Does raising calories actually facilitate weight loss?

Hello everybody!

I've never been able to get a clear answer on this one. Some people swear that you can facilitate additional weight loss by adding in some extra calories. The explanation I usually hear behind this claim is that eating as low calorie as a lot of us do puts our bodies into "starvation mode" and we hang onto the fat for survival. Others say that that explanation is unreasonable, that the fewer calories you eat, the faster you lose weight because you are burning more calories than you are consuming.

The second explanation makes more sense to me, but being as determined as I am to lose as much weight as fast as possible, I would prefer to have a clearer answer on this subject to make as informed decision as I can regarding my calorie choices.

Thanks all!

Starvation mode is pretty much bogus. Your body might sustain for a couple of days on lower calories, but not indefinitely.

My guess is that people in general aren't properly tracking how many calories they're eating and forget to add in calories from drinks (some Starbucks drinks have nearly my entire days worth of calories for example) or from having "just little tastes" of things throughout the day. So they think they're eating 800-1200 calories (or whatever) but might actually have consumed more like 1700-1800.

I also think it's an excuse for people to claim they need more food when they are tired of "dieting."

"Starvation mode" is total BS. When people claim their weight is slowing down because of starvation mode, the reality is usually that they're eating more than they think (too much).

http://physiqonomics.com/eating-too-much/

I read the article you attached, and was very impressed! It's what I've been trying to tell my husband, who is exercising like crazy and "dieting", but refuses to try to count calories or even measure his food. The scale keeps creeping up instead of down. He thinks I'm obsessive about portion sizes, but his idea of a serving of cereal is about 3 cups - more or less. This article pointed out that even though I think I'm more informed than many people on this subject, there's a lot I still need to learn. Thank you for sharing!

My husband used to be the same way, and he didn't lose any weight. Super frustrating! But then he switched to measuring his food and logging everything in MFP, and he's down by over 50lb in 2 years. It really does make a difference!!

An extra spoonful of peanut butter is 100 calories. Most of us would have considered that a tiny bit of food. But 100 extra calories per day means you'd gain ten pounds in one year (36,500 calories). In 10 years that's a 100 pound weight gain.

Eyeballing portions is just a bad way to diet.

And you must be using one of those tiny spoons. MY spoon can easily hold two tablespoonfuls of lovely peanut butter. Which would be 190 calories. 200 pounds in ten years.

Thank you for linking to this excellent article! Such a straightforward explanation is appreciated. I have shared the article with others I know who (without benefit of WLS) are fighting the battle of the bulge!

I agree with the posts that say the individuals are not counting all their calories. Starvation mode is crazy. Our bodies don't work quite that way.

I read an article in a health magazine just recently that says that men tend to underestimate their calorie intake by an average of 500+ calories, while women tend to underestimate by 650+. That's a lot of extra calories. If you're not counting every little smidgeon of tastes and single bites, they add up fast! If you're trying to lose weight on 1,200 calories a day and your extra little bites add up to 400 calories, you're on a 1,600 calorie diet, not 1,200, and probably gaining instead of losing.

Just as an example, a single Hershey's kiss has 26 calories. How many of us eat a kiss (one won't hurt!), then take 2 or 3 more, and a little while later grab a couple more? 10 of them add up to 260 calories, all sugar and fat. If you eat one, it's not the end of the world, but count it.

And, it works just the opposite for exercise. People think they burned, for example, 800 extra calories in exercise, when in reality it was more like 200.