Does ~1600 sound reasonable for a 180lb woman trying to lose weight

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Replies

  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    Don't worry about letting yourself ease into it. You need time to plan how you're going to meet your new goal with different food choices.
  • you need more fat in your diet! It plays an important role in your bodies hormones.
    Also, less sugar.
    I think you need to start avoiding food marketed as "low fat" as they often have healthy dietary fat removed and processed sugars added.
    Another point that I'm not sure if it has been raised is water consumption? Are you getting enough? It aids in both fat loss and overall health.

    If you have set your goal as 1kg per week then I would recommend eating any calories gained from exercise. Though you will need to gauge over time how accurate MFP's estimates are for you (weight lifting I need to double as I train intense and running/walking I use a separate app that calculates elevation). Anything more than a net deficit of 1100 calories a day will likely result in muscle loss (the aim is FAT loss, not WEIGHT loss).

    I don't really want to touch on nutrient timing as there are many different views on the subject, however, it would be wise to eat a good portion of complex carbs an hour before any exercise to give you extra energy to push yourself. Exercise is a means to get healthier, not lose weight (I can eat 1000 calories in 10 minutes, yet it would take me 2 hours to burn it off)

    Stick to your NET deficit each day and SLOWLY adjust if you're not losing. But make sure everything else is in check before you blame it on simply "too many calories" as not all foods are created equal
  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
    you need more fat in your diet! It plays an important role in your bodies hormones.
    Also, less sugar.
    I think you need to start avoiding food marketed as "low fat" as they often have healthy dietary fat removed and processed sugars added.
    Another point that I'm not sure if it has been raised is water consumption? Are you getting enough? It aids in both fat loss and overall health.

    If you have set your goal as 1kg per week then I would recommend eating any calories gained from exercise. Though you will need to gauge over time how accurate MFP's estimates are for you (weight lifting I need to double as I train intense and running/walking I use a separate app that calculates elevation). Anything more than a net deficit of 1100 calories a day will likely result in muscle loss (the aim is FAT loss, not WEIGHT loss).

    I don't really want to touch on nutrient timing as there are many different views on the subject, however, it would be wise to eat a good portion of complex carbs an hour before any exercise to give you extra energy to push yourself. Exercise is a means to get healthier, not lose weight (I can eat 1000 calories in 10 minutes, yet it would take me 2 hours to burn it off)

    Stick to your NET deficit each day and SLOWLY adjust if you're not losing. But make sure everything else is in check before you blame it on simply "too many calories" as not all foods are created equal

    i agree with the less sugar observation. it's a struggle, i've gotten my sodium intake down but sugar intake i'm still working on. i don't know if they make 2% vanilla greek yogurt though, if i get the normal kind at 2% i'll just end up putting more crap in it to make it taste better, you know?

    i am a water FREAK! i have a 24oz Dunkin Donuts cup that i refill at least 5 times a day. it's really all i drink except coffee, which i am now trying to give up because i can't drink coffee without cream and sugar :(

    ok, i'm daft, what is net deficit? is that food and exercise combined deficit? what's the difference between net and gross? i should know this but i don't...
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  • Unknown
    edited April 2015
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  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
    MrM27 wrote: »
    you need more fat in your diet! It plays an important role in your bodies hormones.
    Also, less sugar.
    I think you need to start avoiding food marketed as "low fat" as they often have healthy dietary fat removed and processed sugars added.
    Another point that I'm not sure if it has been raised is water consumption? Are you getting enough? It aids in both fat loss and overall health.

    If you have set your goal as 1kg per week then I would recommend eating any calories gained from exercise. Though you will need to gauge over time how accurate MFP's estimates are for you (weight lifting I need to double as I train intense and running/walking I use a separate app that calculates elevation). Anything more than a net deficit of 1100 calories a day will likely result in muscle loss (the aim is FAT loss, not WEIGHT loss).

    I don't really want to touch on nutrient timing as there are many different views on the subject, however, it would be wise to eat a good portion of complex carbs an hour before any exercise to give you extra energy to push yourself. Exercise is a means to get healthier, not lose weight (I can eat 1000 calories in 10 minutes, yet it would take me 2 hours to burn it off)

    Stick to your NET deficit each day and SLOWLY adjust if you're not losing. But make sure everything else is in check before you blame it on simply "too many calories" as not all foods are created equal

    OP, do yourself a favor and ignore all the nonsense that poster gave you above. Seriously.

    you need more fat in your diet! It plays an important role in your bodies hormones.
    Also, less sugar.
    I think you need to start avoiding food marketed as "low fat" as they often have healthy dietary fat removed and processed sugars added.
    Another point that I'm not sure if it has been raised is water consumption? Are you getting enough? It aids in both fat loss and overall health.

