Eating more to lose weight.

Hello guys, I have been reading the posts about eating more to lose weight and it sounds good to me. I done the whole fat2fit shabang, and it gave me a goal of 2090 calories per day to get to my goal of 148lbs.

However, like most newbies, I am scared to do this. For two weeks, I ate rubbish and went over my calories and have been stuck at a stall.

I have just started lifting (but no real routine yet, kinda lost on what to actually do), and have discovered that walking on the treadmill on an incline at a moderate speed isn't so bad after all.

I would love to increase my calories, and will fill in the gaps with nuts, whole grains and veggies, but as aforementioned, I am a little nervous.

Would ya help me out and give me some tips/advice and explain this to me? I still don't fully know how it works and would like to make sure I get this exactly right to acheive optimum success.

Thanks a lot!

Replies

  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    Bump!
  • AbsoluteNG
    AbsoluteNG Posts: 1,079 Member
    Eating more to lose weight does not work for everyone because it depends on your actively level and only you know how active you are. So you should take that advice with a grain of salt.
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
  • Shyloh1
    Shyloh1 Posts: 422 Member
    Eating more to lose weight does not work for everyone because it depends on your actively level and only you know how active you are. So you should take that advice with a grain of salt.

    So why not eat to match your activity level?
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    Eating more to lose weight does not work for everyone because it depends on your actively level and only you know how active you are. So you should take that advice with a grain of salt.

    I work quite a busy job 4 days a week and am trying to get to the gym and lift other days. The number F2F gave me was for maintenance of a 148lb person, which is where I want to be.
  • Shyloh1
    Shyloh1 Posts: 422 Member
    Here some great tools that may help you:

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    Or
    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators.html

    Believe me,I was scared to eat more. I think most people are. One thing to keep in mind,if and when you decide to increase your calories. You will see a temporary water weight gain,that will go away after 2-3 weeks.
  • Yacki
    Yacki Posts: 46 Member
    I was stuck at a stall and someone suggested I eat more. I did and I started to lose rather quickly!! You have to really just keep changing things up or you will stall. However eating back SOME - not ALL of my exercise callories is working for me.
  • nicehormones
    nicehormones Posts: 503 Member
    About 8 months or so ago, I decided I would just TRY what the guys in the fat2fit podcast were talking about. I ran the calculations and told myself, I have never succeeded before in keeping the weight off after losing it, so what can it hurt to give this a shot? It was scary for me as I had always been one to go on crash diets as a teenager. But I figured- what does it REALLY hurt to just TRY? I decided to do it for at least one month to see what happens. (Also keep in mind it can take up to that long to see real effects of a change in habits, as the body seems to retain a lot of water for long periods at times).


    I have consistently lost roughly one pound per week since and have yet to hit a plateau. I try to net around 1900 a day. Some days I am over my calories, some days I am under- it all evens out for the week. I do try and eat my exercise calories, or at least some of them because it can be a lot of food. It may not work for everyone, but hey, what does it hurt to at least give it a shot for a little while and see if it works for you?


    Feel free to add me, I keep my diary open.
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    Here some great tools that may help you:

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    Or
    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators.html

    Believe me,I was scared to eat more. I think most people are. One thing to keep in mind,if and when you decide to increase your calories. You will see a temporary water weight gain,that will go away after 2-3 weeks.

    I already used the F2F one, but I am gonna try the fitness frog one now to cross-compare!

    And defo. I am going to try to avoid the scale for a few weeks, because it's been upsetting me for the past two weeks and because I am likely to see water weight with upping my cals. I have decided to do it slowly to give me body time to adjust and have upped the cals by 200.
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    I was stuck at a stall and someone suggested I eat more. I did and I started to lose rather quickly!! You have to really just keep changing things up or you will stall. However eating back SOME - not ALL of my exercise callories is working for me.

    Well done! I have now upped mine to 1890.
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    About 8 months or so ago, I decided I would just TRY what the guys in the fat2fit podcast were talking about. I ran the calculations and told myself, I have never succeeded before in keeping the weight off after losing it, so what can it hurt to give this a shot? It was scary for me as I had always been one to go on crash diets as a teenager. But I figured- what does it REALLY hurt to just TRY? I decided to do it for at least one month to see what happens. (Also keep in mind it can take up to that long to see real effects of a change in habits, as the body seems to retain a lot of water for long periods at times).


    I have consistently lost roughly one pound per week since and have yet to hit a plateau. I try to net around 1900 a day. Some days I am over my calories, some days I am under- it all evens out for the week. I do try and eat my exercise calories, or at least some of them because it can be a lot of food. It may not work for everyone, but hey, what does it hurt to at least give it a shot for a little while and see if it works for you?


    Feel free to add me, I keep my diary open.

