Calorie Goal

McKittyJane

Hi! I'm lost about calorie goal...
My stats are correct in MFP, and my goal is set at -1.5 lb/week with lightly active level.
MFP says my calorie goal is 1,520 (female, 5'8, 165-170).
This is supposedly a deficit, but if I ate 1500 cal every day I would GAIN weight.
I shoot for around 1000 calories a day instead.
Keeping that up steadily, i lost 5lb in 3 weeks. I eat fresh and healthy as much as possible, and work out (mostly weights, and some cardio-usually walking or running) when I can.
So does the MFP calorie goal not work for me because of metabolism/body type etc?
Just wondering what y'all might think

jemhh

McKittyJane wrote: »

Hi! I'm lost about calorie goal...
My stats are correct in MFP, and my goal is set at -1.5 lb/week with lightly active level.
MFP says my calorie goal is 1,520 (female, 5'8, 165-170).
This is supposedly a deficit, but if I ate 1500 cal every day I would GAIN weight.
I shoot for around 1000 calories a day instead.
Keeping that up steadily, i lost 5lb in 3 weeks. I eat fresh and healthy as much as possible, and work out (mostly weights, and some cardio-usually walking or running) when I can.
So does the MFP calorie goal not work for me because of metabolism/body type etc?
Just wondering what y'all might think

Unless you have a medical condition affecting weight loss, there's no way you'd gain eating 1500 calories. If you have in the past, it's because you weren't counting calories accurately.

shadow2soul

jemhh wrote: »

McKittyJane wrote: »

Hi! I'm lost about calorie goal...
My stats are correct in MFP, and my goal is set at -1.5 lb/week with lightly active level.
MFP says my calorie goal is 1,520 (female, 5'8, 165-170).
This is supposedly a deficit, but if I ate 1500 cal every day I would GAIN weight.
I shoot for around 1000 calories a day instead.
Keeping that up steadily, i lost 5lb in 3 weeks. I eat fresh and healthy as much as possible, and work out (mostly weights, and some cardio-usually walking or running) when I can.
So does the MFP calorie goal not work for me because of metabolism/body type etc?
Just wondering what y'all might think

Unless you have a medical condition affecting weight loss, there's no way you'd gain eating 1500 calories. If you have in the past, it's because you weren't counting calories accurately.

^agreed

If you really think you would gain on that you should see a doctor.


So you think your eating 1000 calories a day (my guess is your eating more...I'll share a video in a few mins as for why)...even then the math doesn't add to you gaining at 1500.

3500 = 1 lb
5 lbs in 3 weeks = 1.6 lbs per week
1.6 lbs per week = 5,833 calorie deficit per week
5,833 cal deficit a week = 833 cal deficit per day

That means "IF" you are eating 1000 cals, your maintenance is 1833 calories per day. I suspect you are eating more than 1000 per day and as such your maintenance is actually higher than that.

shadow2soul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjKPIcI51lU

PaytraB

From your diary, it doesn't appear as if you weigh your food. There's a lot of generic amounts. It's possible that you are eating more than you think.
As a young 20-year old, it doesn't seem possible that you would gain on 1500 calories. Double check your food intake. MFP works.
A 1.5 lb/week goal may be a bit aggressive as well. If you are trying to lose 10-15 lbs, a 1 lb/week goal may be more sustainable.
Whatever you decide, 1000 calories per day is not enough.

hev481

Perhaps you are underestimating your calories! Are you weighing/measuring and tracking everything you eat?

shadow2soul

I think you should read this thread:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

Nerdycurls

I second the weighing food and accurately keeping track of portions. My food scale was really a godsend for me and it opened my eyes to food portions.

Also, it's not advisable for anyone to eat 1000 cals a day.

AmyRhubarb

I'm about your height, started near your weight, and I'm more than twice your age, and I dropped several sizes and down to 135-140lbs on 1800-2000 cals a day.

1000 cals a day is not healthy, nor is it sustainable. 5lbs lost in 3 weeks isn't either - it may have been an early loss with some water weight coming off, but losing that much at that rate isn't realistic. Most likely before long you'll find yourself overworked and under-fueled, with little to no energy for workouts or daily life, and a stall in weight loss.

Based on my own stats and comparing them to yours, 1520 is a reasonable goal and certainly has you at a deficit - and that's without exercise. If you're burning off more cals through workouts, you should be eating at least a portion of those cals back. Eating low and then burning more leaves you with a cavernous deficit, and that can lead to all sorts of problems in the long run.

You don't have a lot to lose - do it right, sustainably, so you can keep it off for good. Eat your calories, exercise, drink water, take rest days, get good sleep, and have patience. You may not lose 5lbs every 3 weeks, but you will lose the weight, and it's totally worth it.

McKittyJane

I do measure my food very carefully.

Also I'm not extremely strict or committed to losing 1.5 lb per week; I take it as it comes. I would like to lose weight, but I dont expect it to be a constant rate because i understand thats not exactly how loss works.

