I realise this may get me mocked...

hypotrochoid
hypotrochoid Posts: 842 Member
edited November 8 in Food and Nutrition
But I need a dose of sanity since my evil, dysfunctional, formerly ED little brain is refusing to compute...

I've been sticking to 1200 calories, no eating exercise calories, since I joined this site in, what, July? Anyway, it worked until it didn't. Two days ago I binged on almonds and went way out of my 1200 range. I made most of that up with exercise in the evening. The next day the scale showed a loss. This has never happened to me before- usually I eat more, the scale fluxes up.

So yesterday I thought to myself, "Okay, you can do this. Let's eat a little more and see what happens."

I expected failure. I ate around 1400 yesterday. This morning my loss stayed. I recorded it.

I'm going to try to eat more again today and see what happens, but I'm scared. And it's stupid. And I know it's stupid.

Anyone have advice on how to get over this molehill that currently feels like a mountain?
«1

Replies

  • EmCarroll1990
    EmCarroll1990 Posts: 2,832 Member
    I've read that a lot of people have upped their calories and are losing weight. Maybe your metabolism stalled and you've restarted it? Hopefully someone with more knowledge than I can come by and give you some better advice.
  • khollyk
    khollyk Posts: 150 Member
    I've read that a lot of people have upped their calories and are losing weight. Maybe your metabolism stalled and you've restarted it? Hopefully someone with more knowledge than I can come by and give you some better advice.

    I totally agree. A few months back I plateau'd and actually posted something about upping my calories to get a loss, and lots of people said it had worked for them too! I'm totally for it!
  • scapez
    scapez Posts: 2,018 Member
    1200 calories and not eating back exercise calories results in too little sustenance. There will be those that say don't eat them back, but I'm not from that camp.

    When I started I did 1200 + eat back. That worked for awhile, then I plateaued for months.

    I upped to 1600 + eat back some and lo and behold, I started losing again.

    I would try eating more. It's a scary concept, but right now your body is all like, "HEY! I'm not getting enough food here so I'm going to hang on to my fat reserves!"

    Give it more food and it'll be like, "HEY, I'm not starving to death so I'll start letting go of the fat again."
  • myopus
    myopus Posts: 321 Member
    I'm glad you posted this; I definitely want to read more responses on this.
  • tistal
    tistal Posts: 869 Member
    1200 calories and not eating back exercise calories results in too little sustenance. There will be those that say don't eat them back, but I'm not from that camp.

    When I started I did 1200 + eat back. That worked for awhile, then I plateaued for months.

    I upped to 1600 + eat back some and lo and behold, I started losing again.

    I would try eating more. It's a scary concept, but right now your body is all like, "HEY! I'm not getting enough food here so I'm going to hang on to my fat reserves!"

    Give it more food and it'll be like, "HEY, I'm not starving to death so I'll start letting go of the fat again."


    This is a great way to look at it! Im just starting but I am going to keep this in mind.
  • onefitdiva
    onefitdiva Posts: 331 Member
    Do not weigh yourself every day. Your weigh fluctuates from day to day. Pick the same day, time and conditions every week. Like, right out of bed after going to the bathroom (if you normally do), with out any clothes on (clothing will add a little bit to the scale, depending on what you are wearing it can be a pound or so).

    That said I have many friends who follow the mind set of a "spike day". I do not as I am not trying to lose weight anymore. But the people who do this swear by it. From what I gather you up your calories one day (often their cheat day) to kick in your metabolism. I honestly am not sure of the method, maybe you can do a thread asking about it, I know there are a lot of users here doing it and happy with it, actually the ones who I have on my list look forward to their spike day, and it is working for them as they are still losing weight consistently.
  • sloneczka
    sloneczka Posts: 18
    I've read that a lot of people have upped their calories and are losing weight. Maybe your metabolism stalled and you've restarted it? Hopefully someone with more knowledge than I can come by and give you some better advice.

    I think this is me too, I was eating really low-cal and then i took half this week off of counting, now I lost 2 lbs and its staying......Probably less food plus exercise slowed the metabolism down. I am no expert either but its highly possible.
  • hypotrochoid
    hypotrochoid Posts: 842 Member
    Yes, all of that makes sense. I looked over my diary, and I guess another component may have been when I've been eating. I noticed there have been other days that I've gone over, but it's usually due to losing control in the evening and having a huge supper.

    Over the past couple days, the calories have been spread more evenly through the day... Maybe that's making a difference too?
  • KareninCanada
    KareninCanada Posts: 961 Member
    1200 calories and not eating back exercise calories results in too little sustenance. There will be those that say don't eat them back, but I'm not from that camp.

    When I started I did 1200 + eat back. That worked for awhile, then I plateaued for months.

    I upped to 1600 + eat back some and lo and behold, I started losing again.

