How long should you stay in a calorie deficit?

alid8333
alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
What is everyone's opinion on how long to stay in a calorie deficit? I've been doing a lot of reading and everything I have read said to only stay in a calorie deficit for 10 to 12 weeks and then take a 2 to 3 week break eating at maintenance and then repeat until you hit your goal weight? I've currently been in a calorie deficit for little over 5 months.

The past month I've been feeling tired/sluggish/weak. When I workout I notice I don't have the energy like i use to. When I first started I was eating 1390 a day and then I bumped it down to 1330 a couple months ago. I have my settings set at sedentary and losing 1 pound per week. I've been steadily losing 1.5 to sometimes over 2 pounds a week.

I'm thinking of keeping my activity level at sedentary but instead of 1 pound a week changing it to .5 that way it bumps my calories up to 1490 instead of going full blown maintenance for 2 to 3 weeks.

I haven't lost any weight in the past week which i know weight loss isn't linear even though it pretty much has been for me. But I don't really care about that, I'm going by how I feel. Dropping my calories isn't a option as I'm already feeling like crap at 1330 a day.

Just want peoples opinions..
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Replies

  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Very thorough, evidence-based discussion of it: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/

    Good read
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I lost all my excess weight (around 50 pounds) in one go (a little over 1 year), but I felt fine the whole time.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I lost all my excess weight (around 50 pounds) in one go (a little over 1 year), but I felt fine the whole time.

    How many calories were you consuming in a day?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    alid8333 wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I lost all my excess weight (around 50 pounds) in one go (a little over 1 year), but I felt fine the whole time.

    How many calories were you consuming in a day?
    In the beginning I didn't even count calories, and I tried some different numbers, but mostly I stayed around 1600. I'm 5'3".
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    I lost 60+ in one shot and felt great. (But gained it back.)
    This time around I'm losing much slower, so it has been on and off.
    You didn't mention your stats/how much you still want to lose, but you could also consider keeping a smaller deficit and see if that helps your energy levels. 2 lbs a week may be too aggressive for you.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    edited June 2017
    alid8333 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

    Can you open your FOOD page so we can take a look? I'm not understanding your issue.

    At the bottom on this page:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    So I have to ask, are you eating all of those calories "earned" by those steps? Because 5000-10000 (or whatever you do in a day) would add on more than 1330 total. So, are you actually eating around 1600-1800, or are you trying to leave a bunch at the end of the day? You aren't trying to create your own deficit are you? Whatever number MFP gave you (assuming 1360/Sedentary) is what you eat - it has a weight-loss deficit built in. Any additional movement will give you more calories. If you are using a fitbit or other device, it should tell you how much more.

    1330 and the activity you describe would put you up to 1600 or more. Eat that.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    edited June 2017
    I remember the sluggish feeling all too well from my days of eating 1200 calories a day and generally not eating exercise calories. I ended up very sick. It was awful. I hated everyone and everything, was constantly nauseated, migraines picked up, was shaky and dizzy and tired. I was at the doctor 1-2 times weekly for about eight months before I finally started feeling normal again. Don't follow my lead!

    Now I eat at or very near to maintenance and let my exercise and breastfeeding (thank you baby) drop my calories for me. It makes me honest about my activity level and the pounds have poured off efficiently so if it slows down for whatever reason (lazy day or baby nursing less) my feelings won't be hurt.

    I've taken breaks where I eat a bit more and it hasn't done any harm at all. My loss stops during the break and picks right back up when I achieve a deficit again.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

    Changing your goal to 0.5 makes no sense because your actually loss rate will STILL be off. Yes you'll be eating more calories but if you want to do that you could also simply adjust your calorie intake specifically up by 100-200 calorie a day under goals while leaving your rate goal set to 1lb loss.
    Try that for a month and see if it balances out.

    Also, if you know how many steps you're taking is that because you have a Fitbit or something? Is it connected? Is it giving your adjusted step calories? Are you eating those adjusted step calories?
    The above poster was right. If you have a day with 10k steps but you are set to sedentary, you could easily be adjusted an extra 1,300 calories for the day just from walking, not specific "exercise".