    If you have set your goal as 1kg per week then I would recommend eating any calories gained from exercise. Though you will need to gauge over time how accurate MFP's estimates are for you (weight lifting I need to double as I train intense and running/walking I use a separate app that calculates elevation). Anything more than a net deficit of 1100 calories a day will likely result in muscle loss (the aim is FAT loss, not WEIGHT loss).

    I don't really want to touch on nutrient timing as there are many different views on the subject, however, it would be wise to eat a good portion of complex carbs an hour before any exercise to give you extra energy to push yourself. Exercise is a means to get healthier, not lose weight (I can eat 1000 calories in 10 minutes, yet it would take me 2 hours to burn it off)

    Stick to your NET deficit each day and SLOWLY adjust if you're not losing. But make sure everything else is in check before you blame it on simply "too many calories" as not all foods are created equal

    i agree with the less sugar observation. it's a struggle, i've gotten my sodium intake down but sugar intake i'm still working on. i don't know if they make 2% vanilla greek yogurt though, if i get the normal kind at 2% i'll just end up putting more crap in it to make it taste better, you know?

    i am a water FREAK! i have a 24oz Dunkin Donuts cup that i refill at least 5 times a day. it's really all i drink except coffee, which i am now trying to give up because i can't drink coffee without cream and sugar :(

    ok, i'm daft, what is net deficit? is that food and exercise combined deficit? what's the difference between net and gross? i should know this but i don't...

    If you don't know after 6 weeks what a deficit is or what the difference between net and gross is then that means you are not in a deficit. You can't guarantee that because you don't even know what that is.

    that comment doesn't help me at all, can you please be more specific with what you mean by it then? i know i'm at or below what MFP recommends and they adjust based on how much you want to lose per week so i DO have a deficit, i just don't know if it's net or gross. if you could explain it that would be very helpful
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  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited April 2015
    I think the person that she needs to ignore said net deficit in regards to exercise burns. Meaning eating back her exercise calories. Because he used that more in context meaning net calories.

  • melodyis4reals
    melodyis4reals Posts: 186 Member
    edited April 2015
    Here is a typical day. I cut and pasted meals from different day because I realized I eat a lot of ethnic foods that some of us don't, like huaraches or injera. :)
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  • melodyis4reals
    melodyis4reals Posts: 186 Member
  • thatgumyoulike
    thatgumyoulike Posts: 11 Member
    i have a SLIGHTLY low thyroid, nothing any of my doctors have said much about... haven't heard anything about PCOS, i would have right? @melodyis4reals if i could look at your day that would be great!

    I was in a similar situation and the only thing that helped me was staring thyroid meds to bring my numbers down. Have you had all your numbers checked? Do you have hashimoto antibodies? If so your levels can fluctuate a lot. I got so frustrated trying to lose premeds, now I have the same regimine with less exercise and am losing about 1.5 per week.
  • Gregory_Horton
    Gregory_Horton Posts: 25 Member
    The amount you weigh doesn't tell you the entire story. The reason why the scale isn't moving is because your adding new muscle. Muscle is more dense and will misled you if you are tracking by weight alone. You should be going by body measurements and what you see in the mirror.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Relic61 wrote: »
    The amount you weigh doesn't tell you the entire story. The reason why the scale isn't moving is because your adding new muscle. Muscle is more dense and will misled you if you are tracking by weight alone. You should be going by body measurements and what you see in the mirror.

    You don't add new muscle in a deficit. Even though she is not losing weight and possibly in maintenance, she would not be adding enough muscle to make that kind of a difference on the scale.
  • Gregory_Horton
    Gregory_Horton Posts: 25 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    Relic61 wrote: »
    The amount you weigh doesn't tell you the entire story. The reason why the scale isn't moving is because your adding new muscle. Muscle is more dense and will misled you if you are tracking by weight alone. You should be going by body measurements and what you see in the mirror.

    You don't add new muscle in a deficit. Even though she is not losing weight and possibly in maintenance, she would not be adding enough muscle to make that kind of a difference on the scale.

    Yes you can! Recomposition of the body WHILE dieting will occur if you eat below maintenance and excersise.

