Returning member - still confused

ClareWantsProgress

I was on MFP for a while in the past, then went through a lot of changes (including menopause) and find myself 35 pounds overweight and confused as all get out over how many calories I should be consuming. When I plug in my stats here, it says 1200 cal/day. Other sites show my "maintenance" calories to be 2,370. That is a HUGE difference! How are you supposed to figure out what works for you when the advice is so contradictory? (This is why I left in the first place.)

goal06082021

You probably have your loss set to 2lbs per week. That's too aggressive for someone who only has 35 lbs to lose. Reset your goals to 1/2 lb per week and see what kind of calorie budget it gives you.

DancingMoosie

Other sites may use a TDEE calculator (adding in exercise calories to your total.) When you set up your profile here, it gives you maintenance calories minus the deficit, but then expects you to manually enter your exercises (which can change daily) which will then be added back. Does that help?

ClareWantsProgress

I have it set for 1 pound a week and I do add in my exercise calories, but I just have the hardest time getting the amounts to EVER match up with what I eat on a daily basis. I'm usually way under on calories but already over on one or more of the categories. I just find it so discouraging when I'm trying to live my life and not be a slave to protein powders and micro-managing every bite of food. It seems to work out for everyone on here but me, lol. I'm hopeless.

cwolfman13

ClareWantsProgress wrote: »

I have it set for 1 pound a week and I do add in my exercise calories, but I just have the hardest time getting the amounts to EVER match up with what I eat on a daily basis. I'm usually way under on calories but already over on one or more of the categories. I just find it so discouraging when I'm trying to live my life and not be a slave to protein powders and micro-managing every bite of food. It seems to work out for everyone on here but me, lol. I'm hopeless.

Calories are what matter...not the macros. I couldn't care less about my macros other than getting enough protein to support my workouts and training. I typically get enough protein in my meals and usually don't need to supplement with protein powders.

At any rate...why not just keep it simple to begin? You can fuss about macros later if you want to...but they don't really matter for losing weight.

goal06082021

cwolfman13 wrote: »

ClareWantsProgress wrote: »

I have it set for 1 pound a week and I do add in my exercise calories, but I just have the hardest time getting the amounts to EVER match up with what I eat on a daily basis. I'm usually way under on calories but already over on one or more of the categories. I just find it so discouraging when I'm trying to live my life and not be a slave to protein powders and micro-managing every bite of food. It seems to work out for everyone on here but me, lol. I'm hopeless.

Calories are what matter...not the macros. I couldn't care less about my macros other than getting enough protein to support my workouts and training. I typically get enough protein in my meals and usually don't need to supplement with protein powders.

At any rate...why not just keep it simple to begin? You can fuss about macros later if you want to...but they don't really matter for losing weight.

Seconded. If your goal is weight loss, you don't need to worry too much about the macros (caveat: unless an actual medical doctor has advised you to pay attention to one or several of them, for actual medical reasons). Just calories in < calories out is enough and you will lose weight. It is physically impossible for you to do otherwise.

You may find that you have an easier time keeping to your calorie budget when you eat a lot of protein throughout the day, or if you fill up on low-calorie vegetables first at every meal, or what have you. Satiety is highly individual. But that is something you can track and tweak reactively, rather than proactively worrying about your carbs/fat/protein ratios.

ClareWantsProgress

I guess I am discouraged after 5 years of trying to go by calories and exercise only to still be sitting here at exactly the same spot! This is why I started tracking them again. After a month of being under my stated calorie intake each day, you would think the scale would start to shift - unless it's BECAUSE it's under what I need that my body won't get rid of it.... and this is what makes my head hurt, lol. Never mind. I'm apparently never getting back out of the obese BMI category in this lifetime, despite being a healthy 130 for 40 years up until menopause bit me in the *kitten*.

alteredsteve175

ClareWantsProgress wrote: »

I guess I am discouraged after 5 years of trying to go by calories and exercise only to still be sitting here at exactly the same spot! This is why I started tracking them again. After a month of being under my stated calorie intake each day, you would think the scale would start to shift - unless it's BECAUSE it's under what I need that my body won't get rid of it.... and this is what makes my head hurt, lol. Never mind. I'm apparently never getting back out of the obese BMI category in this lifetime, despite being a healthy 130 for 40 years up until menopause bit me in the *kitten*.

Are you logging all your food? Do you use a food scale? That was a real eye-opener for me. I was consuming many more calories than I thought when I actually logged and weighed everything.

ClareWantsProgress

Yes and yes, unless I am at my sweetie's house (2 nights a week), in which case I estimate based on the portions. We eat the same things all the time so I feel that I am pretty accurate. If anything I overestimate how much I eat. I switched to intermittent fasting last summer (eating only between 11 - 6 each day) and at first I lost 15 pounds, but then it leveled off and I gained 10 of them back even though nothing changed food-wise and I added an hour of walking a day when I switched jobs. As stated, this isn't my first rodeo, but everything that used to work for me is no longer working post-menopause. *shrug* I appreciate your suggestions, though.

alteredsteve175

You might consult a nutritionist or dietician to see if they can figure out what's going on.