    I know this becauss my account is set up similarity. 1.5lb deficit, sedentary setting, Fitbit hooked up. I get HUGE adjustments. This is because my activity days can swing wildly due to my workout split and work schedule. Some days it says to eat 1,550, some days 1,800 then heavy workout days 3,000+.

    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    I think you were referring to me, I just wanted to clarify.

    I wasn't saying she would (necessarily) get an additional 1300 calories. Although I suppose that is possible it isn't what I meant by her 5000-10000 steps giving her more. I would think if one is set at Sedentary and is also walking 5000-10000 steps, that would result in an adjustment of a couple or three hundred calories ABOVE her base of 1300. It is the same as saying she is moderately active instead of sedentary.

    Anyway, it would help if we could see her FOOD diary. She hasn't really given us much to go on here. I think anyone who is trying to stick at 1300 calories and then exercise on top of that and not eat more is going to fail either by non-compliance or by illness. So her initial thought of eating more is definitely, "Yes." :smile:

    ...and this:
    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    Exactly.

  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Numbers matter. If your calorie deficit is 500 calories per day every day for 8 weeks, you will have caused your body to respond to a famine. This is famine adaptation, another way of saying that your NEAT has declined as your body has ceased some non-necessary activities. At that deficit for that length of time, that NEAT decline is NOT permanent, but you do need to take a break from your deficit to end the self-imposed famine and allow your body to resume normal activities and normal NEAT. One week of eating at maintenance is enough.

    Numbers matter. If your deficit is more than 500 per day and you've been doing it longer than 8 weeks, you probably need more than a week of maintenance for your break, but I've seen no study on that. Also, if your deficit is less than 500 per day and you've been doing it less than a month, the idea of taking a break from your diet looks more like quitting than anything else. Do you really need a break when you're not putting much effort into it anyway?
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    JeromeBarry1 wrote: »
    Numbers matter. If your calorie deficit is 500 calories per day every day for 8 weeks, you will have caused your body to respond to a famine. This is famine adaptation, another way of saying that your NEAT has declined as your body has ceased some non-necessary activities. At that deficit for that length of time, that NEAT decline is NOT permanent, but you do need to take a break from your deficit to end the self-imposed famine and allow your body to resume normal activities and normal NEAT. One week of eating at maintenance is enough.

    Numbers matter. If your deficit is more than 500 per day and you've been doing it longer than 8 weeks, you probably need more than a week of maintenance for your break, but I've seen no study on that. Also, if your deficit is less than 500 per day and you've been doing it less than a month, the idea of taking a break from your diet looks more like quitting than anything else. Do you really need a break when you're not putting much effort into it anyway?

    I've been doing this for 5 months and have lost almost 38 pounds. Definitely not looking to quit especially when I only have 18 pounds left to lose!
  • WendyLeigh1119
    WendyLeigh1119 Posts: 495 Member
    I have stayed at a 2lb per week setting on both my Fitbit as well as my MFP also set on sedentary and given 1200 calories per day to eat. I'm nearly 5'7 and started that deficit on March 15th at 172.5 lbs. I'm now at 149.5 lbs as of today.

    And I feel awesome. But I workout heavily do about 70% Strength and 30% Cardio for at least 3 hours per day, Monday through Friday. But I DO make sure to eat a minimum of 50% of my exercise calories back no matter what. On the weekends.. I don't exercise and typically go over the 1200 by at least 200 calories.

    So I'd say you need to really dedicate yourself to eating back those exercise calories if you want to feel strong and energetic for your workouts and still feel energetic by the endc of the day. If that doesn't work, look at your exercise because you may be overtraining (usually too much cardio because people want "high burns").

    I'd adjust those two things first. There's no reason to not feel awesome on a 2lb per week deficit long term unless you're not eating enough on exercise days or you're overtraining. I cut my Cardio wayyyy down from March for that reason and I felt 100x better and still lost consistently despite eating over on Saturday and Sunday more often than not.

