How is Eating more and losing more weight working for YOU??

Hello,

Would some of you lovely MFP people share your personal stories/tips about how eating more calories has worked for you. Yes, I realize that everyone is different, but am interested in hearing from anyone who's had great or not so great experience. Any information on what worked for you or not worked?? I see that there are other posts about eating more, but I would like to hear success or not so successful input.

Thanks so much for your input.
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Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Hello,

    Would some of you lovely MFP people share your personal stories/tips about how eating more calories has worked for you. Yes, I realize that everyone is different, but am interested in hearing from anyone who's had great or not so great experience. Any information on what worked for you or not worked?? I see that there are other posts about eating more, but I would like to hear success or not so successful input.

    Thanks so much for your input.

    It helped me cut to 12% body fat from 18% and i can eat over 3000 calories without gaining any weight. Also i continuous increase my weight during strength train. And it has work for the 100+ people i set up plans with.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    I'm 4ft 11, MFP says I should eat 1200 cals to lose 1lb.

    Since upping my calories from 1200 to 1600 I have lost consistently higher than that, including 2.8lb this week.
    I am not a major exerciser, I am running a few times a week and I do a bit of body weight strength exercises. I aim for 1g of protein per lb of lean mass, and that be has helped me maintain my lean mass, and just lose fat.

    I love it, as it means if I do have a high cal day (3000) my metabolism is working well enough to cope with it and I still lose.
  • I'm eating a lot less crappy junk food I used to eat, so overall, I'm eating way less than I used to. I'm on a "low carb" diet, and it's a diet for me, but in reality, this is what I should have been eating all along. So, technically it's a lifestyle change. But during this "lifestyle change", I've found that eating more in a day gives me a ton more energy and I've lost 20 pounds in 3 months, without exercise. I don't want to be a know it all and be like "well you have to do this or else you're wrong". But, what I've learned through personal experience is if you don't eat enough, your body's metabolism will slow down, which slows down the weight loss. Our bodies need food to function! And personally, if I don't eat enough, I'm soooo tired. And when this happens, I'm cranky. Good luck!
  • shesquats
    shesquats Posts: 91 Member
    I'm trying to do the same thing; eat more to lose. Can anyone tell me how to update MFP so that you can eat more than 1200 cals? I tought it would be in settings but I'm not seeing it there. Thanks MFPs! :huh:
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    I dropped 17lbs in 5 weeks (after plateauing for nearly 4 months) by upping my calories. I've been maintaining my weight for almost 2 years by eating more. :)
  • I'm trying to do the same thing; eat more to lose. Can anyone tell me how to update MFP so that you can eat more than 1200 cals? I tought it would be in settings but I'm not seeing it there. Thanks MFPs! :huh:
    Click on "My Home" and then GOALS. you can go with what mfp suggest or custom
  • fitmissbliss
    fitmissbliss Posts: 126 Member
    I'm only in week 3...but, the first week I exercised little and calculated my own BMR using the Harris-Benedict equasion, which is a different equasion that MFP uses. It also provided me w/ even less calories that MFP recommended. That first week, I lost about 4 pounds. Nothing too shabby...but at my weight and the drastic calorie change from my normal diet, I was dissapointed. Week 2, I started reading more posts from the message boards and decided to start exercising 30 minutes 5 days per week, and eat EVERY SINGLE caloire that MFP recommended for me-including my exercise calories. Well, today is day 10 of doing that and I have consistently, like clock work, lost 1.5 pounds PER DAY.
    Im still in shock a bit-I mean, my God, I ate homemade sloppy joes last night and had sherbert for dessert. And you know what...I was down 1.5 pounds this morning. :)
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    I've hit a plateau three times, and all three times it broke by increasing my calories. I've gone from eating 1200 from the start to eating 1700+ now, and I'm still losing weight.
  • Healthy_4_Life2
    Healthy_4_Life2 Posts: 595 Member
    Wow. Thanks for your input everyone.
  • Healthy_4_Life2
    Healthy_4_Life2 Posts: 595 Member
    I'm only in week 3...but, the first week I exercised little and calculated my own BMR using the Harris-Benedict equasion, which is a different equasion that MFP uses. It also provided me w/ even less calories that MFP recommended. That first week, I lost about 4 pounds. Nothing too shabby...but at my weight and the drastic calorie change from my normal diet, I was dissapointed. Week 2, I started reading more posts from the message boards and decided to start exercising 30 minutes 5 days per week, and eat EVERY SINGLE caloire that MFP recommended for me-including my exercise calories. Well, today is day 10 of doing that and I have consistently, like clock work, lost 1.5 pounds PER DAY.
    Im still in shock a bit-I mean, my God, I ate homemade sloppy joes last night and had sherbert for dessert. And you know what...I was down 1.5 pounds this morning. :)

