What's the theory behind eating more calories to lose weight

bert16
bert16 Posts: 726 Member
edited October 5 in Health and Weight Loss
If I'm above "starvation level" (which, for the record, I find hard to believe is set at the same 1200 calorie value for everyone, which is how I think it is in MFP(??)), why would I eat more calories to lose weight? If a 3,500 calorie deficit is equivalent to 1 lb. lost, why wouldn't I just want to maximize the deficit? Thanks for any explanation you can provide... I was at exactly the same weight (142.2 lb.) for 5 weeks straight, then lost 1.4 last week, and just weighed in this morning to find that I lost exactly 0.0 lb. after what I thought was a pretty good week.

Any help would be appreciated!

Replies

  • Rompa_87
    Rompa_87 Posts: 291 Member
    Well the theory more or less goes that you need to eat at or above your BMI. For most people this is around 1500-2000cal a day.

    Eating less than this signals to your body that food is scarce and you are in a famine so it will do its best to hold on to fat reserves for energy to insulate your organs and minimise your expenditure by lowering your metabolism in order to keep at the homeostatic (balanced) level.

    Now you could constantly starve yourself and lose weight but the weight you normally lose when you starve yourself is water (due to lower carbohydrate intakes and water intake into muscle) and muscle mass (this is metabolically expensive so your body cannibalises muscle in order to require less energy to live). This means that you eventually burn less and less calories each day and you would get diminishing returns and hit a plateau.

    Now eating at your requires (or slightly above) energy needs and exercising regularly increases your metabolism. Also as your body does not think it is starving it uses that energy to maintain or build muscle mass while using body fat as a fuel source. So basically eating between 1500-2000cal + a day (some days I need up to 4000-5000) keeps you lean and muscular instead of having low numbers on a scale but having no definition and a layer of fat.
  • ydeleon
    ydeleon Posts: 81
    Yes, you should create a deficit. However, if it's a large deficit, your body will go into starvation mode. When your body does this, it'll hang to every calorie you consume (because it thinks it won't be getting anything for a long time. So even if you are well below on calories, you won't be losing what's expected. Hope that helps.
  • kelsbeckins
    kelsbeckins Posts: 26 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/394991-eating-back-exercise-calories
  • sweettoothfairy
    sweettoothfairy Posts: 212 Member
    Okay I learned the theory hard way, lemme explain it to you by using a simple example:

    Consider your body as an army troupe in a battle ground, fighting the battle to survive.... Now if the army knows that they are gonna get ammunition on regular intervals, they will keep fighting with full force.. One fine day they got to know that due to some reason they are not gonna get enough ammunition on time to fight this battle, so instead of utilizing them Army will start storing the leftover ammmunition for future use. THATS EXACTLY HOW OUR BODY WORKS.
    You can lose a lot of weight or win a fight with little ammunition but if you want to win the battle you gotta have enough stock plus regular supply.
    Hope this explains what you were looking for.
  • Matttdvg
    Matttdvg Posts: 133 Member
    Starvation mode doesn't suddenly switch on when you go below 1200 calories. Your body gradually tries to hold onto more fat the greater your calorie deficit. And how much that effects you depends on the individual. Some people can have huge deficits and easily lose weight. For others such deficits would be harmful to their weight loss efforts.