    I adjusted the overtraining by adding more classes that were primarily strength, but have my HR at the lower end of the Cardio Spectrum and then added in moderately-paced swimming (though I HATE swimming AND am bad at it) to get a more mixed cardio line-up. I still do HIIT training, but no more than 3 hours per week maximum. I really think training adjustments will make a huge difference without giving up your 2lb loss.

    I have never heard of the (2 to 3 week maintenance eating) thing and wouldn't dare try it myself and risk my progress, but if you think it's worth it....go for it. It just *seems like* you've already adjusted your calories up and feel like *kitten* anyway, so I'd totally redo your workout routine. Just my opinion, obviously. I hope you find your catalyst!
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

    Changing your goal to 0.5 makes no sense because your actually loss rate will STILL be off. Yes you'll be eating more calories but if you want to do that you could also simply adjust your calorie intake specifically up by 100-200 calorie a day under goals while leaving your rate goal set to 1lb loss.
    Try that for a month and see if it balances out.

    Also, if you know how many steps you're taking is that because you have a Fitbit or something? Is it connected? Is it giving your adjusted step calories? Are you eating those adjusted step calories?
    The above poster was right. If you have a day with 10k steps but you are set to sedentary, you could easily be adjusted an extra 1,300 calories for the day just from walking, not specific "exercise".

    I know this becauss my account is set up similarity. 1.5lb deficit, sedentary setting, Fitbit hooked up. I get HUGE adjustments. This is because my activity days can swing wildly due to my workout split and work schedule. Some days it says to eat 1,550, some days 1,800 then heavy workout days 3,000+.

    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    I think you were referring to me, I just wanted to clarify.

    I wasn't saying she would (necessarily) get an additional 1300 calories. Although I suppose that is possible it isn't what I meant by her 5000-10000 steps giving her more. I would think if one is set at Sedentary and is also walking 5000-10000 steps, that would result in an adjustment of a couple or three hundred calories ABOVE her base of 1300. It is the same as saying she is moderately active instead of sedentary.

    Anyway, it would help if we could see her FOOD diary. She hasn't really given us much to go on here. I think anyone who is trying to stick at 1300 calories and then exercise on top of that and not eat more is going to fail either by non-compliance or by illness. So her initial thought of eating more is definitely, "Yes." :smile:

    ...and this:
    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    Exactly.


    Yes I was quoting you. We are actually saying basically the same thing. Depending on her stats she very well COULD get an extra 1,300 cals a day. (Obviously not guaranteed). While it may not have been what you intended to say I confirmed this based on my stats and the calorie adjustments I am given on a regular basis. I am set to sedentary but if I walk 10k steps a day, with a bunch of stairs in there I easily get a bonus 1,000+ cals.

    I'm just trying to give input based on what little info she has given. But luckily my account is set up similarly to hers so I see the "set at sedentary when you are nowhere near sedentary" adjustments and how they can fluctuate from day to day.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

    Can you open your FOOD page so we can take a look? I'm not understanding your issue.

    At the bottom on this page:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    So I have to ask, are you eating all of those calories "earned" by those steps? Because 5000-10000 (or whatever you do in a day) would add on more than 1330 total. So, are you actually eating around 1600-1800, or are you trying to leave a bunch at the end of the day? You aren't trying to create your own deficit are you? Whatever number MFP gave you (assuming 1360/Sedentary) is what you eat - it has a weight-loss deficit built in. Any additional movement will give you more calories. If you are using a fitbit or other device, it should tell you how much more.

    1330 and the activity you describe would put you up to 1600 or more. Eat that.

    My calorie allowance for the day is 1330 and my settings are at sedentary losing 1 pound a week. I'm 5'3 and weigh 158.8. I've lost almost 38 pounds since January. I use my Apple Watch to track my steps and when I work out I connect my polar chest strap to my Apple Watch. MyFitnessPal shows how many steps I take but it doesn't give me any extra calories for the steps I take. It only records my exercise. I typically eat back about 75% of my exercise calories as well. I've left my activity level at sedentary because one week I can only get 4000 steps a day and then the next week do 10,000 steps 3 or 4 times a week.

