Eating just under MFP given maintenance calories and it's predicting I'll put on weight!
Replies
-
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
1 -
MelanieCN77 wrote: »Have you logged a lower weight but not run through the goal setting yet? It doesn't auto-update.
I refresh my goals daily to make sure it's correct.
My issue is that if I ate at the 1470 it gave me I'd gain weight, not maintain.0 -
MelanieCN77 wrote: »Have you logged a lower weight but not run through the goal setting yet? It doesn't auto-update.
I refresh my goals daily to make sure it's correct.
My issue is that if I ate at the 1470 it gave me I'd gain weight, not maintain.
I think the predictor is inaccurate enough to be ignored but you are already underweight by BMI charts so I’m not sure why you are so hung up on this metric that everyone has told you is unreliable....8 -
Cough cough cough.
Hello there tigress!
You're getting sidetracked due to fear.
Assuming you're now at a comfortable weight? Wasn't it like yesterday when you were too low and heading for a vacation? Have you given your weight some time to settle after coming back?
How much of the unwanted loss have you managed to reclaim?
Anyway.
Plug your weigh ins into your weight trend app... which one are you using?
Eat the higher cals.
If your weight TREND increases by +2 lbs above maintenance, scale back by recent excess cals and an extra 50 till you're level where you want.
Until your trend increases while eating full maintenance calories... there is no reason to scale back.
Btw . Didn't you use to need 1600 to maintain and were losing at 1300? How are you now maintaining below. I definitely could be misremembering the numbers ...
Hi @PAV8888 👋 My holiday was back in May. I was 112.2lbs at the start and 114.4lbs after. I lost the holiday weight, and more. I've continued to lose, I'm now 99.8lbs. I'm trying to maintain before gaining as that seems the safer way for me (mentally) to cope.
I've got a 3.5 week holiday coming up in 5 weeks time, I'm hoping to maintain until then. I know I'll gain quite a bit over the holiday and I'll try to maintain that new weight afterwards.
I use the Libra app but I don't really find that very helpful.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »MelanieCN77 wrote: »Have you logged a lower weight but not run through the goal setting yet? It doesn't auto-update.
I refresh my goals daily to make sure it's correct.
My issue is that if I ate at the 1470 it gave me I'd gain weight, not maintain.
I think the predictor is inaccurate enough to be ignored but you are already underweight by BMI charts so I’m not sure why you are so hung up on this metric that everyone has told you is unreliable....
It's a matter of trust. I trusted MFP to lose weight, I want to have that same trust to maintain.0 -
I'll look at my net calories over the last 2 months, compare that with my weight loss and calculate my maintenance number from that. I just wish that MFP would get it right 😣0
-
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.20 -
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
1470 is maintenance at lightly active.
I've had ED's on and off all my adult life (usually every 3-5 years) but this isn't that. I've lost weight healthily this time and I recognise that now I need to maintain for a while until my holiday next month. I'll maintain whatever the holiday weight gain is afterwards also.5 -
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
1470 is maintenance at lightly active.
I've had ED's on and off all my adult life (usually every 3-5 years) but this isn't that. I've lost weight healthily this time and I recognise that now I need to maintain for a while until my holiday next month. I'll maintain whatever the holiday weight gain is afterwards also.
You lost a lot of weight in a short period of time and this put you underweight. How can you even begin to perceive this as healthy? You are paranoid about putting on weight and MFP getting calculations wrong when you need to put on weight. How can you perceive this as being healthy? You are making excuses as to why you need to maintain rather than gain weight. How can this be perceived as healthy? You may not have binge eating, bulimia or anorexia at the moment but you definitely have a disordered relationship with your weight and food.
I came across this that you posted a couple of weeks ago. For your health please seek some professional help before it gets even worse.
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
Hi, I've suffered with anorexia and bulimia on and off for the past 30 years (I'm 51 now). I've been fine for the last 5 years. I wanted to lose a couple of pounds in February to prepare for 2 big upcoming holidays so that I could enjoy my holiday food and still be a good weight for summer.
Anyway, that couple of pounds has turned into 32.2lbs loss in 4.5 months. I'm now underweight (BMI: 17.5).
I've been trying to eat at maintenance for the last few weeks but it's a struggle. I'm averaging about 1000 cals/day because I just am so scared to see the scale number stop shifting downward and even more terrified of it moving upwards.
I look terrible. I feel terrible. It's impacting on my health and daily life but, I can't bring myself to change it.
I don't want to end up really ill again (I've been in ED units in the UK before. I live in Turkey now though) and I know I should eat more but I just can't.
Can anyone else relate to this?
P.S.
This is the first time that I've admitted to struggling again to anyone so please be gentle with me ☺
12 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
1470 is maintenance at lightly active.
I've had ED's on and off all my adult life (usually every 3-5 years) but this isn't that. I've lost weight healthily this time and I recognise that now I need to maintain for a while until my holiday next month. I'll maintain whatever the holiday weight gain is afterwards also.
