Recalculating Calorie Intake

jljshoe1979

Over a month ago, I hit the 10 lbs lost mini-goal. I took a month off from being "strict" on eating and didn't workout as much. Last week, I started back in with exercise, and I keep my calories averaging 1200/day right now. At the 10 lb loss mark, MFP recommended I reset my goals or TDEE or something like that. I didn't do it because what I had been doing was working for me. I am wondering now if I should recalculate things because for the last week I have been exceptionally hungry. Hunger always happens when I first change the type of workout I'm doing or get more intense. I also gain weight the first week or so when I change too, so neither of these things normally bother me. However, the hunger I am having is crazy, and I am craving junk food like mad...my husband even asked me if something was wrong because I only do that during my TOM (sorry guys). I cut myself a lot of slack, and I don't expect to lose a lot of weight quickly. I have gained ~3 lbs back (no problem though, that's normal and should fall right off sometime next week). I'm wondering now though, if I should have done what MFP suggested to do or should I wait it out and see if these crazy cravings and insane hunger goes away? How long would you wait it out for?

Purplebunnysarah

It makes sense to adjust as you go, and if you're mega-hungry or having a ton of cravings that aren't just junk food withdrawal, it couldn't hurt to add one small healthy snack to see if that helps settle things down. Depending on the type of workouts you're doing, you may just need to fuel your body that much more. I know I can't get by on 1200 calories unless I eat back all my exercise.

PunkinSpice79

I think you need to recalculate too.

watfordjc

Your body is not the same as it was. Those 10 pounds will likely have lowered your calorie expenditure (both when resting and exercising). I get MFP to do the recalculations every week so the changes in my calorie needs are smaller jumps (e.g. Friday my calorie goal with a 750 calorie deficit went from 1,480 kcal/day to 1,470 kcal/day).

It's also worth looking at your goals every 10 pounds because as you lose weight, it is generally good practice to reduce your deficit. MFP's weekly loss goal options are a bit lacking for me so I re-evaluate my deficit goal every 25 pounds, currently aiming for 1.5-2.0 pounds/week which is about 1% of my weight on average but allows me to eat more on super-hungry days (and when I hit 175 pounds that goal will be 1.25-1.75 pounds/week).

Of course, I'm making assumptions here. Chances are if you recalculate your goals and don't change your activity level or weekly loss goal the difference won't be that much (my guess is about 50-100 calories less per day but if MFP has set you at 1,200 calories/day there probably won't be any change).

jljshoe1979

Your body is not the same as it was. Those 10 pounds will likely have lowered your calorie expenditure (both when resting and exercising). I get MFP to do the recalculations every week so the changes in my calorie needs are smaller jumps (e.g. Friday my calorie goal with a 750 calorie deficit went from 1,480 kcal/day to 1,470 kcal/day).

It's also worth looking at your goals every 10 pounds because as you lose weight, it is generally good practice to reduce your deficit. MFP's weekly loss goal options are a bit lacking for me so I re-evaluate my deficit goal every 25 pounds, currently aiming for 1.5-2.0 pounds/week which is about 1% of my weight on average but allows me to eat more on super-hungry days (and when I hit 175 pounds that goal will be 1.25-1.75 pounds/week).

Of course, I'm making assumptions here. Chances are if you recalculate your goals and don't change your activity level or weekly loss goal the difference won't be that much (my guess is about 50-100 calories less per day but if MFP has set you at 1,200 calories/day there probably won't be any change).

That was what I was thinking too when MFP suggested changing it. I wasn't going to drop below a 1200 cal intake (and with less weight, but activity staying the same wouldn't MFP just leave it at 1200 cals, since it's not really safe to go lower?)

ladynocturne

Your body is not the same as it was. Those 10 pounds will likely have lowered your calorie expenditure (both when resting and exercising). I get MFP to do the recalculations every week so the changes in my calorie needs are smaller jumps (e.g. Friday my calorie goal with a 750 calorie deficit went from 1,480 kcal/day to 1,470 kcal/day).

