Major sucess with higher calories!

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  • scubahsteve69
    scubahsteve69 Posts: 37 Member
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  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I love all this info! I found a site that walked me through calculating my BMR & TDEE (BMR was pretty close to MFP's number for me). After doing all the math it shows my TDEE at 2155. It says to lose weight I should subtract 500, which leaves me at 1655 calories per day (MFP has me at 1580). I usually burn anywhere from 300-500 calories per day in workouts, and I eat my calories back when I am hungry. But I'm not always hungry! Not sure I could consume 2155 of healthy calories per day! Or should I aim for 1655? I will figure this out, I am determined! LOL

    Like yesterday, I consumed 1903 in calories, but had a net of only 1337 due to exercise...I was FULL at bedtime, and ate healthy foods all day. Am I on the right track?

    I have been eating this way for awhile. I am near my goal weight and sort of to the point where I don't care about the scale numbers as much as my shape and inches coming off. So it's slow going. But I do have fat to lose for sure. I work out 6 days a week, rotating various DVDs, some more cardio, some more strength, and alternate days of walking 4 miles and going through the c25k program. But I feel like I'm stuck - trying to ignore the scale, but I seem to fluctuate between the same two or three pounds every week, up and down.

    I'm so thankful for MFP and all the help & support here! I feel like I have a much better handle on my health & fitness & so much more knowledge about these things than I did even a year ago. :flowerforyou:
  • vanella90
    vanella90 Posts: 10
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    I am new here (started 1 week ago) and I haven't really had much success with my 1200 calories so I will take this advice and up my calories to 1500. ALSO, what I found out after reading your post and doing some research on how many calores i should be eating to lose weight based on my BMR and activity level, i found out that you need to decrease your carbs intake. so while I'm upping my calories, i also decreased my carb intake to 25% (94 grams) in MFP because research shows that you lose weight fast this way (I'm just gonna try it out for a week) then I'll go from there and adjust it to a realistic level so I can maintain a healthy lifestyle. I thank you so much for posting this because I hope to see success with these two combinations instead of being depressed on why I'm not losing weight after following my 1200 calorie diet limit. Wishing you more success in your future
  • Ilovedrinkingtea
    Ilovedrinkingtea Posts: 597 Member
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    Bump!xx
  • runbyme
    runbyme Posts: 522 Member
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    I am REALLY excited. I got out my old data, (last spring and summer) and looked for months with big losses or gains and compared that to food diaries of roughly the time frame that I thought should be appropriate.

    *Last June I lost 6 lbs and a good many of those days were around the 1900ish calorie range with a couple of 2200ish highs thrown in!
    *In September I lost 5 lbs and there were 3 days where I ate over 3000cals, I had a few in the 1200ish and a lot in the 1900ish range.
    **and for the grand finale-- In May I buckled down and stay very low calorie all month long and gained 1 pound!!!

    (why couldn't I see this then? I think I probably spanked myself for those higher days thinking I had ruined everything)

    Spanking yourself would be counted as cardio! Don't forget to eat those calories back! Good luck to you!
  • tcat2012
    tcat2012 Posts: 60 Member
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  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
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    Very interesting topic, I've been hearing a lot about eating higher calories and changed my goal to lose 1.5lbs a week instead of 2, which is much better... haven't been at that long enough to see the results, though.

    Question- when you decide to up your calories, do you change your settings to reflect that number? I've only tweaked percentages (carb/fat/protein) and my fiber goals, it hadn't even occurred to me to change the calories.

    You can go in and change the net calorie goal. The number of grams per macronutrient will automatically readjust based on the percentages you've chosen.
  • femmi1120
    femmi1120 Posts: 473 Member
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    I recently upped my calories too, except now I seem to be hungry all of the time! Is this normal? Does it mean my metabolism is speeding up?
  • shapoe
    shapoe Posts: 4 Member
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  • MrsZMartin
    MrsZMartin Posts: 165 Member
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    Awesome! I recently decided to up my calories, as I'm trying to increase muscle mass. The scale hasn't gone down, but I can already tell I'm increasing my strength. Food is fuel! :happy:
  • nicole061488
    nicole061488 Posts: 12 Member
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    Bump so I can read later!
  • ANeWcRe8N
    ANeWcRe8N Posts: 1,180 Member
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    good post, I agree. Congrats on your success :)
  • GkMusic
    GkMusic Posts: 110 Member
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    Congrats and thanks for posting!
  • dalildevil
    dalildevil Posts: 55 Member
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    MFP started me with 1690 call per day.....and has slowly been decreasing as I lose weight. it's currently set at 1560 cals. it's been working for me i've lost 37lb so far, but I'm worried after reading your posts that MFP may be leading me wrong in the long run. How would I know where to maintain my calorie intake in the even that I stop losing with what's recomended by MFP?
  • vickychristie
    vickychristie Posts: 32 Member
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    I have just started eating them back too :) hope it works,
  • Jme2012
    Jme2012 Posts: 106 Member
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    bump.. .
  • fittiephd
    fittiephd Posts: 608 Member
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    I've been considering this, upping my calories. Since I'm set at 1270 right now and I have been losing weight, about 7.3 lbs since Jan 9th, not bad, pretty healthy since I am within 5 lbs of my goal weight. But I'm worried about plateau-ing and when I go into maintain mode..

    My issue is that I almost always eat very healthy so I actually have problems getting over 1270 to make up my exercise calories. I am always full, never hungry!! Who knows, just will go with the flow, log, make the right choices, and eat when I'm hungry I guess :)

    Congrats!
  • kimr41
    kimr41 Posts: 219 Member
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    So I did the calculator thing that Dan suggested and came up with 1730 calories instead of the 1200. I've actually been losing 1-2 lbs a wk with the 1200 & eating my workout calories back but I'm going to give this a try for 2-3 wks & see how it goes.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    You told my story, exactly!!! Today I am starting on 2025 calories a day!!!, I am terrified!! I was eating 800-1000 a day!! We will see!!! good luck!!! Please friend me, I would like to stay in touch through this new "experiment" in weight loss!!!:laugh: :laugh:

    Please only go up by 200 cal a day for each week.

    If you have been eating at 800-1000 and are not hungry, your BMR has been suppressed.

    Those extra cal's will be seen as a gift to hold on to - not to speed up your metabolism.

    Add a snack a day, perhaps before or after a workout, of 200, for a week.
    Next week increase 2 meals by 100 each day.
    Next week do it again, perhaps another snack for a workout, pre and post.
    Ect.

    Because just adding 1000 will be real weight gain as your body stores it.

    You want weight gain associated with adding more muscle finally because you are eating better, and storing glucose/water for energy needs, that kind of stuff.
  • LesleyParis
    LesleyParis Posts: 6
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    Such a relief to see other members struggling with the meeting calories minimum thing. I, like the others, feel eating less is the way to lose the weight. Clearly not. So, will have to change that habit of a lifetime.
    Thank you for the posting.

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