Also if My maintenance cal is over 1800, i still feel like that would be too much; if I eat 1800 or even 15-1600 a day I feel like I've overeaten and yucky.

shadow2soul

McKittyJane wrote: »

Also if My maintenance cal is over 1800, i still feel like that would be too much; if I eat 1800 or even 15-1600 a day I feel like I've overeaten and yucky.

That sounds more mental than anything. Have you struggled with food issues in the past?

And do you measure with cups or weigh food on a scale? Measuring foods with cups/spoons is not actually all that accurate.

Your using "Homemade" entries which can be highly inaccurate (which is why I recommend reading the thread I linked to above).

rankinsect

McKittyJane wrote: »

This is supposedly a deficit, but if I ate 1500 cal every day I would GAIN weight.
I shoot for around 1000 calories a day instead.

1500 calories per day is roughly what a 7 year old girl eats. 1000 calories is about the typical intake for a two year old girl. Even if you were totally sedentary, you burn more calories than either of those.

McKittyJane

My homemade recipes are only when ive measured everything and i know it is always the same.

I use a mix of weight and cups.

As far as issues with food... I gained weight much too quickly around adolescent/ early middle school, a little while after that i couldnt eat anything fried at all or id be sick, then i got several inches talker without gaining much weight, so i seemed thinner. Then its just been a few years of being lazy and eating more for convenience than health that caused me to pick up extra weight that im trying to get rid of now.

Also, you have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight, so shouldnt i eat only what i can burn? When i do workout its high effort, but more often than not i am too busy to squeeze in a whole lot of physical activity, so i try to only eat what i need.

McKittyJane

Side note...
Sorry if it seems like im trying to oppose everything yall say... I really appreciate all of your tips n comments! I usually process new facts by thinking of other sides to the point, haha

Alatariel75

McKittyJane wrote: »

My homemade recipes are only when ive measured everything and i know it is always the same.

I use a mix of weight and cups.

As far as issues with food... I gained weight much too quickly around adolescent/ early middle school, a little while after that i couldnt eat anything fried at all or id be sick, then i got several inches talker without gaining much weight, so i seemed thinner. Then its just been a few years of being lazy and eating more for convenience than health that caused me to pick up extra weight that im trying to get rid of now.

Also, you have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight, so shouldnt i eat only what i can burn? When i do workout its high effort, but more often than not i am too busy to squeeze in a whole lot of physical activity, so i try to only eat what i need.

You know you burn a great deal of calories merely existing, right? It's not just when you exercise. At 5'4, 179lbs as a 36 year old female, I would burn over 1500 a day if I was in a coma....

AmyRhubarb

McKittyJane wrote: »

Also, you have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight, so shouldnt i eat only what i can burn? When i do workout its high effort, but more often than not i am too busy to squeeze in a whole lot of physical activity, so i try to only eat what i need.

yes, a deficit means consuming fewer cals than you burn and you lose weight, but that doesn't mean cals burned through just exercise, but cals your body burns ALL DAY - sleeping, walking, working, doing chores, shopping, etc. Your body is burning more than 1000 cals a day even if you never get off the couch.

I eat 1800-2000 cals a day, and my exercise burns are roughly 250-500 a day - and I lose weight, because I'm burning more than 2100 cals a day just living and exercising.

McKittyJane

Yes, i know exercise isnt the o ky thing that burns cals. Thats what i meant by trying to only eat what i need

McKittyJane

Only**

Alatariel75

McKittyJane wrote: »

Yes, i know exercise isnt the o ky thing that burns cals. Thats what i meant by trying to only eat what i need

I think the disconnect is between what you think you need, and what you actually need.

AmyRhubarb

McKittyJane wrote: »

Yes, i know exercise isnt the o ky thing that burns cals. Thats what i meant by trying to only eat what i need

Gotcha. Just a common misconception around here that we only burn cals when we exercise, and some users mistakenly try to eat less than that.

As far as eating only what you need, I'm willing to bet you need more than 1000 a day. My goal is to eat as many cals as I can and still lose weight, not the bare minimum. Food is fuel! And it makes life much more enjoyable, and keeping weight off much more sustainable.

shadow2soul

McKittyJane wrote: »

My homemade recipes are only when ive measured everything and i know it is always the same.

I use a mix of weight and cups.

As far as issues with food... I gained weight much too quickly around adolescent/ early middle school, a little while after that i couldnt eat anything fried at all or id be sick, then i got several inches talker without gaining much weight, so i seemed thinner. Then its just been a few years of being lazy and eating more for convenience than health that caused me to pick up extra weight that im trying to get rid of now.

Also, you have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight, so shouldnt i eat only what i can burn? When i do workout its high effort, but more often than not i am too busy to squeeze in a whole lot of physical activity, so i try to only eat what i need.

I'm not talking about the recipes. I saw a few "homemade " things that were pulled from the database.

example: " Homemade - Seasoned Broiled Potatoes, 1/2 cup cooked "
"Generic - Baked Carrots, 0.5 cup "

^ Stuff like that pulled from the database can be highly inaccurate.