How does eating more make you lose weight?
You would think your body wouldn't work off any stored calories if you keep putting more in. Can someone help me get it?
Well I think "eating more" isn't necessarily accurate. Many people start dieting and think the less I eat the better, which often puts them below 1000 calories. Then they see posts saying "starvation mode" and women need 1200 calories so they aim for that number. Next the find out about BMR and RMR and start eating to their BMR while exercising. Finally they find out that they need to eat their BMR + half the calories they burn working out and find a comfortable weight loss niche. Technically you're eating less than you were before you started your weight loss, but not at the extreme many crash dieters aim for.
Original Post by brownsug:
it only works when you consistently work out to burn those extra calories....say for example you eat 2,000 calories, do a kick boxing class for an hour that would burn about 700 calories so technically you've only "stored" about 1300 calories...i'm no fitness guru by any means but i've noticed this with myself. when i hit the gym for at least 45 - 50 mins i can eat more and not gain anything vs. eating 2,000 plus cal and not doing anything to burn it off
Kind of off topic from original post, but kick boxing class burns about 700 calories? 
I do a kick boxing class 2x a week and it's so intense, but wow, that's a lot!
Kind of off topic from original post, but kick boxing class burns about 700 calories? I do a kick boxing class 2x a week and it's so intense, but wow, that's a lot!
I think perhaps you're talking about so called "starvation mode". That's what happens when you are not eating enough and it causes your body to hang onto every last gram to protect itself from impending starvation. That doesn't mean you a literally starving. It's just a physiological reaction. When you've been eating low calorie for a while and have lost weight, and suddenly your weight loss stalls, that's a pretty good indication.
We hear over and over about CCers increasing their calories and suddenly they start losing again. I've experienced it twice and was very puzzled the first time it happened.
Here's a pretty good explanation of what happens, from Ask Mary under the Advice tab:
Observations by scientists and lay people show that the "starvation mode" exists, but there is no clear explanation for the phenomenon and it is difficult to measure in the lab. In scientific terms, “starvation mode” is called “adaptive thermogenesis". In relation to weight loss, it is the decrease in calories burned by an individual following a low calorie intake, that is beyond what could be predicted by individual’s age, gender, weight, and activity. In other words, the person is burning fewer calories than the calculations predict. The composition of diet, duration of dieting, the exercise output, and the individual’s muscle-to-fat ratio all affect the adaptation. Unfortunately, obese individuals may be more prone to adaptive thermogenesis.
And, from the Advice tab, Q&A
...very low calorie diets can cause excessive muscle breakdown and metabolic adaptations, which can drive down your calorie requirements. In the end, you'll need fewer calories to maintain a higher weight.
It is all about moving/exercise. I eat three meals a day. Don't snack. I workout every day and on the weekend eat more and also eat desert and stuff I do not allow during the week I am holding steady at my ideal weight right now.
So you can log your weight -- which allows you to do the following:
- Plot your weight curve
- Analyze the trend of your weight (see under Recent in the figure above)
- Determine the projected target date (see under Overall in the figure above)
