Help me understand eat more to weigh less

workingitout2012
workingitout2012 Posts: 44
in Food and Nutrition
Hi Guys,

I'm really hoping someone out there can help me with understanding how this whole eat more to weigh less thing works? I like food so this sounds like something I'd be interested in haha.

So today for example I have eaten 1418 calories then been to the gym & burned off about 600cals according to my heart rate monitor. So that means my net cals eaten are 820 & according to the individual break down on mfp I'm already 7g over my sugar intake for the day.

So question 1 is how can I possibly lose weight if I eat back everything I burn off in the gym? (I love working out so less time in the gym is not an option)

and question 2 is if I try to eat back more cals how the heck do I do that without going even further over my sugar allowance? (with exercise included this is suggested to be 36g on MFP)

I'd really love to hear from anyone who's had success losing weight by eating more, Please tell me how you did it!!

Thanks in advance, Kris

Replies

  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
    Check out the group Eat More to Weigh Less! There are tons of sticky's with loads and loads of great information in there! The ladies explain it so well and it totally makes sense once you understand it :) I started doing it not too long ago and I'm LOVING it and still seeing results :)
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    "Eat more to weigh less" doesn't mean "eat more then the execessive amount you were eating when you gained weight", if means "eat more than a bare minimum to keep you alive".
    It means "eat well to fuel your body so you can stay healthy and lose weight too".

    When MFP calculates your calories goal, it assumes you will add in extra calories when you exercise in order to get your goal up to the amount recommneded to keep you healthy while you lose weight.

    There is an "eat more to weight less" group in the Groups section and you'll get a whole lot more info there.
  • theartichoke
    theartichoke Posts: 816 Member
    I highly recommend heading over to the Eat More to Weigh Less group, joining and reading through the stickies. If you're like me once you read that info you'll have a whole new set of questions! The members are wonderful, kind and so happy to help.

    As for the sugar...unless you're diabetic, ignore it. I'm pre-diabetic and pay zero attention to that number. It's the carb intake that you want to be mindful of. If there are no health conditions present and you're within your macro goal, you're good!

    Good luck to you!!
  • workingitout2012
    workingitout2012 Posts: 44
    Thanks everyone :) I've joined the group you mentioned, I'm a little freaked out at the thought of increasing my cals but I'm going to try it. Have a fabulous day!!
  • aalina_22
    aalina_22 Posts: 10
    Rapid weight loss techniques always work for those who are willing to lose weight.
  • StephaniexWins
    StephaniexWins Posts: 10 Member
    This sounds good! I'm going to check out the group!
  • 1nsanity
    1nsanity Posts: 95 Member
    its all about eating more of the healthy stuff. i feel when people hear "eat more to weigh less" they think "oh mcdonalds!"

    no. its eating more of the healthy food, while also working your *kitten* off in the gym to balance it out. there is a strong consensus that weight lifting and eat more to weigh less go hand in hand.
  • divediva2
    divediva2 Posts: 297 Member
    Just to calm your fears I have been following the EM2WL for 6 weeks now, I do not go to the gym nor to I do any exercise other than my normal every day moving. I take the stairs up one floor or two at work but that is the most I would do. Hardly a fitness buff. I have lost 4 lbs, I feel great, I am sleeping much better. I eat healthy foods. I am not feeling hungry or that I need to snack or binge at all. I love the fact that for the first time in my life I can eat food and not feel guilty.

    I have returned to my personal trainer and we are starting to strength train, first session was on Friday so I think only good things can happen from hear. BTW I am 54 years old, post menopausal and have had the metabolism of a sloth for the past 10 years! I think it is woken up now. :bigsmile:
  • almc170
    almc170 Posts: 1,093 Member
    Rapid weight loss techniques always work for those who are willing to lose weight.
    They're also incredibly difficult to sustain long term, as many of us have learned :sad:
  • Melampus
    Melampus Posts: 95 Member
    Here's my understanding of how this works: Eat too many calories, more than you use by a combination of maintaining your body and any exercise you take and you will get fatter. Eat much too few calories and you body wakes up to the fact that food appears to be in short supply and enters a "starvation mode" in which your metabolism slows to make the fat you have last until such time as food is not in such short supply. As you are not trying to conserve the fat but rather use it up this is the opposite from what you want.

    The trick, therefore, is to set up a modest calorie deficit, i.e. eat less than you actually use but not so little your body thinks it is starving. Think of it a bit like creeping across a room - if you move slowly people may not notice you are moving until you get to the other side.

    Getting technical the calories you need just to maintain your body and stay alive is your BMR (basal metabloic rate) and the number of calories actually used is that plus all the exercise you have taken including incidental exercise. The latter figure is called your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). People have suggested that the middle ground where you actually loose weight is to eat a number of calories between BMR and TDEE though of course this site gives you the tools to experiment.
  • littlepinkhearts
    littlepinkhearts Posts: 1,055 Member
    here's a link to the group http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/3834-eat-more-to-weigh-less there's lottsa reading material there....
  • cgraziano109
    cgraziano109 Posts: 8 Member
    Him I understand that I have to eat more to lose so my body does not go in to starvation mode. Meaning it ,the body thinks it's in danger (ha ha) and holds on to. fat and makes you gain a few pounds so the body doesn't feel threatened because we do not eat our personal calories goal to LOSE. So we have to eat to lose. I need some more losing weight friends so we can have fun going down the scales to our own HAPPY numbers.
    :smile:
  • cgraziano109
    cgraziano109 Posts: 8 Member
    Him I understand that I have to eat more to lose so my body does not go in to starvation mode. Meaning it ,the body thinks it's in danger (ha ha) and holds on to. fat and makes you gain a few pounds so the body doesn't feel threatened because we do not eat our personal calories goal to LOSE. So we have to eat to lose. I need some more losing weight friends so we can have fun going down the scales to our own HAPPY numbers.
    :smile:
  • cgraziano109
    cgraziano109 Posts: 8 Member
    Oh yes, very good explanation. Thank you. I got to understand the metabolic thing and body mass. Also loose skin isn't fat and I have to accept that and keep working on firming what I am able to do. And no sagging face. Cause we are losing

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