I think it finally clicked..??

Lolalikeslolagets

So I've been reading all the posts on here for a little while and I think I know now the reason I haven't lost any weight yet is because I'm not accurately logging.. actually I'm probably eating twice as much as I need.. so 1350 is what MFP has given me as a number for 1 pound per week (I'm 5'5", 150 pounds, 41 yrs old, female- muscular if that matters but still have a bit of a belly from my last kid 2.5 years ago). I'm aiming for 135 which is what I weighed 10 years ago before my first kid.. really the number doesn't matter, but I know there is a 6 pack hiding under the soft duvet of my belly! I do an hour of hiit mixed with some cardio and stretching about 5 days a week but my job is fairly sedentary so I'm logging in 6000 steps basically most days.. anyways, my question is, if I want to eat more than 1350 then I should increase my activity right? Should I aim for a weekly deficit? Do I have to skip meals if I want to eat out at restaurants or drink wine?? I hate feeling hungry.. how do you deal with that? It's all a bit overwhelming.. I guess I should just start and see what happens??

Lolalikeslolagets

Oh and I've also tried all the diet types out there in the past, low carb, low fat, vegetarian, paleo.. and seriously screw that, I just enjoy food.. my husband is a great cook and I love to eat out at nice restaurants (and drink wine).. so I guess moderation is really the answer right?

patsyacs

you should aim for the 1350 per day if that's what MFP says. It builds in a 500 cal deficit so any time you don't reach the 1350 makes it a bigger deficit. You can add more exercise to increase the deficit or to allow yourself more food.
so, get started and good luck reaching your goal.

applesandtapeline

I would highly suggest to log everything with high precision, especially when eating out. Better to overestimate than underestimate. Mind this - one glass of wine is approximately 200 cals than you could consume by eating real food and therefore - feel less hungry.
In order to achieve visible six pack abs you would have to be diligent and very disciplined with your nutrition.
Either way you will feel hungry. How hungry is up to you.
Wish you best of luck in achieving set goals.

cmriverside

The way MFP works is - it gives you a calorie goal (1350?) for weight loss.

If you exercise, you enter that exercise into the Exercise tab, and it gives you a bit more to play with. It will add on a couple hundred or so extra calories. Eat them, too.

At your size, I wouldn't eat more than 200-300 more on those days that you are exercising for an hour. So you should be comfortably losing by eating 1500-1700 calories.

The key is to log everything consistently for a month to six weeks. Be really meticulous and careful with this.

It's all about the food. Track it carefully and adjust if needed at the end of that six weeks. It's your experiment to run, get good data!

I tried to have alcohol when I was losing, but I don't do alcohol moderation very well, so I just quit drinking it. That's a choice.

Lolalikeslolagets

Ok 6 weeks... I will try to be accurate (and patient)! Thanks for your advice guys