Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Eat more to lose weight? I'm confused.

I have read in several different threads on the Weight Watchers website about eating more points, or using up activity points and the weekly points allowance to help LOSE weight. Huh? I don't get it.

I know all about how if you skip meals, your body holds on to fat because it thinks its starving. But if I eat my daily points, or sometimes just below it, my body isn't starving...

Losing weight is a numbers game. Eat fewer calories than you burn and you lose weight. Right?

I know there are other variables, but wouldn't eating more make you lose LESS weight? Someone said something about eating more points to help push you out of a plateau, which I am curious about.

Right now I have been losing weight by eating my daily points and not using activity points or weekly points. Some days I even eat below my daily points. Also working out every day on the elliptical, with sometimes a C25k or a DVD workout. I kinda think if I ate more, I wouldn't lose as much...

Anyone got any info on this? Maybe from your own experience? I know I'm doing fine as I am and I'm not worried or complaining about anything, just curious what everyone's take on this might be.

Attitude of Gratitude: I went shopping and very easily found my mom a good Mother's Day gift. I love when those things can be stress and hassle free.

17 comments:

downsizers said...

It's called the starvation response. The body perceives starvation whether it's true or not. I also think it has to do with metabolism. I was told once that eating breakfast is like lighting a match for your metabolism - that gets it started. People who say if they eat breakfast they get hungry are experiencing this. Once they get adjusted to the new eating routine they are fine - this is my two cents worth!

Modern Day Mom said...

It may not make much sense but I definitely believe there is truth to it. Several years ago, a friend of mine was doing WW. This was when you had a points scale (18-24 pts per day) and could bank up to 10 pts for a bad day. Anyways she had plateaued and the leader read through her food journal and because she was consistently eating less than her min point target, they told her to make sure to eat a few more points per day. Sure enough the next week she was down considerably. So I alwasy try to eat no less than 2-3 pts under my target. Also I have found that when I get my points more from fresh foods than packaged/processed foods, I have much better results.

HS @ Our Debt Blog said...

We eat every 2 hours to trick the body and to increase metabolism!... so in essence you're eating all day, if you are lifting weights, you need to eat more often since your body needs more energy.

safire said...

If you are still losing weight, I wouldn't worry too much about it but it's useful for people who are stalling or exhibiting a plateau :)

ThunderThighs said...

I'm with Safire. I think the best thing to do is listen to your body and go with what works for YOU. There are TONS of theories out there because everyone's bodies are different.

BTW hit up my blog, you have an award waiting for ya!!!! :)

Thin Lizzy said...

I think it's true. When I first started my program I ate between 1200-1500 calories and worked out like a mad woman burning up to 700 in one gym visit. The weight came off quick, then stopped totally. I read a similar thing to what you did. Tried it out, and bam... weight started peeling off again.

But, you should keep doing what you're doing b/c it works. Try something else when it stops working!

Dawn said...

I don't get this either...I mean I get it for a week or so, but surely people who don't eat through illnesses become thin, even dangerously thin. Obviously I'm not recommending it..but if it were true you don't lose when you don't eat enough - there would be nothing to worry about and thats clearly not true.
Dawn

Devon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisa Mancini said...

YAY for finding that gift!!! It is great when it can be really easy!!! I don't understand how these things work either. But I do notice that the day after I eat something I shouldn't, and I'm thinking the scale with go up, I usually drop weight. I think it's crazy!!

Baby Weight and Beyond said...

Your body needs a certain amount of food, obviously you are doing great now but as someone who used to work for WW I saw it work the other way many times! It's usually when someone has been eating WAY under their points values that you will see a big difference and it can help with a plateau because your body will get used to what you are doing and need to switch things up!

Diandra said...

Yeah, this "Oh my god I'm starving!" thing is the basic thing you need to know about this. Plus there is an effect (according to scientists, but I don't have the source at hand) that sometimes, if you eat more calories for a day or two than you usually do, your body burns more energy because it takes the extra energy to do some repairs and stuff. I wouldn't know if this helps with plateaus or not...

And as for plateaus, if I hit one I usually increase my exercise for a few days, and it helps beautifully. Even if I increase my food intake as well.

Krystle kjb Bailey said...

I think you should just go with what you are comfortable with. I am also on Weight Watchers and some weeks I use my weeklies, I rarely use my AP's, but I always use most of my daily points but there are days when I'm just not hungry for all my daily points. I think you should just pay attention to your body's needs. Don't starve yourself if you want to use some weeklies but don't force yourself either. WW is amazing :)

I just started following you.. hope you will follow me back on my journey!

www.skinny-jeans-dreams-blogspot.com

Diet Starts Tomorrow said...

If what you're doing is working than I say keep it up! It's a tricky business eating enough so that you keep your metabolism going, but not eating SO much that you gain weight. Bottom line, it seems like you've figured out what works best for you, and as long as you're not depriving yourself I think you've got this "diet" thing down!

Hungry Girl Fan said...

I find that if I eat all my daily points, weekly points, and activity points, I don't lose any weight. I already get a ton of daily points because I am nursing my son still (I get 43 a day!). With that, if I also eat activity points and weekly points, I think it is just too many calories.

Sometimes, I will have a high calorie meal that I have been craving for a while (chinese food, sushi, italian, whatever!) and blow most of my weekly points in one sitting. As long as I eat healthy and stay within my daily points for the rest of the week, I still lose weight.

Ak said...

I believe that we should eat as much as we can and still lose weight. Because as we lose weight, we will have to eat less and less to still keep losing.

Anonymous said...

I am having this problem now. I get 32 PP. I used a separate site to calculate calories and the NI used for calculating PP. at 32 PP I was coming in around the 1500 calorie range.

I had a metabolism screening done. It indicated I needed 3100 calories per day to maintain. 2100 per day to lose 2 lbs per week. That would take my 32 PP plus all my weeklies and then some.

C O N F U S I N G!!!

Ellie said...

Our bodies are very odd. It would make sense that if you eat less then you should lose more weight, but there is a balance our bodies need of energy in for it to function properly and actually help us lose weight. I see it happen on biggest lose all the time. The key is to fuel your body with good calories, like extra veggies, and not junk foods.