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Relic61 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Relic61 wrote: »
    The amount you weigh doesn't tell you the entire story. The reason why the scale isn't moving is because your adding new muscle. Muscle is more dense and will misled you if you are tracking by weight alone. You should be going by body measurements and what you see in the mirror.

    You don't add new muscle in a deficit. Even though she is not losing weight and possibly in maintenance, she would not be adding enough muscle to make that kind of a difference on the scale.

    Yes you can! Recomposition of the body WHILE dieting will occur if you eat below maintenance and excersise.

    Dude, recomp is a slow slow process and you need to be eating close to maintenance and lifting progressively heavier ..does anything the OP has said make you believe she is doing that?
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  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Relic61 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Relic61 wrote: »
    The amount you weigh doesn't tell you the entire story. The reason why the scale isn't moving is because your adding new muscle. Muscle is more dense and will misled you if you are tracking by weight alone. You should be going by body measurements and what you see in the mirror.

    You don't add new muscle in a deficit. Even though she is not losing weight and possibly in maintenance, she would not be adding enough muscle to make that kind of a difference on the scale.

    Yes you can! Recomposition of the body WHILE dieting will occur if you eat below maintenance and excersise.

    If only it were that simple. I'd look awesome now.
  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
    lowered my calories down to 1400 and my carbs to 45% (or maybe 40% i can't remember...). it's going to take me a minute to catch up because i have a metric ton of fat free vanilla greek yogurt to plow through before i can up my fat intake (another suggestion because i never even come close to that number though i do have some issues with my sugar intake).
    i also disconnected my fitbit as per another reply. so a lot of changes to shake things up. that one is a little disappointing because it takes the motivation away from getting my steps in a little bit :( i know the reasoning behind it because it "gives me less calories" because i'm not adding in exercise calories but psychologically it is demotivating.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    lowered my calories down to 1400 and my carbs to 45% (or maybe 40% i can't remember...). it's going to take me a minute to catch up because i have a metric ton of fat free vanilla greek yogurt to plow through before i can up my fat intake (another suggestion because i never even come close to that number though i do have some issues with my sugar intake).
    i also disconnected my fitbit as per another reply. so a lot of changes to shake things up. that one is a little disappointing because it takes the motivation away from getting my steps in a little bit :( i know the reasoning behind it because it "gives me less calories" because i'm not adding in exercise calories but psychologically it is demotivating.

    Are you weighing everything now?

    Remember that this is just an experiment. This is really an awfully low number of calories for your stats.

    If you're losing more than a pound a week, up your calories.

  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
    edited April 2015
    lowered my calories down to 1400 and my carbs to 45% (or maybe 40% i can't remember...). it's going to take me a minute to catch up because i have a metric ton of fat free vanilla greek yogurt to plow through before i can up my fat intake (another suggestion because i never even come close to that number though i do have some issues with my sugar intake).
    i also disconnected my fitbit as per another reply. so a lot of changes to shake things up. that one is a little disappointing because it takes the motivation away from getting my steps in a little bit :( i know the reasoning behind it because it "gives me less calories" because i'm not adding in exercise calories but psychologically it is demotivating.

    Are you weighing everything now?

    Remember that this is just an experiment. This is really an awfully low number of calories for your stats.

    If you're losing more than a pound a week, up your calories.

    i am weighing everything :) i have been but from what everyone is saying apparently i'm doing something wrong. SHOULD i leave my exercise in there?
  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
    lowered my calories down to 1400 and my carbs to 45% (or maybe 40% i can't remember...). it's going to take me a minute to catch up because i have a metric ton of fat free vanilla greek yogurt to plow through before i can up my fat intake (another suggestion because i never even come close to that number though i do have some issues with my sugar intake).
    i also disconnected my fitbit as per another reply. so a lot of changes to shake things up. that one is a little disappointing because it takes the motivation away from getting my steps in a little bit :( i know the reasoning behind it because it "gives me less calories" because i'm not adding in exercise calories but psychologically it is demotivating.

    Are you weighing everything now?

    Remember that this is just an experiment. This is really an awfully low number of calories for your stats.

    If you're losing more than a pound a week, up your calories.

    i checked out your diary and it looks like you only eat 1200 calories a day, that seems really low too, do you not workout or anything? how much do you weigh?
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    edited April 2015
    I have a desk job but do a step class or body pump/try to do 10k steps/day and
    MFP estimates that i should eat around 1600 cals per day, does this seem reasonable? I'm 34, 5'6" and
    180lbs hoping to get down to 150.
    I'm a bit taller & older than you, currently hovering between 196-200, and have a goal of 1400 cal/day.
    My initial weight goal is 165, though depending on how I feel & look I am considering possibly dropping to 150.
    When I started, I was 275 lb and had a goal of 1700 cal/day.
    Those are actual, absolute calories, not net. Ignore net. Exercise is good for you, but for most people ignoring
    exercise calories offsets the errors they make in measuring / estimating food intake.


