Eating Clean and Losing Weight --- newbie questions

BrandNewAmy

Hello! I've been researching, lurking, investigating, etc. for awhile now regarding clean eating and now with the new school year, I've decided to jump in with both feet beginning Sept. 1! The only thing I wonder about is this...do I still follow the 1200 calories as recommended by MFP or will there be a little more flexibility as I'll be eating better? I don't want to under eat, nor do I want to over eat!! Will take any advice you can offer!!

naanpocen

Good for you (The eating better choice). What that simply means is that you will be ingesting less junk into your system, it does NOT however mean less calories. You still will be ingesting more calories than you need if you eat more. Sticking to your 1200 should still be the way to go. The plus side will be that you will have the added benefit of being healthy on top of maintaining your weight or losing it (whichever is your goal). Good luck with it.

LillyBoots

Hi there, I have upped my calorie intake to take into account the fact that I wanted to include healthy fats like nuts and avocado and not for go pasta and cheese and I'm still steadily losing on 1380 cals a day. My favorite green smoothie comes in around 350 cals, more if I add chai seeds. Play it by ear and if you can feel satisfied on 1200 stay there.

mkphotogirl

congrats on making this commitment! feel free to add me as a friend if you'd like to view my diary.

if you're looking for flexibility, ie, increasing your target calories -- you could figure out what your BMR is and eat at least that, but make sure you don't exceed your TDEE -20%. there are a number of threads on MFP about the calculations and why these numbers matter more than the 1200 target that MFP sets as a default. you can always update the numbers.

however, i personally find it really difficult to hit my target #s when i'm eating clean. i graze all day but never find myself overly hungry to warrant a big meal. the portions i eat are smaller, the food is healthier, and at the end of the night i would need to snack on avocado or peanut butter or almonds to hit my calories. i figure it's okay to be under on some days since i'm definitely over on my "cheat" days so as long as my weekly totals average out, i'm happy.