  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

    Changing your goal to 0.5 makes no sense because your actually loss rate will STILL be off. Yes you'll be eating more calories but if you want to do that you could also simply adjust your calorie intake specifically up by 100-200 calorie a day under goals while leaving your rate goal set to 1lb loss.
    Try that for a month and see if it balances out.

    Also, if you know how many steps you're taking is that because you have a Fitbit or something? Is it connected? Is it giving your adjusted step calories? Are you eating those adjusted step calories?
    The above poster was right. If you have a day with 10k steps but you are set to sedentary, you could easily be adjusted an extra 1,300 calories for the day just from walking, not specific "exercise".

    I know this becauss my account is set up similarity. 1.5lb deficit, sedentary setting, Fitbit hooked up. I get HUGE adjustments. This is because my activity days can swing wildly due to my workout split and work schedule. Some days it says to eat 1,550, some days 1,800 then heavy workout days 3,000+.

    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    I have a Apple Watch and for some reason MyFitnessPal shows how many steps I've taken but it doesn't give me any extra calories. Only thing that automatically records to MyFitnessPal is my calories burned for a workout.

  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    OP - there are many ways to skin the cat, but I would not suggest a diet break as one of them. It's not easy (at least not for me) to bump up 500 cals and then cut again. Just add a few hundred calories a day until you get feeling better.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
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    This was yesterday. I ate back most of my exercise calories and at the bottom you see 0 for steps adjustment. Only time I ever seen a steps adjustment was one day I walked 15,000 steps and it gave me 3 extra calories. BUT I will throw in there as well the days I do get over 10,000 steps in that IS including a workout so that could also be why it's not adjusting my calories as well.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    edited June 2017
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

    Changing your goal to 0.5 makes no sense because your actually loss rate will STILL be off. Yes you'll be eating more calories but if you want to do that you could also simply adjust your calorie intake specifically up by 100-200 calorie a day under goals while leaving your rate goal set to 1lb loss.
    Try that for a month and see if it balances out.

    Also, if you know how many steps you're taking is that because you have a Fitbit or something? Is it connected? Is it giving your adjusted step calories? Are you eating those adjusted step calories?
    The above poster was right. If you have a day with 10k steps but you are set to sedentary, you could easily be adjusted an extra 1,300 calories for the day just from walking, not specific "exercise".

    I know this becauss my account is set up similarity. 1.5lb deficit, sedentary setting, Fitbit hooked up. I get HUGE adjustments. This is because my activity days can swing wildly due to my workout split and work schedule. Some days it says to eat 1,550, some days 1,800 then heavy workout days 3,000+.

    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    I think you were referring to me, I just wanted to clarify.

    I wasn't saying she would (necessarily) get an additional 1300 calories. Although I suppose that is possible it isn't what I meant by her 5000-10000 steps giving her more. I would think if one is set at Sedentary and is also walking 5000-10000 steps, that would result in an adjustment of a couple or three hundred calories ABOVE her base of 1300. It is the same as saying she is moderately active instead of sedentary.

    Anyway, it would help if we could see her FOOD diary. She hasn't really given us much to go on here. I think anyone who is trying to stick at 1300 calories and then exercise on top of that and not eat more is going to fail either by non-compliance or by illness. So her initial thought of eating more is definitely, "Yes." :smile:

    ...and this:
    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    Exactly.


    Yes I was quoting you. We are actually saying basically the same thing. Depending on her stats she very well COULD get an extra 1,300 cals a day. (Obviously not guaranteed). While it may not have been what you intended to say I confirmed this based on my stats and the calorie adjustments I am given on a regular basis. I am set to sedentary but if I walk 10k steps a day, with a bunch of stairs in there I easily get a bonus 1,000+ cals.

    I'm just trying to give input based on what little info she has given. But luckily my account is set up similarly to hers so I see the "set at sedentary when you are nowhere near sedentary" adjustments and how they can fluctuate from day to day.

