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Hungry all the time

dorrien12

Hello, I am new to this and I need some help figuring out some things.

May 2013:

Female
45 yrs. old
5' 5
218 lbs.
Desk job
No exercise

Goal 132 - 144 lbs.
Time: As long as it takes

In the middle of May I found fitness app and started logging my food daily. In the beginning.

May 2013:

I started riding my bike here and there, I entered that into the app and ate back ALL my exercise calories, I started loosing 2 lbs. a week. Once I lost 15 lbs. is where I saw my first weight gain of 2.2 lbs.

(6-28-13) + 2.2 lb.
(7-4-13) - 2 lb.
(7-12-13) - 2 lb.
(7-18-13) - 2.6 lb.
(7-25-13) + 0.4 lb.
(8-1-13) - 0.9 lb.

By looking at the data above, I believe the inconsistencies are because 1) some days I didn't exercise, 2) I ate too much, along with not exercising & 3) I didn't weigh in every 7 days, and I know weight can fluctuate on any given day.

July 2013:

Prior to July 26th, I was eating ALL my exercise calories back, but my niece has a personal trainer and he told her she didn't have to eat the exercise calories back unless she was hungry. I did an internet search and checked here and I get conflicting view points.

I finally caved into my niece and decided not to eat all my exercise calories back, but I will say this week, I have been hungry. Now I'm not sure if it's my mind playing tricks because I stopped eating the extra or this last week I wasn't eating the correct things.

I opened my diary just in case someone would like to look at it.

QUESTIONS:
Is it normal to plateau or gain back after loosing only 15 lbs.?
Should I eat back my exercise calories?
Is 1200 net calories enough for me.
I now exercise 4-5 days a week (will do more).
Should I up my net calories to 1400, and if so, should I eat back the exercise calories?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Replies

TheRealParisLove

You are doing great! Twenty pounds lost since May is excellent progress! I wouldn't change a thing unless you have plateaued for more than an month.

dorrien12

You are doing great! Twenty pounds lost since May is excellent progress! I wouldn't change a thing unless you have plateaued for more than an month.

Ok, so continue to eat back my exercise calories?

CAS185

I would say so. You wouldn't want to slow your metabolism by eating too little.

ladynocturne

You are suppose to log and eat your exercise calories, that is how this works. When you entered all of your information My Fitness Pal already incorporated a deficit into your goal calories so you can lose weight with absolutely zero exercise. So to keep the same safe deficit that has already been given to you, you need to log and eat the exercise calories.

The only time you do not eat back your exercise calories is if it it the only way you are creating a deficit.

If you feel that perhaps the numbers for your exercise seems inflated, you can choose to eat a smaller percentage (or just log less time spent doing the exercise). I do this with the elliptical, I eat 80% of what I burn because its exaggerated.

Please also keep in mind that since you haven't been eating as much this week due to not eating your exercise calories, that your weight may temporarily stay the same or go up a bit because the extra grams of food will cause you to store more waste in your bowels and the extra sodium you will be consuming (naturally) will cause water retention. This is not fat.

1_Slick_Chick

You are doing great! I concur with the trainer....if you're hungry, eat back the exercise calories. If you're not hungry, then don't.
1200 calories seems a bit low for you at this point. When I first started (@ 220lbs 5'5") I was at 1330 calories without exercise. I have a desk job too. You can add me if you'd like another gal who started where you did

herblackwings39

Weight loss isn't a steady, constant downward flow. You gained 2.2 lbs, then lost 6.6, then gained .4 and lost .9. That's an overall downward trend while eating your calorie goal AND exercise calories.

It was working. I'd suggest returning to it and not being hungry.

If you're concerned I'd suggest investing in a digital kitchen scale and using it to make sure your servings are actually right.

Congratulations on your loss so far!

dorrien12

You are doing great! I concur with the trainer....if you're hungry, eat back the exercise calories. If you're not hungry, then don't.
1200 calories seems a bit low for you at this point. When I first started (@ 220lbs 5'5") I was at 1330 calories without exercise. I have a desk job too. You can add me if you'd like another gal who started where you did

dorrien12

Weight loss isn't a steady, constant downward flow. You gained 2.2 lbs, then lost 6.6, then gained .4 and lost .9. That's an overall downward trend while eating your calorie goal AND exercise calories.

It was working. I'd suggest returning to it and not being hungry.

If you're concerned I'd suggest investing in a digital kitchen scale and using it to make sure your servings are actually right.

Congratulations on your loss so far!

Thank you.... I kept saying to myself it works why change up now. Thank you for reinforcing this...

dorrien12

I want to thank everyone that took the time out to answer my questions. I will get back on track..... Next goal - 20 lbs. by Sept/Oct.