Upping cals to LOSE

is it possible? we all have heard the wonder story of Revolution...I just wanted to start this thread for some of us undergoing this little experiment to talk. Also, if anyone has done this and it has NOT worked, do tell! 

sorry i am kind of obsessed with this subject right now

Hey guys

This thread is really interesting but has also confused me a lot xD

But I think it applies differently to recoverers, because a few weeks ago I was doing 2500 but I still lost... so I upped to 3000 cals starting from 2 weeks ago and I haven't weighed myself yet but I'm pretty sure I've gained. Apparantly its all water weight first but I'm not too sure? Is it ALWAYS water weight that might flush out or could it sometimes be the actual weight?

Cos I'm having a weigh in tomorrow at the hospital and I don't want them to think that my weight tomorrow might be the actual weight (which could be water weight) and then the next time I weigh in, my weight might drop because the water weight has been flushed out. Sorry if it was a very confusing question =p

Hi,

Quick update... now im eating 1500 calories a day, but I think I should be eating more. I might have underestimated how active i am... according to CC i burn 1750 calories being lightly active...

At the moment im increased by 50-100 calorie increments a day. It hasn't affected my weight at all, if anything, ive lost 0.5 lbs.

Its mind-boggling how it all works, but im just going to see where it takes me (if i keep upping my cals), because i figure i can afford to gain weight, so really thats not much to lose.

Hope everyones days are wonderful, and their feeling healthy and enjoying life:)

Yeah, I'm kinda peeved because in July I increased my cals to about 12-1400 from like 800 or less, and I gained 3 lbs which I've been maintaining since then. I dont want to up any more because it feels unnatural, and I feel comfortable eating around 12-1400/day, I can eat what I want, but not feel like i HAVE to feed myself more and more. But im pissed about the 3lb gain that was supposed waterweight and never went away...

Now, ive reached 1750 calories and experienced no change on the scales. Eating 1750 calories is pretty tiring and expensive. I can't believe some people maintain on 2000+ calories, wow!

Anyways, im loving being able to eat what I want (e.g. chocolate), and im no longer scared of carbs. I just aim to get between 45% and 60% carbs.

Goodluck fellow maintainers. <3

In the same way that a person can have a temporary weight gain (from excessive water in their body), is there such a thing as a temporary weight loss? Like a weight loss caused by dehydration that goes away the next morning... or is any downward movement on the scales necessarily mean a real weight loss?

(...How can I be losing weight when I've just upped to 1850 calories! Bizarre)

Original Post by perannum:

(...How can I be losing weight when I've just upped to 1850 calories! Bizarre)

Same here. Since I started eating 1700 calories, my weight has been skydiving. Actually so fast Im getting a bit scared... 100-200 grams (or more!) gone EVERY morning for a week now... Im not complaining, it's just plain weird :D I wonder if I should try upping even more? If I continue losing at this phase I'll be at my goal in no time, and I'll have to start learning maintaining. I already feel like Im eating myself to death with 1700 calories (and having fun doing so) but 200-400 calories more? Omg, I cant wait to try it out! xD

Upping calories works! And I didn't gain anything, not even water weight!

Hi Ieevee, haha doesnt it feel great to be able to eat more!

Well, ive discovered that my metabolism has its limits... i kept upping from 1850 to 2300, but at 2300 i gaining 1/2 a pound. So Ive calculated that my maintainence is around 2100, which is what ive been eating for the last few days and maintaining. A few days ago i thought i could keep upping forever lol, if only...

G'luck with the weight loss.

does anyone have advice for me?

im devastated. its been about 6 or 7 weeks sincei increased by calories from

around 800 to around 1400. and i gained 9 pounds.. i started with 130 lbs und this morning i was 139.3. i cant take this anmymore. it obviously was not water weight that goes away after some time. its obviously pure, flabby fat. i really believed in repairing my metaboslim - but its not working. i am eating like a normal person now, but i'm gaining weight. and i feel disgusting.

i have ab underactive thyroid, but have been in the same medication for a year (75 mcg). i dont know what to do anymore. i cant stop crying.

sorry for the rant..

i upped my cals and gained, i think its all depends on your personal body. and its really upsetting

