people who LOST weight eating MORE

Curse you people that are 5'9" - I want to eat like I'm 5'9".

I'm totally gonna catch my belly on a good day and do the belly shot. Maybe a side shot. It certainly looks a heck of a lot better than it did before.

Also this thread is depressing me, why do people who probably used to eat 2500 - 3000 calories think that eating 1500 calories will make them gain weight? Doesn't even make ANY sense.

I was chronically under eating for over a year (without knowing it; I was not counting calories). I managed to gain 15 lbs. over the course of that year, all the while I was working out daily and eating probably fewer than net 700 cals a day; sometimes probably negative calories.

The reason you can gain when you chronically undereat is bc you slow down the metabolism so much that whenever you have a little splurge (like say a piece of cake--extra 500 cals over your normal whatever -- 500 total), your body grabs it and stores it, and boom. you gain. In my case, the more I gained, the more I worked out, and the more I restricted food (I was doing absolute minimum weight watchers points and never eating back exercise points).

I have now lost all the weight that I gained and these days I eat bt 1800-2400 cals a day, depending on exercise. Net 1390.

You can read more about my specific situation on my profile, but I want to include here a fantastic article that really helped me understand what was going on. I hope it helps you too.

Edit: I am 5'4, 127 lbs, and 43 years old. I am a mom of 4.

blessings.


Living With Obesity At 700 Calories Per Day!
By: David Greenwalt

I want you to consider a common female client. She's a woman about 5'5" and 185 pounds. A combination of a mostly sedentary lifestyle, quick-fix, processed foods and consistent excessively low calories has resulted in an incredibly stubborn fat loss scenario. Not only has it created a stubborn fat loss scenario but her ability to add body fat is remarkably strong.

Most would believe there is simply no possible way she could be 185 pounds eating mostly low calories. While it's true the average obese American created their own obesity by being a huge over consumer, a sedentary glutton if you will, many are able to maintain their level of obesity with the following formula in very precise ratios: starvation + binges + sedentary lifestyle.

An initial review of this woman's calories indicates she is just above starvation level in the 400-700 per day range. The food choices are mostly protein in this case (low-carb is all the rage you know) and there are virtually no vegetables or fruits to speak of.

Five or six days per week the calories remain low in this range, however, there are nighttime binges from time to time and weekend binges where carbs loaded with fat (doughnuts, rolls, cookies, pizza etc.) are consumed.

So while the calories are very low the majority of the time, there are one to two days per week where this isn't always the case. Even so, the nighttime binges and weekend slack offs don't amount to what you might presume would be thousands of extra calories, thus explaining the 185-pound body weight.

Very few foods are prepared from home. There are lots of fast foods being consumed. Convenience and taste rule.

I must say. Early on in my coaching and teaching career this woman was a real head scratcher for me. Isn't it calories in and calories out? Even if she's not active she's starving!

How in the heck does she stay at 185 eating an average, including all binges, of maybe 750 calories per day? She's frustrated beyond belief. She sees her friends and coworkers eating more and weighing less. Is she simply unlucky? Is everyone else blessed? And what in the world is she supposed to do to fix this, if it can be fixed?


Why Is She Not Losing Weight?


First, let me tell you why she's not losing weight. Then I'll tell you what she has to do to fix the situation. With a chronic (months and months) intake of less than 1000 calories per day and a 185-pound body weight her metabolism is suffering greatly. It's running cool, not hot. It's basically running at a snail's pace.

Think of it this way. Her metabolism has matched itself to her intake. She could, indeed, lose body fat but she's in that gray area where she is eating too few calories but not quite at the concentration-camp level yet.

If she were to consume 100-300 calories per day her body would have virtually no choice but to begin liberating stored body fat. This is NOT the solution. It's unhealthy and, in fact, quite stupid.


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Not only has her metabolism matched her intake, her body has maximized production of enzymes that are designed to help store any additional calories as fat. Anytime additional, immediately-unnecessary calories are consumed the enzymes are there and waiting to store the additional calories as fat. Her body is starved nutritionally and it has one thing on its mind - survival.

Being mostly sedentary, her metabolism (hormones play a large role here) can do a pretty good job of keeping things slow enough so that the pathetically low calories she's consuming are just enough to maintain.

