Please advise on wether I'm eating too much or too little!

bodie83carla

Hi guys

I've been using MFP since June and have lost 14lbs so far. However over the past two weeks I've hit a plateau. Weight is staying exactly the same.

MFP gives me 1220 calories a day, I usually do over 10,000 steps a day and my Fitbit is linked to MFP and I eat every extra calorie I'm given for the steps so that I net around 1200 each day (eat around 1500 calories and burn approx 300).

Because of the plateau I've calculated BMR and TDEE. BMR is 1238 and TDEE 1548.

So what do I eat to start losing again? If TDEE already takes into account activity (I put lightly active as I'm a teaching assistant and those steps mainly come from that) I need to eat less than 1548 to lose weight. But how much less?

Again, on a typical day I eat around 1500 (and burn 300 for net of 1200) on average.

Am I eating too much or too little? Think I'd strugggle eating any less!

I'm 32, female and 130lbs currently. Want to lose another 10lbs.

Thanks in advance!

psuLemon

In the end, these are all estimates, even with a fitbit. I would eat the same amount of calories daily for 3-6 weeks and adjust based on actual results. But I somehow down a teacher would only have a TDEE of 1500.

ETA: Do you log daily and do you use a food scale?

Vegplotter

Dieting reduces your metabolism. So it is highly likely that you've reached your maintenance calories. If you read the message board you will discover that most successful dieters don't eat back exercise calories.
What makes you think you can't go lower than 1500? A woman should be able to go right down to 1000cals per day with no ill effects.
But the lower you go the more careful you must be to eat a balanced diet. Make every calorie count.
The good news is that once you start to get closer to your target and start increasing calorie intake alongside increased activity, you'll find your metabolism will slowly increase.
Great that you are using a tracker. Sustained activity 10k/day is just right. It will be an important part of your maintenance programme.
Good luck. Happy to friend.

Philtex

bodie83carla wrote: »

Am I eating too much or too little?

1. Two weeks is a bump in the road, not a plateau. Think long term.
2. If by asking if you are eating too little you mean should you eat more to lose weight, the answer is no. Eating more is never the answer to losing weight.

You are doing great. Just keep up the good work and the results will follow.

psuLemon

Vegplotter wrote: »

Dieting reduces your metabolism. So it is highly likely that you've reached your maintenance calories. If you read the message board you will discover that most successful dieters don't eat back exercise calories.
What makes you think you can't go lower than 1500? A woman should be able to go right down to 1000cals per day with no ill effects.
But the lower you go the more careful you must be to eat a balanced diet. Make every calorie count.
The good news is that once you start to get closer to your target and start increasing calorie intake alongside increased activity, you'll find your metabolism will slowly increase.
Great that you are using a tracker. Sustained activity 10k/day is just right. It will be an important part of your maintenance programme.
Good luck. Happy to friend.

Adaptive thermogenesis (metabolic adaptation) is highly overstated. There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration: length of dieting, macronutrient composition, training and more.

And I would disagree with the bold.

snickerscharlie

psulemon wrote: »

Vegplotter wrote: »

Dieting reduces your metabolism. So it is highly likely that you've reached your maintenance calories. If you read the message board you will discover that most successful dieters don't eat back exercise calories.
What makes you think you can't go lower than 1500? A woman should be able to go right down to 1000cals per day with no ill effects.
But the lower you go the more careful you must be to eat a balanced diet. Make every calorie count.
The good news is that once you start to get closer to your target and start increasing calorie intake alongside increased activity, you'll find your metabolism will slowly increase.
Great that you are using a tracker. Sustained activity 10k/day is just right. It will be an important part of your maintenance programme.
Good luck. Happy to friend.

Adaptive thermogenesis (metabolic adaptation) is highly overstated. There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration: length of dieting, macronutrient composition, training and more.

And I would disagree with the bold.

