people who LOST weight eating MORE

So, were you undereating initially and then wised up? What was your intake? What did you raise it to?

How was weight loss before/after raising your calories?

I think this might help people who are afraid to up their calories--despite netting less than 1200...sometimes substantially less while working out.
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Replies

  • juleskay
    juleskay Posts: 7 Member
    Good question, I was just wondering some of these things! Cant wait to hear what people have to say!
  • nellie_88
    nellie_88 Posts: 307 Member
    bump
  • interested to hear this. I am losing s-l-o-w-l-y at about 1800-1900 cals a day (trying not to eat exercise cals, but sometimes).
  • russellma
    russellma Posts: 284 Member
    Yes, MFP started me at 1200 calories, and I hardly lost any weight after the first couple weeks. I tried eating calories back, not eating them back...but I couldn't lose much of anything as long as my net was under 1200.

    So, a friend suggest adding a couple hundred. I raised mine to 1380 (0.5 lbs per week goal), and always eat my calories back to net above 1200, and I have been consistently losing ever since.
  • Before I started using MFP, I wasn't eating enough calories and struggled with my weight my entire life. It wasn't until I started documenting what I ate and calculating my caloric intake that I realized that on most days I ate less than 1100 calories. I wasn't even eating enough to match my BMR! I increased my calories to 1300-1500 daily and dropped about 40lbs since this past July. I eat back some of my exercise calories now and make sure I never eat below 1300 calories per day.
  • juleskay
    juleskay Posts: 7 Member
    So should a person NOT eat their exercise calories? Im alittle confused on that part.
  • AriannaTiyen42
    AriannaTiyen42 Posts: 86 Member
    Yes, MFP started me at 1200 calories, and I hardly lost any weight after the first couple weeks. I tried eating calories back, not eating them back...but I couldn't lose much of anything as long as my net was under 1200.

    So, a friend suggest adding a couple hundred. I raised mine to 1380 (0.5 lbs per week goal), and always eat my calories back to net above 1200, and I have been consistently losing ever since.
    This is very helpful, thanks :)
  • cjpg
    cjpg Posts: 433 Member
    Since I started I've netted at 1500-1600 calories a day. I exercise three days a week so the off days I'm counting my calories by the decimals.
    This is really classified as 'undereating' as my caloric requirements have been calculated at 1900, but I honestly don't feel that hungry. I was nervous that I was undereating and just convincing myself I was not hungry (which could have been dangerous), but I honestly can say that I eat enough... there's just no way I'd have the energy to work, cook, exercise and do everything else without enough energy so I must have hit the right number.

    So my weight loss has been consistent at losing 1.2kg a week. I think this reflects not going too low in calories, and then too high but finding the right balance and trusting myself in the outset.

    So don't be afraid to eat guys. Just know that if you're hungry, you should eat but if you take the time to honestly eat proportionately, and then truly ask yourself if you NEED more food... you'll always find the right answer!

    EDIT: More important than anything else to determine if you're hungry or not is to wait at LEAST 20 minutes for consuming more. I thought this was bogus but it appears that your body does take time to send signals from your stomach to your brain telling you that you are full... if you eat a normal sized meal, and wait 20 mins for it to settle.. I promise that 9 times out of 10 you'll never get that other plate!
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
    So should a person NOT eat their exercise calories? Im alittle confused on that part.

    No one knows for sure tbh.

    Different thing work for different people. Some do, some don't. Try all ways, and see what works for you.
  • babyblake11
    babyblake11 Posts: 1,107 Member
    So, were you undereating initially and then wised up? What was your intake? What did you raise it to?

    How was weight loss before/after raising your calories?

