I ate 3500+ calories for 2 days.

And I lost a pound.

Just.. thought I would share. For all of you out there who are ruining their metabolisms by eating 1200 calories, stop. Seriously. I used to eat 1300 calories and if I ever went over, I'd bloat like a balloon. I'd gain 3 pounds in a day and it wouldn't come back off for weeks. I decided to up my calories to 1800 and the weight has been flying off, my mood has drastically improved, and now if I slip up I am not doomed! This is the good life :D

Mo def. Eating under 1500 calories in a day just makes me lethargic. Even though I work out, I don't have the same amount of energy in-between workouts and just end up feeling like **** and sitting around, decreasing the calories I burn in an average day.

I used to eat 1,200 to try to lose weight... definitely not enough food with all the exercise I do. I would gain weight if I went a little bit over too, until I started eating 1,800-2,000 a day and lost 4 lbs out of nowhere. Since then I no longer worry about what to order when I get to go out to eat or panic if I hit 2,500-3,000 calories... it's just one day, and it won't ruin a thing.

I went to Longhorn steakhouse the other night after an intense workout and ate an entire loaf of honey wheat bread with butter, half a baked potato with cheese and bacon, most of an 8 oz steak, some vegetables, half a buffalo wings appetizer, and half a key lime pie. I was very full and very happy. It is indeed the good life!

Edit: I weighed myself today and I dropped two pounds rofl

i ate 1200 for so long and worked out an hour and a half or more 6 days a week and got down to 122 (im 23 and 5'5)... well as soon as i would eat something bad BOOM.. then i went back up to 130 sooo currently in the upping my calories stage.. coulnt believe i was so naive and did that for so long with my workouts, felt like such a moron.. i feel better more energy and everything ever since i stopped that.. thank god for calorie count too.. kudos to you by the way :)

Original Post by thymine:

I used to eat 1,200 to try to lose weight... definitely not enough food with all the exercise I do. I would gain weight if I went a little bit over too, until I started eating 1,800-2,000 a day and lost 4 lbs out of nowhere. Since then I no longer worry about what to order when I get to go out to eat or panic if I hit 2,500-3,000 calories... it's just one day, and it won't ruin a thing.

I went to Longhorn steakhouse the other night after an intense workout and ate an entire loaf of honey wheat bread with butter, half a baked potato with cheese and bacon, most of an 8 oz steak, some vegetables, half a buffalo wings appetizer, and half a key lime pie. I was very full and very happy. It is indeed the good life!

Edit: I weighed myself today and I dropped two pounds rofl

 key lime pie my FAVORITE.. cannot resist :)

Wow, I've been eating a 1200 calorie for two months now and have lost 16 pounds.  I can't even IMAGINE eating 3500 calories of food in one or two days.  You know, I think that whatever plan works for you is great.  I've found calorie count a marvelous way of being real about what I eat and why.  I'm no longer guessing about what is good for my body.  I have found that intuitive eating while recording my calories and activities still allows me to lose weight without worrying.  I've decided to trust that my body knows what's best for it.  And long as I'm listening, I eat well every day.  

According to CC, I should be eating 1,200 calories a day. That's not enough food for me, and I would not be able to sustain it for long. I get 45-60 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise most days, and average about 1,700 calories a day.

I've lost 17 pounds since I started in mid-June. So it's working (it feels like it's taking forever, but at least I'm heading in the right direction).

BTW, I have also noticed that a day after I eat above the number of calories I burn, I tend to lose weight. I don't think if you can really gauge what is effective based on one day's calorie intake, though. It's probably better to only weigh once a week while trying to lose, so you don't get discouraged by the day-to-day fluctuations.

you didnt' lose 1lb FROM eating 3500+ calories though

you just happened to lose 1lb based on fluctuations on your scale and water weight etc..

so i don't really understand your point

and from how high your weight is, 3500 probably still creates a deficit for you

it wouldn't work for people like me who weigh only 135 to eat 3500+ calories

it however does work to stick to the 1500-1700 calorie range

I work mine out differently. If I dont exercise I eat 1200cal a day. If I exercise I work out how many calories I burned add it onto my resting daily calorie intake then take off 1000cal deficit and eat the rest, making sure I dont go below 1200cal a day . So some days I may only have a 300 - 800cal deficit but its working for me because I exercise a lot, I usually end up eating around 1500 - 1800 or more cal a day because I am very active. I guess it all depends on what works for you but I know that if you eat 1200cal every day and you exercise quite a lot you can end up gaining weight because your body goes into whats called starvation mode and it will store anything you eat as fat.

you don't gain weight from eating 1200 calories or less a day

what will happen is your body will start to store calories because it begins to realize that food isn't coming in as fast

and it wont burn them as quickly as when there is sufficient amount of food coming in

however you wont GAIN weight... you'll only slow down your weight loss.

