Do you really need to eat MORE to lose weight?

Question

Is it true that you need to eat MORE to continue to lose weight? I've been plateued since April, give or take some fluctuations from a bad week or when I just don't feel hungry.

I've kept my calorie intake the same, I really don't think I can safely go much lower. I've increased the amount of cardio I do, but have kept the weight sessions the same. Should I increase the amount of time I spend on weight lifting? Do I need to increase my calories as well?

I have GOT to get out of this rut. It's depressing me. :(

Answer 1

it depends on where your calories are right now. the bare minimum daily caloric intake should be equivalent to that of which is required by your BMR. many people need to consume slightly more calories than the BMR requires to lose weight. also when the body has been on a reduced calorie diet for an extended period of time the metabolism will slow. increasing the calories for several weeks can reset the metabolism so that weight loss can begin again. so you would want to increase the calories slow for several weeks until you are at a level which is about the BMR + 500 cals. consume that many cals daily for several weeks then slowly decrease the cals again by 10% each week until weight loss occurs.

one thing that many people do not realize is that when the caloric intake is low the quality of the foods consumed must be of very high quality so that the body is getting sufficient nutrients (vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, etc.) and not just sufficient calories. so in that aspect a low calorie diet of egg white, fish, skinless poultry, veggies and fruits is several magnitudes better than a low calorie diet of reduced calorie microwave meals, diet sodas, and reduced fat foods that are processed. remember that you are what you eat and the less processed foods that you consume the healthier you will be in the long and short term

Answer 2

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Answer 3

No, it is not necessarily MORE food, it is smaller meals more often. Eating causes a temporary spike in your metabolism, which allows you to burn fat more easily. If you are only eating 3 meals a day, you are only getting 3 'spikes' of your metabolic rate each day. By eating 5 or 6 smaller, sensible, healthy meals and snacks, your metabolic rate doesnt get the chance to drop, because while it is on the way down, you are getting ready to have another fat burning snack!!

Combine these foods to make your meals and snacks: (i.e. a morning snack might be a protein shake, and the afternoon snack might be 2 boiled eggs and a yogurt)
boiled eggs, tuna, oatmeal (NO, not the sugary kind!), bananas, yogurt, protein shakes, rice, chicken, salad (easy on the dressing!), apples, carrot sticks, etc. YOu also need to drink a LOT of water... this in itself can make a pretty big difference.

Your eating schedule should look something like this: 7 am breakfast, 10 am snack, 1pm lunch , 4 pm snack , 7pm light supper.

Avoid overly sugary foods, whether natural (watermelon) or manmade (cookies) as these cause a spike in your insulin production which signal your body to store fat.

Lift weights!! Muscle burns fat WAAAAYYY faster than you can. If you are plateaued, a change up in your exercise routine can help too... if you usually walk on the treadmill, so an aerobics class instead. If you are still using the same weights for your exercises, use heavier ones, or do a different exercise for the same body part.

And please throw out the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat, so the number can be pretty discouraging. Measure your gains by how you are looking and feeling in your clothes. When they are getting too big, you are losing weight!

Answer 4

there is a very thin line between eating too much and just enough to give that metabolism kick started again. it is true though that you need to eat more to lose more weight. this is because of a concept called "the thermogenic effect of food" meaning that food takes a certain amount of energy to burn in order to digest it and when you've been intaking a minimal amount of calories for too long your body just starts to save up excessive fat thinking that your slowly starving to death or something. before upping your caloric intake which should remain between 1400-1800 calories for weight loss efforts, try interval training (5min warmup pace, 1 minute all sprint, 3 minutes medium pace, 1min sprint, ect until you get to the last 5 or so minutes where you'll slow it way down to a cool down pace) when you do cardio and also up your weight load. your rut could just be because you haven't increased the overall intensity of your whole workout in general. the body is a very adaptive thing which works against you as far as exercise and weight loss is concerned. its good to up intensity every 4-6weeks for maximum results. then if after a month or two you still are not seeing the results you want play around with your food intake. try cycling your calories where you eat your normal amount for three days and then every fourth day you increase it to maintenance level which is about 2000 calories. that way you're not forcing food down your throat all the time because its hard to get used to eating more when you've been eating less for so long. this should definitely help you get the results your looking for. best wishes:)

Answer 5

NO it is not true that you need to eat MORE to loose weight, but it is true that you need to eat, skipping meals makes your metabolism to slow down so it can hold on your body what it needs to function propperly so in a certain way you may be eating more than you usually used to, but try to make those meals well balanced and eliminate those unhealthy snaks in between instead of soda drink water and so on... =)
hope that helped you....

Answer 6

Girls don't really need to lift weights. Boys do. All we have to do is eat healthier. Eat like the size of 9 pencils put together. But before you eat have a glass of pure water. That makes you full immediately. Best of luck!

Answer 7

Eat about 6 small meals a day. This will train your body to know that it will be getting food on a regular basis instead of thinking that it is hungry because of the long duration between meals.

Answer 8

your body is a furnace and it needs fuel FIVE times a day to keep it running. but what you feed it is of utmost importance.

you should eat only lean meats: boneless skinless chicken, fish, turkey, 97% lean ground beef. and plenty of green salad with oil and vinegar ONLY NO chese or creamy dressing. and plenty of fresh fruit and veggies (raw if possible or cooked as little as possible).

for breakfast, only egg whites and turkey bacon with whole grain bread + breakfast cereal and non fat milk. watch what you drink and eat: NO highfrucose corn syrup. that means NO soda, snapple, juice drinks. in fact, even limit juice because thats 'liquid calories'. nothing white: brown rice, yams, brown sugar, whole wheat.

do plenty of reps but keep the weight low to avoid that bulky look. do plenty of cardio (20 minutes a day 5 days a week at a minimum)

Answer 9

yes u do need to eat because food helps your body lose weight and get energy

Answer 10

Better to prepare slow to eat foods like hot soups whole fruites etec