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From 4 episodes

Can I lose weight by eating more after 60?

Answered by Nikkiey Stott and her guests · Updated

The short answer

Yes, it can happen when you have been under-eating. On The WarriorBabe Show, four women in their 60s raised their calories with a coach and still lost weight. Michelle went from about 800-900 to 1,800 calories, Ya'el from 1,100 to 1,950, and Linda and Beth also gained food and lost fat.

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  1. Ya'el on eating 1,950 calories and being her smallest and strongest at 60

    Plays from 32:20 · Ep. 384: Can You Lose Fat by Eating More at 60? Ya'el's Story

  2. Michelle, 67, on regaining muscle and losing 10 pounds while eating more

    Plays from 19:52 · Ep. 349: Can Eating More Help You Lose Weight After 60?

  3. Linda on her coach raising her macros as her hunger came back at 63

    Plays from 34:20 · Ep. 242: Lost 18 Pounds at 63 by Tracking Macros, Not Calories

  4. Beth on reaching 2,100 calories at 61 and still slowly losing fat

    Plays from 28:13 · Ep. 240: How Eating More Helped Beth Lose Fat at 61

The full answer

The women on these episodes did not simply start eating more on their own. Each worked with a WarriorBabe coach who raised her calories and macros step by step:

  • Michelle, 67 (Ep. 349), went from roughly 800-900 calories to 1,800, lost 10 pounds at 4 foot 11, and her strength came back fast.
  • Linda, 63 (Ep. 242), lost 18 pounds in five months while eating about 400 more calories than when she started. Her coach kept checking her hunger and raised her macros when she began feeling starving.
  • Beth, 61 (Ep. 240), reached about 2,100 calories with 163 grams of protein and 218 grams of carbs, and still lost about 10 pounds and 5 inches over six months.
  • Ya'el, 60 (Ep. 384), went from 1,100 to 1,950 calories and says she is the smallest and strongest she has ever been.

The common thread is that many of these women had been eating far less than they thought they needed. Ya'el describes years of cycling through strict plans and realizing she had been under-eating the whole time. Once the plan changed, her body responded. That is the point underneath all four stories: it was the plan, not them.

Set realistic expectations. Beth says her loss at higher calories was not rapid, more "waffling around," and her biggest lesson was the difference between weight loss and fat loss. The show stresses that chasing a lower scale number at any cost can cost you muscle, while enough protein and food helps you lose fat and keep the muscle that makes you look and feel strong. Linda describes it as feeling like she got her metabolism back, though she notes it is probably not perfect at 63.

If you have a medical condition or take medications, check with your doctor before changing how you eat.

From Nikkiey Stott and WarriorBabe's coaching. For education, not medical advice: talk to your doctor about your own health.

Women also ask

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    Will I gain weight when I start eating more?

    Probably a little, and that's expected. Nikkiey explains that when you start eating more during a retrain or reverse diet, your weight will usually fluctuate about two to five pounds from water, glycogen, food volume and salt, not fat. If the gain keeps climbing or holds around five pounds, the increase was likely too fast.

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  • Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting

    Can you lose weight by eating more?

    Yes, according to The WarriorBabe Show. Nikkiey says almost every WarriorBabe success story involves eating more food, and members like Amy, Debbie, Lisa and Erin lost weight after raising their calories from chronic lows. The key, she explains, is eating enough to fuel strength training and build muscle, which is active tissue that burns calories even at rest.

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  • Metabolism, Eating More & Reverse Dieting

    How long does it take to repair your metabolism?

    It depends on how adapted your metabolism is. Nikkiey's ranges: about six to 12 weeks for mild adaptation after a few months of moderate dieting, closer to three months after a year or more of restriction, and six months to a year after many years of chronic dieting. Your body's response sets the timeline, not a calendar.

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