    I would try eating more. It's a scary concept, but right now your body is all like, "HEY! I'm not getting enough food here so I'm going to hang on to my fat reserves!"

    Give it more food and it'll be like, "HEY, I'm not starving to death so I'll start letting go of the fat again."



    Bingo. :smile:
  • nnapieralski
    nnapieralski Posts: 132 Member
    You were eating too few calories. You only want around a 500 calorie deficit a day. MFP has my calories set at 1300, but all the research I've done (and I'm a librarian) shows that I would be eating more like 1800 a day to loose weight.
  • nascardrea8
    nascardrea8 Posts: 10
    i'm on 1200 and am eating back at least half of my exercise calories, and that seems to be working for me. Someone asked this to Jillian Michaels during a talk...the whole plateau thing...she suggested upping cals by 10% for a week and taking a couple days off exercise. helps to kind of shock the body.
  • Jill_newimprovedversion
    Jill_newimprovedversion Posts: 988 Member
    I guess you learned for yourself- from personal experience- the answer to the age-old MFP debate
    about whether eating back exercise calories is a YEA or NAY....

    It varies for each individual, but *seems* you have found what *works* for you.

    Just keep adding nutrition, like nuts, nut butters...and don't add in empty calories...

    and Best Wishes to you!
  • yager8725
    yager8725 Posts: 267 Member
    no advice but the SAMETHING is going on with me. I see it as alittle blessing!!!
  • Destinie589
    Destinie589 Posts: 211
    But I need a dose of sanity since my evil, dysfunctional, formerly ED little brain is refusing to compute...

    You once had an eating disorder so you should proud of yourself for not cutting back on your cals. Way to go :smile:
    I think seeing the scale hold a weight loss will be a positive force for you to keep eating healthy. Are there any local support groups you can join? Talking about it could help you get over the fear you feel.
  • elliejmoore
    elliejmoore Posts: 35 Member
    Im thinking im having issues like these. Im on week 3. First 2 weeks, lost 2.75lb each week. This week ive put weight on. I eat 1200 but dont eat back my exercise calories - which means some days my net cals eaten are about 700 when ive been to the gym.

    No gym this weekend (cos im full of cold), and gonna eat more of my exercise calories and hopefully things will start moving again. Also a good thing to do is weigh yourself, as while the scales may not be moving, you may be losing inches instead - especially if exercising.

    Good luck hun! Keep up the good work..xxx
  • hypotrochoid
    hypotrochoid Posts: 842 Member
    Do not weigh yourself every day. Your weigh fluctuates from day to day. Pick the same day, time and conditions every week. Like, right out of bed after going to the bathroom (if you normally do), with out any clothes on (clothing will add a little bit to the scale, depending on what you are wearing it can be a pound or so).

    That said I have many friends who follow the mind set of a "spike day". I do not as I am not trying to lose weight anymore. But the people who do this swear by it. From what I gather you up your calories one day (often their cheat day) to kick in your metabolism. I honestly am not sure of the method, maybe you can do a thread asking about it, I know there are a lot of users here doing it and happy with it, actually the ones who I have on my list look forward to their spike day, and it is working for them as they are still losing weight consistently.

    I recognise and respect the idea of not weighing every day, but I have to. I don't record my weight every day, but I have to step on the scale in the morning. It's completely mental. I stopped once for almost a week and the resulting stress nearly broke me. Yeah, I've got issues.

    Spike day... maybe. But not until I'm comfy with the upped calories. Thanks for the response!
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I've heard you can jump start your metabolism by eating more calories at least 1 day a week.
  • bekisimpkins
    bekisimpkins Posts: 19 Member
    When I started on here I wasn't sure on eating my exercise calories and then I read a post where the writer explained in detail why you should.

    Basically, if you're on a calorie controlled diet of around 1200 calories a day, when you exercise, you knock calories off this amount. For example 200 calories burnt in yoga and still eating the 1200 calories for the day means you're actually only fuelling your body with 1000 calories - too low to maintain the body's regular function and putting it into 'starvation mode' (I'm no expert however!).

    I think you should eat a little more! I've been a bit ill this week and struggled to eat enough but still tried to do my 30mins of exercise a day. As a result, I was under my 1200 goal.

    Weighed myself today, gained a pound!!!

    I guess they tell you on here what to eat for a reason, but just make sure it's lots of the good stuff!
  • TeeferTiger
    TeeferTiger Posts: 136 Member
    Don't weigh yourself every day. Just once a week at a set time, like when you wake up, after going to the loo for example. I did find though, when I was on slimming world, the weeks when I was "naughty" I lost more weight...
  • aregensb
    aregensb Posts: 239 Member
    Try looking at this article (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8.htm) for some information on eating too few calories.