Me, too. I eat back at least 50% of my exercise calories daily. The rest I leave (unless I'm particularly hungry that day) to compensate for any inaccuracies in my food logging, or in case the calorie burn from exercise is overstated.

Elise4270

Way I see it is to 1. make better food choices, not saying that your not, just tighten it up where possible. 2. And up your activity. If you're at a plateau you might wait it out a few weeks.

3.You could stager your calories. Like one day eat 400 calories above, another 400 below so the average is still where you want it.

4. Or set your calories and not log the exercise calories for a week or so. I've seen some folks that log one calorie for light to moderate activity. If you're ravenous, then chose wisely above your calorie goal. It's no big whoop to go over with good choices.

Getting below that 130 mark is hard for some reason. I'm doing trying #4.

Good luck! Oh don't be afraid to add weights! Helps greatly!

StaciMarie1974

If your TDEE is 1548 and you're eating 1500, you have a 48/day deficit so will lose very slowly. BUT if you're taking 10k steps a day and still have TDEE of 1548, then you're either very short OR at an ideal weight. A smaller body uses less energy.

My guess is that you misunderstand TDEE. That is the total amount of energy your body uses in a day. Looking at Fitbit, how many TOTAL calories did you burn yesterday?

Other than that, 2 weeks is not enough to worry about. You've lost 14 pounds in ~3 months. If you have not changed anything in the past few weeks, then keep going as you are. If your weight loss stalls for another 3-4 weeks, then you can assess your accuracy. Or for the fun of it, you can now. Food scale for all solids? Logging everything? If yes & yes, then try leaving an extra 100 calories 'on the table' of your Fitbit adjustment just in case your Fitbit calories burned calculation is off. No device is perfect.

bodie83carla wrote: »

Hi guys

I've been using MFP since June and have lost 14lbs so far. However over the past two weeks I've hit a plateau. Weight is staying exactly the same.

MFP gives me 1220 calories a day, I usually do over 10,000 steps a day and my Fitbit is linked to MFP and I eat every extra calorie I'm given for the steps so that I net around 1200 each day (eat around 1500 calories and burn approx 300).

Because of the plateau I've calculated BMR and TDEE. BMR is 1238 and TDEE 1548.

So what do I eat to start losing again? If TDEE already takes into account activity (I put lightly active as I'm a teaching assistant and those steps mainly come from that) I need to eat less than 1548 to lose weight. But how much less?

Again, on a typical day I eat around 1500 (and burn 300 for net of 1200) on average.

Am I eating too much or too little? Think I'd strugggle eating any less!

I'm 32, female and 130lbs currently. Want to lose another 10lbs.

Thanks in advance!

bodie83carla

Thanks guys - I'm pretty sure food is accurate as I scan everything and also weigh food.

I could eat less than 1500 (if I have a day with no steps I keep to 1200 calories) but if I've been on my feet all day at work I really need those extra calories as I'm famished!

I'll stick to MFP for another week or two. If I haven't lost I'll start eating less.

bodie83carla

Although - by eating less I'm going to be netting UNDER 1200 - is that okay?

Is it okay to NET less than 1200 as opposed to eating under 1200?

StaciMarie1974

BTW the .25 multiplier to go from 1238 bmr to 1548 TDEE is sedentary. There is no exact # of steps to explain that, but if you're hitting 10k steps then your activity level is higher than sedentary.

bodie83carla

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

BTW the .25 multiplier to go from 1238 bmr to 1548 TDEE is sedentary. There is no exact # of steps to explain that, but if you're hitting 10k steps then your activity level is higher than sedentary.

I put "lightly active" into TDEE as it had teacher in the description. I'm only 5ft 1 so I expect that's correct?