But since certain enzymes are elevated, waiting for more calories so more bodyfat can be stored, every nighttime binge or weekend mini-feast will contribute to fat stores.

So on the days she's not bingeing her body does not lose fat, or if it does, it's very little. And on the few days or times she does binge a bit her body is quite efficient at storing fat. So, while she may lose a smidge of fat from starving it is quickly replaced with every binge.

Remember, these binges aren't a gluttonous 4000-calorie feast. Oh no, a binge might be 4-5 cookies worth about 500-700 calories. Nevertheless, since the binge foods are mostly carbs and fat it's very easy for the enzymes to shuttle the dietary fat into stored body fat. It's what they were designed to do.


So, What's The Solution?


Well then, now that we presumably know some valid reasons why she's not seeing a scale change and definitely no body fat change how do we fix her? We have to do something she's going to freak out over.

We have to get her eating more. Not only do we have to get her eating more but more of the right, whole foods need to be eaten. Foods lower in fat that aren't as easily STORED as body fat have to be consumed. And we have to warn her.

A Discouraging Start


We have to warn her that since she's been sedentarily living on protein with binges of carbs and fats she is likely to see a weight gain right away. It's true.
Once we begin really feeding her body with nutritious carbohydrates so she can become more active, her glycogen-depleted body will hang on to some of those carbohydrates (in skeletal muscle and liver) so she has stored energy for activity.

When her body hangs on to those carbohydrates it has no choice but to hang on to more water too. For every gram of glycogen (stored carbs) she stores she'll hang on to three grams of water.

This is not a negative response by the body but it will be interpreted by her as quite negative when she steps on the scale.

It's quite likely she'll see a five to seven pound weight gain when she really starts eating properly again. This weight gain will remain for one to three weeks before it starts moving in the other direction.

For argument's sake let's assume my Calorie Calculator and Goal Setter at Club Lifestyle suggests a 1500-calorie per day average in week one for a one-pound loss per week. First, she is going to freak out about this many calories.

For months she's been eating less than 1000 and usually around 400-700 in one to three feedings total per day. To her 1500 calories is a ton of food. And if she even begins to eat less fast and packaged-foods it will be a ton of food.

There is no doubt whatsoever that she will resist the increase. This resistance may take one to three weeks to overcome. During this period no weight loss will occur. She is too fat already in her mind and believes it will only hurt her to increase her food intake.

I mean, after all, isn't that how she got fat to begin with? In her early stages of fat gain this was probably true. She overconsumed. But as I've said already, that's not why she's staying heavy.

In addition to a freaked-out mindset about adding more food to her already overfat body she will simply find that it's all but impossible to eat four or more times per day.

She's just not hungry at first. Makes sense when you think about it. Why would she be hungry three hours after eating a 300-calorie, balanced breakfast? Her body is used to 400-700 calories per day!

So, even though she gets a plan and begins using my nutrition analyzer to log foods and meals she finds after having a balanced breakfast of 250 calories she couldn't force herself to eat meal number two on time.

It'll take several more days of realizing what is going on and being one-hundred percent honest and diligent with her logging and planning before she begins to eat her meals as planned no matter what - even if she's not hungry.

By now two to four weeks have passed and the only thing she's seen on the scale is it going up--not very encouraging if I say so myself.

Raising The Grade


After the first two to four weeks have passed she's probably beginning to consume her meals as planned although not quite like an "A" student yet. That is coming. She feels better because she's working out and is more active.
And she feels like she has more energy throughout the day because she's feeding her body more calories and the right kinds of calories.

She has finally begun eating the right kinds of fast foods (low in fat, moderate in protein) and less packaged food overall. She is making more meals from home and taking them to work for lunch rather than always grabbing something quick from a vending machine or the break room that always has some treat another employee brought in.

After another two weeks or so she's moved from a "B" grade to more consistent "A"s. She's planning her days one day ahead in the Nutrition Analyzer; she's consuming fresh veggies and fruits on a daily basis.

Her calories are almost ALWAYS in line with what is recommended by my Lean Account and she has seen her first signs of the scale moving in the right direction.

