Calories in order to lose weight

ArielSimon

I've started back working out and eating healthy about 3 weeks ago. I need help to figure out if I'm eating the right amount of calories needed to lose weight. I've been trying to stick with eating 1200 calories, at the suggestion of MFP. However, when I weighed in last night and saw that there wasn't much progress, I began to wander if I've been taking in enough food.

A few different sites suggested I eat around 1300 calories. Is that correct? I'm 5'5, 169lbs, and hoping to shed between 30-40lbs and tone up. Also, should I be eating back exercise calories?

fr33sia12

Firstly are you weighing food, as I see from your diary you log "1 large banana" and "1 medium apple" not knowing the weight, how do you know the exact calories.
Secondly are you logging everything everyday, including exercise?
Thirdly not eating enough food doesn't stop weight loss. Eating too much food (calories) stops weight loss if there's no deficit.
Forth how much weight have you lost? When you say not much progress, have you lost any pounds at all? It could be that you're losing slower than you want to, but are still losing which is good.

Queenmunchy

You also have grapes in fluid ounces - how did you do that?! Check your accuracy on your entries AND weigh everything. You will see progress.

vczK2t

if you put in how active you are and how often you exercise in a week into MFP, it will give you a daily calorie goal. i SERIOUSLY doubt that MFP is saying 1200 calories/day with moderate exercise, then something is screwed up. you should be eating MORE calories on the days you exercise to make up for the fat you are losing.

ArielSimon

&fr33sia12: I do weigh and measure my food, although, I didn't always get the exact ounces of certain fruits (mainly just bananas and apples). I try and log everything in everyday. As far as progress, I was 169 last night but 168 this morning (I weighed again in the morning to see if there would be a difference), so I've lost a pound or two.

janejellyroll

ArielSimon wrote: »

&fr33sia12: I do weigh and measure my food, although, I didn't always get the exact ounces of certain fruits (mainly just bananas and apples). I try and log everything in everyday. As far as progress, I was 169 last night but 168 this morning (I weighed again in the morning to see if there would be a difference), so I've lost a pound or two.

If you are weighing your food, log it by weight. This will help you understand how much you're actually eating.

ArielSimon

@Queenmuchy: I know that the measurement of the grapes is correct, as I use a food scale but I guess I just assumed "fluid ounces" would give me the accurate number of calories.

ArielSimon

@vczK2t: It said to eat 1200 net calories, but I guess I was just confused on whether I should eat back my exercise calories or not. I'm paranoid about putting on weight.

shadow2soul

100 cal Almond snack pack <- Did you weigh it? I've had those before and when weighed out would end up with more than 100 calories worth of almonds.

Homemade entries <- Avoid using these from the database. You don't know what ingredients were used or how much of each ingredients. These entries are very inaccurate since you don't know how the person who created the entry came up with the information. If you make something homemade, use the recipe builder.

TeaBea

ArielSimon wrote: »

@vczK2t: It said to eat 1200 net calories, but I guess I was just confused on whether I should eat back my exercise calories or not. I'm paranoid about putting on weight.

MFP is designed for you to eat them back because they gave you a deficit BEFORE exercise. However, be aware that calorie burns are estimates. Eat back a percentage (50-75%) and adjust as needed. Losing quickly = eat more. Losing slower (or feeling drained) = eat more.

lynn_glenmont

ArielSimon wrote: »

@Queenmuchy: I know that the measurement of the grapes is correct, as I use a food scale but I guess I just assumed "fluid ounces" would give me the accurate number of calories.

Fluid ounces are a measure of volume. A scale provides weight measurements. You cannot convert between volume and weight measurements without knowing the specific gravity (density relative to water) of the thing that you're measuring.

You need to be sure that you are using accurate database entries that reflect the manner in which you are measuring your food.

ArielSimon

@shadow2soul: No, I don't usually weigh the snack packs. As far as using "Homemade", sometimes I use those entries b/c the restaurant that I've eaten from isn't found or their nutrition info isn't able to be found. What do you do in those instances?

MommyMeggo

ArielSimon wrote: »

@shadow2soul: No, I don't usually weigh the snack packs. As far as using "Homemade", sometimes I use those entries b/c the restaurant that I've eaten from isn't found or their nutrition info isn't able to be found. What do you do in those instances?

Find a comparable dish from a comparable restaurant in the database.
As a rule of thumb I over-estimate all my variable entries.