survey for those that are losing fairly regularly/steady....

abricklin

I read on another post, "free advice" that her trainer said to eat 10x her body weight in calories. However, I suspect that is to maintain rather than to lose? I weight 195 and my BMR is 1990.

So, I want to survey those that are steadily successful (I know we all have our rough weeks, that is still a success to me) and lose mostly every week.

Survey:
How much do you weigh now?
How many calories do you eat on average per day/week.
Is that with or without exercise
If you exercise, how many calories do you burn per session (or in a week, perhaps more helpful)
How much of those do you eat
How much do you lose per week or month.

no 2 people are alike but I keep getting told I am not eating enough and, like for many heavy people, that is hard news to accept and really agree with and take in and adjust to. Most recently I was told that 1450 -1500 may not be enough for me at 5'3, 26 yrs old and 195 lb female, with about 400 calories of exercise most days. MFP says 1240 a day for 1.5 lb loss each week. Not really sure what I am looking for. I should note that I have yoyoed for many years but 190 seems to be my lowest adult weight and perhaps my body is being especially stubborn. The other possibility is that I am not eating enough. This week I upped it to about 1600 per day, so I am eating most of my exercise calories. However, I enter exactly what my HRM says into the calorie boxes here but do NOT deduct for the calories I would have burned simply functioning during that same time period. ie- in 45 minutes I burn about 380 calories on the elliptical. Sitting at my desk I would have burned about 70 calories so REALLY I should only be eating back 310 calories, and this is why I eat all but 100 calories on the days I eat back exercise calories. I AM now eating back all but 100 whereas before it was all but 250 or so.

Panda86

I read on another post, "free advice" that her trainer said to eat 10x her body weight in calories. However, I suspect that is to maintain rather than to lose? I weight 195 and my BMR is 1990.

So, I want to survey those that are steadily successful (I know we all have our rough weeks, that is still a success to me) and lose mostly every week.

Survey:
How much do you weigh now?
How many calories do you eat on average per day/week.
Is that with or without exercise
If you exercise, how many calories do you burn per session (or in a week, perhaps more helpful)
How much of those do you eat
How much do you lose per week or month.

no 2 people are alike but I keep getting told I am not eating enough and, like for many heavy people, that is hard news to accept and really agree with and take in and adjust to. Most recently I was told that 1450 -1500 may not be enough for me at 5'3, 26 yrs old and 195 lb female, with about 400 calories of exercise most days. MFP says 1240 a day for 1.5 lb loss each week. Not really sure what I am looking for. I should note that I have yoyoed for many years but 190 seems to be my lowest adult weight and perhaps my body is being especially stubborn. The other possibility is that I am not eating enough. This week I upped it to about 1600 per day, so I am eating most of my exercise calories. However, I enter exactly what my HRM says into the calorie boxes here but do NOT deduct for the calories I would have burned simply functioning during that same time period. ie- in 45 minutes I burn about 380 calories on the elliptical. Sitting at my desk I would have burned about 70 calories so REALLY I should only be eating back 310 calories, and this is why I eat all but 100 calories on the days I eat back exercise calories. I AM now eating back all but 100 whereas before it was all but 250 or so.

I don't really have answers for your survey, but in here you talked about burning calories at your desk, and how if you ate those back, you would have to eat more. MFP takes that stuff into account. It takes into account your activity level and gives you a deficit based on that- you can check it out in the "Goals" tab I think. So MFP is having you eat a certain amount based on what you burn just being alive, plus what you burn from exercise, if that makes sense.

IsMollyReallyHungry

Hello,

Have you tried going by what MFP recommends for weight loss? If not I like what attached thread states. It was very helpful to me and it is already working for me, because I still weigh over 300 pounds so I don't have to worry about my calorie restrictions right now. If you fit that same catagory please read the part that pertains to those who are obese. It is long but very beneficial and it makes complete sense to me.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/108362-eating-to-fuel-your-body-very-long

MissingMinnesota

How much do you weigh now? 195 (started at 242)
How many calories do you eat on average per day/week. 1200 (non exercise days) 1400-1800 (exercise days)
Is that with or without exercise: with exercise
If you exercise, how many calories do you burn per session (or in a week, perhaps more helpful) usually anywhere between 630 to 900
How much of those do you eat: Try to eat around half my exercise calories
How much do you lose per week or month. 8-10 lbs a month (1.5-2 lbs a week)

toddgaines

I currently weigh 207lbs
I eat about 1500 calories per day without exercise
I burn about 400 calories per day, 2400 - 2500 per week in 6 workout sessions with one break day.
I usually eat about 200 of those (Net calories are between 1300 - 1400)
And I typically lose my 2 lbs a week or about 10 lbs a month. Although I was losing up to 5 lbs a week when I first started.
I am a male though, so I am not sure how helpful this will be.

robin52077

I think I read the same post you read, and what she actually said was to NEVER eat LESS than your weight times ten. That's the absolute minimum that would be considered healthy, and even then, NOT every day. You need to eat MORE then your BMR every day.
It sounds like you are under the impression that your BMR is the same thing as your maintenance calories, when in fact it isn't.

Your maintenence is HIGHER than your BMR, so if you eat your BMR, you will definitely lose steadily, as that is already a deficit.

My opinion is that 1500 IS too low for someone who weighs 195 lbs. At least it is too low to maintain over a period of time. Maybe switch it to 1 lb a week, redo your goals, and make sure you are getting your water in. You either don't track your water, but do drink it....or else your are severely dehydrated because there are barely ever any beverages in your diary!