She is now dropping from 190 pounds (her high after reintroducing food and carbohydrates again) to 189.3! "Progress at last!" she says. In actuality, the entire process was progress. But that's not how she saw it in the beginning.






With a total of two to four weeks of increased caloric intake behind her and eating more consistently the right kinds of foods her metabolism has truly begun to rebound.

She didn't kill it as she thought. She only wounded it. And since our metabolisms are like kids (they are quite resilient) and she doesn't have thyroid issues or diabetes or any known wrench that could be thrown into the spokes of fat loss, she will begin, for the first time in months or years, to see results that make sense and that one would expect of someone who is active (30-60 minutes five or more days per week) and consuming a caloric intake of 1300-1500 calories per day.


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Avoiding Sabotage


This process is in no way easy. I think you can see a plethora of ways it could be screwed up, sabotaged, given up on too early and so forth.
A key to success for this very common woman (men too) is not giving up too soon, having faith in the fix, and moving sooner rather than later to the increased, quality food intake.

It's going to take effort to overcome the mental hurdles of eating more food as well as the increase in scale weight that is going to occur in weeks one to three or so. It's disheartening, however, to charge hard down the weight-loss field only to get to the one-yard line and decide it's time to quit.



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Many don't realize they only had one more yard to go and they'd have had a touchdown. You gotta hang in there with this plan. It's going to take some time for the glycogen levels to be replenished and level out. It's going to take some time for mental adjustments to occur.
It's going to take some time before hunger signals are restored to anything close to normal. It's going to take time for the metabolism to rebound and not be in its protective mode.

Giving A Stubborn Body The Message


In certain, very stubborn cases, it may be necessary to eat at a eucaloric (maintenance) or hypercaloric (over maintenance) level for a few weeks to ensure the metabolism does get the signal that everything is alright and you aren't going to kill the body.
Remember, your body could care less about your desire for fat loss. It just wants to survive.


Some Take-Home Points



The most common cause of obesity is Americans are sedentary overeaters/drinkers. Nothing in this article should be construed as to say that under eating is the root cause of obesity. It's not.

It IS common for many men and women to be under eating with sporadic binges as I described here. This creates a perfect environment for continued obesity even if total caloric intake is quite low on average.

Low-carb followers or "starvers" WILL see the scale go up when calories are consumed at reasonable levels again and carbohydrates are reintroduced. Live with it. Deal with it. It's going to happen. 98% of the gain will be water.

The time it takes for mental acceptance and other adjustments to occur will vary but one should expect a two to four week window for these things to take place. Being forewarned with an article like this may speed this process up some.

Once the right types of foods are consumed and the right caloric intake is consumed and the right ratios of carbohydrates, proteins and fats are consumed on a consistent basis, then, and only then, will metabolism begin to be restored and the key to fat loss be inserted into the lock with a noticeable drop in the scale resulting.
This may take an additional two to four weeks to occur. Your metabolism is never dead or broken for good. But it may take several weeks of proper eating and activity for it to be restored.


From day one, until the first, noticeable drop in the scale occurs may be four to six weeks--maybe one to two weeks longer. Those who give up on the one-yard line will never see the scale drop as will occur when intelligent persistence and consistency over time are adhered to.
David Greenwalt

I've never really bought into the whole upping calories to lose weight philosophy. I was netting 1200 a day, eating around 1500 and seeing very, very slow loss. I'm 5'0 with 35lb to go until goal. Since I don't have a great deal to lose, I wasn't expecting 2lb a week, but I wasn't even seeing 1lb.

Recently I made the decision to just eat 1200 calories, regardless of exercise. Most days I do work out..I maybe take off 2-3 days a month. However, I usually only burn around 300-350 calories. I mix it up with cardio & strength training. With the amount I burn naturally, and the cardio I do, my daily deficit is around 700. I feel like since my goal is to lose weight, I want my deficit to be higher. When I would eat back exercise calories, my deficit would only be around 450, thus slowing my loss. If weight loss is about calories out vs. calories in, then as long as you're not starving yourself a large deficit should be ok

I'm 5'4" and started at 193 pounds with a 1200 calorie limit. After about the first 10 pounds I hit a small plateau...I increased my calories to 1300 and lost some more, then to 1350 and lost some more, then 1500 and lost some more. I'm now up to 1700 calories (which admittedly I don't always reach). On more active days, I have to eat more. (And I have consistently lost weight.) The biggest thing for me increasing my calories was noticing that when they were really low, by the end of the night I was starving and ended up making some poor food choices (binge eating). That being said, I can eat more because I have become more active. On more sedentary days, I cannot eat 1700 calories and expect to lose weight.

