I’ve been dieting now for the last 5 months and had a week or so where the weight didn’t drop but the last month was my very first plateau and although it was annoying, I did something I didn’t think I would do. I upped my calories. Yep, I put my calories up from 1400 to 1600 calories. The result of doing that I initially thought would be weight gain but I’ve been surprised that since doing that, my mood changed from being miserable to happy and I’m pleased to say I’ve had a 4lb loss just this week.
Lose Weight is 1600 Calories Per Day
The reason for putting my calories up was two-fold really. I was finding 1400 calories too restrictive for me and I had some of the most terrible hunger pangs I’ve experienced in a long time but also because being a massive fan of the program “Obese – A Year to Save My Life” and Jessie Pavelka, I realized that whenever Jessie gives the subject a diet, it is nearly always 1600 calories. I have always wondered why 1600 calories were recommended over the regular 1800 calories which is so widely promoted via subscription-based weight loss services and it seemed that someone had the answer when discussing the “The Biggest Loser” winners (he speaks about under-eating at 2.52).
So the minimum that I should be eating as an obese person who wants to lose weight is 1600 calories per day. I don’t want to go into Ketosis because that’s when you get these symptoms (Bad Breath)
- Low Energy
- Depressed Mood
- Muscle Wastage
Apart from the bad breath and muscle wastage as I don’t think I was on 1400 calories long enough, I definitely had no energy and was incredibly depressed. If I hadn’t addressed this then I could very well have started to binge and I didn’t want to do that as I’d undo all the hard work that I’ve done already.
So going back to 1600 calories was total sense and looks like it works. I have my happy mood back, I’m not hungry at all now at the end of the day and I’ve got my energy back again as well as a loss of 4lb. Obviously makes sense!