You lost a lot of weight in a short period of time and this put you underweight. How can you even begin to perceive this as healthy? You are paranoid about putting on weight and MFP getting calculations wrong when you need to put on weight. How can you perceive this as being healthy? You are making excuses as to why you need to maintain rather than gain weight. How can this be perceived as healthy? You may not have binge eating, bulimia or anorexia at the moment but you definitely have a disordered relationship with your weight and food.
I came across this that you posted a couple of weeks ago. For your health please seek some professional help before it gets even worse.
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
Hi, I've suffered with anorexia and bulimia on and off for the past 30 years (I'm 51 now). I've been fine for the last 5 years. I wanted to lose a couple of pounds in February to prepare for 2 big upcoming holidays so that I could enjoy my holiday food and still be a good weight for summer.
Anyway, that couple of pounds has turned into 32.2lbs loss in 4.5 months. I'm now underweight (BMI: 17.5).
I've been trying to eat at maintenance for the last few weeks but it's a struggle. I'm averaging about 1000 cals/day because I just am so scared to see the scale number stop shifting downward and even more terrified of it moving upwards.
I look terrible. I feel terrible. It's impacting on my health and daily life but, I can't bring myself to change it.
I don't want to end up really ill again (I've been in ED units in the UK before. I live in Turkey now though) and I know I should eat more but I just can't.
Can anyone else relate to this?
P.S.
This is the first time that I've admitted to struggling again to anyone so please be gentle with me ☺
By healthily I mean that I've lost weight simply by calorie counting, no laxative abuse, exercise abuse (ok, that did start to get out of hand but, I recognised where it was going and stopped) and I've not been deeply distressed about weight fluctuations and there's been zero self-harming. To me, all things considered, I've done it healthily. I've learnt a lot by reading posts in this forum and that knowledge has kept me on the right path. See, I'm trying to maintain, not lose any more weight. That's brilliant for me.14 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
1470 is maintenance at lightly active.
I've had ED's on and off all my adult life (usually every 3-5 years) but this isn't that. I've lost weight healthily this time and I recognise that now I need to maintain for a while until my holiday next month. I'll maintain whatever the holiday weight gain is afterwards also.
You lost a lot of weight in a short period of time and this put you underweight. How can you even begin to perceive this as healthy? You are paranoid about putting on weight and MFP getting calculations wrong when you need to put on weight. How can you perceive this as being healthy? You are making excuses as to why you need to maintain rather than gain weight. How can this be perceived as healthy? You may not have binge eating, bulimia or anorexia at the moment but you definitely have a disordered relationship with your weight and food.
I came across this that you posted a couple of weeks ago. For your health please seek some professional help before it gets even worse.
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
Hi, I've suffered with anorexia and bulimia on and off for the past 30 years (I'm 51 now). I've been fine for the last 5 years. I wanted to lose a couple of pounds in February to prepare for 2 big upcoming holidays so that I could enjoy my holiday food and still be a good weight for summer.
Anyway, that couple of pounds has turned into 32.2lbs loss in 4.5 months. I'm now underweight (BMI: 17.5).
I've been trying to eat at maintenance for the last few weeks but it's a struggle. I'm averaging about 1000 cals/day because I just am so scared to see the scale number stop shifting downward and even more terrified of it moving upwards.
I look terrible. I feel terrible. It's impacting on my health and daily life but, I can't bring myself to change it.
I don't want to end up really ill again (I've been in ED units in the UK before. I live in Turkey now though) and I know I should eat more but I just can't.
Can anyone else relate to this?
P.S.
This is the first time that I've admitted to struggling again to anyone so please be gentle with me ☺
By healthily I mean that I've lost weight simply by calorie counting, no laxative abuse, exercise abuse (ok, that did start to get out of hand but, I recognised where it was going and stopped) and I've not been deeply distressed about weight fluctuations and there's been zero self-harming. To me, all things considered, I've done it healthily. I've learnt a lot by reading posts in this forum and that knowledge has kept me on the right path. See, I'm trying to maintain, not lose any more weight. That's brilliant for me.
It is a huge step forward for you and you should feel proud of what you have achieved. That being said, it is a slippery slope and getting the help before you get to the bottom is always a good idea and there are many aspects of your thinking, although greatly improved, that are unhealthy. Forums can be helpful but can not give the individual help needed for many people.11 -
Hannahwalksfar wrote: »Ignore the pudding cup analogy. You could eat only pudding cups and as long as you stayed within your daily intake you’d be fine. I would eat the prescribed amount of maintenance calories and after two weeks if you’re gaining lower then.
The lack of respect for the pudding cups makes me sad.6 -
Lillymoo01 wrote: »Lillymoo01 wrote: »
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
1470 is maintenance at lightly active.
I've had ED's on and off all my adult life (usually every 3-5 years) but this isn't that. I've lost weight healthily this time and I recognise that now I need to maintain for a while until my holiday next month. I'll maintain whatever the holiday weight gain is afterwards also.