    This calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine will tell you not only your BMI, but how many servings of
    various foods to eat to maintain that weight.
    If you enter your healthy goal weight, this will help you plan your calories & food.
    https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

    That says that at your current weight, you need 1500 cal/day to maintain weight.
    If you were 150 lb and inactive, you'd need 1360 cal/day to maintain weight. Once you get to goal, take exercise
    into account so you don't lose too much, go too low. If you were active about 1 hour per day, you'd need just over 2200.

    Edited to make it readable with the extra-wide screen due to oversized pictures above :tongue:
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    lowered my calories down to 1400 and my carbs to 45% (or maybe 40% i can't remember...). it's going to take me a minute to catch up because i have a metric ton of fat free vanilla greek yogurt to plow through before i can up my fat intake (another suggestion because i never even come close to that number though i do have some issues with my sugar intake).
    i also disconnected my fitbit as per another reply. so a lot of changes to shake things up. that one is a little disappointing because it takes the motivation away from getting my steps in a little bit :( i know the reasoning behind it because it "gives me less calories" because i'm not adding in exercise calories but psychologically it is demotivating.

    Are you weighing everything now?

    Remember that this is just an experiment. This is really an awfully low number of calories for your stats.

    If you're losing more than a pound a week, up your calories.

    i checked out your diary and it looks like you only eat 1200 calories a day, that seems really low too, do you not workout or anything? how much do you weigh?

    I'm old and short! 1200 is right for me. As of this morning, I weigh 179.2 I do workout when I can, but I have a couple of medical conditions that get in the way sometimes.

  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    lowered my calories down to 1400 and my carbs to 45% (or maybe 40% i can't remember...). it's going to take me a minute to catch up because i have a metric ton of fat free vanilla greek yogurt to plow through before i can up my fat intake (another suggestion because i never even come close to that number though i do have some issues with my sugar intake).
    i also disconnected my fitbit as per another reply. so a lot of changes to shake things up. that one is a little disappointing because it takes the motivation away from getting my steps in a little bit :( i know the reasoning behind it because it "gives me less calories" because i'm not adding in exercise calories but psychologically it is demotivating.

    Are you weighing everything now?

    Remember that this is just an experiment. This is really an awfully low number of calories for your stats.

    If you're losing more than a pound a week, up your calories.

    i am weighing everything :) i have been but from what everyone is saying apparently i'm doing something wrong. SHOULD i leave my exercise in there?

    Well, it's not clear from your diary that you were weighing, but with how the data base is set up, that's common. It's not clear from mine either, and I weigh everything.

    For now, don't add back your exercise.

    At the back of my mind, I think something's off with your thyroid, but we want to collect some data first.

    So a few weeks of eating at a solid 1400.

  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    Is your body changing? Have you taken body measurements? I haven't lost
    much weight lately, but I've still lost inches. If you are adding a lot of muscle that could account for
    at least part of your lack of weight loss.
    .
    relic61 wrote:
    The reason why the scale isn't moving is because your (sic) adding new muscle. Muscle is more dense
    While you're both right, you're also both wrong.
    Yes, people should be taking measurements every few weeks (I do mine every 2 weeks),
    and yes, someone could be losing inches while not losing weight because their fat is shrinking away
    while they're retaining or possibly gaining some muscle,
    and yes, muscle is more dense than fat. For the same _volume_, muscle weighs more. For the same
    _weight_, muscle takes up less space.

    But it's _highly_ unlikely that the OP is in that group because she's said nothing about her exercise
    which leads us to believe that she's doing weightlifting, let alone regular, progressively more
    difficult / heavy lifting, which is what's needed to gain strength &/or muscle.
    Also, it's difficult for a woman (normal, natural woman with normal hormones) to gain muscle mass.
    It won't happen accidentally, and it won't happen quickly, and it won't happen doing a little cardio.
    While eating at a calorie deficit, it's nearly impossible.
    Eating at a calorie deficit while not lifting weights? Not gonna happen.
    Doing the above with only 30 lb to lose? Definitely not gonna happen.

    I've used a calculator which takes into account measurements as well as weight, and it thinks I've
    gained (IIRC) 4 lb of muscle while losing over 80 lb of fat. I've been lifting weights all along, so it's
    possible I've gained a little muscle in the past 15 months, but more likely it's measurement error &
    I've simply maintained. And that's perfectly OK with me!
  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
    MKEgal wrote: »
    I have a desk job but do a step class or body pump/try to do 10k steps/day and
    MFP estimates that i should eat around 1600 cals per day, does this seem reasonable? I'm 34, 5'6" and
    180lbs hoping to get down to 150.
    I'm a bit taller & older than you, currently hovering between 196-200, and have a goal of 1400 cal/day.
    My initial weight goal is 165, though depending on how I feel & look I am considering possibly dropping to 150.
    When I started, I was 275 lb and had a goal of 1700 cal/day.
    Those are actual, absolute calories, not net. Ignore net. Exercise is good for you, but for most people ignoring
    exercise calories offsets the errors they make in measuring / estimating food intake.


    This calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine will tell you not only your BMI, but how many servings of
    various foods to eat to maintain that weight.
    If you enter your healthy goal weight, this will help you plan your calories & food.
    https://www.bcm.edu/cnrc-apps/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

    That says that at your current weight, you need 1500 cal/day to maintain weight.
    If you were 150 lb and inactive, you'd need 1360 cal/day to maintain weight. Once you get to goal, take exercise
    into account so you don't lose too much, go too low. If you were active about 1 hour per day, you'd need just over 2200.

    Edited to make it readable with the extra-wide screen due to oversized pictures above :tongue:

    I did the calculator and it said for low to eat 1860 and moderate to eat 2200 (i do about 1hr of exercise/day about moderate intensity). i would guess you minus 500 for losing 1lb a week right? so that would be between about 1400 and 1700 to lose yes?
  • meghanduprey
    meghanduprey Posts: 158 Member
    MKEgal wrote: »
    Is your body changing? Have you taken body measurements? I haven't lost
    much weight lately, but I've still lost inches. If you are adding a lot of muscle that could account for
    at least part of your lack of weight loss.
    .
    relic61 wrote:
    The reason why the scale isn't moving is because your (sic) adding new muscle. Muscle is more dense
    While you're both right, you're also both wrong.
    Yes, people should be taking measurements every few weeks (I do mine every 2 weeks),
    and yes, someone could be losing inches while not losing weight because their fat is shrinking away
    while they're retaining or possibly gaining some muscle,
    and yes, muscle is more dense than fat. For the same _volume_, muscle weighs more. For the same
    _weight_, muscle takes up less space.

    But it's _highly_ unlikely that the OP is in that group because she's said nothing about her exercise
    which leads us to believe that she's doing weightlifting, let alone regular, progressively more
    difficult / heavy lifting, which is what's needed to gain strength &/or muscle.
    Also, it's difficult for a woman (normal, natural woman with normal hormones) to gain muscle mass.
    It won't happen accidentally, and it won't happen quickly, and it won't happen doing a little cardio.
    While eating at a calorie deficit, it's nearly impossible.
    Eating at a calorie deficit while not lifting weights? Not gonna happen.
    Doing the above with only 30 lb to lose? Definitely not gonna happen.

    I've used a calculator which takes into account measurements as well as weight, and it thinks I've
    gained (IIRC) 4 lb of muscle while losing over 80 lb of fat. I've been lifting weights all along, so it's
    possible I've gained a little muscle in the past 15 months, but more likely it's measurement error &
    I've simply maintained. And that's perfectly OK with me!

    I do step class 3xs a week and a class called body pump which is weight training to failure (lots of reps) 2-3xs a week plus walking 10k steps a day. there are a lot of posts in here so it probably got lost...
  • KrunchyMama
    KrunchyMama Posts: 420 Member
    I'm 180 lbs too, 5'8". For me to lose weight I have to eat 1200 calories a day, and only eat back max 150 exercise calories. The only way I can do that and not feel hungry is if I fill up on veggies and keep my bread and pasta to a minimum. The way I see it is that at my goal weight my maintenance calories will be 1500, so I should eat at or below that to set a good foundation for eating habits for the rest of my life. If you want an accountability buddy PM me! :)
  • shaythep
    shaythep Posts: 73 Member
    When I started earlier this year (January 5th) I weighed 183 lbs. I am 5'3. I started out netting 1700 calories. I weigh all of my foods and I make sure that I pick a reasonable weight loss goal and I pick the right activity level. I am now 169 lbs. I eat about 1600 calories now though.
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