[Blondie160]

Hi Guys, I was wondering if anyone could help me, I've been eating pretty low calories (due to a 5 hour eating window for IF) and losing weight pretty easily but I was wondering how/if I could transition into medium calories and lose weight still. I am eating about 1000 because I am not exercising due to being ill, but next week I want to start running again 3/4 times a week (interval training) so can i up my calories (to maybe 1400) and still be losing weight? Has anyone had experience with a similar issue?

[blancheneige]

1,000 cals seems really low, low enough that 1,400 calories is a 40% increase. Personally I would eat 1,200 cals first and see if I'm losing weight with that then move on to 1,400. But that's just being careful, you could eat 1,400 and exercise, but I'd be scared to gain back the weight after eating really low calories for a while, but that's just me.

[mkroyer]

how long have you been eating 1000 cals/day? and how are you tracking it? are you weighing your food? Are you getting a high protein diet (you need to be on one of you are eating that low, or you will risk massive muscle loss, instead of fat loss)... a loss is a loss on the scale, but not the right kind

[Nola Celeste]

Given your height and activity level, chances are very good that you can up your calories to 1400 or even higher without noticing a long-term jump in weight. That doesn't mean you won't notice a small, temporary increase, but I doubt you'd see any actual fat gain--not given your exercise and height/weight.

A thousand calories is pretty low; it can be tough to fit in enough nutrition with such a small budget. I'm losing (albeit in a rather leisurely, meandering fashion ) on 1500 calories a day and I'm over half a foot shorter than you. Also, I'm 41. And I don't exercise as rigorously (I don't run, I walk). And I have a mildly hypoactive thyroid. Every body is different, but...well, you can see why I would find 1000 calories low given my own experiences with sustained weight loss at half again as much.

Another thing to consider: we tend to divide everything into discrete days, but our bodies perceive weight loss as a continuum. What we ate yesterday is not divorced from what we eat today or even from next week. You may find that your weight loss actually slows a bit or stalls over the next week or two, not because of raising your caloric intake, but because of the time you spent restricting it.

Whatever you decide to do, give it some time to stabilize--weeks, not days. Bodies take time to establish new patterns, so don't get too alarmed at weirdness on your scale if it's only temporary. As long as the overall trend is downward, it's all good.

[Blondie160]

Thanks everyone, I think for what you've all said that I will increase my calories to 1200 at the start and see what happens, I know 1000 is low but with such a small window to eat and being at work during most of that window, its quite hard to eat properly! The calories are being used on the best foods i can though (chicken, ham, wholemeal bread, salad, veggies...) I will see what happens. I lost 5 pounds in less than a week this week which is why i was asking, as nice as it is to see on the scale, its not healthy and I might get obsessed!!