people who LOST weight eating MORE

I definitely lost more eating more calories!

Stats: 5'7", 30yo female, medium frame, 130 pounds

I started out at 1200 calories a day and did that for about 2 months without any real results (lost maybe a pound).

After those two months, I upped my calories to about 1400-1500 a day and started walking about a mile or so everyday. I made sure to eat back my exercise calories and I dropped about 6 pounds in about a month and a half! I got down to 125 pounds and had to put on the breaks because I was looking too pointy (thin).

At that point, I decided to start making a commitment to working out and making sure that I put a bit more weight on. I work out for about an hour 3 days a week (30 minutes cardio, 20-30 minutes weights)

I have been maintaining now for about about 4-5 months and I eat 1400-1500 calories during the week and don't log at all on the weekends. If I had to guess, I would say that I probably can eat up to 2000-2500 calories EACH weekend day (which I suppose roughly turns out to be between 1600-1800 calories a day average for the week) and have not gained.

I was really scared to enter maintenance mode and eat more calories but it really is beneficial and you can still keep the weight off. I encourage everyone to try it!

Bump

After bumping around 161-160lbs for a few weeks I decided to try upping my calories. I have set my calorie goal to maintance on MFP giving me 1750 cal per day then I am using my exercise calories to create my deficit. I have lost 2.6 pounds this week even though it is my TOM. Hoping to get to 140lbs or lower for my sisters wedding in June xx

In 2011 I had lost 20 lbs mainly through diet of eating an increase of fruits and vegetables and exchanging white breads/pastas for whole grains, then hit a "roadblock" and gained it all back. Over the past 3 months I have been doing a lot of research and my uneducated, personal conclusion is that besides calories, some people need to monitor their carb. intake, too. Recently, I spoke to a nutritionist who told me that if a person is struggling to drop weight, but is eating at the caloric zone s/he is to be in, then consider increasing your lower-glycemic vegetable consumption and/or cut back on some grains. A tidbit of other info. I agree with in my research, is that if you are feeling hungry, you might actually be dehydrated. Drink a glass of water, and most likely you will not feel the hunger sensation (obviously you will be full of water, which will subside the hunger - so either way, you win).

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'

My stats
Age 43
Height 167 cm
SW 112 kilo
CW 106 kilo
GW 62 kilo


BMR 1771
TDEE 2431
TDEE -15% 2067 (2431-364)

So my goal is to eat 2067 cal a day PLUS all my exercise calories.

I started off at 1200 calories and lost weight but also started getting gallbladder symptons which can be triggered by very low cal diets. So I increased to 1400 and the symptons stopped. My weight stalled and I started reading up on what to do as I knew I couldn't go back to 1200.

Read a few good MFP group forums like
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/34-women-eating-2-000-calories-per-day
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3105-eating-for-future-you

Decided to up my calories to 1600 my weight didnt change much I kept on fluctuating around the same weight.
Finally worked out how much I should be eating by calculating my basic metabolic rate (BMR) and my total daily energy expenditure (TDEE).
I upped to 1800 cal a day with the plan to gradually build up to 2100 cal plus additional calories for exercise.
After 7 days I finally saw a loss of 3.3 pounds (1.5 kilos).

When I was on 1200 as I was eating very healthy (alot of raw veg which is bulky) I would get full up really easily. I couldn't imagine eating more it was a struggle to make 1200.

When I started going up in calorie consumption I found healthy calorie dense foods to eat so I wasnt eating huge meals all day. At every calorie level I felt full and didn't feel deprived. When I got to 1800 after 2 days I was ravenous. I think my metabolism just went into high gear. Now I am at the stage where I have eaten 2100 and due to exercise calories I still need to eat another 260 cal. I feel full and am probably going to take the easy way out and eat some peanut butter.

Still early days as to how my body continues to respond to higher calories but so far it has been a success.

So yes I lost weight eating more.

You're dead in the middle of a healthy weight for your height. You shouldn't have your weight loss set to any more than a half pound a week, with increased protein over what MFP says, plus most of your exercise calories. You're also not likely to get a dramatic change on the scale, but take photos - front, back and side - to check your progress.

I'm the exact same weight now as I was last summer, but I have an entirely new butt.

If you are female 5'2" and working out 3-5 times a week you should try to hit 1600-1800 daily for fat loss.

You cant generalise though because everyone is differen!

It depends on a number of things such as how much muscle mass the indidividual has and and at what intensity they are exercising. Is it vigorous/moderate/low intensity and how regularly are they doing it

For instance I'm 5 foot 2 have a good amount of muscle and I workout intensely and I'm losing eating mostly around the 2000 k - 2200 mark. I can maintain on between 2000 - 2600.

Now another person who is my height 5 foot 2 might not have the same amount of muscle mass as me and do less intense exercise less regularly and they will have to work out by trial and error the amount they can eat to lose the fat. It depends on how much muscle they have and how fast their metabolism is.

I dont feel you can make a blanket statement on the calorie range a person needs to eat to lose.

True! but on average most of the women asking me for numbers are in the 30-40% body fat range so I can make a general blanket statement since 99.9% of them want to lose weight and fall within the 1600-1800 calorie range.

oh ok. i understand

Bump

I`ve decided to give this a try. I would like to lose 40 lbs. I`ve lost 20lb over a long period of time. This month I lost around 8 lbs but this week nothing. I have changed many things about my diet, eating mostly whole foods and trying to stay away from sweets and butter, etc. I have consistently kept my cal intake to 1200ish and I am 5ft 2 in woman. 40 yrs old.

I basically went from zero exercise and not really watching what i`m eating, to now I work out almost daily doing Zumba and JM 30day Shred. I see a difference in my clothes and am on my way.

After reading this (and other) threads, I think i am being unrealistic to only eat 1200 calories and not eat back any of my exercise calories (which average around 550 extra a day).

Would 1350 calories (and not eating exercise calories back) be reasonable when I still have 40 lbs to lose to get to my Goal Weight. i can`t imagine eating more than 1350 and not gaining weight (without upping my exercise regimen even more.)

thanks.
Leslie