Am I overeating?
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catstratch
Posts: 18 Member
I'm 5'5 and 124 lb, f, 21 but this is the first time I've ever counted calorie.
Today I ate which is a normal amount for me (maybe on the lighter side), which came to 1750. MFP said I'll gain 1 lb in 5 weeks. Ok, not a lot but this is a lighter day (!!), am I steadily gaining? Should I decrease the amount I eat?
Today I ate which is a normal amount for me (maybe on the lighter side), which came to 1750. MFP said I'll gain 1 lb in 5 weeks. Ok, not a lot but this is a lighter day (!!), am I steadily gaining? Should I decrease the amount I eat?
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Replies
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-What setting did you put when you set up your account? "Sedentary"?
-Did you log exercise you did today?
-Are you using a digital scale to weigh your food to make sure you're logging accurately?2 -
Keep an eye on the scale and adjust accordingly. It will be a slow change, so you'll want to be diligent. However, don't let daily swings screw with your head. Record your weight once per week, and see where you stand in a month. With that slow of a gain, you'd obly need to either back down very slightly in kcal, or hell, just circle your car a few times in the morning before leaving. Heh.2
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In theory yes you will gain, if you ate the same food and exercised the same thing for five weeks you would gain that 1 pound in 5 weeks according to how you set MFP up..
You may want to recheck your activity level and make it sedentary and then eat back a portion of exercise calories or you can leave it as is and not eat back the exercise calories.
Will this be accurate for you? I have never tested it eating the exact same and exercising the exact same for 5 weeks to see if 100% fool proof.0 -
catstratch wrote: »I'm 5'5 and 124 lb, f, 21 but this is the first time I've ever counted calorie.
Today I ate which is a normal amount for me (maybe on the lighter side), which came to 1750. MFP said I'll gain 1 lb in 5 weeks. Ok, not a lot but this is a lighter day (!!), am I steadily gaining? Should I decrease the amount I eat?
You are on the lower end of a healthy weight range, so I'm confused as to why you've taken up counting calories and worried about gaining weight. It sounds to me like you've got it down as to how to maintain weight.
Since 1750 is not maintenance calories, I presume you are trying to lose weight?
The only time MFP says you will gain weight within a certain amount of time is if you eat over your calorie allotment for the day. That's only an estimate, though, and I can't imagine it saying you'd gain if you are eating 1750 .
No, you should not decrease the amount you eat. I recommend eating at maintenance, which would be more than 1750, and doing a progressive weight lifting program.1 -
catstratch wrote: »
You are on the lower end of a healthy weight range, so I'm confused as to why you've taken up counting calories and worried about gaining weight. It sounds to me like you've got it down as to how to maintain weight.
Since 1750 is not maintenance calories, I presume you are trying to lose weight?
The only time MFP says you will gain weight within a certain amount of time is if you eat over your calorie allotment for the day. That's only an estimate, though, and I can't imagine it saying you'd gain if you are eating 1750 .
No, you should not decrease the amount you eat. I recommend eating at maintenance, which would be more than 1750, and doing a progressive weight lifting program.
I'm very sedentary (study, rest, repeat) so my maintenance limit is 1610 cal. Over by 140 cal isn't much but as I said, this is a lighter eating day for me.
All the women in my family became overweight/obese after they reached adulthood. I myself gained 15 lbs last year (small frame), and stops doing sports to concentrate on studying, so I'm very worried about my health. I want to take good care of my body before anything bad happens!
Can you recommend any beginner weight program? Haven't exercise in a while so I feel quite inadequate
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I put your stats into this calculator. It says your maintenance calories are about 1600 calories per day if you are sedentary. Very few people are truly sedentary if they can walk under their own power. Most students walk to class. Most adults go grocery shopping and do laundry. Very likely, if you never consciously exercise, your maintenance calories (the amount you need to eat to neither gain nor lose weight) is probably 1700-1750.
There's other markers of health besides gaining weight. Make sure you have regular appointments with your doctor who can keep an eye on things like blood pressure, liver function, nutritional deficiencies and your lipid (cholesterol) numbers.0 -
WTH? seriously WHY are you counting calories? You are in healthy BMI range eight loss is not needed. Drop any weight and you move into unhealthy range.1
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I put your stats into this calculator. It says your maintenance calories are about 1600 calories per day if you are sedentary. Very few people are truly sedentary if they can walk under their own power. Most students walk to class. Most adults go grocery shopping and do laundry. Very likely, if you never consciously exercise, your maintenance calories (the amount you need to eat to neither gain nor lose weight) is probably 1700-1750.