    That's great. How much are you eating now?
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    I hit a plateau. Kept fluctuating from 138-141. Took a break from cutting calories and ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted for about 10 days. I only worked out about 4 times during that time. I ended up losing 1.5 pounds during the time. And then another pound the next week. Now I eat about 1700 calories a day and still lose about a pound a week.

    What is even better is I don't feel run down all the time, I have energy AND I know I'm preserving my hard earned muscles.

    The thing about eating more calories: More importantly, you may lose weight SLOWER BUT the weight you are losing is more likely fat and less likely muscle. The closer you eat to your TDEE the less likely you are to lose muscle mass.
  • Sister_Someone
    Sister_Someone Posts: 567 Member
    It isn't. I'm so over even giving that approach the benefit of the doubt anymore. In the two years I've been trying to lose weight, I've tried to eat 1700-1800 (high for me) for up to two months at a time on at least four separate occasions, and not once has it worked. Me, if I'm not losing, it means I have to eat less. So, what works is eating my BMR (1425 calories) and not eating my exercise calories back unless they put me under 1000. Now, that isn't an easy thing for me to achieve, but I've found it works. I maintain at 1800 and I'm comfortable with that level, but I'm over wasting my time with attempting to up the calories for weight loss.

    I do have a chronic thyroid condition, so that might have something to do with this approach not working for me.
  • ygrad2001
    ygrad2001 Posts: 230
    bump
  • frugalmomsrock
    frugalmomsrock Posts: 1,123
    It's working for me! I upped my calories and started eating back exercise calories, and finally got back on track. :) I dropped 3 pounds this week by eating at 1390 net, consuming exercise calories--putting me between 1800 and 2400 daily. I may need to up my calories even more if I keep losing this rapidly. I'll up it to 1500 if I have another week of big loss. I think it will even out though.

    I should add that my exercise consists of lifting heavy and doing HIIT cardio (including c25k every other day, and HIIT on the elliptical machines every other day. Strength 3-4 days a week).
  • GB333
    GB333 Posts: 261 Member
    I upped my daily calories from 1200 to 1500 and I'm losing about 1/2 a pound a week. Slower than I'd like, but I'm almost at "those last 10 pounds" so I won't complain! Plus I'm enjoying those extra 300 calories!
  • fitmissbliss
    fitmissbliss Posts: 126 Member
    It really depends on the day-and I think that is part of what is helping. My calories are varied every day. My base is set at around 1500, then I jog every morning and earn about 300-400 calories...so, Im eating around 1700-1900 calories/day-and 1 day per week I allow myself to meet my parents at our favorite steakhouse and I eat whatever I want-on those days, my intake is usually around 2500. And I'm dropping weight like it wasnt really attached in the first place. This has been SUCH a revelation to me and SO incredibly exciting. I can EAT. I still track, like crazy, and as long as I dont go over what MFP tells me to eat other than my 1 "cheat" day per week...I keep losing. :)

    Best of luck on your journey!
  • AmandaCaswell1982
    AmandaCaswell1982 Posts: 170 Member
    Just like everyone above me, eating more has helped me! I too have broken 3 plateaus by increasing cals. I eat 1600 net- with the way I work out is usually 2000-2300/ day. I was losing alot of weight in the beginning of my journey (I had alot to lose) as I lose more weight, i have had to set my weight loss goal from -2 lbs a week to -1 lb a week and now I have it at - 1/2 a lb a week. When I increase I almost always lose more than I have my goal set at. When I first up my cals, it takes my body a few days to a few weeks to start losing, but once I do it's consistant. I don't feel tired and crappy and my body is strong.

