people who LOST weight eating MORE

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  • ashleylynnexo
    ashleylynnexo Posts: 51 Member
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    Sorry to be OT, but wow..... your weight loss is really inspiring! Congratulations!
  • Teliooo
    Teliooo Posts: 725 Member
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    I am on 1470 which I think is a bit to low but I have been losing weight very steadily averaging the pound a week that MFP predicted. I initially was trying to stay way under it buy realistically with my height and activity this was not possible or healthy (. I have my settings on sedentary but i am more lightly active so I log most of my walks, even the short ones. What I did more and am trying to do is eat half my exercised calories back. Last week I did a test and ate a lot more cals than usually and I had lost 4 pounds in about a week and a half.

    Also if I am hungry I just eat and try not to watch the cals so intensely like I used to. I also try to remember that it takes about 3500 cals to put on a pound so going over one day is not going to have a huge effect in the long run. Oh and the one thing I did was up my fat intake. It was far far to low and in doing that I have noticed more loss!
  • nsblue
    nsblue Posts: 331 Member
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    Everyone can get weight off...remember it is a lifestyle change...it is hard work...but so rewarding.... if i can do it ANYONE CAN!!!
  • i_love_vinegar
    i_love_vinegar Posts: 2,092 Member
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    What if you are already at a healthy weight, but want to go to a lower healthy weight?

    I am scared that on 1,200 calories I will simply maintain. :/
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I actually did very well for a long time on a very low-calorie diet. But for some reason, this time around I struggled terribly. I tried lowering my calories and that didn't work, so in an act of desperation, I upped them to 1,500 a day and I lost 2.6 pounds in two weeks. I'm on week three. We'll see how it goes.
  • keiraev
    keiraev Posts: 695 Member
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    Yes!

    When I was about down to about the last 5 lbs I had a bit of a plateau where I was losing and gaining the same 1lb for about a month. By this stage I had been eating around 1200 - 1300 Net calories for about 4 months.

    I upped it to 1440 (from 1lb a week loss to 0.5lb) and lost another 2lb.

    It's true - the closer you are to goal the more you need to eat in order to lose.
  • fireman300
    fireman300 Posts: 38 Member
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    interesting reading!!
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    I am 5'7", started off at 175 pounds with a goal weight of 145, and initially set MFP for a 2 lb/week loss (1200 calories). I did this for 2 months and lost a lot of weight quickly, then plateaued. I started reading the message boards and realized for the weight I had to lose, 2 lb/week was too aggressive. I then switched to 1400 calories with no change, still plateauing. I then switched MFP to a 0.5 lb/week loss (1600 calories), and the weight started falling off again at the rate of about 1 lb/week. I have been in yet another plateau since early September and am only 2 pounds from goal. I think MFP underestimates how much I need to eat so I have been playing around with numbers, trying to find that sweet spot of what I need to eat right now to lose that last little bit.

    As for exercise calories, for most of the time I have been on MFP I haven't logged cardio. I work a desk job but set MFP as "active" so it encompasses my daily cardio, which is nothing crazy (walking 1-2 miles at 4 MPH daily). I do log strength training but my strength training only burns 100 calories or so so I don't sweat eating those back. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

    What I have learned and wish I had this knowledge from the beginning is:

    1. MFP is just guidance, not fact. It is a great tool but you need to see how your body responds to what you are doing. I know now that MFP thinks I need less calories than I actually do. Once I figured that out, my calories/weight loss was easier to manage.

    2. The people who "scream' the loudest on MFP about eating exercise calories vs. not eating them are usually wrong. There is no hard and fast rule of what you should or shouldn't do. Again, you have to listen to your body and see what it responds to. If you are really burning 1,000 calories a day via exercise, it will probably be more important to eat some of them back vs. someone burning 200 calories a day, though your miles may vary. Eat them all back, eat half of them back, eat none of them back...you need to see what works for you and above all else, make sure you are in fact eating enough to fuel your body.

