people who LOST weight eating MORE

I NEED HELP!!

I'm supposed to eat 1200 calories/a day but I only eat maxiumum 650? and this is when i added a bit more during my day. HOW CAN I EAT SO LITTLE? because when I check other people they eat atleast 1400 a day. how can they do that? dont know whats wrong but I get really full with my food intaken.

To make it clear for u guys so this is how my days look like:
I eat 4 times a day - time: 9, 12, 3, 6. I dont go up earlier than 8 so thats why I only have a snack-time which is 3pm.
9 - breakfat: 3 hard boiled eggwhites. around 50g natural yoghurt with cinnamon and some
12 - lunch: a salad pretty much similar to greeksalad but i add spinash salad instead and either salmon fillé or chicken
3 - snack: apple, 8 almonds, and then either half avokado, kiwi or a carrot.
6 - dinner: similar to lunch (but a bit smaller meal), a salad with most of the time chicken fillé but could be tuna or so..

(I drink a cup of green tea to every meal so 4 cups of green tea / a day, sometimes I have 5 or so.
And water there between the meals.)

I dont eat carbs, only from veggies and fruit, because I'm not a big fan of pasta, potatoes, rise etc.. I exercise atleast 4 times a week, but dont change my food intaken when I have my exercise days, or atleast not much or often, I maybe eat a bit more protein after for example lunch, instead of get 80g salmon filé I eat 100g. so its not a big change.

IF YOU WERE ME GUYS, WHAT WOULD U DO? (I just weighed myself and i've droped 1,5kg almost.. and i started ten days ago) so why does this make me worried then? WELL I READ ALOT AND SEEN PEOPLE WRITING ABOUT LOOSING MUSCLE INSTEAD OF FAT IF U DONT GET ENOUGH CALORIES. I also see people say that u will give up if u eat less calorie each day, well i done this for 10 days and i havent binged at all yet. and as how it feels now, im pretty sure i wont for another 10 days. I've been thinking about add more calories and i have alredy done. i put another eggwhite for breakfast and i add some more veggies for my meals and i eat more for snack. and probably if i would add some more carbs i know my calorieintaken would rise much more, but what im doing now - is it dangerous / bad for my body or should i learn to like these carbs.. ? anyway enough writing, i feel pretty silly writing here, havent used mfp for writing at all pretty much, but felt i could need some help and was thinking to ask u guys.

Custic, you are right, you will be losing muscle with that diet. It's really not hard to eat more. Eat whole eggs instead of egg whites. Put cheese and full-fat salad dressing on your salads. Eat a whole handful of almonds instead of just 8. Eat red meat for dinner. Drink a few glasses of milk a day (even skim is 135 calories a glass, 2% would add even more). Eat fruit. Bananas are great and high calorie. Add protien shakes. You don't HAVE to have carbs if you don't like them.

This is great advice... take away - dont eat low fat low calorie substitutes. They are processed and not as good for you.

Also, stuff like avocado and cooking in olive oil or even a couple scoops of peanut butter. heck, I eat as much for breakfast as you do in a day, lol.

Lets see anyone, I challenge anyone to prove they ATE 1200 calories a day for a month and tell me they didn't lose weight? (Assuming you aren't 4 feet tall).

There are people in this thread that have proven to eat 1200 calories and not lost. Plus I have worked with a ton of people on this board with the same issue. Heck, look in half the threads about plateaus and you will see this. Hell in fact, I did 90 days of p90x and ate 1800 calories and didn't lose but when I upped my calories to 2600, I lost 3% body fat in 3 months and 7 lbs.

This^^ I set mine at 1800 for P90x and have been cheating like a mutha, because it's still not enough. Need to just raise mine, I suppose

Iv just started to eat BMR xactivity level (in my case was 1.375 - lightly active) minus 500cal for a 1lb loss a week. From various sites its between 1480-1510cals a day allowance. Iv set my goal at 1480- and this is 3rd day. Its my period so last 2 days iv eaten a whole days extra intake so not expecting results soon! I was at 1200cals a day before sometimes eating to 1300cals.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/422324-always-a-bridesmaid


eating more works for me!

bump

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

I would eat 50-75% back, or all of them if you are still hungry.

You can eat more and lose weight. That's actually what I do. I've been eating about 2500 calories/day the last few months (with pig-out sessions once a week or so). The key is burning a ton. I run about 6-8 miles a day, burning almost 1000 calories per day but I eat them all back. Along with drinking a ton of water, you maximize burn efficiency of those extra calories while maintaining the extra energy and motivation to actually work out in the first place. You're going to lose more fat by eating a lot and exercising a lot than eating less. That technique burns more lean muscle, which is the stuff that makes you look good. If you're burning muscle tissue, you'll lose weight but not make any progress.

And you need fat in your diet - I have mine set at 25%/day. I have carbs at 45% because you NEED energy to work out in the first place. It's just about getting past them and burning fat after the initial burning of carbs.