    So, that's how it's worked for me! ;)
  • MsTanya77
    MsTanya77 Posts: 357 Member
    I upped my cals in one day from 1400 to 1800 calories. I lost 3.6lbs the first week, and I lost 13 inches the 1st month. I am still steadily losing inches and fat. I eat 1800-2000 cals per day, I workoiut 6 days a week, 3 days of cardio, 3 days of strength training.
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
    I'm trying to do the same thing; eat more to lose. Can anyone tell me how to update MFP so that you can eat more than 1200 cals? I tought it would be in settings but I'm not seeing it there. Thanks MFPs! :huh:

    its in my home > goals > change goals > custom.

    eating more is working well for me, i started in October last year on 1900 cals, and reduced as i got smaller as thats what i thought you were meant to do to lose weight. By January I was on 1650 (1200 net), MFP settings to lose 2lb/week.
    I injured my knee in january so i could do NO exercise at all for 2 weeks, so i continued to eat 1650 total which was also 1650 net due to no exercise, MFP said i would lose 1lb/week doing this.
    The first week i gained 0.8, then lost 3,2,3,1.5 in february, i used to lose 1.5 or 2 eating 1200 net. Ive since started back at gym on limited exercise (boxercise / hill walking on treadmill / swimming / weights / kettlebells), so not burning huge amounts like i used to, so ive increased cals to keep my net around 1600-1650. I currently eat 1950 per week, and lose 1.5 most weeks, same loss as when i was eating 1650!!! Ive altered my macros to 45% carbs / 25 protein / 30 fat.
    I dont plan on eating any less than this now, as i get smaller if my intake should reduce, ill just do a bit more exercise to make my deficit.

    BTW im female, age 30, 5'5, 207.4lbs, BMR 1579, clothes size UK16, BF 38%. I started 11 October last year @ 244.8lbs, size UK18-20, BF around 47%.

    this is a fabulous post to work out how much you should be eating, it gave me 1950-2215 to lose:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
    It isn't. I'm so over even giving that approach the benefit of the doubt anymore. In the two years I've been trying to lose weight, I've tried to eat 1700-1800 (high for me) for up to two months at a time on at least four separate occasions, and not once has it worked. Me, if I'm not losing, it means I have to eat less. So, what works is eating my BMR (1425 calories) and not eating my exercise calories back unless they put me under 1000. Now, that isn't an easy thing for me to achieve, but I've found it works. I maintain at 1800 and I'm comfortable with that level, but I'm over wasting my time with attempting to up the calories for weight loss.

    I had a similar experience.

    I am 6'1" (53-y-o) and MFP had me at 1200-1400 calories + exercise calories and I lost 60 pounds. I hit a plateau, and upped it to 1800-2000 for 3 months and gained 14 lbs. I cut it back to 1600 and lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks.
  • Healthy_4_Life2
    Healthy_4_Life2 Posts: 595 Member
    It isn't. I'm so over even giving that approach the benefit of the doubt anymore. In the two years I've been trying to lose weight, I've tried to eat 1700-1800 (high for me) for up to two months at a time on at least four separate occasions, and not once has it worked. Me, if I'm not losing, it means I have to eat less. So, what works is eating my BMR (1425 calories) and not eating my exercise calories back unless they put me under 1000. Now, that isn't an easy thing for me to achieve, but I've found it works. I maintain at 1800 and I'm comfortable with that level, but I'm over wasting my time with attempting to up the calories for weight loss.

    I do have a chronic thyroid condition, so that might have something to do with this approach not working for me.

