Why You Should Eat More: A Lion's Tale

Hello guys and gals. I decided today to share my weight loss story with other people on MFP so that you can understand why it is essential to eat above your Basal Metabolic Rate. Many of you believe that 1200 calories a day is enough, or that it isn't important to eat back your exercise calories. I'm here to tell you why you should.

I started losing weight in January 2011 with my mom's old Weight Watcher's materials (slide rule, points books, etc) and at first, everything was going great. I needed to lose at least 100 pounds to reach a healthy weight range and I was totally ready to make the change. In the beginning, I was losing 2 lbs per week just by watching what I ate. But after 5 or 6 months I started to notice some pretty weird declines in physical health. I was hungry and irritable all the time, but since I was eating the amount of food that I thought I was supposed to, I didn't understand why there was a problem.

Some symptoms:
- My body felt soft/squishy
- My nails were growing in with divots in them, not smooth
- My hair fell out, thinning to about half the normal thickness
- I was tired, grumpy, and generally unpleasant (all the time)
- I would inexplicably carb binge on the weekends
- About 8 months in, I plateaued and stopped losing weight

Looking back now, I understand why all of this happened. At the time though, I was so obsessed with meeting some contrived number to lose weight that I was pretty much starving and too nearsighted to recognize the signs. Yesterday, I was going through my room and found an old notebook where I was keeping track of the food I was eating (before I joined MFP) - now that I have a better grasp for calorie counting, it was glaringly obvious that I was eating 200 calories BELOW my BMR, every day, and had no clue that my body was starving. My lean body mass (muscle) was being broken down to support my unsustainable calorie deficit, and so I felt worse some days than before I started losing weight due to my lack of muscle tone.

I lost hair and experienced weird nail growth by not eating enough protein, or enough calories in general. I would binge on carbs because my body needed food and sometimes the temptation got so strong that I literally could not stop myself from popping unlimited bags of popcorn. You need to understand that these things happened because I was not eating the amount of food I needed to. Just as you need to eat BELOW a certain number to lose weight - you also need to eat ABOVE one, too.

If this story sounds similar to your life right now, I want you to listen to me because you CAN fix it.

After Christmas I had lost a total of 70 pounds but still wanted to drop another 40 more to reach a healthy weight. I joined MyFitnessPal and learned that I should be eating more calories (1450) than I had been eating with the Points program (1250). I figured, okay, maybe that was my problem after all! Let me try eating more and exercising more, make sure I get enough fat and protein, and hopefully things will be better on the second part of my weight loss journey.

I started P90x and went to the gym twice a week with my best friend. Things were going better, but I still noticed that come weekends, I still really felt the urge to devour a bagel or a ton of pizza. (Carb temptations! I knew this was probably a sign that my calories were STILL too low.)

At the end of P90x (earlier this April) I noticed my energy level was on the decline. It's important to notice those kinds of things, and I realized there was probably something still wrong with my diet. With all of these factors adding up, I decided it was time to REALLY investigate the scientific dynamics of my eating habits.

Instead of listening to MFP's automatic calorie assignment, I did some major math by myself. I broke out a calculator and became a total nerd for about three hours while I crunched numbers and compiled an Excel Spread Sheet to calculate my Body Fat %, Lean Body Mass, BMR, and Total Daily Energy Expenditure using scientific equations based on nutritional science.

What I came up with:
- TDEE (how many calories I burn every day): 2200
- BMR (average b/w both equations): 1550
- What I should ACTUALLY be eating to lose 1 lb a week.... 1700 calories. Minimum. Every day. (Without exercise)

Despite my best efforts at joining MFP in January I still hadn't completely fixed my problem. I had been eating 250 calories less than I should have been to maintain a healthy functioning body. As of a week ago, I have fixed this. Now that I'm eating more I have a TON of energy. And even since joining in January (when I half-fixed my problem), I have noticed my hair growing back in thick, my nails are healthy and shiny, my mood is much more optimistic, and my brain is no longer stuck thinking about food all the time (whereas when I was on Weight Watchers, I found myself obsessing).

I've noticed remarkable changes in myself and I hope that you guys will listen to my advice when I say that you should eat ABOVE your BMR. It's important to feed your body and nourish it if you expect to make it healthier. And keep in mind that diet alone is no good - if you want to lose body fat and feel good it is really important to exercise. (And remember to eat the calories you burned to fuel your working muscles.)

If you meet the following goals:
- Eat above your BMR
- Exercise
- Drink lots of water
- Sleep well

You will lose fat at a steady rate and feel great doing it. And to end my post, I'll leave you with a quote that really got me thinking, and shifted my focus from "Lose Weight" to "Get Healthy"....

"Your body will not run on too few calories just because you DECIDED it would."

Good luck everyone on your weight loss, and I wish you all the best in finding the new healthier you. I know I have.

- Skinnylion