    3. Don't be afraid of upping calories. As long as you are in a deficit YOU WILL NOT GAIN WEIGHT. This is the hardest thing to comprehend and I had issues with it too. Think about it rationally...if you are still in a calorie deficit, it will be impossible to gain weight. If you do gain weight, then you are either mis-estimating your activity level, overestimating calorie burns, or MFP isn't giving you the right amount of calories to eat and you need to fiddle with the numbers.
  • aussiesarah
    aussiesarah Posts: 68 Member
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    I've upped my calories recently and it seems that it might be working for me.

    I spent 3-4 months at 1200 net calories a day (eating back exercise calories) and lost steadily at about 1lb per week. Then I hit the dreaded plateau with 8lbs to go to my goal weight.

    I tried zigzagging calories which unfortunately didn't work for me so I decided to try upping the calories for a couple of weeks. I was really worried about gaining (it's hard not to be when you've finally become disciplined enough to stick to 1200!) but I have managed to net 1600 or slightly more for the past 2 weeks and resisted stepping on the scales for the last week. I've also been doing lots of exercise (500-1000 cals per day) and eating back the calories.

    Lo and behold, today I weighed in and have dropped 0.25 of a pound. Now I know that doesn't sound like much, however seeing the scales move downward even a tiny bit is pretty amazing after 3 months of plateau! Plus I've been able to eat a lot more over the past couple of weeks and I haven't gained any weight as a result. Bonus!

    I'm going to try to stick with this for another week and see if the results keep coming.
  • ajfrench
    ajfrench Posts: 323 Member
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    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'

    CrazyGirl - I hear you on this. I think it's fabulous that some people can eat more and still lose weight. If I go over my 1200 calories a day - even when working out - I gain weight. For instance, last night I ate 1500 calories, worked out for an hour, and gained a lb. today. I know if I did that again I'd gain another lb.

    The biggest problem is, I haven't lost in over a month. So my 1200 calories only sustains my current weight. I can't seem to lose anything.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    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'

    CrazyGirl - I hear you on this. I think it's fabulous that some people can eat more and still lose weight. If I go over my 1200 calories a day - even when working out - I gain weight. For instance, last night I ate 1500 calories, worked out for an hour, and gained a lb. today. I know if I did that again I'd gain another lb.

    The biggest problem is, I haven't lost in over a month. So my 1200 calories only sustains my current weight. I can't seem to lose anything.

    Believe it or don't believe it, but I don't think my scale or my clothes are lying to me.

    *shrug*
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    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'

    CrazyGirl - I hear you on this. I think it's fabulous that some people can eat more and still lose weight. If I go over my 1200 calories a day - even when working out - I gain weight. For instance, last night I ate 1500 calories, worked out for an hour, and gained a lb. today. I know if I did that again I'd gain another lb.

    The biggest problem is, I haven't lost in over a month. So my 1200 calories only sustains my current weight. I can't seem to lose anything.

    Don't confuse fluctuation with "weight gain." It takes 3500 calories to gain one pound; having an extra 300 isn't going to make you gain.

    Exercising one hour can stress your muscles, causing them to hold onto fluid, causing the number on your scale to go up. Ditto for having excess sodium. Or needing to poop.

    Also, when you've been chronically undereating, when you do have a little extra, your body sometimes freaks out and says, "FINALLY! Some food! Who knows when she's going to give us extra again... better hold onto it." Give it a few weeks to let your body get used to it before dismissing it.
  • ackeebee
    ackeebee Posts: 1,042 Member
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    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'

    CrazyGirl - I hear you on this. I think it's fabulous that some people can eat more and still lose weight. If I go over my 1200 calories a day - even when working out - I gain weight. For instance, last night I ate 1500 calories, worked out for an hour, and gained a lb. today. I know if I did that again I'd gain another lb.