    Thank you for sharing :-)

    I've sent you a req.
  • ktrn0312
    ktrn0312 Posts: 722 Member
    Bump
  • chattipatty2
    chattipatty2 Posts: 376 Member
    Well I just ate a whole bunch of double chocolate peanuts for the first time since February. And guess what? So what? I am happy. Ive lost 18 pounds. I am strong. There is no chocolate in the world that is gonna feed the fat that is melting like butter.
    WAIT...I drank WINE!! Woohoo!

    At the end of the day, Im over my cal goals. At the end ot the week, I at least break even. So..PARTY UP PEEPS. YOU WORKED FOR IT. DON'T DISMISS FUN!
  • beachdiva2010
    beachdiva2010 Posts: 180 Member
    Great job!! I did the same and finally listened, took the plunge, and after resetting my metabolism (took about 4-5 weeks), I have busted through my plateau and heading toward my goal!!

    Welcome to the club!! Feel free to aadd me!! Good luck!!

    Also...I ended up using fitnessfrog. Iit actually gave me more calories to eat after subtracting 15%. My BMR is only 4/5 calories different between the 2 sites.
  • beachdiva2010
    beachdiva2010 Posts: 180 Member

    These folks can help out tremendously!!
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    People get too hung up on the phrase "eating more." It's more than, say 1200 calories, but it's not more than your body needs. Think of it as "eating right."

    That was the big "aha!" moment for me. I thought "dieting" meant I had to feel uncomfortable and deprived. When I started eating the right amount of food, weight loss was pretty much effortless. And even if my progress was slower, I knew it was something I could do long term. Better to lose 30 pounds over seven months and feel comfortable, than starve myself to try to lose it in two months and quit after three weeks. :smile:
  • hedleyrocks247
    hedleyrocks247 Posts: 185 Member
    BUMP
  • CarbAvor
    CarbAvor Posts: 45
    Hi there, I have been upping my calories lately and I feel like I eat ALL DAY LONG! When I first started, my jaw was REALLY sore from chewing so much! lol I make absolutely sure I am going over on protein, and getting pleanty of fruits and veggies, and I lost 2.6 lbs in 7 days... heres the kicker, I lost VERY noteable inches! I lost 1.5 inches off each arm, an inch from my neck, an inch from my waist, and saddly... nothing from my hips in that first week. I weigh in every Sunday so we'll see how the end of this second week goes :) I had a hard time remembering to eat for about 3 days with some family issues going on... I reverted right back to my old schedule: coffee... coffee... coffee... you get the idea.... Make sure you're drinking pleanty of water as well! I forget to do that :( ANYWAY! Please feel free to add me, it would be great to share meal ideas and progress!! Good luck!! :)
  • c8linmarie
    c8linmarie Posts: 358 Member
    Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Give it a fair shake and try it for at least 30 days. You might be glad you did!
  • InnerFatGirl
    InnerFatGirl Posts: 2,687 Member
    Thanks everyone for your replies.

    I upped them to 1803. I have a good feeling about this! Wish me luck :-)
  • Lovesummer3473
    Lovesummer3473 Posts: 22 Member
    MFP saying I should be in the 1480 range to lose 1lb a week, when I exercise I wear a heart rate monitor and my 1 hour weightlifting class I burn around 450 calories. So that bumps me into the 1800 range. But from what I'm reading people are saying they are already in the 1800 range and loosing. Is that including your exercise calories or no? I've been stuck for over a year and really frustrated. Haven't been consisitantly tracking calories out of frustration but just looking to lose 15 or 20lb's before I hit the big 40. Thanks for any help :)
  • Lovesummer3473
    Lovesummer3473 Posts: 22 Member
    Can I ask what you were at and what you bumped it up to calorie range? I've been struggling for about a year now? I'm 5.4 153.4lb's and 39 would really like to see 15 or 20 gone before I'm 40 :)
  • TaylorsGranddad
    TaylorsGranddad Posts: 453 Member
    I've always eaten back exercised calories and it works for me, BUT this week I'm seeing what happens if I don't.
  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
    I stalled out after losing 22kgs. On the 30th April I upped my cals from 1400 to 1700 I gained 1.1kg in the first week. I too am hoping this is going to work.

    Good luck with it.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    I am using the fit2fat method, no cut. I just eat at my goal weight and goal body fat %. This increased my calories from 1800 to 2800. Thats a very large change. I'm about a week in and have gained 2.5 lbs. but, I think it's ok. That's part of the process. The interesting thing is how much energy I have and how happy I am. I think I was starving my body all the time for a long time, and that really is taxing on your body, and can have far reaching effects in other aects, like your mood and how you feel. If the calorie amount is correct, you can see how I was starving my body.

    It's going to be funny if this works and also kind of sad because of how people are starving hems elves to death to lose weight and that's not necessary. Time will tell. I'm giving it 3 months for results. If I don't see results after 3 months, my plan is to do more research and see if I need to increase or decrease my cals and make very slow and deliberate adjustments.

    Seriously, if I can eat like this and lose body fat and weight, I'm really a happy camper.
  • Insanity2bSane
    Insanity2bSane Posts: 204 Member
    Bump