Should I change my calorie goal?

RedheadedPrincess14

So I've been losing weight very quickly. I'm 5"8.5 my weight is around 136 currently but it can vary between 132- 139 depending on the day. I'm trying to get back to my usual weight which is at least 10 pound thinner and I've had great success in the last few months, going down from 160 pounds. I do feel good and look a lot better. My skin and my hair is looking amazing. I'm just starting to feel veeeery tired now that I'm exercising and I know it's not generally recommended to eat back excercise calories but I cannot help myself. I get so hungry I literally get angry. Is it possible to eat 1290 calories a day on a whole foods diet with activity? I don't want to keep seeing that red minus bar but I also don't want to feel like this or slow my progress. Maybe I can't have it all.

P.s. Diary is open

LivingtheLeanDream

At your height / weight, (which is low for that height) you should be eating far more than 1290 calories a day.
Change your settings on MFP to maintain and eat the amount it gives you.
Eating low cal will not be enough to fuel any exercise you do and you will have already lost a lot of muscle I would think.

shans34

You are eating fine. Your weight is also perfect for your height. You can eat at maintenance and exercise and still lose inches. I wouldn't worry.

ladyreva78

It generally IS recommended to eat back at least a portion of your exercise calories.

MFP uses the NEAT method, meaning it calculates a deficit BEFORE adding in exercise.

So, in your case, if MFP gives you 1290 calories to eat, then you exercise for 500, you should then eat 1790 calories. (Or less or more depending on how accurate the burns calculated are for you.)

If you are losing faster than predicted, then definitely start eating more. It's for the sake of your health because that exhaustion is just the first sign that something might be off. In the long run, you'll thank yourself for it as it should help mitigate LBM loss.

Oh and... good job on the losses so far

RedheadedPrincess14

Thank you all so much. Do you think I could safely increase by 200 without worrying that I'll stop losing ? Or maybe just 100?

malibu927

If you truly want to lose weight, change your goal to half a pound a week. But I agree that maintenance plus heavy lifting will probably be better for you. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

WinoGelato

RedheadedPrincess14 wrote: »

Thank you all so much. Do you think I could safely increase by 200 without worrying that I'll stop losing ? Or maybe just 100?

If you are still trying to lose 10 lbs (and I'm not sure that's the right answer or if you should be looking to maintain/recomp) then set MFP with a goal of lose 0.5 lb/week and then use that as a NET goal. You should be eating back exercise cals. The fact that you lost so quickly and are so hungry on 1290 suggests you haven't been eating those cals back, and that you've likely lost lean body mass in addition to fat during that time period. That's why you may want to consider eating at maintenance and focusing on strength training.

Also, I'm 6 inches shorter and about 20 lbs lighter than you, probably 20 years older as well. I lose weight eating 1800 cals so yeah, you can eat quite a bit more than the 1290 and still lose weight.

lmew91

Not sure if this helps, but I'm 5'5, 130 lbs. I was about 140, and wanted to lose about 10 lbs. I set my account to lose .5 lb/week and it gave me a little over 1400 cal per day, without exercise, set at sedentary because I have a desk job. I lost the weight sticking to that, and eating back about half my exercise calories.

RedheadedPrincess14

malibu927 wrote: »

If you truly want to lose weight, change your goal to half a pound a week. But I agree that maintenance plus heavy lifting will probably be better for you. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

Thank you very much. Can you just define what heavy lifting entails because I can only lift 15-30 pounds depending on the exercise. Do you think that if I workout and eat at maintenance, I'll still be able to change the way my body looks? I was told that you can't lose weight while gaining muscle so ai thought I'd have to do that after

malibu927

RedheadedPrincess14 wrote: »

malibu927 wrote: »

If you truly want to lose weight, change your goal to half a pound a week. But I agree that maintenance plus heavy lifting will probably be better for you. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

Thank you very much. Can you just define what heavy lifting entails because I can only lift 15-30 pounds depending on the exercise. Do you think that if I workout and eat at maintenance, I'll still be able to change the way my body looks? I was told that you can't lose weight while gaining muscle so ai thought I'd have to do that after

Heavy lifting means heavy for you. A progressive program like NROLFW will help you move up. And yes, that's the exact point of a recomp: reducing fat and increasing muscle while your weight stays the same.