App settings for weight loss

szippel927
szippel927 Posts: 3 Member
edited March 2022 in Health and Weight Loss
Help!!!! I was getting confused with app and settings I had it at. I think I’ve fixed it. I’m looking to lose weight. My calories are set at 1200. Carbs 50%, Fat 30% and Protein 20%. Does that seem correct? I want to focus on calories and macros to see if this works for me. Also, I workout 4 times a week. Should I be eating the exercise calories? I get confused because of CICO. I have been trying so long to lose weight and I’m finally being consistent and want to make sure I’m doing this correct to see progress.

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,081 Member
    Yes, when you're eating so little then you really need to eat back exercise calories Imagine you're doing a run for 400 calories. That would pretty much be the same as only eating 800 calories. Would you be able to live happily on just 800 calories per day?

    One more thing to consider: The lowest calories MFP will give to a woman is 1200 calories. It seems like you've chosen a too aggressive weightloss goal. How much do you have to lose? I urge you to play a bit with the amount of calories you want to lose per week. As long as you still get 1200 calories you will never reach that loss number per week. In order to lose 1/2 lbs per week you need to eat 1750 calories less per week, or 250 per day. In order to lose 2lbs per week you need to eat 7000 calories less per week, or 1000 per day.

    The macros are totally individual. You can start with this standard setting, but if you feel you don't feel full or happy, or it's too different to how you normally eat then you can of course adjust that. I usually go over my carbs. Other people eat more fats or protein. Macros are important for health and happiness, but not for weightloss. And there's no need to eat in a way that's not for you just to get the numbers right. You can of course experiment, try new things, maybe discover something new. But it doesn't matter for weightloss.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Yes eat back exercise calories, when you are calorie counting the idea is to estimate all the major categories of calories in / calories out. Accounting for exercise isn't at all unusual, it's just that it's more obvious when using MyFitnessPal and done after the event rather than guessed in advance.

    Different exercises will have different best ways to estimate reasonably accurately and the database here often isn't the best choice for a multitude of reasons.

    Your macro questions have been answered in your other posts, did you see the responses?

    Be aware that the rate of weight loss you pick in your goal set up has a huge impact on your calorie allowance - fast weight loss is both harder and may well be inappropriate for many people. Picking the fastest option (if you did...) has consequences.

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