Confused: Calorie guidelines

CherokeeTopaz

Okay so... I've been doing research. I know on average people need 2000 calories to maintain weight.. less than for a loss.

However, while I was skimming articles.. I came across one that really caught my interest.. it went over the different body types.. ectomorph.. mesomorph.. and endomorph. I concluded that I'm mesomorph so I dig a little deeper.. it says that calories to maintain for a mesomorph is current weight multiplied by 15.. I calculated that and mine came up 3000.. I'm so confused. Should my calorie intake be 2000 something or 1000 something?

Stellamom2018

Body type diets have been scientifically debunked. Enter your stats into MFP and set your goal as maintain weight. Eat what it gives you for at least 6 weeks, see where your weight is, and adjust accordingly.

CherokeeTopaz

Thanks! It's just so hard.. I keep trying to lose weight.. I'm 5'5" in height ... 200lbs.. 30 years old... Obviously female.. and I've been consuming 1640 calories daily and my scale is the same.. some days I feel like I look and feel better.. but some days it's like there's no change.. I've eliminated soda.. drinking only water.. included vegetables.. cut back on dairy cause I think I might be slightly lactose intolerant.. what am I doing wrong.. how can I speed up the process..?

JeromeBarry1

Take photographs of yourself in a position you expect to be able to repeat for comparison in a future photo.

Take measurements of yourself and write them down on a spreadsheet, notepad, piece of paper, or something you can find again. Again, compare over time.

Stay at your calorie budget. Be patient. Weigh your food with a digital kitchen scale for accuracy.

collectingblues

CherokeeTopaz wrote: »

Thanks! It's just so hard.. I keep trying to lose weight.. I'm 5'5" in height ... 200lbs.. 30 years old... Obviously female.. and I've been consuming 1640 calories daily and my scale is the same.. some days I feel like I look and feel better.. but some days it's like there's no change.. I've eliminated soda.. drinking only water.. included vegetables.. cut back on dairy cause I think I might be slightly lactose intolerant.. what am I doing wrong.. how can I speed up the process..?

1) How long have you been doing this? You didn't get to be 200 pounds overnight, and you're not going to lose it quickly, either.

2) Do you weigh EVERYTHING that you put in your mouth? Not measuring cups, but an actual food scale.

NorthCascades

How many calories did MFP give you when you put in all your stats and your goal?

Stellamom2018

CherokeeTopaz wrote: »

Thanks! It's just so hard.. I keep trying to lose weight.. I'm 5'5" in height ... 200lbs.. 30 years old... Obviously female.. and I've been consuming 1640 calories daily and my scale is the same.. some days I feel like I look and feel better.. but some days it's like there's no change.. I've eliminated soda.. drinking only water.. included vegetables.. cut back on dairy cause I think I might be slightly lactose intolerant.. what am I doing wrong.. how can I speed up the process..?

How long have you been counting calories? Remember that even 5 or 6 days a week watching what you eat, if you go crazy on day 7 you are undoing a lot of progress. I started at 210lbs, I'm 150lbs now. MFP process works, you just need to be consistent and follow it.

lin_be

Stellamom2018 wrote: »

CherokeeTopaz wrote: »

Thanks! It's just so hard.. I keep trying to lose weight.. I'm 5'5" in height ... 200lbs.. 30 years old... Obviously female.. and I've been consuming 1640 calories daily and my scale is the same.. some days I feel like I look and feel better.. but some days it's like there's no change.. I've eliminated soda.. drinking only water.. included vegetables.. cut back on dairy cause I think I might be slightly lactose intolerant.. what am I doing wrong.. how can I speed up the process..?

How long have you been counting calories? Remember that even 5 or 6 days a week watching what you eat, if you go crazy on day 7 you are undoing a lot of progress. I started at 210lbs, I'm 150lbs now. MFP process works, you just need to be consistent and follow it.

This. Consistency, not perfection.

I think you'll realize that you're eating more than you think when you purchase a food scale. That doesn't mean you have to eat less, but you'll realize the foods that you can fit into your calorie goal and the food that isn't worth it. You'll find the foods that keep you fuller longer (for me greek yogurt) and the foods that make you feel starving after you've eaten (for me carrots) and the foods you'll find that you can't go without (for me saving 200 cals a day for ice cream).

cmriverside

Just set your Goal at either 1 pound loss per week or 1.5 loss per week. Be honest and realistic with setting your Activity Level. Use the guideline in Goals for the activity level.

Use the calories the site gives you. Endo/ecto/mesmorph doesn't apply to weight loss, it's just a look.

Stick to your calories. When you exercise add a couple hundred extra calories, that's how this site works.

Log food accurately.

That's what I did to get from 220 to 140. It works.