Do you really lose weight if you eat to your set calories?

lemur_lady
lemur_lady Posts: 350 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My calorie limit is 2,170. I realise that this includes a deficit and so if I try not to eat more than this I should lose weight. But it seems rather high to enable me to lose weight on. I know I don't have to always eat up to that amount but I am just starting off and so this seems an appropriate amount compared to my previous diet.

Do you lose weight on your calorie limit or do you find you need to eat 100-200 calories less?

I only ask because the nutritionist I see gave me a 1800 calorie plan to follow. She was going to give me 1600 but upped it as I am breastfeeding.

Replies

  • thedietguru
    thedietguru Posts: 29
    It's the ideal place to start. Simply monitor your weight for a couple weeks and drop it by a couple hundred if you haven't lost weight. If you've lost even a pound though.. stay there until you can't lose anymore. Too many people start low. Always start high.. you give yourself way more options to lose as time goes on, keep your metabolism where it should be and lose weight in the most healthy way possible.
  • Flab2fitfi
    Flab2fitfi Posts: 1,349 Member
    Yes - look at my ticker. Says it all.
  • ksuetorres
    ksuetorres Posts: 139 Member
    Should a breastfeeding mother be trying to lose weight at all? Maybe you need to just eat healthier and let the weight loss take care of itself once that little one is weaned!!
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Depends on how active you are, weight, ect.

    I'm 5'4"
    194lbs

    I eat anywhere from 1400 - 2500 depending on how active I am for that day. I am frequently over my goal calories and I'm still losing weight. I started actively counting calories on March 13 @ 218lbs.
  • lemur_lady
    lemur_lady Posts: 350 Member
    My little girl is 11 months so on minimal feedings now. I haven't lost any through feeding her the last year and so I am aiming to lose a pound a week if I can. So am planning on doing it slowly.
  • eponine1976
    eponine1976 Posts: 143 Member
    If you do a deficit too much your milk supply will drop off. When I was exclusively nursing (my baby wasn't getting formula or foods yet) I set my counter to maintenance and I still lost weight because nursing a baby actually burns about 500 calories/day.
  • pamelak5
    pamelak5 Posts: 327 Member
    If BFing, I would err onthe side of higher intake and see how it goes.

    You will lose weight if you eat your set calories...and remember that those calories include every little thing. That bite of cheese while preparing dinner, that handful of grapes, having a couple bites of your kid's leftover dinner...that all adds up quickly to wipe out your deficit. I was certain I had a crappy metabolism and that i was only eating 1600 calories a day. I had my metabolism tested - turns out I burn around 2700 a day (5'11", active) and I was simply delusional with respect to how much I was actually eating :)
  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    Do you lose weight on your calorie limit or do you find you need to eat 100-200 calories less?

    The calorie limit you're given is a target; if you're within 100 calories or so, plus or minus, that's where you should be. Aim to hit the target for 2-4 weeks, and see how things progress.
  • pdemmin
    pdemmin Posts: 3
    I started my diet back mid march. My calorie limit is 1200.I have either stuck to it ,or most of the time I was under. I exercise 5 days a week. I have since lost 20 lbs already. Watch your sodium,drink lots of water,with that and exercise ,yes you will loose the weight. Good Luck.
  • lemur_lady
    lemur_lady Posts: 350 Member
    Should a breastfeeding mother be trying to lose weight at all? Maybe you need to just eat healthier and let the weight loss take care of itself once that little one is weaned!!

    My LO is nearly a year now so hopefully shouldn't affect her too much. I have read that losing too quickly can put toxins in the milk and so I am aiming to lose slowly. I plan on continuing to bf until self weaning if possible so might be a while yet if I waited until she is weaned.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Should a breastfeeding mother be trying to lose weight at all? Maybe you need to just eat healthier and let the weight loss take care of itself once that little one is weaned!!

    it's safe provided you take it slowly (i.e. not too big a deficit, e.g set your goal to lose the weight slowly, e.g. 1lb a week) and also keep a close eye on milk supply, to make sure it's keeping up. If the baby's going through a growth spurt and taking more milk than usual it may be an idea to up your calories a little (and likely you'll still be eating at the same deficit as the baby will be taking more milk). Also pay attention to getting enough nutrition, i.e. enough to support breastfeeding and your own body. That's in terms of micronutrients and macronutrients.

    The body stores fat while pregnant, for the purpose of supporting breastfeeding, so eating at a moderate deficit for slow fat loss, the body will simply be using this stored fat to support breastfeeding, and the mother will gradually go back to her pre-pregnancy weight.

