Calories are set to 1550 but I only cossume about 1000 per day

mscheftg

Another side note... I noticed that you stated several times that you're eating every few hours. Don't rely so much on how often you eat. For some people, it makes sense to eat every few hours because that's when they're hungry. Other people are better off eating three meals a day. Your body will run just fine if you only eat three meals or if you eat continually throughout the day. Just remember to log as accurately as possible.

Then if you find that you're still eating too little, figure out where you can spare some calories. Maybe a couple tablespoons of peanut butter with your apple?

karen0214

chdmama wrote: »

I'm 26 , 5'4" and 156lbs now ... I was down to 140 but packed on weight like crazy the past couple months because I didn't pay attention to anything I eat and slacked off at the gym . I'm kinda offended that people think I'm starving my body . I eat every 2 hours , I just choose to eat and apple instead of a cookie . I only drink water and I work out a hour a day (or to be fair 5-6 days a week) . I was always a small person but have gone through some pretty tough things in the past couple years and kinda let my self go ... I'm eating way more now then I was even when I was gaining a bunch of weight

I totally understand how you feel, as far as not wanting to eat if you aren't hungry, and feeling like you must be eating enough. I've been there, done that. However, I also packed on a lot of weight. I know there are a lot of people who stand by the claim of "calories in vs. calories out," but I have found that is not the case. When you eat too little (below your BMR), your body can not stay healthy long term and will basically start to eat itself. I will not bore you with all the scientific jargon, so this is the basics. I calculated your info that you gave on age and current weight and it comes up with 1,377 cals for fat loss. And that is for little or no exercise! So, if you exercise, you would definitely need to eat back those calories. The web site that I used is www.freedieting.com. This calculator will also give you a zig-zag option and I have found that to be incredibly helpful. With this method, you eat your normal cals for two days, then it ups your cals for one day, then back down for two, then up a little for one day, then cycle again.

Once I started using this calculator and started eating the MUCH higher calories that it told me to eat, cycling to much higher on those two zig-zag days, I am finally losing weight. I was eating way below my BMR previously, even at the advice of my endocrinologist (who obviously isn't very knowledgeable about these things) and I started GAINING weight. So, all of this to say, please try increasing your calories for a week or two and see what happens. Try to get as much protein as MFP recommends. I just hate to see anyone go through what I've been through because of not eating enough.

Best wishes!

WinoGelato

OP I can appreciate that it is overwhelming at first and there is a lot of information to digest. I don't think anyone linked this thread, but read this, read the links that are in it, read it again, and read it a third time. There is a lot of info but it is so helpful if you are just getting started.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

Also, as others have said - weighing and measuring your food is critical, as well as not implicitly trusting everything in the database. Most people have better luck with either logging individual components of those tacos, after you've weighed everything, or creating your own recipe. Tacos especially - how do you know that what you put in your taco is even close to what some random person in another state or country puts in theirs...

Good luck!