    I would say that you jumped your metabolism again. It seems like a lot of people do that whenever they stall on their weight loss. They eat above their calorie allowance for a few days and then go back to restriction, and it helps them start losing again.
  • mkwongh
    mkwongh Posts: 279 Member
    i Noticed this around the holidays.. Christmas I ate better then I usually would, but went way way over my 1200 cal goal... and I lost weight that week.. i thought it was just a fluke, so stayed at my 1200 cals.

    I recently increased my daily cals to 1400, after not having the scale move like it used too... and now i notices slowly but surely the scale number was dropping.... -.2 here, -.4 there... This week I have been eating way more then I ususally do, and I jumped on the scale this morning and lost -.4
  • runbyme
    runbyme Posts: 522 Member
    I am hoping and praying that these responses are correct also! I started dieting Jan 1st at about 800 net calories. Dumb! Lost 1# the first week and then couldn't move the scale without a major amputation! I read a post about a similar instance and how eating your recommended calories AND your exercise calories was really the way to go. After starving myself to no avail, I figured I would try this approach. Getting my mind around the fact of eating 1500 or more calories a day is still beyond me and after 4 days of eating and gaining 3#, I figured I was just stupid. I have hung in there though, heavier than when I started and still hoping this will work! I guess I'll find out next Wednesday when I hit the 2 week mark of eating everything I should.
    Hang in there girl! I know that our weight flucuates like crazy and that in turn drives us crazy but I know in the big picture of things, we are on the right track! Feel free to add me if you would like! I'm always here to help! :flowerforyou:
  • PeaceLoveVeggies
    PeaceLoveVeggies Posts: 673 Member
    The closer you get to your goal, the more you should eat your exercise calories.
  • ncytiz
    ncytiz Posts: 105 Member
    I just started eating back about 1/2 of my exercise calories at the beginning of the month, after several months of 1200 calories. It was really hard to allow myself to eat the additional calories, because it just felt wrong, but I did it anyway. I started weighing myself every day instead of once a week so that I could monitor the changes. The first couple of weeks I only lost about a half pound, last week I lost 1.6 pounds, and so far this week, I'm down 1 pound.

    It's really nice to have a few extra calories each day, and now I get annoyed with rest days, because I miss those extra calories!

    Give it a try, but make the extra calories count. Get more healthy food with those calories, don't use them to add junk to your diet or you're not fueling your body like you should. Good luck!
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
    when somebody's ticker says 87lbs lost, what can anybody here say except "keep going"?

    Maybe things could be easier if you were perfect...like me:yawn:
    I am perfectly imperfect, but with all my flaws, I lost a ton of weight and reached my goal.
    You just KEEP PUNCHING!
    Oh, and yes, I think you're eating a bit less than you could, but again, you've lost 87lbs.
    WELL DONE!
  • chicago_dad
    chicago_dad Posts: 357
    Beware the CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR. I.e.: I eat too many almonds on day 1. I weigh myself on day 2, and my weight is lower. I conclude that there is a causal relationship between eating too many almonds and weight loss. = FAIL.
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
    I'm actually likely going to be upping my calories soon as well. I only have about 10lbs left to go, and since I'm strength training now, I think going from 1300 to about 1500 would benefit me. I'm going to see how much I lose at the beginning of February and go from there. All I know is December I lost one pound until I went home for Christmas, where I was eating pretty much anything I wanted for a week and a half... and then I lost two.
  • techigirl78
    techigirl78 Posts: 128 Member
    Same here. I noticed the days after I went out to eat and ate a good amount of food over normal I would lose weight and keep it off. This week I upped it to 1400 from 1200 and ate back exercising if it goes over 500-1000. I'm back to losing 2lbs now this week. Was losing about .5-1 for past 4-6 weeks or so.

    If this stalls, I think I'll do what smantha32 somewhat suggests and give myself one day a week when I can eat what I want - not ridiculously bad food - just maybe go out for all you can eat sushi and get up to 1800-2000 calorie range of food for a day with lots of fish,veggies, and brown rice. I was doing that all through Oct and Nov and the weight seemed to just fall off at that point. I believe I was averaging about 3lbs a week then and didn't weight much more then I do now.

    I also weigh myself everyday. The difference is that I no longer get upset when it goes up slightly or doesn't move for a few days. I understand some fluctuations are normal, but it makes me feel better to weigh myself. If you will get upset by what I scale may tell you, then I would agree that weighing yourself daily will probably have a bad impact on your motivation. Some days I record and sometimes I don't.
  • jwaitman
    jwaitman Posts: 367 Member
    Whenever I get stuck, I go on a binge. I believe it jumpstarts things again. If it is working keep at it.
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    1200 probably put a lot of stress on your body, which caused water retention. A day over overfeeding caused leptin to rise, so you dropped some water.

    1400 calories is slightly better, but not by much. What would be best for you is eating at maintenance level for a couple of weeks.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories