Increased calories and boom...

Wow I only increased my calories by 300 and I have lost a pound.  Can this be possible or am I setting myself up for failure.  I read many post on here that said to increase calories and to play around with numbers to get things rolling but I didn't think I would see something so soon.  I started to eat 1400-1500 calories two days ago and weighed in yesterday and didn't lose a thing.  I weighed in yesterday because I started to count calories officially as of 2 weeks ago on a friday.  Yesterdays weigh in was dissapointing because I didn't lose anything but I didn't gain so I was pleased with that.  Today I got on the scale and it is down a pound.   YEA ME!  But I am skeptical I hope this is good...

Leave it a week before you get back on the scales.  You can be a pound or two heavier or lighter on any given day for all kinds of reasons.  You need to give it a good week before you can say it's permanent either way.  But 1400-1500 is a pretty good starting point for weight-loss so I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Ok  great thank you.  I need some advice on how to increase the calories with food as oppose to snacks.  I have been eating more pretzels to increase my calories along with a tbsp of peanut butter.  How do I incorporate more calories with my meals.  I have also added butter to my veggies which I never do.  Please give me a few tips.

Bigger portions works.  An extra ounce of dry pasta or rice, for example is not massive but it adds 100 extra cals.  Same with your breakfast oatmeal or cereals.... an extra ounce is 100 cals.   Chop a banana onto your cereals... 100 cals.  A hard-boiled egg on a salad.... 70 cals.   Oily fish or red meat instead of turkey and chicken.... a few more cals.    An extra teaspoon of oil when you're cooking a sauce or putting dressing on a salad adds 40 cals.  An ounce of peanuts... 150.  5 dates.... 250.  A glass of orange juice or milk instead of a glass of water.   Lots of ways.

I want to take baby steps so those ideas a great.  I am gonna try to add a few things here and there and see what happens.  Thanks. 

Yeah I was skeptical increasing my cals but it really does work and yeah weighing yourself weekly is the way to go otherwise your going to go bananas seeing a pound gained , a pound lost or 3 lbs gained. As long as your increasing your cals with healthy food you'll be good.I also found it to help a great deal to keep checking on CC as you lose weight how much cals you should be actually consuming daily.Great job and goodluck with your goal!!

I'm gonna stick to it and see what happens because what I was doing before wasn't working so lets see if this helps.  Thanks for the encouragement and good luck with ur lose. 

1500?  i eat like 1800 calories and i lose like a pound a day haha

i got 15 pounds to lose in 4 weeks

wow I wish I could eat that much and lose weight.  I think I would gain if I ate that much or stay the same weight. 

Glad to see you are having some success with upping your calories. Hopefully it will continue for you!

i got a really fast metabolism because of my lean muscle mass and i eat mostly carbs and protein trying to cut all of my 10% body fat off =p

do you exercise at all?

I am not able to right now because of a back injury so I do a lot of walking.

I had been restricting to about 1200 calories a day for a few months and lost a few pounds but wasn't seeing the results I was hoping for...

So I ate up to, and a little beyond maintenance, for about a week and a half, and have now cut back to 1400-1500 calories and am shedding the pounds like magic. 

Eating to maintance for awhile jump started my metabolism again!

How often do you do this montana.  I just started a few days ago and so far so good.  I am not going to get on the scale til friday but I am going to try my best not to cheat and eat at least 1500.  I have a question though how come a large deficit isn't always good.  Why would 600 be better than 1000 or 500?  Curious

The reason why it's best to avoid a large deficit is because of the way the body has evolved to deal with food shortages.   A small deficit and the body will happily beetle off and get a top up of extra energy from your fat stores.  A large deficit and the body does the same thing at first but quickly responds as though there is a famine... reduces the speed at which it burns fat in order to keep hold of precious energy. 

 So people who crash diet (or operate too large a deficit if you prefer) will find they lose lots of weight for a week or two but then... bam... brick wall.  Of course if they carry on with this super-large deficit they'll keep losing weight slowly.  And eventually they'd starve to death...  Even with a small deficit, eventually the body will adapt to match the food available.

So, assuming you're not in the very obese bracket where the rules are slightly different,  if you want to lose safely and steadily without hitting too many plateaus or putting your body under strain then a deficit of 500-700 is appropriate.  Every 2 or 3 weeks have a day where you have a zero deficit.  That keeps things moving nicely.

You know many people told me this before and it didn't make sense I until I actually tried it n it worked.  I have been eating 1500 calories for the past 3-4 days and I have seen a pound decrease which was unusual because I have been struggling to lose a pound in 3 weeks.  So that 1 pounds is inspiring me to continue but each day its a definite challenge cause I say there is no way eating more can help me lose weight.

I've been wondering if this is my issue, not eating enough. I am a waitress who works typically 2 (5-7 hour shifts) and 3 (10+ hour shifts) a week. The on-the-job walking is nearly constant for my entire shift. Plus, having horses, I also do barn work and ride.

I eat about 1800 calories a day. My goal is to lose the 5 pounds I put on this winter during a stressful time in my life (stress related eating). Last week, I lost one pound. Is this typical when you only have a small amount of weight to lose or should I try uping my calories??

A rough guide to a safe rate of weight-loss is 1% of your body-weight.  If you're trying to lose less than 10% of your body-weight in total it can even be a little slower than that.   If you've been on 1800 cals a day (which sounds like a reasonable weight-loss amount for a very active person) for a few weeks then work out what your maintenance calories are and have a day where you consume that amount.  Other than that I think you just have to be patient.

The first few pounds are normally the easiest to lose, because we're confusing our bodies.  This was actually the first time that I've ever increased calories with the intention of losing weight...lol....usually my increase in calories would come from giving up on fad diets or something...

I think I actually gained a pound or so while I ate maintenance + ... but I'm losing weight, and much more quickly now, so I think it's worth it :)

I'm kinda zig zagging now, to keep my metabolism in full throttle...

Thanks gi-jane. Sounds like I need to be patient which is fine. I didn't gain the weight in a day-week-month so I certainly should not expect to lose it overnight either.