I've experienced the same thing...I've been gaining steadily, first form starvatin mode and now from upping cals. It seems no matter what amount I eat, not only can i not lose or maintain - but I gain!! What the hell is going onhere? My question is, what do you do if your body doesn't seem to be stabilizing? I'm trying to stick to the 1500 cals for about a month and see if i maintain on that...but i cant stand to gain anymore - and ive been saying that since july and since then have gained an additional 6lbs. Its making me sick.

tinydancer-we have the same exact situation...ive changed my calorie intake so many times in effort to figure out this problem but nothings works

You are probably still not eating enough for your respective activity levels.

but how do you know when you are getting enough calories? I don't ever remember eating this much on a regular basis....maybe its because i can eat MORE now that im choosing healthier foods...but no matter what number of cals i eat, i still gain! How will you know when you have reached your set point without gaining a million lbs?

This is what i did:

Use the CC tools to calculate your BMR. Add your activity level to work out the daily calories burned. Eat that amount of calories and BE PATIENT. Initially you might experience some weight gain. But if you find that the weight just keeps going up, DON'T CUT BACK ON CALORIES, but be more active... 30 mins a day, 3 * a week of exercise will ensure a healthier you.

Goodluck tinydancer04.

PS - if you are already doing these things, then maybe you are underweight and a normal weight for you is a little higher. The aim should be to acheive a healthy BMI:) 

Bumpity Bump!!!

Just read this ENTIRE thread from start to finish and I have to say I am intrigued! Are there any of the participants from this little experiment still hanging around on the boards??? If there are, I'd be curious to know how you're still all getting along? Did you have success on this?

Personally - I have gained a lot of weight even tho I've been eating more or less 800 cals a day and I've decided I've had enough. The second I eat more than that, I gain and the weight sticks and, after reading the experiences of others, I have finally realised that this is my body's way of telling me to EAT.

So I started today. I had only eaten about 800-900 cals by the time I'd finished dinner! But never fear, determined that I, too, can have success by upping my cals, I just ate a TON of brazil nuts and bumped that total up to about 1700 (my maintainance!). Figure it'll probably do me good cos my body has barely seen fat in the last year or so!

God I have done so much damage to my body...now to start the repair process in the hope that I can one day start to lose again.

i agree...this was a very interesting thread.  too bad there's no conclusive information...good luck to you ... maybe some more people will share personal experience rather than just the hypothetical stuff we usually read :)

Okay, so there are some people on here requesting some actual evidence of upping cals to lose, and I read this thread about a year ago, and realized I was seriously undereating as well. I started to up my cals at about 95lbs (I'm 5ft and small frame), and from July to December gained 9lbs. It was during that time that I would try to eat at least 1200 calories a day, eating 1500 some days. I felt like I was eating  too much I was constantly full and bloated during this time, and the scale just kept going up and up. It got to a point where I did not want to gain any more weight, so I began to work with a personal trainer and my weight not only didn't go down, but instead went up. I was at a loss of what to do with the weight I put on , and to this day a year later, I'm still struggling to get it off. I've since lost 3lbs by eating until I'm full, not counting calories but eating a healthy balanced diet. I still have no idea what to do to lose the rest, and it gets frustrating, but I think my body has reached its healthy weight, which I'm not 100% comfortable with.

Sooo in conclusion, this method didn't work for me and the weight of upping my cals brought up my weight....although it is definately a healthy weight, sooo I guess this worked out to be bitter sweet. Good luck to y'all. I woudl still recomend it.

haha "i would still recommend it"--hmm

do you think that maybe 1200 calories was not enough?  i mean, i dont know if you can really expect your body to regain full function on a borderline-starvation level diet.   i dont really know your stats but it sounds like maybe you've been trying to maintain a weight that is below what would be considered healthy for your height? i don't know that one can have optimal metabolic function without optimal nutrition and body weight, (just like a car won't run as well on less than a quarter of a tank of gas) especially if one has a history of restriction :/ it might be better to bump the calories up to, like, 2000 so the body has what it needs to quit conserving

it's totally counter-intuitive, i know. this is all just my speculation.