Eat MORE calories to lose weight? I don't get it...
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There's a science behind weightloss.
Your body needs fuel, energy to do what it does. If you're eating way too little, the body doesn't have enough fuel to carry out operations. Losing weight takes energy. Therefore, you need to eat a certain amount of calories for your body to burn calories. If you eat too little, it's possible you won't have enough energy to burn calories --- but this depends on many factors.
It's not quite as simple as that, but that's the basic logic behind it.0 -
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Here is why you must eat -
Your brain
Your lungs
Your heart
Your liver
Your kidneys
Your pancreas
Your veins
Your skin
Your immune system
Your speech
Your hearing
Your wanting to change the channels on the tv
Your not being able to find the controller
Your crossing the floor to try to figure out how to do it from the screen
Your accusing your wife/husband/partner of hiding the controls
Your walking on the remote in bare feet
Your loud cursing
Your eventually changing the channels on the tv
Anything else I left out
..... this all takes fuel to run. Like a car engine needs petrol, diesel or electricity when it is in motion, 'uman beans (us) need a minimum amount of calories to function. Except we need it all the time, not just when we are hopping around the front room in agony cos we stepped on the sharp edged remote with our little tootsies.
Here is why you must eat to lose weight:
You must burn about 3500cals to lose a lb.
A 1000cal a day (7000cal a week) difference between calories burned by living and exercise will mean you lose 2lbs a week.
So if it takes 2200 cals to keep your engine ticking over, eating 1200 with no exercise will mean you lose 2lbs a week. However, you will find it hard to be a good father / mother / lover / employee / friend because you will just not have the energy.
If you exercise, you use up your cals that your body needs to keep the engine running so you have to eat those to keep you in peak condition. So eating your engine ticking over level + your exercise cals burned keeps your body in tip-top condition and makes you fitter too. WIN.
My own actual experience:
I currently eat about 2000+ cals a day and lose 2lbs a week. (My dairy is open - go and look)
My ticking over level is 1280 and I exercise another 700-1000 cals on top of that which I enjoy every mouthful of eating back.
HOWEVER! -
You need to work around with the figures and find out what works for you. There is no 'do this and lose weight consistently and safely formula'
To keep the weight off, you must lose it slowly, consistently and safely. Otherwise you will gain it back with interest!
Some people need to eat up to +350 cals more to lose more (I call them 'lucky bas ... tards') and some have to eat down to -350 cals outside of the range recommended on MFP to lose weight.
Some have to eat more protein to keep them fuller for longer.
Some have to eat more carbs as they already have very active lives outside of exercising to lose the weight.
Some have to take a serious look at their sodium levels
Personally, during my TOM, I take my weightloss goal down to 1/1.5lbs per week because I get so hungry. Works for me and I keep on losing.
Read the motivation stories in the motivation forum for the 'how I did it' accounts. They tell a consistent story of eating back your exercise cals.
To new people starting out on your weightloss journey:
Log your food, log your exercise, use the site goal recommendations as a starting point and adjust from there to get the results you want. Stick around, read a lot. Record everything that seems relevant to you. Weight loss is an experiment in which you find out what works best for you and your body. Best of luck!
I really hope this helps0 -
Yeah, I don't disagree. But just so we're clear, automatically concluding that a 750 caloric deficit = bad is premature.Is it making you hungry?
Nope. Because I eat. A lot. And it hasn't stopped my weight loss.
Try eating 10k calories a day and see if stops your weight loss.
Obviously, that would be insane. And, I'm not an idiot. But, maintaining a 250-500 calorie a day deficit (as opposed to the 750-1000 calorie a day deficit like some people think is necessary) has kept me healthy and losing at decent rate.
Read the last 3 paragraphs of the article.0 -
Yeah, I don't disagree. But just so we're clear, automatically concluding that a 750 caloric deficit = bad is premature.Is it making you hungry?
Nope. Because I eat. A lot. And it hasn't stopped my weight loss.
Try eating 10k calories a day and see if stops your weight loss.
Obviously, that would be insane. And, I'm not an idiot. But, maintaining a 250-500 calorie a day deficit (as opposed to the 750-1000 calorie a day deficit like some people think is necessary) has kept me healthy and losing at decent rate.
I didn't say it was bad, just that for most people, it isn't necessary. Why not eat a little more and still lose weight if it works (like it does for a lot of people)?0 -
how do you get into that group?Go to the group on here known as Eat More To Weigh Less. There is so much helpful info on there.0 -
I started out at 1200 cals. I was working out hard, and just not seeing the results..upped my cals to 1400, and i lost 10 lbs in less than 3 weeks..it started slowing down again about a month later so i upped my cals again to 1600..i'm down 25 lbs, and i'm not as tired or hungry
I don't know the exact science behind it to give you the reason as to why it worked for me, i just know it did.0 -
how do you get into that group?Go to the group on here known as Eat More To Weigh Less. There is so much helpful info on there.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less0 -
Read the last 3 paragraphs of the article.
That man is seriously under-eating, look how ANGRY he is. Typical under-eater, always annoyed
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I just went on to fattofit to check out what I 'should' be doing.
Currently 139 lbs. Goal 132 lbs (& maintain). % fat 20.4 & lean mass 79.6. I have been on 1200 cals a day + 2 x 60 min hard cardio & 4 x heavy weights per week. My aim is to strip a little more fat and create lean / defined muscles. Calculator is saying I should be consuiming between 2117 & 2356 cals a day - that seems like a HUGE increase!
In saying that, I am struggling to reach my goal - do you really think I should up my cals this much?0 -
Yeah, I don't disagree. But just so we're clear, automatically concluding that a 750 caloric deficit = bad is premature.Is it making you hungry?
Nope. Because I eat. A lot. And it hasn't stopped my weight loss.
Try eating 10k calories a day and see if stops your weight loss.
Obviously, that would be insane. And, I'm not an idiot. But, maintaining a 250-500 calorie a day deficit (as opposed to the 750-1000 calorie a day deficit like some people think is necessary) has kept me healthy and losing at decent rate.
I didn't say it was bad, just that for most people, it isn't necessary. Why not eat a little more and still lose weight if it works (like it does for a lot of people)?
Not saying you said that, I just don't want people to automatically conclude that a "small" deficit always equals better. Because it's not always the case, and not everyone has the same goal and is in the same situation as you are. But let's assume that the goal is to lose fat while preserving muscle mass - how large or small of a deficit that you create would still depend on a variety of factors. To give one example, take a 350 lbs obese male - he can get away with creating a much larger deficit and still spare most, if not all, of his LBM at that level of BF%. This is well documented in scientific literature.
As he becomes significantly leaner, he may want to create a lesser deficit, his protein requirements will go up, he may need to start incorporating refeeds/diet breaks, and he will be able to afford less mistakes overall in his training/diet.0 -
I just went on to fattofit to check out what I 'should' be doing.
Currently 139 lbs. Goal 132 lbs (& maintain). % fat 20.4 & lean mass 79.6. I have been on 1200 cals a day + 2 x 60 min hard cardio & 4 x heavy weights per week. My aim is to strip a little more fat and create lean / defined muscles. Calculator is saying I should be consuiming between 2117 & 2356 cals a day - that seems like a HUGE increase!
In saying that, I am struggling to reach my goal - do you really think I should up my cals this much?
I would definitely increase your calories since you don't have much to lose. But, I don't know that I'd increase them that much, at least not all at once. Try increasing calories by 100-200 at a time. Once you're able to meet that goal, increase them again. Also, focus more on strength training than cardio at this point.0 -
I just went on to fattofit to check out what I 'should' be doing.
Currently 139 lbs. Goal 132 lbs (& maintain). % fat 20.4 & lean mass 79.6. I have been on 1200 cals a day + 2 x 60 min hard cardio & 4 x heavy weights per week. My aim is to strip a little more fat and create lean / defined muscles. Calculator is saying I should be consuiming between 2117 & 2356 cals a day - that seems like a HUGE increase!
In saying that, I am struggling to reach my goal - do you really think I should up my cals this much?
Start working towards that amount daily now if you want to maintain your physique at goal. Unless of course, you want to be restricted to 1200 calories a day for the rest of your life.0 -
I just went on to fattofit to check out what I 'should' be doing.
Currently 139 lbs. Goal 132 lbs (& maintain). % fat 20.4 & lean mass 79.6. I have been on 1200 cals a day + 2 x 60 min hard cardio & 4 x heavy weights per week. My aim is to strip a little more fat and create lean / defined muscles. Calculator is saying I should be consuiming between 2117 & 2356 cals a day - that seems like a HUGE increase!
In saying that, I am struggling to reach my goal - do you really think I should up my cals this much?
I am 44, 130 lbs. 5'4. BMR 1317, TDEE 2271. I maintain between 2000-2300 cals per day. I lose weight at 1750. Interestiingly, I also maintain at anything below 1700. It's true. So . . . why would I eat at <1700 when I can eat >2000?
