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Old 07-24-2012, 01:36 PM   #1  
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Default I decided to up my calories... it's making me nervous...

So, yeah... I'd been losing decently at my current calorie level (1200) until the last five pounds or so. I'm only losing about every third week... and I'm getting burned out. I decided today to up my calories to about 1500, which is what a lot of the online calculators say my BMR should be.

I'm kind of nervous about it, really. I feel like I'm cheating by allowing myself to eat more - but everyone says to eat more to trigger a drop. I need some input... I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing at the moment. BTW - I'm recovering from a hip injury, so I haven't been working out (at least not seriously) for the past several months.
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Old 07-24-2012, 01:40 PM   #2  
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Hey, you are my height and from MD too!

I did the same exact thing and lost steadily (about 50 pounds) with my 1200 calorie diet. Then my hair started falling out, I felt fatigued, and the weight stopped coming off. Now I average between 1400-1500 on non-workout days and 1600-1800 (depending on the intensity I'll even go up to 2000) on workout/weight training days. If 1500 does not agree with you, you can always lower it a little while you are not working out as much.

My opinion is that someone of our height really can't sustain themselves on 1200 a day. Some may disagree with me, but that is just my experience. Try it out and see how it works. When I upped my calorie intake I ended up losing more and my body was SO happy about the increase in food. Just make sure the calories are coming from clean, whole foods, and you should be fine!

Good luck!
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Old 07-24-2012, 01:44 PM   #3  
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I had to up my calories too from 1200 to 1400. It's still low for me, I could eat up to 1700 and I tried to do that but it freaked me out too much to eat almost 2000 calories, it made me go to a destructive place where I would just keep eating because I didn't feel like 1700 was helping. So now I do 1400 and leave the extra 300 as "emergency calories" in case I screw up or run into unexpected temptation.

Try it for a while, see how it "feels" to you.
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Old 07-24-2012, 03:28 PM   #4  
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I really wish the upping the calories worked for me, but it has not, or it has been the whole 'plateau' thing. Like you, 1200 is what helped me take off most of my weight. Don't be nervous about upping your calories. it's not like you will gain all your weight back, do like others suggest and 'try it out' to see if that is the change you need. I understand your frustration and I hope this is the ticket for you. I'm still trying to find my ticket Good luck!
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Old 07-24-2012, 09:10 PM   #5  
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I didn't weigh myself as I was losing, but I lost steadily on 1400 calories a day (I can say that because I could tell by the looseness of my clothing and going down in clothing sizes). I did that from June through August. In September or so, I was eating more, though, as I can tell from my posts here and the records from my smartphone calorie counter (otherwise, I would have forgotten). I started eating around 1700 calories, and then 1800 in October. All of a sudden, clothes I had bought in Sept. were loose by October! I couldn't believe it, but I kept increasing my calories and I still lost. The week after Thanksgiving, I finally weighed myself, was lower than my original goal weight, and decided to go on maintenance.

I don't know whether the increase in calories is the reason I started noticing a bigger difference or whether it was because I was a lower weight by Sept., so any losses were more noticeable. All I know is that I liked the idea of being able to eat more and still lose.

I've read on many forum posts of people who were plateauing & decided to increase their calories by a few hundred for a couple of weeks and then dropped back down to losing calories, and that worked for them.

Whether that works or not, though, I'm a big proponent of eating as much as you can "get away with" and still lose.

Last edited by lin43; 07-24-2012 at 09:13 PM.
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Old 07-24-2012, 10:32 PM   #6  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lin43 View Post
Whether that works or not, though, I'm a big proponent of eating as much as you can "get away with" and still lose.

Me, too! Mostly because I want my body to function at the highest calorie level, and not get used to, say 1400, and be stuck there for the rest of my life.
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Old 07-25-2012, 07:22 AM   #7  
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Quote:
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Whether that works or not, though, I'm a big proponent of eating as much as you can "get away with" and still lose.
Yes, this. I also like the idea that how I'm eating now will be pretty much how I'm eating for good. As long as I see a loss & not a gain each week, I'm happy.

Last edited by Northernrose; 07-25-2012 at 07:23 AM.
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Old 07-25-2012, 09:17 AM   #8  
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I would suggest upping those calories if you feel you should, slowly. Just remember that the extra food in your colon might show a slight weight increase for a few days, then, if those calories are coming from carbohydrates, there will also be some extra fluid retention.

My suggestion is to add extra calories 100 at a time. This week eat 1300, next 1400 calories and then by the the end of the 3rd week work up to 1500. This might help with the initial scale bounce.
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Old 07-25-2012, 12:47 PM   #9  
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*knock on wood*

So far, so good. I feel much less stressed than I have been for the past week or so. My weight actually dropped this morning; I know that's due to other outside influences, but it was nice to see anyway. I'll be keeping a close eye on things over the next week or two and we will see what happens!
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Old 07-25-2012, 03:22 PM   #10  
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I was wary too about increasing my calories - I work out HARD 6 days a week though and was plateauing when eating app. 1400 cals/day. My nutritionist bumped me up to 1800-2000 and I've steadily lost the last 6 weeks while eating at a higher level. I also find I have more energy for my workouts and I don't binge b/c I can work pretty much any food into that calorie amount.

You can always switch back if it doesn't work!
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