    I think the biggest problem here is the Sedentary setting when one is nowhere near sedentary. Obviously OP is more active than Sedentary, and she is only eating back 75% of her actual Exercise calories according to her story. My suggestion would be either set it for Moderately Active, OR start eating at maintenance AND eat back Exercise calories. I guess she doesn't want to open her FOOD page.

    If it were me (and I did lose 70 pounds ten years ago and I've kept it off) I would eat 1500-1600 as a base amount, plus exercise calories. I would do that for six weeks and adjust using the data collected from that experiment. That would give her 1800-2000 on exercise days.

  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    It looks like MFP isn't actually recording your steps so you're not truly eating back your exercise calories. 21 mins at 2mph isn't going to be 8800 steps- in that time at that speed, you'd walk less than a mile so it's about 1000-1500 steps.

    Try manually adding in your walking, for a while, to see what effect that has on your suggested calories. Take an educated guess as to how long you walk for, at what speed, and enter that under Cardio. I wouldn't change from Sedentary as the amount you walk each day varies so much. I've been out walking quite a bit today and recorded various figures for 2.5mph, 3mph and 3.5mph - and have earned almost 850 calories as a result. If you're shortchanging yourself, consistently, that may explain why you feel tired.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    Strudders67 wrote: »
    It looks like MFP isn't actually recording your steps so you're not truly eating back your exercise calories. 21 mins at 2mph isn't going to be 8800 steps- in that time at that speed, you'd walk less than a mile so it's about 1000-1500 steps.

    Try manually adding in your walking, for a while, to see what effect that has on your suggested calories. Take an educated guess as to how long you walk for, at what speed, and enter that under Cardio. I wouldn't change from Sedentary as the amount you walk each day varies so much. I've been out walking quite a bit today and recorded various figures for 2.5mph, 3mph and 3.5mph - and have earned almost 850 calories as a result. If you're shortchanging yourself, consistently, that may explain why you feel tired.

    I do the elliptical and treadmill for cardio. My Apple Watch counts steps on the elliptical as well. But like today I haven't worked out and I've walked 3,694 so far. I've kept it at sedentary. I did look to see what lightly active gave me calorie wise and it bumped me up to 1464. I also thought about days I don't workout to eat at 1330 and days I do and get over 10,000 steps to eat at 1464 plus 75% of my exercise calories. I say 75% because calories burned during exercise is only a estimate and not 100%.

  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

    Not seeing why it's "safe" to deliberately under-estimate your activity setting.

    Sounds like it's the opposite in reality as "the past month I've been feeling tired/sluggish/weak. When I workout I notice I don't have the energy like i use to".

    Cause and effect perhaps?

    Because I do spend a fair amount of time sitting. Just like today I've only walked 3694 steps. One week I can maybe get 4000 to 5000 steps in a day everyday and another week I may have 4 days I'm 8000 to 11,000. It's never consistent.
  • PHXLoser
    PHXLoser Posts: 6 Member
    Sounds like a lot of good advice. One other thing to consider is whether you're getting optimal nutrition. As we cut calories, it's harder to get in all your vitamins. Are you taking vitamins now? If not, that could help. I was never a vitamin taker until I needed to cut my calories so low and my doctor told me to start taking them. It makes a bigger difference than I thought it would. It may take a couple of weeks for it to kick in.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    alid8333 wrote: »
    MsHarryWinston wrote: »
    It sounds like you aren't eating back your exercise calories and or are underestimating your daily calorie burn. If you are set to lose 1lb/week but are losing 2/wk it means that your ACTUAL real life deficit is twice as large as what MFP set it to. Just eat more until you are actually losing the 1lb per week that you set yourself as

    I do eat back about 75% of my exercise calories. It's probably me having it set at sedentary. Some days of the week I'm real active and walk around 10,000 to 11,000 steps or more. Then other days I'm lucky to get in 5000 steps. So to be on the safe side I set my activity level to sedentary. I'm going to continue to leave it at sedentary but change my loss to .5 to up my calories a little for a couple weeks and see how I feel.

