Please help

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  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    lattequeen2 wrote: »
    how can I increase my food intake
    ie breakfast lunch dinner snacks
    can I eat 1/2 a muffin

    If you're only eating 500 calories per day. Go for the whole muffin and put butter on it.
  • lattequeen2
    lattequeen2 Posts: 59 Member
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    how can I increase my food intake
    ie breakfast lunch dinner snacks
    can I eat 1/2 a muffin
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
    edited April 2015
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    lattequeen2 wrote: »
    how can I increase my food intake
    ie breakfast lunch dinner snacks
    can I eat 1/2 a muffin

    This is not as complex as you're trying to make it. To increase your intake, eat more food. Take whatever you consider healthy and eat more of it. Try prelogging whatever you're thinking about eating to see where it puts you in terms of your calorie goal. Veggies, fruit, meats, breads, eggs, cheese, a few small treats. Seriously anything.
  • littled1986
    littled1986 Posts: 101 Member
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    Put your goals in and mfp will tell you how many calories to eat. Eat that many, and log your exercise and add 50% of those calories. 500 calories is dangerous and is doing more harm than good.
  • astralpictures
    astralpictures Posts: 218 Member
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    Things don't add up. If you are actually eating only 500 calories a day and burning an extra 700 through exercise, then that is extremely unhealthy and you may need medical or even psychiatric help. However, you'd probably would have lost a lot more than 50 lbs in a year (an average of 500 calorie deficit a day, which would mean you're eating way more than 500 calories) and you probably wouldn't have gained 4 lbs back on that low amount.

    Here comes the standard MFP response: I'm betting your drastically overestimating your calorie burn and underestimating your intake. Are you logging everything you eat. Unless the 500 calories a week is a brand new thing in response to the 4 lbs gained in which case, I urge you to reconsider.

    But I also don't get why you asked how you can eat more, get responses, then ask the same question again. Red flag.
  • lattequeen2
    lattequeen2 Posts: 59 Member
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    I have a cognative disability so I read and understand things differently
    I do not need medical or even psychiatric help.

    also I where can I see my calories that I have burned

    Iam new here please be patient with me
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    You lost 50 pounds, nice. Sounds like you know how to do this!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    If you have gained 4lbs you are eating more than a net of -200 calories a day...
  • pjischaos
    pjischaos Posts: 11 Member
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    OP, ya said it's your time of the month.., well I know I can(&have) gain up to 8 lbs during this time myself. I say just keep doing what ya doing and ride it out for a few weeks.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    edited April 2015
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    lattequeen2 wrote: »
    I have a cognative disability so I read and understand things differently
    I do not need medical or even psychiatric help.

    also I where can I see my calories that I have burned

    Iam new here please be patient with me

    It wasn't me that posted that, but I believe it was in reference to you possibly having an eating disorder, not to your intelligence or anything like that.

    It is obviously unhealthy to eat so little. The minimum MFP will allow is 1200 calories NET. Your net calories would be your total calories eaten for the day minus your exercise calories. However, I find it difficult to believe you are living off 500 calories per day, and burning 700. My personal opinion is that your numbers are way off, so it is pointless to speculate what is going on.

    Here is my standard advice to anyone new.

    Buy a food scale, weigh and log everything.

    Do cardio if you want, and if you do, only eat back 50% of your calories. Lift weights and hit your protein goal to help maintain muscle mass while losing.

    Cheat meals that take you over maintenance will sabotage your efforts. Log the cheat meals too (falls under the 'log everything' rule).

    Eat anything you want in moderation, keeping in mind that your diet will be easier to stick with if you chose foods that make it easier to stay under your calories without feeling hungry.

    Also it would be a good idea to read some of the stickies at the top of the various forums such as:
    Calorie Counting 101
    Logging Accuracy, Consistency, & You're Probably Eating More Than You Think
    A Guide To Get You Started on Your Path To Sexy Pants

    To answer your question about how you see your exercise calories, you need to log them, by clicking Home > Add exercise

    (edited because either I can't spell add today, or it autocorrected.)
  • lattequeen2
    lattequeen2 Posts: 59 Member
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    thanks for your support
    and advice
  • lattequeen2
    lattequeen2 Posts: 59 Member
    edited April 2015
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    thank you
    the other website I used was way easier to use
    I do have a scale . I need to change the batteries
    will do that soon
  • melduf
    melduf Posts: 468 Member
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    As a woman, you need to eat at least 1200 calories a day. On maintenance, you should eat around 1800 calories a day. Those calories should come from fruits, veggies, meat, dairy and grains. It's all a matter of balance. MFP recommends you eat 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein. That means you need meat and substitutes at least 2 meals a day, veggies or fruits almost every meal or snack, and carbs (such as bread, muffin, pasta, rice) 2 meals a day. That should result in a balanced day.

    Eating below 1200 calories a day will slow your metabolism, meaning it will burn less to fuel your daily activities. On days you will eat more, that means all the "extra" calories are stored by your body instead of being burned for you daily activities. That means those 4 lbs you gained could be linked to the fact you're not eating enough.

    I strongly recommend you meet with a nutritionist so you could set up a meal plan with him/her. I also recommend you vary your workouts. Search for workouts on Youtube or Pinterest. Body weight routines, yoga, pilates and HIIT. Again, balance is crucial.

    Good luck!
  • NikiChicken
    NikiChicken Posts: 576 Member
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    blankiefinder wrote: »
    lattequeen2 wrote: »
    I have a cognative disability so I read and understand things differently
    I do not need medical or even psychiatric help.

    also I where can I see my calories that I have burned

    Iam new here please be patient with me

    It wasn't me that posted that, but I believe it was in reference to you possibly having an eating disorder, not to your intelligence or anything like that.

    It is obviously unhealthy to eat so little. The minimum MFP will allow is 1200 calories NET. Your net calories would be your total calories eaten for the day minus your exercise calories. However, I find it difficult to believe you are living off 500 calories per day, and burning 700. My personal opinion is that your numbers are way off, so it is pointless to speculate what is going on.

    Here is my standard advice to anyone new.

    Buy a food scale, weigh and log everything.

    Do cardio if you want, and if you do, only eat back 50% of your calories. Lift weights and hit your protein goal to help maintain muscle mass while losing.

    Cheat meals that take you over maintenance will sabotage your efforts. Log the cheat meals too (falls under the 'log everything' rule).

    Eat anything you want in moderation, keeping in mind that your diet will be easier to stick with if you chose foods that make it easier to stay under your calories without feeling hungry.

    Also it would be a good idea to read some of the stickies at the top of the various forums such as:
    Calorie Counting 101
    Logging Accuracy, Consistency, & You're Probably Eating More Than You Think
    A Guide To Get You Started on Your Path To Sexy Pants

    To answer your question about how you see your exercise calories, you need to log them, by clicking Home > Ad exercise

    This is all great advice.

    The comments directing you to psychiatric help were in response to your comments about eating only 500 calories a day and burning 700. That is not healthy and is within eating disorder territory and for that, if that is truly what you are doing and have been doing, psychiatric help would be advised.

    Log *everything* you eat and to accurately log, you need to weigh and measure *everything* that you eat.

    You do not need to eat anything special. Eat what you like and enjoy, just track it. ALL of it.

    Weight loss is not linear. You will see it go up and down over the course of time. If this is the first time you have gained in your 50-pound loss, I am extremely impressed and that is not "normal." Most of us, especially women, see a roller-coaster pattern on our weight loss graphs. Everything from sodium, menstrual cycles, amount of exercise, water retention and pee and poop in our systems will affect the number on the scale. Keep that in mind every time you step on the scale and take the number on the scale with a grain of salt. Nobody has a single one weight - they have a weight range depending on all of the factors I already listed, plus more.

    In short: Weigh, measure and log everything you eat; eat a minimum of 1200 calories per day; eat what you like and enjoy within your caloric goals; exercise for health, not weight loss (weight loss happens in the kitchen, getting fit happens in the gym); click on and read the links listed elsewhere in the responses above; and, finally, be patient because the scale will not always reflect what you think it should.
  • lattequeen2
    lattequeen2 Posts: 59 Member
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    I have figured it all out
    thanks for all your help
    I am trying to eat more now getting to 1200 cal is not as easy as it sounds
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    lattequeen2 wrote: »
    I have figured it all out
    thanks for all your help
    I am trying to eat more now getting to 1200 cal is not as easy as it sounds

    Sure it is. I do it every day.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    edited April 2015
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    maidentl wrote: »
    lattequeen2 wrote: »
    I have figured it all out
    thanks for all your help
    I am trying to eat more now getting to 1200 cal is not as easy as it sounds

    Sure it is. I do it every day.

    Anyone who has weight to lose, shouldn't have a problem eating 1200 calories. :)
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    lattequeen2 wrote: »
    I have figured it all out
    thanks for all your help
    I am trying to eat more now getting to 1200 cal is not as easy as it sounds

    Yes it is as long as you don't fall into the "bad food vs Good food" trap...there is no such thing.

    Look at my diary...I eat all the food and still lose...
  • astralpictures
    astralpictures Posts: 218 Member
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    lattequeen2 wrote: »
    I have a cognative disability so I read and understand things differently
    I do not need medical or even psychiatric help.

    also I where can I see my calories that I have burned

    Iam new here please be patient with me


    I posted that because if you are truly eating 500 calories and burning 700 calories extra through exercise, then there is a strong indication of anorexia or potential anorexia (severe under-eating and over-exercising with worry about weight gain) and you should be evaluated. I mentioned psychiatric evaluation because there is a psychological component of it, and medical because eating that few calories long term is terribly unhealthy and can lead to serious complications. We respond to these types of posts because it's worrisome. Most people shouldn't have to try hard to eat 1200 calories, and you should probably be eating even more than that if you check out something like the Scooby calculator. But also like I said, it's probably unlikely that you are netting -200 calories a day long term, because your weight loss would have been much higher.
  • astralpictures
    astralpictures Posts: 218 Member
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    melduf wrote: »
    Eating below 1200 calories a day will slow your metabolism, meaning it will burn less to fuel your daily activities. On days you will eat more, that means all the "extra" calories are stored by your body instead of being burned for you daily activities. That means those 4 lbs you gained could be linked to the fact you're not eating enough.

    While your metabolism will slow, it won't slow down so drastically to match eating under 1200 calories. Your heart still needs to beat, along with every other bodily function that is carried out under your BMR. You don't gain weight because you're not eating enough. If that were true, people wouldn't be dying of starvation. If you significantly under eat, your body still gets the calories it needs for meeting your TDEE by literally eating itself. It won't slow down your metabolism to 500 calories and add fat to protect itself like some people think. If your TDEE is 2000 and you eat 500 calories, your body will still have 2000 calories worth of fuel by converting fat and some muscle into the remaining 1500 it needs. On days when you eat more, you will still need to eat more than the TDEE to have a surplus, and it won't likely be 4 lbs or 14,000 calories worth (unless she has been eating well above TDEE for a couple weeks).

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