MFP has me on 1200 calories. Even changing my goals doesn't increase them. I have at least 50 lbs to lose. I gained 30 in the last 6 months
I mostly run for a workout because with gyms closed I struggle to stay motivated to do anything else
When I was 20 away from my goal, MFP dropped me to 1200 calories. I struggle to stay satiated no matter what/when I eat. After a run I'm famished and could put a huge dint in a buffet.
I am finding it hard to lose the weight I gained over the winter. Any thoughts?
MsOpus
Member, Premium Posts: 97 Member
Member, Premium Posts: 97 Member
Replies
Even if losing .5 a week puts you at 1,200 a day, you should also get some additional calories from exercise.
Do you eat back any of those calories from running or any other exercise/movement throughout the day?
Are you weighing your food to count calories? I remember being unpleasantly surprised by how calorically dense some foods were, but I was also pleasantly surprised by others because I assumed I was eating more than I actually was!
Also, how tall are you?
Do this for a week or two, and check your results. If you think youre losing too quick, add some more calories on. If you think you arent losing much, take some calories off (only by small margins, such as 100-200 calories)
Ive not trusted MFP calorie intake - ive taken the approach stated above and its worked well for me.
Consuming 1200 means that your body is under so much stress from such little intake, that it will hold on to what it has - stress doesnt help with weight loss.
I hope this helps!
(E.g., Don't let a machine tell you what to do!)
Best of luck!
I'm 5' 1.5" and didn't have a huge amount to lose to get in to Normal BMI (but my goal was to get to the middle of Normal). Per MFP, when I started, my maintenance cals were 1450. As MFP won;t allow you to go below 1200, it didn't matter what rate I selected to lose at, MFP gave me 1200 cals. So, I started with a deficit of 250 (0.5lb a week) but, as I gradually lost weight, that deficit got smaller and smaller. However, I was eating considerably more than 1200 a day, because I logged my exercise and ate those calories. No way could I have exercised at the gym and only eaten 1200 cals. I also weighed everything and double checked every diary item against the packaging or the supermarket's website to check that the nutrition info of the entry I was selecting was correct.
Personally, I lost fine eating 1400-1600 and more (slowed loss intentionally as I got closer to goal), *plus* all carefully-estimated exercise calories: Down 50 pounds in just less than a year, have maintained a healthy weight for around 5 years since. I'm not saying that calorie level will work for everyone, because we're all individuals . . . but it isn't unusual around here to see women trying to eat 1200 (or less!) when there are other options.
I do weigh and measure food. Not my first rodeo.
And I have to eat back my excercise. I tell people that I run just so I can eat. I seriously am so famished after running its hard to stay within the calories.
I never have counted calorie burn with strength training but I also haven't been able to keep up with that as well since gyms are closed.
I have a sedentary desk job. I miss being on my feet all day. Trying to learn how to compensate for that too.
If you're eating 1,200 plus exercise calories and struggling with excessive hunger, I would suggest a couple of things:
1. Is your deficit goal too aggressive? If you told MFP you wanted to lose 2 pounds a week, you can change it to 1 or .5 per week and probably get more calories per day.
2. Are you focusing on the types of foods that make you feel more satiated? For many people, getting enough protein or fat helps them feel more satisfied. For others, it may be fiber. You may have to experiment to find out what works for you. I know if I don't get enough protein or if my days are lower fiber, I tend to struggle more with hunger. You could also play with meal timing. For me personally, I don't really mind feeling mildly hungry in the AM as long as I have a big satisfying dinner, so I plan my average day to fit that pattern.
3. Are you noticing any patterns with meals or snacks on especially hungry days? This is another one that can be really individual, but I realized that if I have just fruit for a snack, I get really, really hungry for the next few hours. So now I just include fruit as part of meals (where it doesn't cause that issue).
You're half an inch shorter than me. To get to the middle of Normal BMI, I needed to lose 30lb. I also have a sedentary desk job. I weighed just under 150lb when I started and MFP calculated my maintenance to be 1450. As you presumably weigh more than I did (if you think that losing 70lbs would be good), your maintenance is probably higher than 1450. My suggestion would be to change your Guided Set Up, briefly, to find out what MFP thinks you need to eat to maintain your current weight. You know that anything below that will/ should see you losing weight, albeit possibly a little slower than you'd like.
My suggestion would be to then play around with different foods, as janejellyroll suggests, and try more fibre / more protein to see if that helps fuel your runs. Log your intake, log your runs and use the app to check that your weekly Net Average doesn't exceed your maintenance number.
With a small deficit, your rate of loss will be small, but persevere. I went for several weeks at a time without seeing any movement on the scales, then suddenly I'd realise that I'd dropped a bit more. As long as you're logging everything accurately and eating less than you need to maintain, you will lose weight. It's far better to go slowly and not be hungry than to sabotage your weight loss because you want to eat half the contents of a buffet table.