    I personally breastfed both my kids up to age 2 and 2.5 and lost weight while doing so, it didn't affect my milk supply and my health was improved as a result of losing fat. I don't think it's a good idea to stay obese until a child is weaned, especially if you're doing full term breastfeeding. The World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months and part time for up to 2 years. That's a long time to wait to start losing fat.
  • myriambruneau
    myriambruneau Posts: 9
    It all depends on your metabolism. The best way to do is to weight yourself and see if you lost more or less than 2 pounds in a week. Adjust your calories by 10% up or down.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    If you're doing everything right then yeah...i.e. have appropriately set up your profile and activity level, weigh and measure you foods and ingredients to ensure your intake is as accurate as possible, and don't over estimate calorie burn from exercise and over eat your exercise calories back then yes, it works...barring medical condition or something.

    My net calorie goal with MFP was 1850 to lose one pound per week. I always ate back about 70% of my exercise calories burned per my HRM (to account for estimation error). I've lost roughly 35-40 Lbs. I maintained for a couple months but have decided I'd like to get down to 15% BF from 19% so I'm on a very slow (deliberately slow) cut right now.
  • lemur_lady
    lemur_lady Posts: 350 Member
    Thanks everyone! I will try eating to the set calories first and see if it is working!
  • bonelessskinless
    bonelessskinless Posts: 147
    certain kinds of foods are hard to find accurate listings for on the diary search. If you're eating a lot of these your calories can be off by a lot. If I'm eating a lot of foods that day that are listed sketchily then I always try to stay under by a few hundred
  • lemur_lady
    lemur_lady Posts: 350 Member
    certain kinds of foods are hard to find accurate listings for on the diary search. If you're eating a lot of these your calories can be off by a lot. If I'm eating a lot of foods that day that are listed sketchily then I always try to stay under by a few hundred

    Thanks for the advice. How can I tell if they're accurate or not?
  • xinit0
    xinit0 Posts: 310 Member
    certain kinds of foods are hard to find accurate listings for on the diary search. If you're eating a lot of these your calories can be off by a lot. If I'm eating a lot of foods that day that are listed sketchily then I always try to stay under by a few hundred

    Thanks for the advice. How can I tell if they're accurate or not?

    If there's a lot of conflicting entries, each with plenty of user confirmations. Two items I've found are rice and movie theatre popcorn. The numbers vary, and not just a little - but by hundreds of calories. Of course, neither is something that you'll likely to be eating a LOT of if you want to lose weight, but it is a bit annoying.

    Also, if a number just sounds too good to be true. In one case, I couldn't believe that the calories in a specific restaurant veggie burrito were as low as a user had entered them, and that was the only exact match. So, I added all the ingredients, one at a time, and saved it as a meal. Came out about the same, but I felt more confident that the number was correct.
  • c_faulkenburg
    c_faulkenburg Posts: 158 Member
    I am breastfeeding baby three and lost nothing before I came to MFP. I had a lot to lose and had been making poor choices. I started out lower (1700) and was losing and decided to up my calorie intake because I'd read so much about that on the site. I am happy to say that I am continuing to lose, the rate may have actually picked up.. I don't think there is anything wrong with trying to lose weight while you are breastfeeding, especially if the deficit is not huge and as long as you are getting plenty of nutrients.
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Hi! Although I'm new to MFP, I'm thinking they're setting individuals at easy targets, but anything we do above and beyond is just...great! It's to help track our progress, but I don't think it's completely conformed to us as individuals. Or maybe it is if you fill out more info about yourself? I've added what I've been eating, exercising, and my starting and current weights. However, I haven't added any measurements...

    Yesterday was my first day on the site, and I completed my food/exercise log and was under my caloric intake by a little. I figured anything under the 'goal' or 'ideal' consumption is just gravy....a healthier form of gravy!!

    I'd be more prone to follow the plan your nutritionist gave you since it's configured to you personally.
  • robinschwalb
    robinschwalb Posts: 58 Member
    I wondered how accurate the calories were on here. I ate two tacos, corn tortillas with 1/2 filet of tiapia and it sure seemed like a lot of calories, I am wondering if their fish tacos had lots of other stuff in it. Also on the popcorn, I was wondering about that, I went by the bag and not the entry here. I am trying to drink lots of water and exercise too. What about these zero drinks, I have been told they are bad.

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