    Changing your goal to 0.5 makes no sense because your actually loss rate will STILL be off. Yes you'll be eating more calories but if you want to do that you could also simply adjust your calorie intake specifically up by 100-200 calorie a day under goals while leaving your rate goal set to 1lb loss.
    Try that for a month and see if it balances out.

    Also, if you know how many steps you're taking is that because you have a Fitbit or something? Is it connected? Is it giving your adjusted step calories? Are you eating those adjusted step calories?
    The above poster was right. If you have a day with 10k steps but you are set to sedentary, you could easily be adjusted an extra 1,300 calories for the day just from walking, not specific "exercise".

    I know this becauss my account is set up similarity. 1.5lb deficit, sedentary setting, Fitbit hooked up. I get HUGE adjustments. This is because my activity days can swing wildly due to my workout split and work schedule. Some days it says to eat 1,550, some days 1,800 then heavy workout days 3,000+.

    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    I think you were referring to me, I just wanted to clarify.

    I wasn't saying she would (necessarily) get an additional 1300 calories. Although I suppose that is possible it isn't what I meant by her 5000-10000 steps giving her more. I would think if one is set at Sedentary and is also walking 5000-10000 steps, that would result in an adjustment of a couple or three hundred calories ABOVE her base of 1300. It is the same as saying she is moderately active instead of sedentary.

    Anyway, it would help if we could see her FOOD diary. She hasn't really given us much to go on here. I think anyone who is trying to stick at 1300 calories and then exercise on top of that and not eat more is going to fail either by non-compliance or by illness. So her initial thought of eating more is definitely, "Yes." :smile:

    ...and this:
    You don't need to keep changing your goal to eat more calories, you just need to understand and use the information that is being given to you.

    Exactly.


    Yes I was quoting you. We are actually saying basically the same thing. Depending on her stats she very well COULD get an extra 1,300 cals a day. (Obviously not guaranteed). While it may not have been what you intended to say I confirmed this based on my stats and the calorie adjustments I am given on a regular basis. I am set to sedentary but if I walk 10k steps a day, with a bunch of stairs in there I easily get a bonus 1,000+ cals.

    I'm just trying to give input based on what little info she has given. But luckily my account is set up similarly to hers so I see the "set at sedentary when you are nowhere near sedentary" adjustments and how they can fluctuate from day to day.

    I think the biggest problem here is the Sedentary setting when one is nowhere near sedentary. Obviously OP is more active than Sedentary, and she is only eating back 75% of her actual Exercise calories according to her story. My suggestion would be either set it for Moderately Active, OR start eating at maintenance AND eat back Exercise calories. I guess she doesn't want to open her FOOD page.

    If it were me (and I did lose 70 pounds ten years ago and I've kept it off) I would eat 1500-1600 as a base amount, plus exercise calories. I would do that for six weeks and adjust using the data collected from that experiment. That would give her 1800-2000 on exercise days.


    So what about setting it to lightly active? Like I said some days (like today) I may only get in 4000 to 5000 steps sometimes less everyday for a week and then other weeks I may have days I get 10,000 or more 4 days out of the week. It's never consistent. But also on the days I'm waking 10,000 or more steps it does include 20 min on the elliptical and 20 min on the treadmill.

    Setting it to lightly active would give me a allowance of 1464 a day before exercise. I've always been told to never eat more then 75% of exercise calories to leave room for error since calorie burn is only a estimate.

    As for my food diary I leave it private because from in the past people would be like oh you eat chocolate your going to fail or oh you shouldn't eat steak or potatos. So I keep what I eat to myself. I eat the foods I like just in moderation. Only thing off limits for me is fast food and pop.

    I do weigh all solids and measure all liquids. Anything that goes in my mouth I log. I don't have a problem with losing weight as I've been steadily losing, it's mainly feeling sluggish the past month. Almost like the past months of maybe not eating enough are finally catching up with me.

    Heck MFP asked if I wanted to readjust my calories and I clicked yes it took me down to 1274 calories a day. The heck with that lol.
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