Confused

kiay131982

Hi, Im not entirely new to MFP, but Im not succeeded so I must be doing something wrong.
Im 37, 5ft 4 inches and weigh 160lb.
I work a desk job, but I try and make sure I do 13k steps a day, run for half hour three times a week (included in my steps on those days) and I do weights in the gym (well currently at home) twice a week... Plus before lockdown I did an aerial silks class once a week. If I tell Mfp that I work a desk job it sets my calories to 1240... So does that mean thats ALL I should eat? Because my gym trainer told me thats too little. Or when I 'earn' calories for exercise should I eat them too??
My weight has been hovering at the same for over 6 months despite adding the weights sessions about that long ago. Prior to that I had been ill for a year and dropped to 137lbs, but once I recovered it shot up and has stopped at about the 160 mark and I havent been able to get it down
I was aiming for 1500 cals a day as my gym trainer said that was the lowest she would sugegst, but Im still not losing

JustSomeEm

Are you logging all your food and drink, even the occasional small bite or sip of something? Those small bites and sips can really add up. Also how are you measuring your portions? I tend to eyeball portions, which is super-prone to misjudgement. In order to actually lose weight, most will tell you to get a scale and weigh portions, and I've found that this does actually help.

robertw486

kiay131982 wrote: »

Hi, Im not entirely new to MFP, but Im not succeeded so I must be doing something wrong.
Im 37, 5ft 4 inches and weigh 160lb.
I work a desk job, but I try and make sure I do 13k steps a day, run for half hour three times a week (included in my steps on those days) and I do weights in the gym (well currently at home) twice a week... Plus before lockdown I did an aerial silks class once a week. If I tell Mfp that I work a desk job it sets my calories to 1240... So does that mean thats ALL I should eat? Because my gym trainer told me thats too little. Or when I 'earn' calories for exercise should I eat them too??
My weight has been hovering at the same for over 6 months despite adding the weights sessions about that long ago. Prior to that I had been ill for a year and dropped to 137lbs, but once I recovered it shot up and has stopped at about the 160 mark and I havent been able to get it down
I was aiming for 1500 cals a day as my gym trainer said that was the lowest she would sugegst, but Im still not losing

That seems to be on the low side. Did you enter a weight loss goal when you set things up? That alone would account for a large difference in suggested calories.

MFP is set up to calculate based on normal daily activity levels, which the exception of purposeful exercise sessions. For that reason you are expected to log your activities, and so yes you do "earn" more calories back to eat on top of your base calorie goal.

kiay131982

JustSomeEm wrote: »

Are you logging all your food and drink, even the occasional small bite or sip of something? Those small bites and sips can really add up. Also how are you measuring your portions? I tend to eyeball portions, which is super-prone to misjudgement. In order to actually lose weight, most will tell you to get a scale and weigh portions, and I've found that this does actually help.

Hi, yes... I have scales and weigh everything... Even down to a lettuce leaf. I had taken a few weeks off tracking because I was getting nowhere and it was suggested to stop and just try and eat healthily... Which I did. I didnt lose or gain in this time really (fluctuated within normal limits) but I really want to get back into it and log everything and see some loses!

kiay131982

robertw486 wrote: »

kiay131982 wrote: »

Hi, Im not entirely new to MFP, but Im not succeeded so I must be doing something wrong.
Im 37, 5ft 4 inches and weigh 160lb.
I work a desk job, but I try and make sure I do 13k steps a day, run for half hour three times a week (included in my steps on those days) and I do weights in the gym (well currently at home) twice a week... Plus before lockdown I did an aerial silks class once a week. If I tell Mfp that I work a desk job it sets my calories to 1240... So does that mean thats ALL I should eat? Because my gym trainer told me thats too little. Or when I 'earn' calories for exercise should I eat them too??
My weight has been hovering at the same for over 6 months despite adding the weights sessions about that long ago. Prior to that I had been ill for a year and dropped to 137lbs, but once I recovered it shot up and has stopped at about the 160 mark and I havent been able to get it down
I was aiming for 1500 cals a day as my gym trainer said that was the lowest she would sugegst, but Im still not losing

That seems to be on the low side. Did you enter a weight loss goal when you set things up? That alone would account for a large difference in suggested calories.

MFP is set up to calculate based on normal daily activity levels, which the exception of purposeful exercise sessions. For that reason you are expected to log your activities, and so yes you do "earn" more calories back to eat on top of your base calorie goal.

Thanks... This is really useful. So on weight training and running days I will know its ok to go over into my exercise calories if Im hungry. I never used to do this and it was suggested my body was holding onto everything it could in case I was starving... Makes sense. Thankyou x

Lietchi

I think your activity setting might be wrong. It's hard to tell since your step count includes running, but you sound at least lightly active to me with that step count.

Your activity level should include ALL your activities outside of purposeful, separately logged exercise, so that includes walks to and from work, house work, etc.

If you can calculate how many steps you take excluding your runs, that would help judge the appropriate activity level.

I'm your age, your height and a bit heavier than you and my goal is at 1560 calories. I've also set my activity level at sedentary, but my activity tracker gives me extra for steps (I get about the same number of steps as you, but that includes a few runs as well) and exercise. I eat around 1900-2000 calories a day for a weight loss rate of 0.5lbs a week.