How many Calories???? HELP!

MeganFlanagan16

Hey everyone,
Ive been using MFP for a few weeks now and it calculated me at only eating about 1200 calories, which I have been following, but have not dropped any weight! I've looked online to see how many calories I should be eating and it recommends almost 1800 calories to still lose weight. I work in an office between 40-60hrs a week, go to school, and don't have much time for the gym. I currently weight 202lbs and want to get down to 150lbs. I'm 25 and I am 5'6".
Does anyone know how many calories I should be eating to promote weight loss? I'm feeling defeated.

jenncornelsen

at 1200 cals u should drop weight. i was givin 1200 but could not stick to that. i upped it to 1350 plus eating back half my workout cals. are u logging all your food perfectly? are u eating back all your workout cals?

jenncornelsen

also looking at ur food diary are u weighing ur meat, cheese and other high cal items? they can add up super fast if ur not accurate. do u drink adequate water?

AskTracyAnnK28

I hate to sound like one of those people, but I don't think you are weighing/measuring your food properly.

Also - I notice you eat at Panera a lot...which is fine, but you can't always trust that the amount of food your eating is what the nutrictional facts on the website say. Eating out like that is totally fine...but when you do it all the time and you're not losing weight like you should be then clearly something is wrong with your logging.

MeganFlanagan16

I drink between 8-12 cups of water a day and yes I weigh all my foods. Sticking to 1200 calories hasn't been horrible for me; I only get hungry right before going to sleep. I don't eat after 7:30, drink water when I do feel hungry. I don't drink any soda. The only other thing I drink besides water is a cup or two of green or herbal tea; maybe some orange juice in the morning. As for working out, I don't get to the gym very often between work and school. I know working out will help me lose weight, but for now it's not an option, and I feel like even without working out I should be losing weight just by eating better.

jenncornelsen

you don't need to work out to lose weight. walking or something would be great but not necessary. are u weighing yourself first thing in the morning? using a digital scale? (my scale will not show less than a 2lb weight loss unless i hold something heavy, step on, then try again)

MeganFlanagan16

Maybe I will try that. I weigh myself in the morning with a digital scale. I just feel defeated because I was 209lbs and I went down to 202lbs in about a week and now I've almost completely stopped losing. I'll definitely stop eating at panera for lunch and start making more to bring to work with me. It's difficult to make all three meals and bring it to work with me so I usually bring two meals from home and have lunch out. Guess I need a bigger lunch box.

jenncornelsen

if u have only been here a few weeks it totally make sense. ive done this a long time( i lost 50lb and kept off all but 5 while having a baby in between!) and some weeks i lost, some i gained, some were nothing. each day u stay on track ur doing better than u were a month ago! ill add u as a friend if u want and we can check in with eachother. i weigh in daily just to see how what i ate the previous day (such as sodium) effects my weight

TheVirgoddess

MeganFlanagan16 wrote: »

I drink between 8-12 cups of water a day and yes I weigh all my foods. Sticking to 1200 calories hasn't been horrible for me; I only get hungry right before going to sleep. I don't eat after 7:30, drink water when I do feel hungry. I don't drink any soda. The only other thing I drink besides water is a cup or two of green or herbal tea; maybe some orange juice in the morning. As for working out, I don't get to the gym very often between work and school. I know working out will help me lose weight, but for now it's not an option, and I feel like even without working out I should be losing weight just by eating better.

I'm not trying to be rude, but if you do have a scale, you're not using it properly. I don't see weights in your diary, mostly quantities. Stuff like two large eggs, 1 cup of carrots, etc - those should be weighed. Every solid should be on the scale, every liquid should be measured.

What activity level did you choose when you joined? Sedentary? Active? You need to make sure it's accurate - the more you move, the more you can eat.

Eating after a certain time of day won't impact your weight loss at all.

You don't have to "eat better" to lose weight, either. You just need to eat at a caloric deficit. For example, I have a soda with dinner every night. It hasn't prevented me from losing 70 pounds so far.

My first recommendation would be to adjust your goals so you're eating more than 1200 calories. Your BMR is around 1600, so I'd start there.

Then I'd seriously tighten up your logging.

Also, you've already lost 7 pounds - remember that weight loss isn't linear - there will be some weeks you lose nothing, others you lose plenty. Don't freak out about a week or two with slower (or no) losses.

Good luck.

MeganFlanagan16

Definitely feel free to add me as a friend! I'm looking to lose about 50lbs and it's awesome to see that you were able to do so. I'm hoping to be down 50lbs by the end of the year. I have a few medical issues that would get better if I lost some weight and I am hoping to start a family of my own within the next couple of years and getting down to a healthy weight is priority.

healthy_life2015

How long have you been stalled at 202? It is apparently really normal to lose a lot of weight in week 1 and then stall or actually gain weight week 2. That is exactly what happened to me.

MeganFlanagan16

I've been stuck at 202lb for about a week now... Hopefully I start to lose again soon. Thank you

MeganFlanagan16

When I first started MFP I chose sedentary activity...

malibu927

MeganFlanagan16 wrote: »

I've been stuck at 202lb for about a week now... Hopefully I start to lose again soon. Thank you

A week is nothing. Weight loss is not linear due to a variety of factors. But I agree with the people saying you should start weighing your food.

Liftng4Lis

You're not in a deficit. Only liquids in measuring cups. Weigh everything else.

drosebud

Being stuck at the same weight for just a week isn't unusual at all. My weight loss chart is a mix of lumpy, bumpy and flat. The overall trend over 18 months is down around 50lb and that's what it's all about. I was the same weight for 4 weeks once: even that isn't at all unusual.

MeganFlanagan16

Okay, Thank you everyone for all the info and suggestions

mkakids

5'6" here....210. i eat 1800 and lose approx 1# a week

MeganFlanagan16

Good to know! Thank you!