Before I learned about this, I had slowly gained weight at about 1200 calories a day over 18 mos. and working out just the same as I do now (daily). I didn't realize what was causing my "mystery" gain; I just kept restricting calories and working out harder, but I got to the point that every little extra on a weekend (and I don't mean a lot extra, maybe 1600 cals instead of 1100 on one day), and I would gain a pound or two. Restricting afternwards did not work. You can see the long version of the story on my profile if you're interested. Here's a great article about staying obese while eating 700 calories a day (even if you're not obese, you can see the point of this article):
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
blessings.0 -
I'm 5'5, will be 40 in 3 weeks, around 130-135 pounds, and I eat about 2000-2300 total to maintain.0
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I've seen a lot of people bashing this concept. And I get that as it is the statement doesn't exactly make sense.
But when I started on MFP I was working out and eating about 1200 calories a day lost about 5 pounds then stopped losing, when I started eating 1300- 1500 calories a day I lost weight continuously... I think that your body is more willing to drop a few pounds of fat when it knows you are not starving it. You're body adapts so well that if you start to eat significantly less, it will start to burn less calories throughout the day on basic bodily functions. I still think you'll lose weight, but it will be a bit tougher...0 -
Exactly. That's the thing with sound bites, they're just that. Absolutist statements are never correct (usually)
Yeah, we get it already, but your initial posts are of no help to anyone if all you're going to do it make one small comment that doesn't have any fact or even anything interesting in it and then start arguing with someone. All of that is pointless and not constructive at all. I suggest that if you're going to reply to a post at least make it something worth contributing (i.e. useful to everyone) otherwise just keep your damn mouth shut and stop arguing with people just for the sake of arguing.
Regarding this persons post. I agree with what one of the first people said, check out the group Eat more to lose weight because I have also found this to be very helpful. There is obviously an estimated form of science involved - as with everything - but there is science behind it. I made very little progress on 1200 calories a day. I mean, my weight dropped, but my inches didn't change AT ALL. This means that the weight I dropped was more muscle than fat. That's not good!!! And rather scary, honestly... Eating more I have dropped body fat but kept my weight the exact same.0 -
If I at a steep calorie deficit, I get tired. When I get tired, I don't burn as many calories since I don't drag my *kitten* around any more than I have to and a slow shamble burns fewer calories than a brisk walk. Add up these lower energy levels for a whole day and I'm probably burning a couple hundred fewer calories or more. Plus, my workouts suck and I have no motivation to do them, I can't get my heartrate up as high, and I feel like crap after doing them.
So nothing in my daily life is burning as many calories, and I feel like crap. I lose weight quickly at first, which makes the discomfort worthwhile. But the difference between "calories eaten" and "calories burned" starts diminishing as my "calories burned" drops while my metabolism goes down. You can chase that deficit down pretty low (I used to do 3-day fasts once a week to keep my weight loss moving, probably eating an average of 7000 calories a week or about 1000 calories a day). It's nasty, ugly, and no fun. And the weight loss eventually stops.
If I eat too many calories, I'm happy and energetic, but I also gain weight unless I work REALLY hard to burn them all.
If I eat at a reasonable deficit, I am still fairly energetic, I can support good solid workouts, I'm burning calories at a fairly reasonable pace while taking in few enough of them to lose weight. It's something I can sustain for a long time, and my workouts are enjoyable, sweaty, energetic, and limited only by my heart rate - followed by a nice endorphin high and just the right amount of ache to tell me I pushed myself.
A 1,000 daily calorie deficit between calories eaten and calories burned WILL lose 2 pounds a week. The trouble is, if you don't fuel the machine properly, the "calories burned" equation changes. So a 2,000 calorie deficit a day WILL lose you 4 pounds a week, until your metabolism reduces that deficit. Then you'll be losing the same 2 pounds a week someone with a 1,000 calorie deficit and good exercise is, only you'll be more miserable, more prone to cheating, and as soon as you start eating anything more you'll pack on the pounds like nobody's business because your metabolism takes time to come back up.
this!0 -
Thanks people - I will up it a few hundred calories and see if I see any improvements. Great topic.0
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Exactly. That's the thing with sound bites, they're just that. Absolutist statements are never correct (usually)
Yeah, we get it already, but your initial posts are of no help to anyone if all you're going to do it make one small comment that doesn't have any fact or even anything interesting in it and then start arguing with someone. All of that is pointless and not constructive at all. I suggest that if you're going to reply to a post at least make it something worth contributing (i.e. useful to everyone) otherwise just keep your damn mouth shut and stop arguing with people just for the sake of arguing.
My initial post said how I feel about the phrase. I don't have to write an entire essay to explain myself - if I think it's an idiotic phrase, then I'll say so, so live with it.0
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