts: 670 Member
    I have found that even if I eat more than 1200 cals a day I only loose when I eat 40g or more of lean proteins. I can eat only 1200 cals and not loose weight. I then eat 1500+ and eat alot of lean proteins and the weight melts off.

    I'm trying to eat my body weight in grams of protein every day. It makes a huge difference in the way I feel. I'm much more satisfied after eating, and in between. A large part of the concept behind "clean eating" is that protein does help melt the weight off and keep you lean. Weight management is so much more complicated than calories alone!
  • 1Corinthians13
    1Corinthians13 Posts: 5,296 Member
    After reading through this, I think I might increase my calories...but not yet. I haven't been really paying much attention to my calories or logging everything...and it's beginning to show.

    I'm also 5'2", and I go between about 115 and 112. I want to get down to 110 and stay there. Right now, my calories are set for 1200 on non-workout days.

    I think for the rest of this week, I'm going to stick to 1200 calories, regardless of my workout (oye that means no wine the rest of the week!!!). Then next week, I'll eat my workout calories, and then the following week, I'll up my calories.

    Maybe.

    I used to want to get down to 110, but I don't think I do now. I've changed my weight goal to 112, but I'm not even sure I want to get that low. It all depends on how putting on more muscle affects me. This week, I weighed 116.6, and I feel pretty good at that weight. I no longer want to weigh "next to nothing," LOL. :laugh: I want to be lean, solid, and strong.

    How much do you exercise? 110 is probably reasonable for someone who's 5'2", if you're not interested in the muscle side of the picture, but most weight guidelines do not take muscle into account at all. Body builders will fall in the "over weight" range, even though their body fat percentage is in the teens or single digits! Muscle matters.

    I run 3-5 times a week, and I do weight training (though not a lot...just enough to keep tone) also 3-5 times a week. I have a small frame, and I did drop down to 109 just after I found out about my husband's affair. Once I started eating again and eating right, I actually kept my weight between 110 and 113. Now spent a weekend eating NY bagels and pizza, I'm at 115 exactly today. I'm trying to decide how I want to go about getting back down to 110.
  • jessmomof3
    jessmomof3 Posts: 4,590 Member
    Now I'm going above your baseline -- that is scary. :laugh: You're several inches taller than me, and I think you work out more, too. Good job on the 5# (as long as you know it isn't muscle :tongue: )! :happy:

    Yeah, I've thought about upping it, but for now I feel leaner and am seeing more cuts in the muscle so I'll stick with it. Once I start running longer miles for half marathon training I'll be eating more too! :bigsmile:
  • cherapple
    cherapple Posts: 670 Member
    I run 3-5 times a week, and I do weight training (though not a lot...just enough to keep tone) also 3-5 times a week. I have a small frame, and I did drop down to 109 just after I found out about my husband's affair. Once I started eating again and eating right, I actually kept my weight between 110 and 113. Now spent a weekend eating NY bagels and pizza, I'm at 115 exactly today. I'm trying to decide how I want to go about getting back down to 110.

    If it was just a weekend, it's water weight from processed foods and it will come off as fast as it went on as soon as you clean up your diet again. You'll get there. :smile:
  • 12by311
    12by311 Posts: 1,719 Member
    I just bumped my base calories up to 1500 daily for this week. I showed a 1 pound loss today so I'm hoping that this will help me start losing again!

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