    The key thing is - we're all different. Our metabolisms are all different. If you're losing weight and eating enough to get sufficient nutrients, keep doing whatever you're doing. It clearly works for you. If it's not, try increasing or decreasing your calories (while still ensuring sufficient nutrition, obviously) and see what works. There is no one size fits all solution to weight loss. We're all different and we need to do what is right for us as individuals. Once you've found something that works, stick to it.
  • moushtie
    moushtie Posts: 371 Member
    The basic theory is that your body is very clever, at least when it comes to keeping you alive. If you strictly restrict your calorie intact, your body realises there's not as much coming in, and does all it can to expend less energy in its necessary functions. So there is a point where you need to feed your body enough to convince it you're not starving, so that it will keep burning energy at a high level.
    Obviously, if you restricted your food down to almost nothing, you would still lose weight... this is called starving yourself, and is not recommended ;)
  • bicky2902
    bicky2902 Posts: 2
    Apparently as you lose weight and become more active, you need to increase your calories as your body is more efficient at burning them. If it doesnt get the appropriate amount it hordes the stores on your body. This is only for those you have lost a good amount and are truly much more active on a daily basis.
  • JenniferH007
    JenniferH007 Posts: 76
    hi my name is jennifer
    i can answer that Q you need to fuel the boady to serve or it goes into starvation mode and i know it sound wird. 10 month ago i started working out. at the gym only eating a apple and sandwich for lunch and dinner and only lost 5 pound since i started eating correctly i have lost a total of 13 pound in 2 weeks 15 days if you dont eat enouph then your body holds on to the fat instead of lose it and you also want to gain lean musle which will keep off the fat. i hope this help happy working out
  • MrsSpinks
    MrsSpinks Posts: 274 Member
    I don't get this either! Plus, the less I eat, the more weight I lose, so that's what I (try) to do!!
  • bert16
    bert16 Posts: 726 Member
    Well the theory more or less goes that you need to eat at or above your BMI. For most people this is around 1500-2000cal a day.

    I'm assuming you mean "BMR" here, rather than BMI...

    And thanks, everyone, for your responses.

    How does anyone know when they're in so-called starvation mode? MFP warns me if I'm lower than 1200 cals consumed per day, irrespective of how much I've exercised. I'm a 39 year old 5'7" female with an athletic build who's in the middle of training for a marathon, so I need to fuel my runs, but want to shed the last 10 lb. so that I have less to lug 26.2 miles on race day. I've generally been eating between 1200-1400 calories (probably more days closer to 1200) each day; but have hit a huge plateau over the past 7 weeks, losing only 1.4 lb total.
  • Rompa_87
    Rompa_87 Posts: 291 Member
    Well the theory more or less goes that you need to eat at or above your BMI. For most people this is around 1500-2000cal a day.

    I'm assuming you mean "BMR" here, rather than BMI...

    And thanks, everyone, for your responses.

    How does anyone know when they're in so-called starvation mode? MFP warns me if I'm lower than 1200 cals consumed per day, irrespective of how much I've exercised. I'm a 39 year old 5'7" female with an athletic build who's in the middle of training for a marathon, so I need to fuel my runs, but want to shed the last 10 lb. so that I have less to lug 26.2 miles on race day. I've generally been eating between 1200-1400 calories (probably more days closer to 1200) each day; but have hit a huge plateau over the past 7 weeks, losing only 1.4 lb total.

    You are correct in that I meant BMR. Imagine if that was BMI. We would need another classification altogether!

    I'm also an athlete. In two weeks today I will be completing my first ironman triathlon. I can tell you that the closer you are already to your goal weight then the longer it takes to reach it. Especially if your body is already in shape.

    Now if you are training for a marathon you do not want levels of food around 1200cal. This would be better for a sedentary person. You want to be able to fuel your body effectively as well as lose weight. So for someone your height you could probably get away with weighing 55kg or around 120lbs and not get sick easily throughout your training. That would put you on the lean end and you could eat something like 1450cal before exercise to maintain that weight and be lean.

    Try eating between 1400cal on your rest days and up to or beyond 2000cal if you do 10km+ (6mile) runs. After a week or two see if you are losing weight again.
  • bert16
    bert16 Posts: 726 Member
    rompoc01 - thanks for the advice! I've definitely been trying to up the calories over the past couple weeks to help get me "unstuck"; it seemed to work last week (which is when I lost the 1.4 lb for the past 7 weeks), but it didn't seem to do the trick this week. I'll just stick with it and see how it goes! I'm currently targeting 130 lb.; I coule barely hold 120 lb. when I was an elite swimmer back in high school raining 7+ hours / day, so want to be realistic. I guess I'll know my target weight when I get there! :wink:

    Best of luck with your Ironman - that's awesome! I have to get myself through this marathon, first, but will admit that completing a marathon has long been rattling around in my brain's "maybe I could do that?" list! Kick @ss!
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