    The biggest problem is, I haven't lost in over a month. So my 1200 calories only sustains my current weight. I can't seem to lose anything.

    maybe it is water retention.
    also maybe you are under-estimating your food and over-estimating your exercise. something just does not add up here
  • JosieMwa
    JosieMwa Posts: 7
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    I always ate 1000 or just under that and would lost abt half a kg each week, the week I decided to eat my MFP prescribed full calories (still making heathy choices), I lost 1.6kg and i had exercised only 2 times that week.
  • ajfrench
    ajfrench Posts: 323 Member
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    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'

    CrazyGirl - I hear you on this. I think it's fabulous that some people can eat more and still lose weight. If I go over my 1200 calories a day - even when working out - I gain weight. For instance, last night I ate 1500 calories, worked out for an hour, and gained a lb. today. I know if I did that again I'd gain another lb.

    The biggest problem is, I haven't lost in over a month. So my 1200 calories only sustains my current weight. I can't seem to lose anything.

    maybe it is water retention.
    also maybe you are under-estimating your food and over-estimating your exercise. something just does not add up here

    Thanks to everyone who responded -- and to the one who posted that long article, thanks. I guess I'll try it since I've stalled and have a ton to lose (still another 70 lbs). I'll try it for 6 weeks and see how I do.

    Again, thanks.
  • jillica
    jillica Posts: 554 Member
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    For those people who added calories to lose weight - was it easy for you to only consume 1200 calories?

    For me, It takes all the willpower to stay close to 1200. Before my fitness pal, I easily consumed 2400-3000 calories a day!

    So losing weight works for me when I stay at 1200 or close. It is just really hard.

    From what I'm picking up, those people who are overweight to start with and are use to consuming only 1200 calories or under are the ones who need may need to bump up the intake.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    1200 was never easy for me. If I exercised a lot and earned an extra 500, I could NET 1200 and eat 1700, I was ok, and there were a few days here and there when I wasn't all that hungry, and it wasn't bad. But overall, I just plain need more food.
  • wackynunu
    wackynunu Posts: 103
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    I have started to eat my exercise calories back and have lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks. It is scary to think that eating MORE can cause weight loss since eating too much is what got alot of us here to begin with. All I can say is keep logging, and see what works for you. Make weekly adjustments, get enough sleep, drink enough liquid and move your body. My favorite way to get motivated to workout is to start the workout. That is my first goal. Once I start, I usually (always) keep going.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    For those people who added calories to lose weight - was it easy for you to only consume 1200 calories?

    For me, It takes all the willpower to stay close to 1200. Before my fitness pal, I easily consumed 2400-3000 calories a day!

    So losing weight works for me when I stay at 1200 or close. It is just really hard.

    From what I'm picking up, those people who are overweight to start with and are use to consuming only 1200 calories or under are the ones who need may need to bump up the intake.

    In the beginning, it was tough to stick to the lower amounts and not be hungry. But I figured out what foods kept me satisfied for fewer calories and it got very easy. In fact, when I decided to up my calories, I had a tough time meeting the higher goal! (Who would believe that??? lol).

    My net is not much higher on days I exercise. I eat 1,800-1,900 calories in a day now and when I work out, I try to burn about 2,500-3,000 calories per week (or more if I have time and energy). I was probably netting fewer than 1,000 a day before (eating 1,100 to 1,500 a day). I took three months to lose 8 pounds (going up and down every week and rarely losing two weeks in a row). Then I gained 4 in one week and another 2 the following week and that's when I upped my calories and now I'm losing again.
  • Tree72
    Tree72 Posts: 942 Member
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    I'm currently trying this to see if it helps. I've been maintaining (fluctuating 1 to 2 pounds in either direction) for the past two months. I still have 20 pounds to reach my goal (which is toward the high end of my healthy BMI), so thought I still had plenty of time to maintain a fairly large deficit.

    A couple of weeks a go I finally gave in and got a Bodybugg. Now I'm trying to maintain right around a 500 calorie per day deficit. I haven't quite gotten it yet, but it's getting easier. And during this time I've been maintaining, I have lost inches, so my body is still changing and getting more fit. I'm hoping keeping the smaller deficit will help get the scale moving downward again.

    And for anyone who's scared to eat more, I think I haven't started losing again because some days I've still had too large of a deficit (around 800) and it hasn't been long enough for my body to adapt. I have not gained any weight and have lost inches. So if you're contemplating it, give it a try.

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