You lost a lot of weight in a short period of time and this put you underweight. How can you even begin to perceive this as healthy? You are paranoid about putting on weight and MFP getting calculations wrong when you need to put on weight. How can you perceive this as being healthy? You are making excuses as to why you need to maintain rather than gain weight. How can this be perceived as healthy? You may not have binge eating, bulimia or anorexia at the moment but you definitely have a disordered relationship with your weight and food.
I came across this that you posted a couple of weeks ago. For your health please seek some professional help before it gets even worse.
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
I ran your numbers myself, and your maintanence calories are 1317 if your activity level is sedentary. I am not sure where 1470 came from. MFP may be using an older weight for that calculation.
That being said, your BMI is 17.2, which is pretty severely underweight. Gaining would actually be the healthy and beneficial thing to do. Are you currently seeking counseling or treatment for an eating disorder? I am seeing red flags left and right in the posts in this thread. I know sometimes eating disorders may be thought of as a younger person's disease but they can happen with anyone regardless of age. If you are not currently seeking help, I strongly recommend that you do so. That can help get you on a path to a healthier weight.
Hi, I've suffered with anorexia and bulimia on and off for the past 30 years (I'm 51 now). I've been fine for the last 5 years. I wanted to lose a couple of pounds in February to prepare for 2 big upcoming holidays so that I could enjoy my holiday food and still be a good weight for summer.
Anyway, that couple of pounds has turned into 32.2lbs loss in 4.5 months. I'm now underweight (BMI: 17.5).
I've been trying to eat at maintenance for the last few weeks but it's a struggle. I'm averaging about 1000 cals/day because I just am so scared to see the scale number stop shifting downward and even more terrified of it moving upwards.
I look terrible. I feel terrible. It's impacting on my health and daily life but, I can't bring myself to change it.
I don't want to end up really ill again (I've been in ED units in the UK before. I live in Turkey now though) and I know I should eat more but I just can't.
Can anyone else relate to this?
P.S.
This is the first time that I've admitted to struggling again to anyone so please be gentle with me ☺
By healthily I mean that I've lost weight simply by calorie counting, no laxative abuse, exercise abuse (ok, that did start to get out of hand but, I recognised where it was going and stopped) and I've not been deeply distressed about weight fluctuations and there's been zero self-harming. To me, all things considered, I've done it healthily. I've learnt a lot by reading posts in this forum and that knowledge has kept me on the right path. See, I'm trying to maintain, not lose any more weight. That's brilliant for me.
It is a huge step forward for you and you should feel proud of what you have achieved. That being said, it is a slippery slope and getting the help before you get to the bottom is always a good idea and there are many aspects of your thinking, although greatly improved, are unhealthy. Forums can be helpful but can not give the individual help needed for many people.
There is no help here, well, no free help anyway. I've looked into it and there's nothing accessible to me.
I posted that thread in the ED section when I was feeling a bit desperate but I'm ok now. Eating 1300-1400 cal's/day is a huge leap from how many I was(n't) eating a few weeks back.3 -
Age 51 female, 5' 4", 99.8lbs
You need to gain weight. 1317 is not adequate calories to do that.
I know you say that you can't get accessible help. Have you looked at *non*-MFP online resources?
You also may need to pay to get help -- if you don't want to have an ED, that is. It doesn't matter that you lost your weight in "healthy" manners. Lots of anorexics get underweight that way. But if you don't want to live in this fear, you need to get help. And that may involve making getting help a priority.5 -
-
I have the same issue, but I know why that is. I am 62, and mostly sedentary, so MFP gives me 1400 calories a day for maintenance. My actual maintenance need is higher, so I changed the goal to 1600 calories. If I eat between 1400 and 1600, the prediction always has me gaining weight, even though I am eating under my goal. I don't worry about it since I know from experience what actually works for me.6
-
hammondgirl wrote: »It will not just look into calories, but the quality of food, and in what proportions. For example, a pudding snack pack might raise the prediction up 1 pound (saying if you had an extra pudding cup every day for 5 weeks you may gain a pound), while an applesauce cup may raise the prediction 0.5 lbs. Try to make sure you also balance your macros and be careful of sugar and excessive carbs. If the protein and fat macros are left behind but carbs are exceeded, that is a known indication of weight gain. It is something that adds up over time.
Best of luck!!
5 -
spiriteagle99 wrote: »so MFP gives me 1400 calories a day for maintenance. My actual maintenance need is higher, so I changed the goal to 1600 calories. If I eat between 1400 and 1600, the prediction always has me gaining weight, even though I am eating under my goal. I don't worry about it since I know from experience what actually works for me.
0 -
Just meant to say read it again. This person knows what is right. You know what is right. Just do it. Even if it’s hard.0
-
You are underweight and obsessing over the *idea* of gaining less than a bottle of water. Think about that. You are obsessing over less than 2 cups of water.
You need to stop making excuses and get help. Like alcoholism, eating disorders are lifelong conditions no matter how many good days you have. Take control and get help before you do irreparable damaged to your body and mind.6
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.2K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 896 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions