Do I really need all this food?

joeywreck

Thanks guys. After a week I haven't gained or lost so far (well I gained and lost two lbs it looks like so it's just no big deal to me) so I hope it keeps working! It feels weird not paying attention to steps. I feel like the only way to know if I have a deficit is to guess (today for example I walked more than usual cause I was at school and had to park further than usual and walked two miles total, and I have no idea if that gave me even an extra 100 calories to eat today or what).. So I guess I'll just keep with 2,000 or 2,100 if I feel hungry. I'm back to eating breakfast cause it's hard to fit a lot of food with just lunch and dinner and snacking when i don't have the appetite for a lot of food in the first place.

MissJay75

Thanks for the update, sounds like 2000 calories is about right for you. If you find it hard to fit that in, just eat foods that are more calories dense, so you don't have to eat more volume. For example you can dip your apples in peanut butter. Add some cheese to your salad or sandwich. Switch to full fat milk/yogurt/mayo/sour cream. Have a second handful of nuts for snack. Have a glass of juice with lunch, or wine with dinner.

I am 5'7 40 y/o female who maintains on an average of 2000 calories a day. Most days, I want to eat more. Lots more. Remember, food is fuel, but it should be enjoyed.

joeywreck

An update: I've been stuck at around 134.6 to 134.8 for days and I actually didnt like it so I went back to 1500 calories a day. Now I'm at 131.4.. So yeah I'm not sure what to do. When I was eating 2,000 sometimes I'd see 137 on the scale and it just really bugged me. I also am bothered that the steps I walk don't count anymore which isn't very motivating. I walked 10 miles yesterday and if I followed 2000 calories the 869 calories I lost from the walking would've meant nothing. I'm going to try to move up from 1500-1600 to at least 1700 and see how that works out. But I'm very cautious.

ChrisM8971

Maintenance will generally be in a range of +/- say 5 lbs so the scale is going to move around a bit in any case. You will also gain a little when moving from a deficit to maintenance due to your glycogen stores replenish. If your weight was consistently creeping up every week, but if you were bouncing around then you were maintaining. And what happens if it did go up a bit, could you not lose it again just as easily. A fear of gaining can be an unhealthy out look on things as well

rileysowner

Putting in the numbers I can find for you age, height, weight, and sex your BMR is about 1560. Working from that the following are the various numbers based on possible activity levels:

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1872
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2145
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2418
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2691
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2964

So 2100 does not sound out of line in any way.

You would probably be more wise selecting a weight range (say 130 to 140 pounds) and as long as you remain in it you should consider yourself doing fine. 4-6 pound weigh variations that have nothing to do with increased fat stores but coming from undigested food, water retention, or other factors like that. I found your last post unclear, were you staying at 134.6 to 134.8 or did you go up to 137, or was the 137 just an individual weight point perhaps on a day where you were retaining water or it was taking a while for your food to move through your digestive track.

enterdanger

Eat the 2100. Enjoy it. Heck, drink a beer or two if you like. Don't worry about anything less than a consistent 5lb gain. Seriously, water weight happens to everyone. You re active. Trust MFP.

joeywreck

rileysowner wrote: »

I found your last post unclear, were you staying at 134.6 to 134.8 or did you go up to 137, or was the 137 just an individual weight point perhaps on a day where you were retaining water or it was taking a while for your food to move through your digestive track.

That was just a specific day when my food was probably just digesting, but it's a number I haven't seen on the scale In a long time so it shocked me.

Some have said I should have a pretty big range of a weight goal. The thought of going from having a range of 133-140 seems really shocking to me. I can now wear a size small and I like the way clothes fit and look on me and I don't want that to change. I can see the difference in being 140 and 133, my clothes fit better when I'm 133-135. I guess I was just really worried because my weight wasn't changing, no matter what and I felt I gained weight. I drink a lot of water on high sodium days because I've heard about water weight, I've blamed my scale, I blamed the one day I drank some alcohol even.. I might've overreacted. So far today I ate 600 calories or so, and I can't help but think how much I should eat for the rest of today and the week.

arditarose

We have about the same stats, except I'm female. My TDEE is a little lower...I can't imagine not wanting to eat at least 2000 calories.

BigGuy47

joeywreck wrote: »

Some have said I should have a pretty big range of a weight goal. The thought of going from having a range of 133-140 seems really shocking to me.

From a hypothetical base weight of 137lbs. that's only a 3 - 4 lb swing in either direction. That's a fairly typical range for normal fluctuations. The weight chart for MFP is somewhat limited. You can learn a lot about normal fluctuations from using a weight tracker that tracks trends and adjusts for fluctuations.

https://trendweight.com/

tracoleman99

Weight training is super important to keeping the weight off. It will help you have a better physique and make you feel better about how you look and feel. It's not the number on the scale that counts. I weigh 148 and am skinnier than I have ever been in my life, even though I weighed 140 when I got married. My body fat hovers at 20%.
There are some really good tips on BodyBuilding.com for beginning lifting. You don't have to spend a million hours at the gym lifting weights to see results. I lift from 30 - 60 minutes per day, about 4 days per week. That's probably a lot less time than walking 7 miles per day.

kellyjellybellyjelly

arditarose wrote: »

We have about the same stats, except I'm female. My TDEE is a little lower...I can't imagine not wanting to eat at least 2000 calories.

Neither could I.

nxd10

I used to log steps with a fitbit, and now with an apple watch. I set myself at sedentary and eat back any I'm hungry for and have maintained fine. I typically walk 5 miles/day. With that much walking you aren't lightly active. You're earning hundreds of extra calories. If you're comfortable, fine. But it may be you're not logging accurately.