Eating all my calories?

longbranch92

Good morning, I’m very new to this site and I have a question. I am a 61 year old female, fairly active, getting between 15,000 and 22,000 steps a day as well as 30 minutes of exercise every day. I’ve been following WW for a year and a half and have lost 60 pounds but have hit a plateau for 4 months. I would like to lose 20 more pounds. I understand the WW program completely but needed to try something else so here I am.
I’ve been given just over 1400 calories a day. I have found that I’m eating under so far, from 200 to 400 calories less. I’m just used to eating a certain way. I always have that fear that if I eat more I will start to gain. It’s a old school diet mentality that’s hard to change. How important is it to eat all my calories? And what about days that go over? Do you feel it would balance out?
Any help is appreciated, I really want this to work and break my plateau.
Margo

ceiswyn

You should always be eating an average of over 1200 calories, as less than that makes it hard to get all the macro and micronutrients you need.

If you like, you can have ‘over’ days and ‘under’ days, but log them accurately and make sure they do balance out.

Finally, it’s quite common for people to be eating more than they think, so before telling you to go ahead and eat more, I’d just like to check that you’re weighing all solids and semi-solids, especially things like peanut butter and pasta. Volume measurements can be very inaccurate!

But if you’re weighing everything, sanity-checking the DB entries you use, and not using other people’s ‘homemade’ entries, and you’re still under... then congratulations, you can have some chocolate or wine to finish the day

chaseracer2386

I've always heard that eating to few calories can be bad just as eating to many calories. Ones body might think your trying to starve it so it will start storing fat. I'm no nutritionist but it makes since.

ceiswyn

chaseracer2386 wrote: »

I've always heard that eating to few calories can be bad just as eating to many calories. Ones body might think your trying to starve it so it will start storing fat. I'm no nutritionist but it makes since.

No, this is utter rubbish, and it doesn’t ‘make sense’ at all. Think about it; if you’re not eating enough calories to fuel your body’s needs, how is it going to manage to store any of them as fat? If you didn’t have enough income to pay your rent and bills every month, would you react by putting more money in your savings?!

People want to believe it, though, because it’s a much mre palatable explanation than that their logging is out or their body burns less than the average and they have to double down.

What can happen is that if you eat very little over a considerable period of time, your body may conserve some energy by doing things like fidgeting less. That isn’t enough to make a significant difference, though.

chaseracer2386

Well there ya go then..

allaparsons

I also heard: "body might think you are trying to starve it so it will start storing fat" and did not think it made any sense... I think, it can be true in short term, and your body might try to save some fat into storage. However, as "starvation" continues, it will have no other choice but to use stored resources. I also think "starving" is not such a great idea, although it can help with loosing weight quickly, but can give you a bouquet of other unexpected surprises cause by a lack of nutrients.

kimny72

OP, considering how active you are, you really do need to be hitting your calorie goal.

But first, make sure you are logging correctly. Logging accurately is a skill that requires practice! If you are eyeballing or using cups & spoons to measure your portions, you might want to start using a food scale, at least in the beginning, it's way more accurate. Also double check that the entries you're using in the database are correct - many were entered by other users and are wrong or incomplete.

If some days you're over and some days your under, that's fine, but you need to make SURE it really is evening out. You want to be giving your body the right amount of fuel.

Finally, you didn't ask this, but with 20 lbs to go, you should be set to lose no more than 1 lb per week. Losing quickly when you are closer to goal means risking more muscle loss than you'd want to. Welcome and good luck :drinker:

longbranch92

I weigh and measure everything. Been on WW and that becomes a habit.
I have it set to lose one pound but quite frankly I’ll take any loss.
I wonder sometimes if I’m eating enough but that old diet mentality kicks in.
I love that I can check the macros and nutrients at the end of the day.
Thanks everyone for your input.

Redordeadhead

Which things do you weigh and which do you measure? All solids should ideally be weighed as measuring cups and spoons can be quite inaccurate.

longbranch92

@Redordeadhead I weigh my solids and measure my liquids. My portions of food are pretty accurate.

lynn_glenmont

Are you logging everything? Not omitting things from your logging because WW says they are "free" foods?

longbranch92

@lynn_glenmont I didn’t like Freestyle at all. I was doing Simply Filling for the past several months and had great success with it. I’m finding I’m actually eating more on MFP. We’ll see how weigh in goes next Friday.

stelmackw

How are you getting that many steps, I need to be doing that. I'm on my feet all day and I only manage around 6-7000 steps. What do you do?

longbranch92

@stelmackw I own a cafe and I’m on my feet for 9 to 10 hours. And then I try to go for a walk every day as well.

emmamcgarity

Welcome! I am also a former WWer that is tracking on MFP. Since you were doing the Simply Filling program, were you also using the Good Health Guidelines for the backbone of what you eat? From a calorie deficit perspective, it doesn't matter, but I find it easier to stay on track with my plan if I work to fit in some of the guidelines in every meal.

mariekenji26

longbranch92 wrote: »

@stelmackw I own a cafe and I’m on my feet for 9 to 10 hours. And then I try to go for a walk every day as well.

Have you added this to your daily activity, ie. for example I am a stay at home mom so I set mine to lightly active, do you have your daily activity set accordingly to account for being on your feet all day?

longbranch92

@mariekenji26 yes, I do.
@emmamcgarity I eat mostly whole, healthy foods on Simply Filling. That’s why I liked SF so much. I try to avoid sugar as much as I can because because I have a terrible sugar addiction.