You will only gain weight when you start to up your calories and your body still wants to hold onto the calories because it is not certain when it can expect food again

also most people who eat too little will eventually binge eat, and that will cause a huge gain as well

I think jackattack is just trying to send out some encouragement to those (often young) people at CC that are afraid to eat the amount of food that they should.

I think it's great that you are no longer undereating and have found that you can lose more weight when you eat in an amount that is right for your body! Congrats!

Thin_girl, stay away from my threads please :) The fact that you say because of "how high" my weight is that 3500 calories is still creating a deficit for me just goes to show how completely insane you are, haha. My maintenance is 2300 calories. My BMR is 1850 calories.

jackattack07 i love this post! haha. I have to say that I agree with this though, for me, as long as I do well most of the time, the weight will drop off. Meaning that as long as i have a good deficit 5-6 days a week, if I go over a bit once or twice, I tend to not only lose the weight, but also can keep it off better b/c I don't feel deprived since I'm eating what I want that 1/2 days a week. Its more about overall consistency I think, and I do think that eating extra every now and then is GOOD for the metabolism. I ate a little over maintenance today I just ate about 2500 cals today, but i worked out kind of alot and have been doing pretty well so I'm trying no to beat myself up over it-I'm only a little over maintenance actually I think. I love to eat! haha

this is encouraging to read. I eat 12,000 a day and freak out if i go over, and it seems as if i go over even a little i gain up to 2 pounds. I''m always nervous to up my calorie intake but after reading this I may give it a go! should i expect to gain at first? and how were you able to calculate how much to up your intake by? i feel like CC can sometimes be off when predicting calorie intake

edit: 1,200

Original Post by pierc108:

this is encouraging to read. I eat 12,000 a day and freak out if i go over, and it seems as if i go over even a little i gain up to 2 pounds.

 Up it from 12,000 OMG????

Original Post by jackattack07:

Thin_girl, stay away from my threads please :) The fact that you say because of "how high" my weight is that 3500 calories is still creating a deficit for me just goes to show how completely insane you are, haha. My maintenance is 2300 calories. My BMR is 1850 calories.

what?... how is that insane?

if somebody who weighs significantly less than you eats 3500 calories without any physical activity, they would be in big trouble

please don`t tell me to `stay away from your threads``

that`s really immature

Original Post by thin_girl:

Original Post by jackattack07:

Thin_girl, stay away from my threads please :) The fact that you say because of "how high" my weight is that 3500 calories is still creating a deficit for me just goes to show how completely insane you are, haha. My maintenance is 2300 calories. My BMR is 1850 calories.

 

what?... how is that insane?

if somebody who weighs significantly less than you eats 3500 calories without any physical activity, they would be in big trouble

please don`t tell me to `stay away from your threads``

that`s really immature

 

For someone to have a deficit while eating 3500 calories, they'd have to be an active FOUR HUNDRED POUND person.

You. need. help. Your views of dieting are very very skewed. Stop trolling me and move along.

Original Post by risza:

Original Post by pierc108:

this is encouraging to read. I eat 12,000 a day and freak out if i go over, and it seems as if i go over even a little i gain up to 2 pounds.

 Up it from 12,000 OMG????

She meant 1,200. Obviously.

Original Post by pierc108:

this is encouraging to read. I eat 12,000 a day and freak out if i go over, and it seems as if i go over even a little i gain up to 2 pounds. I''m always nervous to up my calorie intake but after reading this I may give it a go! should i expect to gain at first? and how were you able to calculate how much to up your intake by? i feel like CC can sometimes be off when predicting calorie intake

Calorie count's tools are definitely off by a bit. I don't go by them. Try using this tool! http://weight-loss.co.nz/dailyneeds.php

Usually people should eat near their BMR to lose weight! Good luck!! :)

wow you're lucky! If I ate 3500 I certainly wouldn't lose weight. 

However, when I'm training for a race, I do lose weight eating 2500-3000 calories a day :) It's absolutely fantastic. 

But yeah, eating that much certainly can't work for everyone. I would say most people need to stay under 2000 calories in order to lose.