Uh oh, I'm losing weight. Be more healthy without losing weight...

nataliescarpa

Hi there- I'm just learning all about nutrition and being healthy. I've always been tall and thin, so these things were never immediately pressing for me. I'm now ready to take control of my health and wellbeing and so I'm committed to diet, reasonable exercise, and meditation.

I've been tracking my food to see how to keep my diet balanced. In the 2 weeks I've been logging food- I've lost 6-8 pounds. That means I'm 5'9, 27, and 117 pounds. This is too small for me.

I noticed that after I entered my lower weight, the calorie counter lowered the number of calories I need each day. I have it set to wanting to maintain my weight- so I would think that once I lost weight it would tell me to eat more calories to get my weight back up.

Clearly I have a fast matablosim and adding in even a minimal 15 minutes of walking and 15 minutes of yoga or strength each day and eating less calories because I'm cutting out unhealthy stuff is enough to drop my weight quickly.

So- I need help knowing what is an appropriate number of calories to stay at at least 120lbs or more and what foods are tasty, nutritious, and calorie dense. If I'm cutting out fast food and processed food I need to replace it with enough calories in healthy food to maintain a good weight.

I'm also assuming that before I started tracking calories and eating healthy I was consuming an average of 2500-3000 calories a day, but fitness pal suggested 1720 or something a day and recently reduced it to 1670 a day,

In summary- how do I truly know how many calories to eat and what do I need to include in my diet to eat nutritiously but get enough calories?

Thanks!

cmriverside

Eat more food.

Once you've hit your daily macros you don't get extra credit for some random "healthy" food. All food can be eaten. What about some ice cream or walnuts? Ice cream WITH walnuts.

I've never had your issue, but labelling food as healthy or unhealthy is a dangerous path - as you can see by your food restriction and inability to hold your weight.

Have some Oreos and a big glass of full-fat milk. You can have anything.

There are a lot of calorie-dense foods. Pizza? Bread? Cereal? Cheese?

jordandills

When you set to maintain, it is set to maintain your current weight. It takes less to maintain 117lbs than it does 125, hence the calorie reduction. You need to tell it you want to gain weight, or update your weight back to get maintenance calories for 125lb.

Keep in mind MFP is an estimate of your calorie burn. If it was saying eat 1700 and you were losing on that, you need to up to 1800 for a couple weeks, re evaluate, then stay there or add more calories again. Repeat until you find your maintenance range.

Seconding what cmriverside said about food. Add in food until you hit your calories. There is no need to cut out processed or fast food.

nataliescarpa

Thank you for the input!! That is like the best answer!

But I have all this buzzing in my head about gluten, dairy, bad fats, GMOs, etc. it's overwhelming. Trying to solve my inflammation, acne, eczema from diet but really don't know how to do that and eat enough. I've been trying to eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, nuts, etc. I'm ending up sometimes with 500%+ the daily recommended amount for vitamin a or c and not enough calories.

I guess at the end of the day as long as I'm getting the nutrients I need maybe it doesn't matter what the rest of the calories come from. I don't have time to prepare enough healthy food to keep myself full without eating junk sometimes. Eating something is probably better than not eating enough

TavistockToad

Start with 2000, see what the scales do after 4-6 weeks and tweak from there.

Eat some fruit and veg, do some regular exercise, have the odd treat there and there... job done!

toxikon

nataliescarpa wrote: »

Thank you for the input!! That is like the best answer!

But I have all this buzzing in my head about gluten, dairy, bad fats, GMOs, etc. it's overwhelming. Trying to solve my inflammation, acne, eczema from diet but really don't know how to do that and eat enough. I've been trying to eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, nuts, etc. I'm ending up sometimes with 500%+ the daily recommended amount for vitamin a or c and not enough calories.

I guess at the end of the day as long as I'm getting the nutrients I need maybe it doesn't matter what the rest of the calories come from. I don't have time to prepare enough healthy food to keep myself full without eating junk sometimes. Eating something is probably better than not eating enough

Oils, nuts, nut butters and beans are calorically dense! Even a few handfuls of almonds or a couple tablespoons of peanut butter should help you reach your goal.

stanmann571

nataliescarpa wrote: »

Thank you for the input!! That is like the best answer!