StaciMarie1974

What does Fitbit show for total calories burned yesterday, the day before, etc.? That is your TDEE, if you average it out. More reliable than an online calculator since its tracking your actual movement. Such as Fitbit shows I burned 1792 yesterday, and 1846 Monday.

bodie83carla wrote: »

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

BTW the .25 multiplier to go from 1238 bmr to 1548 TDEE is sedentary. There is no exact # of steps to explain that, but if you're hitting 10k steps then your activity level is higher than sedentary.

I put "lightly active" into TDEE as it had teacher in the description. I'm only 5ft 1 so I expect that's correct?

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Vegplotter wrote: »

Dieting reduces your metabolism. So it is highly likely that you've reached your maintenance calories. If you read the message board you will discover that most successful dieters don't eat back exercise calories.
What makes you think you can't go lower than 1500? A woman should be able to go right down to 1000cals per day with no ill effects.
But the lower you go the more careful you must be to eat a balanced diet. Make every calorie count.
The good news is that once you start to get closer to your target and start increasing calorie intake alongside increased activity, you'll find your metabolism will slowly increase.
Great that you are using a tracker. Sustained activity 10k/day is just right. It will be an important part of your maintenance programme.
Good luck. Happy to friend.

A woman should not be going as low as 1000 calories.

bodie83carla

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

What does Fitbit show for total calories burned yesterday, the day before, etc.? That is your TDEE, if you average it out. More reliable than an online calculator since its tracking your actual movement. Such as Fitbit shows I burned 1792 yesterday, and 1846 Monday.

Sorry to sound thick - do you mean where it says "calories out" in Fitbit?

bodie83carla

Didn't do that right - do you mean where it says calories out?

51time

I do not included my exercise in my food allowance.

cerise_noir

bodie83carla wrote: »

Thanks guys - I'm pretty sure food is accurate as I scan everything and also weigh food.

I could eat less than 1500 (if I have a day with no steps I keep to 1200 calories) but if I've been on my feet all day at work I really need those extra calories as I'm famished!

I'll stick to MFP for another week or two. If I haven't lost I'll start eating less.

Scanning does not ensure accuracy as scanning will take you to a user added entry. I'll never forget the time I scanned one food and it took me to another completely unrelated food.

I also cannot see how your TDEE is so low as you are on your feet all day.

Vegplotter wrote: »

Dieting reduces your metabolism. So it is highly likely that you've reached your maintenance calories. If you read the message board you will discover that most successful dieters don't eat back exercise calories.
What makes you think you can't go lower than 1500? A woman should be able to go right down to 1000cals per day with no ill effects.
But the lower you go the more careful you must be to eat a balanced diet. Make every calorie count.
The good news is that once you start to get closer to your target and start increasing calorie intake alongside increased activity, you'll find your metabolism will slowly increase.
Great that you are using a tracker. Sustained activity 10k/day is just right. It will be an important part of your maintenance programme.
Good luck. Happy to friend.

1. Mfp is designed so that you eat exercise calories back unless TDEE -20 has been manually added.
2. 1000. Nope. Women's minimums are 1200. If OP has been exercising and doesn't eat back done calories, she could possibly be netting 900 calories.

bodie83carla

Perhaps my TDEE is low due to my height of 5ft 1?

I do check food when scanned to make sure it matches the packet etc - I also check websites for calories of foods etc.

janejellyroll

bodie83carla wrote: »

Perhaps my TDEE is low due to my height of 5ft 1?

I do check food when scanned to make sure it matches the packet etc - I also check websites for calories of foods etc.

Your TDEE is a combination of what your body would burn if you do nothing (which can be lower if you are a smaller person) and what your burn through activity. If you are on your feet all day, that will make your TDEE higher, even if you are a shorter person.

CasperNaegle

I would stick with what you are doing and give it more time. If you lost on it and you know you are tracking your intake correctly just keep plowing ahead.

bodie83carla

Thanks guys maybe I'm being too impatient! It was so easy before as I just kept eating till calories on MFP said "0" lol.