There's other markers of health besides gaining weight. Make sure you have regular appointments with your doctor who can keep an eye on things like blood pressure, liver function, nutritional deficiencies and your lipid (cholesterol) numbers.
That is very helpful! I will continue to track my food while eating normally for about 2-3 weeks to see if I need to increase/decrease the count for maintenance. We don't have accessible healthcare where I live so I try to gather info to the best of my ability. Thank you!1 -
catstratch wrote: »I put your stats into this calculator. It says your maintenance calories are about 1600 calories per day if you are sedentary. Very few people are truly sedentary if they can walk under their own power. Most students walk to class. Most adults go grocery shopping and do laundry. Very likely, if you never consciously exercise, your maintenance calories (the amount you need to eat to neither gain nor lose weight) is probably 1700-1750.
There's other markers of health besides gaining weight. Make sure you have regular appointments with your doctor who can keep an eye on things like blood pressure, liver function, nutritional deficiencies and your lipid (cholesterol) numbers.
That is very helpful! I will continue to track my food while eating normally for about 2-3 weeks to see if I need to increase/decrease the count for maintenance. We don't have accessible healthcare where I live so I try to gather info to the best of my ability. Thank you!
given your stats, how much are you trying to lose?0 -
You are a healthy weight, not sure why you felt the need to start calorie counting when you obviously eat just fine as it is.
But in saying that, there's nothing wrong with being calorie aware.
1750 calories doesn't seem a lot for someone to maintain on so unless you are very sedentary I can't see that you would gain weight if you ate that amount. (I'm smaller than you and maintain on 2200-2300 calories).
Give it a few weeks and see how it goes, you can then decide if you need to adjust anything.0 -
WTH? seriously WHY are you counting calories? You are in healthy BMI range eight loss is not needed. Drop any weight and you move into unhealthy range.
Sorry for the confusion I'm not trying to lose weight at all! But there is a phenomenon with my family members in which they gain a lot of weight in the 20s. So I'm trying to be conscious of what I put in my body to make sure that doesn't happen! Prevention is the best medicine
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catstratch wrote: »WTH? seriously WHY are you counting calories? You are in healthy BMI range eight loss is not needed. Drop any weight and you move into unhealthy range.
Sorry for the confusion I'm not trying to lose weight at all! But there is a phenomenon with my family members in which they gain a lot of weight in the 20s. So I'm trying to be conscious of what I put in my body to make sure that doesn't happen! Prevention is the best medicine
You don't HAVE to be like your family. 99% of my family is obese, high BP, high cholesterol, diabetes, etc., etc. I think it's awesome you're trying to take control now.1 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »Keep an eye on the scale and adjust accordingly. It will be a slow change, so you'll want to be diligent. However, don't let daily swings screw with your head. Record your weight once per week, and see where you stand in a month. With that slow of a gain, you'd obly need to either back down very slightly in kcal, or hell, just circle your car a few times in the morning before leaving. Heh.
this
average weight progress over 6-8 weeks
try apps like Libra or sites like trendweight.com
ignore the 5 week projection on MFP it's senseless
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catstratch wrote: »WTH? seriously WHY are you counting calories? You are in healthy BMI range eight loss is not needed. Drop any weight and you move into unhealthy range.
Sorry for the confusion I'm not trying to lose weight at all! But there is a phenomenon with my family members in which they gain a lot of weight in the 20s. So I'm trying to be conscious of what I put in my body to make sure that doesn't happen! Prevention is the best medicine
This is not a genetic phenomenum
People in their 20s start to be more sedentary - get office jobs so are stuck at desks rather than walking around schools, drive rather than walk to places, or get public transport or taxis, socialise in bars and restaurants so eat higher calories, choose their own foods, be lazy, have more disposable income, do less structured sports
it's activity vs consumption that leads to the family trait
just be conscious and it won't happen to you2 -
catstratch wrote: »WTH? seriously WHY are you counting calories? You are in healthy BMI range eight loss is not needed. Drop any weight and you move into unhealthy range.
Sorry for the confusion I'm not trying to lose weight at all! But there is a phenomenon with my family members in which they gain a lot of weight in the 20s. So I'm trying to be conscious of what I put in my body to make sure that doesn't happen! Prevention is the best medicine
Sorry but that doesn't happen lol. It's good you're watching what you eat, but it's not a genetic thing.0
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