Calories

garciasevan
garciasevan Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Having trouble eating 3160 cals which MFP gave me.

Answers

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    Can you provide us with some more information? What are you current stats: size, weight, age, gender. And do you want to lose or gain weight?
  • garciasevan
    garciasevan Posts: 9 Member
    edited May 15
    Can you provide us with some more information? What are you current stats: size, weight, age, gender. And do you want to lose or gain weight?

    Size:Large
    Weight:140kg
    Age:33
    Gender:Male

    Main goal is to lose weight.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    You didn't mention your height which is important as is your activity level. I am surprised by that calorie goal. At your current weight, you have a lot of reserves to draw from, so meeting it is less important than when you get down a bit.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,881 Member
    Sounds like quite a high calorie goal, but hard to say for sure not knowing how tall you are and what activity level and weight loss rate you selected in your set-up.

    Aside from that: are you having trouble eating this amount because it seems more than you ate before trying to lose weight? Did you change the types of food you eat? Some people have a period of adaptation when they switch from convenience/fast foods to whole foods with lots of fruit and vegetables and fiber, because it makes them feel fuller. Fats are an easy way to increase your calorie intake without filling you up (if that goal of 3160 kcal is indeed appropriate for you).
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,247 Member
    edited May 15
    Unless your extremely tall that is way too many calories. The more fat you carry the bigger calorie deficit you can run not that you SHOULD run a max deficit right off however at your weight without getting aggressive you'll be dieting for an extremely long time.

    The best way to figure is eat normally for a week and add up those calories and use that number as a benchmark then deduct 1,000 calories a day from there. You can start a little slower however a 1,000 calorie deficit per day will be around 2 lbs a week loss for you.
  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 3,802 Member
    So many people think it's important to do this perfectly. It's not.
    Ever watch a baby learn to walk, or a kid learn to-- anything.
    It doesn't start off pretty. MFP is trying to help you with training wheels. Just start trying, fall, get up and try again. Just like the rest of us. Perfection is a distant dream.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    Yeah, I just put your data into a calorie calculator (https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/) and assumed a length of 180cm. I got about 3200 calories for a not very active male person. Is it possible you didn't set a weightloss goal but only set this website/app to maintain your weight? Because it looks like this is what's happening here. If you chose a weightloss goal of 2lbs per week you should get about 2200 calories per day. Or more of you chose a slower rate of loss, which will also be easier to adhere to.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 921 Member
    I honestly don't think this is too far off from your TDEE based on your stats (but if you add your height that'd help). It does seem like you potentially did not choose 'lose weight' when completing the guided set up in MFP?

    Just double check that - or re-do the guided set up....

    Overall, if the calorie recommendation is right - do it for 4 weeks and then make any changes necessary based on whether you lost, stayed the same, or gained weight. And if you are struggling to get to your calorie goal (and it's more/less correct)....find ingredients or foods that are more calorie dense. I assume you're saying you don't feel hungry but still need more calories in the day? Add full-fat versions of things (if you are currently using 'diet' or 'low fat' versions). Eat more dried fruits, peanut butter, etc....
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,303 Member
    When starting out at a similar situation as you I figured that the mythical average guy eats around 2500 Cal a day. And tried it for a bit.

    Another way would be to calculate you maintenance calories at your height and activity but at a weight equal to a BMI of 24.9 and start there.

    A few weeks later you can evaluate progress based on expected vs actual results based on weight trend changes and your own numbers
  • garciasevan
    garciasevan Posts: 9 Member
    Height:180cm
    Activity Level:Active
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,303 Member
    So just over 308lbs and closer to 5ft 11 than 5ft 10

    And you're active. So you're hitting a good 10000 steps a day or the equivalent amount of activity and not counting it again for extra exercise credit.

    And you're having trouble eating 3160 Cal

    Why? 🤷‍♂️

    I have no trouble doing so. Or even hitting higher levels when I'm active enough.

    Even though I am a good 7.5cm less tall. And even though I'm 25 years older and within a couple of kg of being exactly half your weight.

    Given your stats, if you are active, 3160 is still a deficit--below maintenance

    And to get to your current weight you had to eat at above maintenance. Fairly often.

    So what changed that you have trouble eating that much?

    If you're just starting out with a lot to lose it is ok to leave a few calories on the table.

    Just practice future maintenance at a lightly active mid to higher end of normal BMI level.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,247 Member
    Trouble eating a certain calorie amount means that it’s over maintenance otherwise it wouldn’t be hard to do. Another reason may be that things are being undercounted so what should be an actual 3,160 is actually a lot higher in reality

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,881 Member
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    Trouble eating a certain calorie amount means that it’s over maintenance otherwise it wouldn’t be hard to do. Another reason may be that things are being undercounted so what should be an actual 3,160 is actually a lot higher in reality
    Or they changed the types of food they're eating, more filling foods than before.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    Trouble eating a certain calorie amount means that it’s over maintenance otherwise it wouldn’t be hard to do. Another reason may be that things are being undercounted so what should be an actual 3,160 is actually a lot higher in reality
    Or they changed the types of food they're eating, more filling foods than before.

    Yes, I'm full on 400-500 calories of salad and chicken, or chicken, broccoli, and baked potato, but can easily eat 1200 calories of pizza or ice cream. Or pizza, followed in two hours by ice cream.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,600 Member
    tomcustombuilder wrote: »
    Trouble eating a certain calorie amount means that it’s over maintenance otherwise it wouldn’t be hard to do. Another reason may be that things are being undercounted so what should be an actual 3,160 is actually a lot higher in reality

    I wouldn't assume that. I agree with Lietchi's point above.

    Also, we have the so-called "hard gainers", who often report feeling too full to eat enough to gain weight, even though that's their highly-desired goal.

    In general, I don't think perceived hunger is a super great guide to calorie needs. There's too much else influencing appetite/hunger vs. just raw caloric need. If that weren't true, any combination of foods/macros would be equally sating. I'm pretty sure that's not true.

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