Scared to eat so many calories on IIFYM! HELP!

Graciefab

Hi, I recently had my macros done professionally by someone who runs an Iifym group for women on Facebook. Sooo many people say they've gotten numbers from her and had success! I'm just terrified to eat so many calories. It's so counterintuitive to what I've been taught. I tried eating her macros yesterday and am up .4 lbs! Not sure tho it you've experienced daily weight fluctuations. Looking for insight and support.
My stats:
27 yrs old
Female
253 lbs
46.9% body fat
Sedentary job
Workout moderately hard 4x a week for 60 min doing circuit training
5'4"
She gave me the following stats:
2200 calories
220 carb
150 protein
80 fat

She says just keep at it and it will work. Please let me know your insight and experience and feel free to friend me on here to support one another!

Thanks!

pcpop7

I put your stats into Scooby

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

And it is coming out about the same 2,200 for sedentary. If you add in moderate activity at scoobies it comes in around 2900. So I think her numbers come in roughly correct for a steady loss. Remember though to maintain that deficit as you lose will require revision of the numbers as you get smaller and similarly as you increase the intensity of your training, etc..

good luck

Graciefab

pcpop7 wrote: »

I put your stats into Scooby

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

And it is coming out about the same 2,200 for sedentary. If you add in moderate activity at scoobies it comes in around 2900. So I think her numbers come in roughly correct for a steady loss. Remember though to maintain that deficit as you lose will require revision of the numbers as you get smaller and similarly as you increase the intensity of your training, etc..

good luck

Thank you!!!! Ahh it's so scary!

pcpop7

Yes, yes it is scary, but don't look on these numbers as being in stone, you are experimenting on you and you are going to revise all these numbers after a month or so. So if it does not work, so what. You can change the numbers based on what the reality is.

singletrackmtbr

How does this intake compare to your energy expenditure? At the end, it will still come down to calories in vs. calories out. The great thing about counting macros is it usually results in you making better choices within your caloric intake. For most this means more protein, which will help you feel fuller longer. Maintaining a certain amount of carbs and fat will help give you energy for workouts (and your life in general).

I say stick with it. 2200 calories isn't as much as you think (My baseline is 2000 for maintenance, and I weigh 163#). If you want a sustainable plan, you can't go through the day hungry. If you do, you won't have gas in the tank for exercise, and you will eventually fall off the plan.

I am a big proponent of weighing yourself every day. I find it makes it much easier to track true changes. That said, you should realize NO SINGLE WEIGHT by itself means anything. There is plenty of information on these forums about all the things that can cause weight fluctuations on any given day. You should only make changes to your plan based upon trends, which are difficult to see when only weighing weekly.

Good luck, and be patient!

MamaFunky

I know a lot of people have more knowledge than me on this subject, but that sounds right to me too. What this does is set you up to lose weight gradually and be able to maintain your weight loss once you switch to maintenance. Eating the proper amount of calories will also give you the energy you need for your workouts. Try it for a few weeks and adjust if necessary. Also, make sure you are using a food scale to ensure accuracy.

shadow2soul

Fluctuations between day to day weigh-in's are completely normal. When you increase food intake you might see some temporary gain from the additional food in your body, increased sodium, and a bit of water weight at first. It should go away within a week or two. If your getting close to your TOM that can also cause the scale to go up a bit.

I averaged 1800-2000 calories per day for most of my weight loss (at least for the part I was tracking on MFP) and even now with a trend weight of 121.7 lbs that range would have me losing weight. I'm 5'4.5" and a stay-at-home-mom. I typically aim to get at least 10k steps a day with 12k + being my ultimate goal. My workout routine has varied a bit as I lost weight, but currently I'm doing Strong Curves Booty-Ful Beginnings 4 days a week and adding in cardio where I can. I actually switched to recomp when I started Strong Curves. I've been averaging approximately 2100-2300 for maintenance calories since I switched.

lemurcat12

What were you eating before and what were you losing?

I looked at the Katch McArdle calculator, since you know your body fat (although body fat estimates are often off). That gives me a TDEE of 2320 for lightly active (1850 for a 20% deficit) and 2615 for moderate (2100 for a 20% deficit). Your activity sounds like moderate, but it's hard to judge how many calories are burnt in circuit training as it's so variable.

2200 seems high to me for someone 5'4, but you really have to go with results.

In any case, I would absolutely not worry about fluctuations. They are normal.

Graciefab

lemurcat12 wrote: »

What were you eating before and what were you losing?

I looked at the Katch McArdle calculator, since you know your body fat (although body fat estimates are often off). That gives me a TDEE of 2320 for lightly active (1850 for a 20% deficit) and 2615 for moderate (2100 for a 20% deficit). Your activity sounds like moderate, but it's hard to judge how many calories are burnt in circuit training as it's so variable.

2200 seems high to me for someone 5'4, but you really have to go with results.

In any case, I would absolutely not worry about fluctuations. They are normal.

I did my numbers on a few calculators and decided to stick with 2000 calories, 1800ish on days I don't work out and up to 2000 when I do. Sticking with same protein and fat but lowering carbs.

singletrackmtbr

Gracie, I'm no expert and won't pretend to be, but I think you should be more patient and trust the professional, at least for a little while.

If the one scale reading you took less than 24 hours after you changed your diet showed you LOST. 4 pounds, would you still be decreasing your calorie intake by 200-400?

You have to do what works for you, obviously. But if you respond to every scale reading with such a big change I'm worried you're going to be frustrated very quickly. Any change you make won't make a difference for days or weeks, so if you make a lot of changes it will be difficult to see what works and what doesn't.

Good luck, anyway!

quiksylver296

MamaFunky wrote: »

I know a lot of people have more knowledge than me on this subject, but that sounds right to me too. What this does is set you up to lose weight gradually and be able to maintain your weight loss once you switch to maintenance. Eating the proper amount of calories will also give you the energy you need for your workouts. Try it for a few weeks and adjust if necessary. Also, make sure you are using a food scale to ensure accuracy.

All of this. Good luck, OP!

canadianmom1975

Ian assuming you hot them from jessica or her partner..thise are good number...trust the process and you need to give your body 6 to 8 weeks to adjust..and drink alot of water...i found when i start changing my diet with anything..my weight at first is screwed up and then woosh its gone lol. .log your weight and if it trends down relax. When you lose weight slowly and make small calorie adjustments your body doesnt crave as much...make sure you adjust every so often as you lose weight