Am I doing it right? Confused....

Firemansam79

So MFP says I should eat 1640 cals a day. to lose 2 lbs a week. It subtracts 1000 from my normal daily 2640 to achieve the 2lbs a week w/o exercise. I like to exercise by riding my bike. Usually 45-60 min 4 times a week but have the days I go 90 min.

Always after a ride I try to take in something for food and energy. Fortified cereal, chocolate milk, low-fat popcorn, pb sandwich or something on the healthier side but not complete garbage, and not all at one sitting.

Many days I will be 500-1000 cals short of what my suggested intake with the exercise added.

Am I leaving myself to short on calories?

I had 2, 4-5 lb loss weeks when I started using mfp, but thought it was just the "Easy 10" than come off when you change your diet. I can honestly say then I wasn't so focused on being under my original calorie goal w/o exercise like I have been lately either. But now I find it tough to lose 1 lb each week.

Am I just not eating enough?

Why don't I feel drained if I'm not getting enough?

I drink water a ton and I feel satisfied with smaller portions.

Let me know what you think. I'm all ears...or I guess eyes.

jwdieter

First off, you don't need to choose 2 lb/week. Pretty rough. But that's on you.

You should trust the system and eat back your calories. If you don't want to try to log and eat back calories for whatever reason, you should look into a daily calorie limit (e.g. a TDEE-based approach).

Firemansam79

First off, you don't need to choose 2 lb/week. Pretty rough. But that's on you.

You should trust the system and eat back your calories. If you don't want to try to log and eat back calories for whatever reason, you should look into a daily calorie limit (e.g. a TDEE-based approach).

Can you enlighten me as to what TDEE is?

RichardFL

People seem to suggest you eat 50% or less of your exercise calories back on the assumption MFP overestimates how many calories you burned. Just keep it in mind since the more exercise you do the more inaccurate your MFP goal would become.

I wouldn't change diet based on just 2 weeks of data since there's just too much variability in such a short span, but it is your choice. I've just had too many weeks of weight gain doing the exact same diet and exercise routine to believe 2 weeks of data. I'd review after maybe 6 weeks unless you have problems/symptoms of bad diet like fatigue, pain, hunger or whatever. I would recommend making sure to eat more protein than what is in popcorn after exercise though, even if it's just a few slices of deli meat or something. Your muscles need the protein after exercise.

TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure. You can either find an existing thread about it or make a thread asking people to explain how it works. It's complicated enough that I would probably give you bad information if I tried to explain it since I don't use that system.

Good job on the weight loss. And may you continue having success.

Firemansam79

I've actually been losing weight since January but started MFP after good month long stalemate of not trying. So I have used it since the beginning of July.

If I'm logging exercise should I have put that I exercise 4 times a week in my settings?

I've mostly switched to a "Fit" type cereal rather than the popcorn or anything else after a hard ride, It seems to pack a lot of punch. I am a novice so any advise is good.