eat more cals to lose weight. PLEASE explain.

Eat more HEALTHY calories to lose weight. Avoid processed foods, and high sugar content foods.

I was netting 800-1000 calories a day and only gaining, believe it or not. I've gone up to netting 1300 calories and losing again. Figure that one out!

It turns out that your body will start shutting down functions, slowing brain power, and so on if you don't give it enough fuel. Even if you have body fat to lose, it will hold on to that for as long as possible while continuing to shut down. It will convert muscle to fat too, it's easier to extract energy from fat over the long term, but muscle is what keeps your metabolism ramped up for you to lose weight easier. So, by excessively limiting calories you can end up very, very sick and have nothing to work with in the future.
But when you properly fuel your body, and eat enough healthy food, your body will continue to work up to maximum capacity, it will maintain muscle mass and cut fat away. You will have more energy and feel more alive. How can you argue that?

If you do not eat the min calories per day you should eat then you body will not loose weight - it will store the calories in order to keep your body functioning. Eat healthy choices, eat your min cal per day. To lose 1 lb per wk leave 500 calories on the table from your total intake. You must exercise to do this b/c you still have to eat your min amt of calories.

Join this group read the threads: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

Great read on plateauing http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/501511-great-read-on-plateau-ing?page=8#posts-7150335

Excellent information on why not eating enough works against you... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

Proof that there are many eating and losing weight successfully http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/506349-women-who-eat-more-than-1800-calories-a-day

To put it simply, there is not a direct correlation to calories and weight. There are other factors. Yes, eating too much (what is too much??) will make you gain weight, but eating too little (again this amount is different for everybody) does not always make you lose weight.

Evolution gave some our survival mechanisms, and while we spent a lot of time running from sabertooth tigers and eating roots and berries, this is not so much a part of modern life. But my point is that the body does weird things to keep itself alive. Not logical. But it works.

When I first started my journey of losing weight back in August 2011, I would have never accepted the statement of “Eat more to lose more” weight. For my first 20 pounds of weight lost, I stayed within my calorie intake per MVP which happened to match the advice of my dietician. My food choices where still unhealthy (i.e., fast food and restaurants) but I cut-down on the extra condiments, portions and went from sodas or sweet tea to un-sweet tea, water or Diet Lipton Green Tea. This also included exercising 3 times a week. When I lost twenty pounds I plateau and my appetite started to soar. I chalked it up to higher metabolism rate. I talked to my dietician about it and she recommended bringing in more fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grain, fiberOne bars, and leaner meats to my diet (she identified the good and the bad). When I did this, my calorie intake went from 1810 a day to 2200 calories. I still was stuck with my weight, but since I was taking in more fiber, I increased by water intake to 6 – 8 cups a day (not including my green tea intake). Well, it helped, I started to lose more weight. So, I am a believer of eat more to lose more weight, just increase your vegetables & fruits (the good ones). If you are not a vegetable eater, finely chop it and add it to your meats or pasta to blend it in. It doesn’t take much to get your daily value intake. Wishing you much success in your achieving your goals!

Don't think of it as eating MORE. Think of it as eating RIGHT.

I blogged about it here: http://www.isthisbliss.com/eating-more-to-lose-weight-why-it-works/

If you eat below your BMR then you are most likely losing muscle, not fat. You want to keep your muscle and build it because it burns fat. If you aren't weight lifting (heavy weights!), start!

2004 isn't huge amount. I eat over 2000 calories a day (2200ish).