But I have all this buzzing in my head about gluten, dairy, bad fats, GMOs, etc. it's overwhelming. Trying to solve my inflammation, acne, eczema from diet but really don't know how to do that and eat enough. I've been trying to eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, nuts, etc. I'm ending up sometimes with 500%+ the daily recommended amount for vitamin a or c and not enough calories.

I guess at the end of the day as long as I'm getting the nutrients I need maybe it doesn't matter what the rest of the calories come from. I don't have time to prepare enough healthy food to keep myself full without eating junk sometimes. Eating something is probably better than not eating enough

At the end of the day, diagnosing food sensitivities is something only an allergist or immunologist can do for you.

There are some small steps you can take to prepare for a visit with one of those specialists by working through an elimination diet or several, but ultimately for most people, those things are caused by disease or environmental issues.

heybales

That MFP eating goal is without exercise accounted for - and if your daily activity actually matches what you selected.

Did you select Sedentary?
Many do to "play on the safe side" even though with kids or busy house they are easily Lightly Active.

That's one correction that will raise your calories.

And then logging exercise when actually done - that will account for it, otherwise it's not.

That will mean eating more on those days.

And no, if you go below goal weight MFP doesn't automatically switch to gain and increase calories.
Plus be aware it was probably water weight with eating less sodium, something that usually happens when people start looking at what they are eating.
Possibly some other water weight lost too. Start eating more, that part will come back.

spiriteagle99

When I ate what MFP recommended for maintenance, I continued to lose weight, so I adjusted the calorie goal upwards. It is odd if I close out the day slightly below goal but above what MFP says I need it will tell me that in 5 weeks I'll gain a pound or two, but that is easy to ignore.

richardgavel

nataliescarpa wrote: »

Hi there- I'm just learning all about nutrition and being healthy. I've always been tall and thin, so these things were never immediately pressing for me. I'm now ready to take control of my health and wellbeing and so I'm committed to diet, reasonable exercise, and meditation.

I've been tracking my food to see how to keep my diet balanced. In the 2 weeks I've been logging food- I've lost 6-8 pounds. That means I'm 5'9, 27, and 117 pounds. This is too small for me.

I noticed that after I entered my lower weight, the calorie counter lowered the number of calories I need each day. I have it set to wanting to maintain my weight- so I would think that once I lost weight it would tell me to eat more calories to get my weight back up.

Clearly I have a fast matablosim and adding in even a minimal 15 minutes of walking and 15 minutes of yoga or strength each day and eating less calories because I'm cutting out unhealthy stuff is enough to drop my weight quickly.

So- I need help knowing what is an appropriate number of calories to stay at at least 120lbs or more and what foods are tasty, nutritious, and calorie dense. If I'm cutting out fast food and processed food I need to replace it with enough calories in healthy food to maintain a good weight.

I'm also assuming that before I started tracking calories and eating healthy I was consuming an average of 2500-3000 calories a day, but fitness pal suggested 1720 or something a day and recently reduced it to 1670 a day,

In summary- how do I truly know how many calories to eat and what do I need to include in my diet to eat nutritiously but get enough calories?

Thanks!

If you just started eating at what is clearly a deficit (you weren't losing weight before this), then a significant portion of that 6-8 lbs is water weight and you won't be maintaining that pace over time with the same calorie count.

fuzzylop72

Some of it is likely water weight gain. I'd add 500 calories/day and remeasure. Increase calories by 500/day every week or two until you reach a maintenance level.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

Q: Why did you post this in "Goal: Maintaining Weight?" You might get better info in"Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building."

Anyway, you can play around with a TDEE calculator and get some idea of your calorie needs. Here is a good calculator page. Note that MFP uses the "Mifflin St Jeor" formula, which is pretty widely respected. It sound like you might want to up the activity level until you stabilize and then gain weight. Eating excellent food is always a good approach. Don't be afraid of high-quality fats (nuts, cheese, butter, olive oil, avocado).

http://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/