    I was eating about 1200 before and I had since increased to 1450. I don't have any progress to report thus far though. I can understand your frustrations about upping calories and it not helping at all. Am glad that you tried it and realized that it will not work for you. I guess everyone is different and this is why am kinda apprehensive with upping my calories too much too fast.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    I can give you a comparison story. Again, I'll stress that every body is different, so what worked for me may not work for you.

    About ten years ago, I weighed 280. I finally decided I had abused my body enough, and decided to lose some weight. At the time, I was working a 60-70 hour a week desk job, so lots of exercise was simply not in the cards. Don't get me wrong - I walked a couple of miles a day at lunch, etc, but hard-pumpin' calorie-stompin' sweaty exercise simply didn't fit into my life.

    So, I decided to do it via a low-calorie diet. I started watching every calorie, and bemoaning each one that passed my lips. I probably dropped to about a 1000 calorie intake from my usual no-idea-but-too-much. I was miserable, but I started losing weight fast. Then, about a week later, my energy levels went into a tailspin and I plateaued - very hard. So I started fasting. Again, lost weight, but was miserable. Started eating again at low calorie levels, and managed to work my way through a disheartening and painfully hungry better part of a year until I lost to 250 (that's 30 pounds in about 10 months). My walk was a slog, and probably looked like a drunken shamble to anyone watching.

    I then very slowly increased my calorie levels (1500/day-ish) and started feeling good again. Then something mysterious and wonderful happened - I started losing weight. My walks got brisker, my outlook on life got better, and the long painful progression of plateaus became less frequent (and I had the energy levels and mood to take them more in stride). In the next two months, I lost down to 230 (ten pounds a month, which is a little quick) without even really stressing about it. Though, admittedly,I did feel hungry all the time, and keeping such a restricted diet took a lot of hard work and discipline. But it was far less miserable than the previous year.

    Fast forward to today. I'm trying to get from 230 down to 200 (top range of my ideal weight range for someone 6' 3"). It's been working pretty well but I decided that tracking my diet more carefully might work. I've used the tracker on this site to adjust my already-healthy-ingredient meals to lower my carb intake (which used to be 70-percent-ish of my caloric intake) down to something closer to 50-55%, and balance my fats and proteins up. I'm on a 1500-calorie diet, and I really try to stick to eating as many of my calories I can, but I'm finding that there are days when it's a real struggle. And I'm a big hungry boy - I never thought eating 1500 calories would seem like work.

    So the net is - first, I've found for my own personal experience that eating too few calories is a horrible, miserable, awful way to lose weight, even though it does technically work.

    And second, I've found that if I focus as much on WHAT calories I eat as HOW MANY of them, I can very easily stay with my diet, enjoy a nice big dessert every evening with a glass of wine, and feel comfortably full all day long.

    For those few times when I'm just really hungry or there's a naughty food I'm trying to avoid, I keep a pack of cinnamon gum at my desk at work. That way, on Pizza Friday, I can chew a stick of gum right after eating my healthy lunch - the cinnamon drowns out the enticing aroma of pizza, and I'm not cheating on my calories.

    And when I do give in and have a slice, I log it and adjust the rest of my food intake for the day to accommodate.
  • jellybaby84
    jellybaby84 Posts: 583 Member
    It doesn't work for me.

    Calories in being as small as poss and calories out as big as poss is the only thing that's ever kept me slim. As soon as I eat over 1200 ish with exercise or 1000ish without exercise my weight skyrockets.
  • sblack91
    sblack91 Posts: 27
    So far, it's not working for me! :(
    I am 5'1". 108/109lbs and had been losing 1lb/week for the past couple of months on 1200 cals until I hit a 2 week plateau and it was recommended I upped my calories. I've done so, and in the past 2 weeks I have gained over 3lbs. I'm hoping this is a temporary thing because it has been pretty disappointing, considering how hard it was to lose originally!

    But I have read lots of people saying they've had great success with upping their calories, so it just seems not to work for me - Good luck! :)
  • WickedGarden
    WickedGarden Posts: 944 Member
    Not working for me.