I'm in the middle of upping my calories right now.. my biggest hurdle is trying to space my extra exercise calories out through the day, otherwise I end up having a dinner that's way too big and I struggle to eat the extra calories my body needs.

So should a person NOT eat their exercise calories? Im alittle confused on that part.

My suggestion and the suggestion of most seems to be: eat back AT LEAST some of them. I eat back some or all of them and sometimes more, depending on how hungry I am. If you want to know why, there are numerous explanations on the forum but basically you need to be eating enough for your body to function.

I have upped my calories this week. I will see what it does over the next 6 weeks. I have changed my work-outs to focus more on weight-training - and yes, I am sacrificing some of my much-beloved cardio to fit this in.

While it all seems very counter-intuitive, I am doing it.

I trust that I will be STRONGER at the end of this, even if the number on the scale stays the same - and since "STRONG IS THE NEW SKINNY", I'm okay with this.

Yes, we eat our calories back and lose weight better and get to eat a lot more food. That way I don't feel deprived because I can eat whatever I want. This site is the best thing that could have happened to me. It encourages me to work out more so I can eat more and still lose. I eat anywhere from 1500 - 1900 calories a day, depending on how much I was able to work out. Please stop being afraid to eat, eat your exercise calories back.

Wow, I have read all these posts and must say I too for about a week followed the reccomendations of MFP with the 1200 calories and almost fell out from starvation!
I upped mine to 1500 at the reccomendation of my personal trainer and POW...I lost 3 pounds in one week...now mind you, I work out 6 times a week and yes, I do eat some of my exercise calories but, hey the bump up in calories is working for me...just TWO more pounds to go

I'm pretty sure I'm eating a larger quantity of food now than I was when I gained weight. Possibly even more calories. But it's better food and I'm a LOT more active.

I have upped my calories this week. I will see what it does over the next 6 weeks. I have changed my work-outs to focus more on weight-training - and yes, I am sacrificing some of my much-beloved cardio to fit this in.

While it all seems very counter-intuitive, I am doing it.

I trust that I will be STRONGER at the end of this, even if the number on the scale stays the same - and since "STRONG IS THE NEW SKINNY", I'm okay with this.

^^^THIS^^^ is the attitude that anyone who is contemplating increasing their calories from 1200 to *whatever* should take. I applaud you.

I was at 1200. I was so cranky and irritable. I upped to 1400. The anxiety of trying to be under 1200 was gone.

Same with eating back my exercise calories. Was I scared to try it? Sounded crazy? Sure, I was scared, didn't want to gain. But I tried it for a week. I STILL LOST WEIGHT.

Especially if you're closer to goal, 10-20 or even 30 pounds, give it a try. And give it time.

One thing I know for certain after wearing my bodymedia fit for four months.. I was NOT eating enough to lose weight. I think most people underestimate their activity level, or MFP has the levels set low. When I was working out three plus days a week, I would have to set my actvitity level to high to even get the MFP numbers to come close to what I was burning overall on an average day so my deficit was reasonable.

Unfortunately I've been restricting calories for so long that I've had a hard time losing because my metabolism is so screwed up.

I must be doing something totally wrong. When I was at 1200, I was losing...like 4 pounds a month. When I up'ed my calories, my weight loss stopped and actually I am gaining, slowly. This is really scary.

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)

^this has encouraged me a lot. im 5'0 and 98lb. ive always been eating 1200 ish. sometimes way under. dont exercise much. other than work (standing up for 4-8 hrs as a cashier) i am sedentary. the thought of gaining weight freaks me out. but i really wanna start upping my calories and getting exercise in. i dont plan on eating 1200 for the rest of my life!

bump. need to read later.