StaciMarie1974

Sorry, was away for a bit. Look for where it shows calories burned on prior days. The same # should be used in the in/out area for calories consumed vs calories used. The calories burned # for today is not complete, since the day is not over. This is TDEE (if you average it out over a week or so) based on actual movement rather than trying an online calculator.

Think of a car. If all else is equal, a large car is going to use more gas to get from point A to point B than a small car. The same for a human body. All else being equal, a larger body is going to use more energy to get thru the day than a smaller body. So yes, at 5'1" and 130 pounds your body uses less energy now than it did 3 months ago when you weighed 144. But a 2 week 'stall' is not automatically a sign of a problem.

bodie83carla

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

Sorry, was away for a bit. Look for where it shows calories burned on prior days. The same # should be used in the in/out area for calories consumed vs calories used. The calories burned # for today is not complete, since the day is not over. This is TDEE (if you average it out over a week or so) based on actual movement rather than trying an online calculator.

Think of a car. If all else is equal, a large car is going to use more gas to get from point A to point B than a small car. The same for a human body. All else being equal, a larger body is going to use more energy to get thru the day than a smaller body. So yes, at 5'1" and 130 pounds your body uses less energy now than it did 3 months ago when you weighed 144. But a 2 week 'stall' is not automatically a sign of a problem.

Hi!

I've added up 7 days of Fitbit "calories out" and divided by 7 - 2078 is the average. Some days I walk around 14,000 steps but always hit 10,000 as an average except the very odd day.

Does this mean my TDEE should be around 2078? What about net calories?

Thanks again for all of your advice!

StaciMarie1974

Yes, sounds like 2078 is your TDEE and based on 10k-14k steps a day, and your height/weight - this is more reasonable.

"Net Calories" is a MFP term and not a factor in real life. Make sure you're eating enough to meet nutritional needs, which for a female not under a doctor's/dietician's care is typically assumed to be 1200 calories per day. Eat enough to feel energetic. If you experience problem signs (low energy, dizziness, headaches, etc.) don't ignore it.

If what you're doing is working, keep it up. If its not, then look for ways to improve accuracy. The key thing to understand though is that in this 'game' you judge results over time. And water weight has a big impact on the # that shows on the scale. In your case, the 14 pounds in 3 months shows it is working even though the last 2 weeks show no loss. In my opinion, as women our monthly cycles have the biggest impact on water weight. So compare your weight today to your weight a month ago. If you're lower now, you're on the right track. Comparing day to day or week to week does not always tell the full story.

"bodie83carla wrote:

Hi!

I've added up 7 days of Fitbit "calories out" and divided by 7 - 2078 is the average. Some days I walk around 14,000 steps but always hit 10,000 as an average except the very odd day.

Does this mean my TDEE should be around 2078? What about net calories?

Thanks again for all of your advice!

psuLemon

bodie83carla wrote: »

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

Sorry, was away for a bit. Look for where it shows calories burned on prior days. The same # should be used in the in/out area for calories consumed vs calories used. The calories burned # for today is not complete, since the day is not over. This is TDEE (if you average it out over a week or so) based on actual movement rather than trying an online calculator.

Think of a car. If all else is equal, a large car is going to use more gas to get from point A to point B than a small car. The same for a human body. All else being equal, a larger body is going to use more energy to get thru the day than a smaller body. So yes, at 5'1" and 130 pounds your body uses less energy now than it did 3 months ago when you weighed 144. But a 2 week 'stall' is not automatically a sign of a problem.

Hi!

I've added up 7 days of Fitbit "calories out" and divided by 7 - 2078 is the average. Some days I walk around 14,000 steps but always hit 10,000 as an average except the very odd day.

Does this mean my TDEE should be around 2078? What about net calories?

Thanks again for all of your advice!

If the algorithms are correct, then yes your tdee would be almost 2100 calories. Your consumption would have to be less than that. Not net... but total.

bodie83carla

Thanks to both of you! Understanding it a lot more now