Custic, you are right, you will be losing muscle with that diet. It's really not hard to eat more. Eat whole eggs instead of egg whites. Put cheese and full-fat salad dressing on your salads. Eat a whole handful of almonds instead of just 8. Eat red meat for dinner. Drink a few glasses of milk a day (even skim is 135 calories a glass, 2% would add even more). Eat fruit. Bananas are great and high calorie. Add protien shakes. You don't HAVE to have carbs if you don't like them.

This is great advice... take away - dont eat low fat low calorie substitutes. They are processed and not as good for you.

Also, stuff like avocado and cooking in olive oil or even a couple scoops of peanut butter. heck, I eat as much for breakfast as you do in a day, lol.

Thanks guys!
yeah I know, but I dont eat any low fat - low calorie substitutes. yeah I gotta find some protein shakes and eat some more almonds for snack, and maybe some more fruit. HAHAHA pretty funny. well i was very suprised that i was eating that small amout of calories a day, so i checked it more than twice, to make sure i didnt do it wrong. well.. thats why i posted it, because it sounds wrong. yeah i'll do my best to eat more. but the thing is, should i eat 1200 only or should i eat MORE when i exercise? i wanted to loose 13kg and now i weight 57. so 7 left to go. but i want to tone up and be fit.

I'd eat your exercise calories. The trick to losing weight while maintaining as much muscle as possible is to have a small calorie deficit, lift weights and eat enough protein. Exercising increases your calorie deficit and can make it "too big" if you don't eat the calories back.

How do you mean now with "can make it too big"? dont really understand. thanks by the way for answering

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Rae6503/view/exercise-calories-166276

In a nutshell.....

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal, <-- 1000 calorie deficit
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,<--- 750 calorie deficit
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal, <--- 500
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and < --- 250 ish
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

I haven't got a clue! One thing I know for sure though, is that now I'm exercising, I'm TERRIFIED of not eating enough and ending up losing muscle. Nearly as terrified as I am of putting on weight.

I find it hard to accept that my average 90 minutes a day workout (doing the exercise I'm currently doing; Zumba and brisk dog walking), I can burn around 700 calories (according to my heart rate monitor). Initially, at which point I wasn't really exercising enough, I set my calories to 1200 a day, but found that although this amount was achievable, I found myself in many risky situations where I felt like blowing it and pigging out. At 1360 I was slightly more comfortable, so it was still "dangerous". However, now I'm exercising more and have some extra exercise calories to draw from, I'm more than satisfied food wise at around the 1600 mark. BUT, despite a 660 a day deficit (1.3 lbs a week) from food alone, it freaks me out to eat 1900 calories a day although these are actually 1200 net. Also, given that I was so hungry at 1200 a day when I wasn't exercising, I'm thinking that 1200 net isn't enough for me, so should be stuffing my face even more if I'm working out e.g. 1360 goal (500 deficit a day) + 700 exercise calories = 2060.

As far as my weight loss in the past is concerned, I've managed it without even knowing it was happening, just by working out a few days a week and being sensible about what I ate. Because I wasn't really conscious of what I was trying to achieve, I wouldn't be able to do the same again.

I've been on MFP for about 6 weeks now, of which most of it I've been flitting between a 1200 (1.3lb) and 1360 (1lb) calorie goal. In the last 10 days or so I've really upped my fitness. BUT....I'm not seeing much of a change. I have NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER in gaining muscle weight, as long as my jeans get looser, so I am not overly reliant on what the scales are telling me. In those 6 weeks I've lost about 4lb. In terms of inch loss, well, it depends how much I breath in, so I can't rely on my measurements. My jeans.... well.... still far too tight!

I'm having an absolute fit over what I should do; eat more or eat less. My TDEE is around 1800 based at sedantary. Should I ensure my gross calories don't exceed this, or should I keep my net calories at the 1200-1360 mark regardless of how much exercise I do? Which would be the "safest" to try first?

I only have around 20lb to lose by the way, but it's all flab - cellulite city!!!!

I haven't got a clue! One thing I know for sure though, is that now I'm exercising, I'm TERRIFIED of not eating enough and ending up losing muscle. Nearly as terrified as I am of putting on weight.

I find it hard to accept that my average 90 minutes a day workout (doing the exercise I'm currently doing; Zumba and brisk dog walking), I can burn around 700 calories (according to my heart rate monitor). Initially, at which point I wasn't really exercising enough, I set my calories to 1200 a day, but found that although this amount was achievable, I found myself in many risky situations where I felt like blowing it and pigging out. At 1360 I was slightly more comfortable, so it was still "dangerous". However, now I'm exercising more and have some extra exercise calories to draw from, I'm more than satisfied food wise at around the 1600 mark. BUT, despite a 660 a day deficit (1.3 lbs a week) from food alone, it freaks me out to eat 1900 calories a day although these are actually 1200 net. Also, given that I was so hungry at 1200 a day when I wasn't exercising, I'm thinking that 1200 net isn't enough for me, so should be stuffing my face even more if I'm working out e.g. 1360 goal (500 deficit a day) + 700 exercise calories = 2060.