It's also worth looking at your goals every 10 pounds because as you lose weight, it is generally good practice to reduce your deficit. MFP's weekly loss goal options are a bit lacking for me so I re-evaluate my deficit goal every 25 pounds, currently aiming for 1.5-2.0 pounds/week which is about 1% of my weight on average but allows me to eat more on super-hungry days (and when I hit 175 pounds that goal will be 1.25-1.75 pounds/week).

Of course, I'm making assumptions here. Chances are if you recalculate your goals and don't change your activity level or weekly loss goal the difference won't be that much (my guess is about 50-100 calories less per day but if MFP has set you at 1,200 calories/day there probably won't be any change).

That was what I was thinking too when MFP suggested changing it. I wasn't going to drop below a 1200 cal intake (and with less weight, but activity staying the same wouldn't MFP just leave it at 1200 cals, since it's not really safe to go lower?)

Basically, as you lose weight, you won't have the ability to maintain the same exact caloric deficit to continue to lose weight as quickly, this is completely normal. Make sure you're eating at least 1200 calories + exercise calories. It's very important to fuel your body so it can run properly and not use a lot of your lean muscle mass.

I know full and well that in a few months I will be losing half a pound a week at the most to get down to where I want, that is why people say the last 5 to 10 lbs are the hardest, because they truly come off slow.

ForMyAngelBaby

I don't go by MFP numbers - instead I go off my BMR (fat2fitratio.com). I base my calorie intake off my BMR and it really helps with curbing the hunger and cravings because I can eat a little more liberally.

jljshoe1979

Update (and more questions now): I kinda decided to go back and recalculate my goals. I looked at my BMR (on MFP) and it says 1379 cals/day (last time I checked it was over 1400, which makes sense).

If I reset my goals is that going to change my personalized ticker showing weight loss since I started on MFP? I know it sounds stupid, but I like watching my little character moving from where I was at to where I am going...it would bum me out if it started back over too.

Plus, I just don't think that MFP is going to up my calorie intake from 1200 cals - my current stats/goals is to lose 1 lb/week, and for the next one-two months I only plan on working out every other day (3-4 times per week) at 50-60 minutes per day. Unless I misunderstand how the BMR is calculated that puts me at roughly a 379 calorie deficit per day (not including doing things like housework and yardwork, which also burns I'm hoping an additional 121 calorie average/day...for a grand total of a 500 calorie average/day deficit = 3500 calorie deficit/week or 1 lb of weight loss. At the end of two months (or if I decide to add a significant amount of extra activity), I should have lost 8-10 more pounds and be ready to reevaluate my next strategy for losing the last 10-12 lbs, right? Can someone double check my thinking/strategy here?

jljshoe1979

Additional Update: Those crazy cravings have gone away, and I did drop 2.2 lbs of the 3 lbs gained (literally overnight). Funny too, the last thing I was kinda craving/hungry for was actually Salmon (not junk food)...I cooked some the night I originally posted this topic and ever since then I haven't craved junky food or been extremely hungry.

jljshoe1979

bump- trying to get answers to the "update questions"

jljshoe1979

bump

jljshoe1979

bump - last time I'm going to bump...hopefully, I'll get some answers to the questions in my update...thanks in advance for any help!!

Francl27

Ok first - the goal MFP gives you is without exercise. If you work out, you're supposed to eat more.

Second - it won't affect your ticker to update anything. Well, it will just show the weight loss as you update your loss/gain.

Third - BMR is what you need to eat as a minimum every day. It's what your body needs to survive, without counting activity. When you factor in activity, it gives you your TDEE, which varies every day obviously, depending on how active you are. Typically a good calorie goal to lose 20 lbs or more is TDEE - 15%, but you got to factor in your exercise too (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ is a great site for that). But you got to try and eat your BMR every day at least. If you eat 360 under your BMR, it's not good at all, and you're more likely to burn muscle as well as fat.