    I think this might help people who are afraid to up their calories--despite netting less than 1200...sometimes substantially less while working out.

    i had an anxiety feeling to it which i can see this is most peoples problems, its a mental thing, but i just made myself eat more, its all about willpower, the same as eating less. in the end, do you really want to be unhealthy you can get caught up in feeling good about yourself the less you eat, feeling so in control which is what i hear lots of ed sufferers/ex-sufferers say. this kind of anxiety can lead to eating disorders and such.. i can see why these things happen, if i wasnt so headstrong and i didnt make myself eat more, you know it could have happened to me. with most people it doesnt lead to this and i may seem to be going in to hard, but guys you just pplain need to eat more. before i found mfp, i was focussing on 'eating healthy & less to lose weight', i had no intention of starving myself, but iwas only eating about 1000cal a day but didnt know it! and i only had 10kg(22lb) to lose. when i got on here i was eating 1300 (to lose one pound a week, i didnt get that was too much then), then before i knew it or even realised what was going on i had lost the weight, then i started eating 1400, got hungry and kicked through the anxiety of eating more, at 1500, got hungry kicked through it again, was eating about 1600-1800 and i think that was ok for a bit but then i started exercising more so i had to eat even more. up to 2000. now i workout heaps and have realised i burn even more doing day to day things. i now eat about 2100-2300 a day including exercise!

    i am 5'1 and 105-110 lbs (158cm 48-50kg)
  • I am having a hard time believing you can eat more calories than your goal and still lose weight. When I eat more calories I GAIN weight. Isn't that the reason we keep track of calories? Just sayin'
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    I think I can add myself to the list... sorta. I started dieting on 1500 calories a day, which when you added in exercise, was closer to 1200 net. On big exercise days, it was only 1000 net. I lost weight steadily, but my metabolism slowed with the weight loss and calorie restriction (normal) and the weight started coming off slower and slower. Since starting MFP, I've actually increased my calorie intake. I eat closer to 1800 now (1500 net). My weight didn't go anywhere for about a month, but I *think* I'm over that now and am losing again.
  • KXanthos
    KXanthos Posts: 189 Member
    I'm constantly eating, staying under my MFP calorie reccomendation, but constantly eating. Stuff like apples, berries, raw fresh veggies, nonfat greek yogurt, chicken. I'm able to keep my calories under or at 1200 doing this and I'm never hungry since I've always got a snack sitting rigt next to me or in my purse. I always assumed that this is what was meant when people said "eating more", that it wasnt referring to adding calories, but to eating more frequently to boost your metabolism. Was my understanding of "eating more" really completely off?
  • stephabef
    stephabef Posts: 936 Member
    I'm interested to hear responses. I'm 5'4" and eating 1200 calories now, but I was thinking of upping it to 1300.
  • cjpg
    cjpg Posts: 433 Member
    I am having a hard time believing you can eat more calories than your goal and still lose weight. When I eat more calories I GAIN weight. Isn't that the reason we keep track of calories? Just sayin'


    We're not saying eat more than your goal, we're saying eat closer to your goal instead of undereating.

    Like anyone, if you eat more calories than you need (or exert with exercise), then you will gain weight. No one is debating this.
  • mamitosami
    mamitosami Posts: 531 Member
    Bumping to read later... I'm in the process of doing this now and am TERRIFIED to gain weight!! I'm also trying to gain muscle though so... I want to lose about 5 pounds and lose fat. Seems like it would be simple, but it's not!
  • MsBaby117
    MsBaby117 Posts: 201 Member
    I was stuck at 2 pounds lost until I raised mine to 1400 (Switched my settings to 1 pound a week) and I've lost consistently since then...
  • chris6515
    chris6515 Posts: 131 Member
    Whenever I plateau, I mix it up a little. Eat your top calorie limit or more for several days, then several hundred less for a couple of days. It usually bumps me out of a rut. The way it was explained to me, too little calories make your body think you are starving and reacts by slowing down your metabolism. So giving yourself a little extra (and stick to good healthy food) you can break out of that mode.
  • I was losing steadily at 1200 net calories (would not eat back calories one day as a buffer in case i went over during the weekend), after getting advice from a few mfp members I upped my calories to 1500 net and stopped losing :/
    want my body fat % low enough to see abs and deltoids! WIll get there xD
  • cecee27
    cecee27 Posts: 46 Member
    bump