As far as my weight loss in the past is concerned, I've managed it without even knowing it was happening, just by working out a few days a week and being sensible about what I ate. Because I wasn't really conscious of what I was trying to achieve, I wouldn't be able to do the same again.

I've been on MFP for about 6 weeks now, of which most of it I've been flitting between a 1200 (1.3lb) and 1360 (1lb) calorie goal. In the last 10 days or so I've really upped my fitness. BUT....I'm not seeing much of a change. I have NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER in gaining muscle weight, as long as my jeans get looser, so I am not overly reliant on what the scales are telling me. In those 6 weeks I've lost about 4lb. In terms of inch loss, well, it depends how much I breath in, so I can't rely on my measurements. My jeans.... well.... still far too tight!

I'm having an absolute fit over what I should do; eat more or eat less. My TDEE is around 1800 based at sedantary. Should I ensure my gross calories don't exceed this, or should I keep my net calories at the 1200-1360 mark regardless of how much exercise I do? Which would be the "safest" to try first?

I only have around 20lb to lose by the way, but it's all flab - cellulite city!!!!

Well if you want to maintain muscle and get the most out of it, then you need to eat more. Also if your tdee is 1900 and you burn 660, your true tdee is 2560. And if you want to do true body recomposition then you need a smaller deficit. You should be eating around 2000-2200 calories a day. Anything less and youre body is feeding on the muscle. Also you cant gain muscle, its impossible to do that on a defecit. So eat up.

I think undereating is one of the reasons why, before joining this site, I didn't lose much of my weight. I used to just try to eat healthily without really considering calories or even things like protein or sugar, so for much of the past few years I've moved up and down between 200lbs and 220lbs. I think the lightest I've been in the past ten or so years is 180lbs, and that was a long time ago. Now that I'm using this site, I know that I need at least 1600-1800 net calories in order to be healthy and to lose excess weight.

bump

I haven't got a clue! One thing I know for sure though, is that now I'm exercising, I'm TERRIFIED of not eating enough and ending up losing muscle. Nearly as terrified as I am of putting on weight.

I find it hard to accept that my average 90 minutes a day workout (doing the exercise I'm currently doing; Zumba and brisk dog walking), I can burn around 700 calories (according to my heart rate monitor). Initially, at which point I wasn't really exercising enough, I set my calories to 1200 a day, but found that although this amount was achievable, I found myself in many risky situations where I felt like blowing it and pigging out. At 1360 I was slightly more comfortable, so it was still "dangerous". However, now I'm exercising more and have some extra exercise calories to draw from, I'm more than satisfied food wise at around the 1600 mark. BUT, despite a 660 a day deficit (1.3 lbs a week) from food alone, it freaks me out to eat 1900 calories a day although these are actually 1200 net. Also, given that I was so hungry at 1200 a day when I wasn't exercising, I'm thinking that 1200 net isn't enough for me, so should be stuffing my face even more if I'm working out e.g. 1360 goal (500 deficit a day) + 700 exercise calories = 2060.

As far as my weight loss in the past is concerned, I've managed it without even knowing it was happening, just by working out a few days a week and being sensible about what I ate. Because I wasn't really conscious of what I was trying to achieve, I wouldn't be able to do the same again.

I've been on MFP for about 6 weeks now, of which most of it I've been flitting between a 1200 (1.3lb) and 1360 (1lb) calorie goal. In the last 10 days or so I've really upped my fitness. BUT....I'm not seeing much of a change. I have NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER in gaining muscle weight, as long as my jeans get looser, so I am not overly reliant on what the scales are telling me. In those 6 weeks I've lost about 4lb. In terms of inch loss, well, it depends how much I breath in, so I can't rely on my measurements. My jeans.... well.... still far too tight!

I'm having an absolute fit over what I should do; eat more or eat less. My TDEE is around 1800 based at sedantary. Should I ensure my gross calories don't exceed this, or should I keep my net calories at the 1200-1360 mark regardless of how much exercise I do? Which would be the "safest" to try first?

I only have around 20lb to lose by the way, but it's all flab - cellulite city!!!!

Well if you want to maintain muscle and get the most out of it, then you need to eat more. Also if your tdee is 1900 and you burn 660, your true tdee is 2560. And if you want to do true body recomposition then you need a smaller deficit. You should be eating around 2000-2200 calories a day. Anything less and youre body is feeding on the muscle. Also you cant gain muscle, its impossible to do that on a defecit. So eat up.

Thanks! I shall give that a go and see what happens!