    To lose a pound of fat, I'd have to burn 3500 calories.

    My 'base' is 1200 calories. At my current weight, if I were to maintain, my BMR is right around 1400. So if I were to eat back all my exercise calories, I wouldn't have much of a deficit, it would only be a 1200 calorie deficit a week, that's not even a HALF a pound of fat!

    So I'm going to eat my BMR recommendation, 1400 and workout like I am...6 times a week and burn the 600-800 calories (actually, I'm burning a little less than I used to since I'm getting fitter). I'll see what that does for me.
  • spynoodle
    spynoodle Posts: 404
    I upped from 1200 to 1400. I've lost 2 pounds overall, but maybe 1 pound in the last couple of weeks. I am a SLOW loser!!!

    I have not gained anything!
  • bugbeenz
    bugbeenz Posts: 31
    I can't say the scale is saying eating more is working for me, but how I'm feeling in general and my clothes certainly say it is!

    I starting here just over a month ago and like most wanted the weight to come off as quickly as possible so was eating 1200cals a day. The first 10days or so I felt fantastic, then into the next week or two I was getting daily headaches. I specifically recall one day going for a walk and not being able to reach the halfway point of my usual route, I had to turn back before I collapsed. I WASN'T left starving, just had little energy and those pesky headaches. After reading many threads on here and learning about BMR and TDEE, I thought it sounded pretty logical to up my cals.

    I now have mine set to 1450, but I consistently net over that simply because I don't always log my condiments (mainly olive oil).

    I feel great (other than having a crap headcold at the moment) and gone are those awful headaches. I have far more energy and I can happily say I will never go back to eating 1200cals a day. It took me 10years to put on 30kilos, logic tells me it won't fall off within the few months that I would ideally like it to. I'm happier to take my time with it and hopefully keep it off forever.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    Here's part of the problem: This website is an approximation of your BMR, and really doesn't use any sophisticated testing to determine what your real BMR is, nor does it test for what factors affect your personal BMR.

    I knew a guy at a previous job who has an incredible BMR. He's sedentary, because he literally cannot exercise - his doctor has recommended strength training and no cardio. He has to eat an astonishing amount of food to get through the day - like a half-dozen eggs with bacon and a half-loaf of toast for breakfast, a pan of lasagna for lunch, and lord only knows what for supper. He was 45 years old when I knew him, skinny as a rail, picture-perfect bloodwork, and he struggles to keep weight on. And he's got a desk job.

    If he tried to follow the recommendations at this site, it'd kill him in a month.

    I've also known people who exercise all day long and still need to follow diets that are lower than mine, and this site would recommend WAY too high a caloric intake for them.

    About the only thing I can suggest, getting started, is that you go with the averages (because they're right a good percentage of the time). Give it a few weeks, and see how you feel. If you're tired and hungry all the time and not losing weight, then your metabolic rate might have dropped and you might consider experimenting with some extra calories. If you're not hungry but your're not losing weight, consider reducing some calories or get more exercise and don't eat your exercise calories.

    If the numbers seem wildly off to you or it just totally isn't working, see your doctor and have your BMR measured by something other than a generic center-of-the-road average-driven website. The tools here are very good, but if they aren't asking for bloodwork and immersing you in pools of water to test body fat content and doing stress tests to determine your fitness level. Then force the site to accept your ACTUAL BMR and use that as your baseline, and see how that works.

    You may also need to consider other diet plans. Restricted-carb diets like Atkins, for example (for which you'd really want to use tools designed to support that specific diet).

    Most importantly, don't be impatient. Trying to force yourself to lose weight very quickly is something you really want your doctor involved with. 1 to 2 pounds a week is about the pace you want unless someone far more qualified than an anonymous Internet nobody such has myself has recommended it.
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    An aside - if you work out more and aren't losing weight, start doing waist and other measurements. It could simply be that you're losing FAT and gaining MUSCLE. The scale does not tell the whole story.
  • CarrieAnne22
    CarrieAnne22 Posts: 231 Member
    bump