Sometimes upping your calories makes the weight come off faster, trust me, there are a lot of people on here that will say the same thing!Your food choices look pretty good though. A lot better than some people's I've seen that's for sure!

abricklin

I read on another post, "free advice" that her trainer said to eat 10x her body weight in calories. However, I suspect that is to maintain rather than to lose? I weight 195 and my BMR is 1990.

So, I want to survey those that are steadily successful (I know we all have our rough weeks, that is still a success to me) and lose mostly every week.

Survey:
How much do you weigh now?
How many calories do you eat on average per day/week.
Is that with or without exercise
If you exercise, how many calories do you burn per session (or in a week, perhaps more helpful)
How much of those do you eat
How much do you lose per week or month.

no 2 people are alike but I keep getting told I am not eating enough and, like for many heavy people, that is hard news to accept and really agree with and take in and adjust to. Most recently I was told that 1450 -1500 may not be enough for me at 5'3, 26 yrs old and 195 lb female, with about 400 calories of exercise most days. MFP says 1240 a day for 1.5 lb loss each week. Not really sure what I am looking for. I should note that I have yoyoed for many years but 190 seems to be my lowest adult weight and perhaps my body is being especially stubborn. The other possibility is that I am not eating enough. This week I upped it to about 1600 per day, so I am eating most of my exercise calories. However, I enter exactly what my HRM says into the calorie boxes here but do NOT deduct for the calories I would have burned simply functioning during that same time period. ie- in 45 minutes I burn about 380 calories on the elliptical. Sitting at my desk I would have burned about 70 calories so REALLY I should only be eating back 310 calories, and this is why I eat all but 100 calories on the days I eat back exercise calories. I AM now eating back all but 100 whereas before it was all but 250 or so.

I don't really have answers for your survey, but in here you talked about burning calories at your desk, and how if you ate those back, you would have to eat more. MFP takes that stuff into account. It takes into account your activity level and gives you a deficit based on that- you can check it out in the "Goals" tab I think. So MFP is having you eat a certain amount based on what you burn just being alive, plus what you burn from exercise, if that makes sense.

Yes, I know that MFP takes sititng at desk calories into account in your daily lifestyle. This is exactly what I am saying that if my HRM says that I burned 400 calories in 45 minutes, that only 330 or so is do to exercise, that had I just spent 45 minutes sitting doing nothing, I would have burned about 70, which is why I only eat about 300 of 400 calories I burn with exercise each day because I LOG what my HRM says, not the NET exercise calories.

abricklin

Mollie- a lot of my questions stem from that very post and as a result I have sent several msgs back and forth with Banks. He suggested I up calories, about 100-150 per day, for a week. IE, this week I went from 1400ish to 1500ish to 1600ish each day I exercise. If I don't start drastically gaining, and depending on how much I lose, I will continue to up until my body finds that "good spot" for me to lose consistently. After years of eating about 13-1400, exercising and never feeling deprived, its hard to adjust MENTALLY, although not necessarily physically.

abricklin

I think I read the same post you read, and what she actually said was to NEVER eat LESS than your weight times ten. That's the absolute minimum that would be considered healthy, and even then, NOT every day. You need to eat MORE then your BMR every day.
It sounds like you are under the impression that your BMR is the same thing as your maintenance calories, when in fact it isn't.

Your maintenence is HIGHER than your BMR, so if you eat your BMR, you will definitely lose steadily, as that is already a deficit.

My opinion is that 1500 IS too low for someone who weighs 195 lbs. At least it is too low to maintain over a period of time. Maybe switch it to 1 lb a week, redo your goals, and make sure you are getting your water in. You either don't track your water, but do drink it....or else your are severely dehydrated because there are barely ever any beverages in your diary!

Sometimes upping your calories makes the weight come off faster, trust me, there are a lot of people on here that will say the same thing!Your food choices look pretty good though. A lot better than some people's I've seen that's for sure!

You are right, I am confused. My MAINTENANCE calories, according to MFP is 1990. I checked this by changing goal to maintain weight. My BMR is 1677. I have a hard time believing that if I ate 1990 calories a day and did zero exercise I would not gain weight. In fact, I know that I WOULD gain weight. In 1 year of law school I gained 30 lbs eating between 1300-2000 calories a day, and I put that broad range because I did NOT track but I also did no take out, dine out, drive through, etc. No sweetened coffee, etc etc. I ate a "healthy" diet and gained weight-- perhaps it was combo of medication and stress.

IsMollyReallyHungry

I think I read the same post you read, and what she actually said was to NEVER eat LESS than your weight times ten. That's the absolute minimum that would be considered healthy, and even then, NOT every day. You need to eat MORE then your BMR every day.
It sounds like you are under the impression that your BMR is the same thing as your maintenance calories, when in fact it isn't.

Your maintenence is HIGHER than your BMR, so if you eat your BMR, you will definitely lose steadily, as that is already a deficit.

My opinion is that 1500 IS too low for someone who weighs 195 lbs. At least it is too low to maintain over a period of time. Maybe switch it to 1 lb a week, redo your goals, and make sure you are getting your water in. You either don't track your water, but do drink it....or else your are severely dehydrated because there are barely ever any beverages in your diary!

Sometimes upping your calories makes the weight come off faster, trust me, there are a lot of people on here that will say the same thing!Your food choices look pretty good though. A lot better than some people's I've seen that's for sure!

I am not an expert here, but this is interesting post. So for me if I weigh 370 pounds, I should never eat less than 3700 calories a day and I will lose weight. I hope you see the irony of this post. I have not lost 20 pounds by eating more than 3700 calories a day for sure. It takes 3500 calories to lose or gain a pound so if I eat 3700 cal, I am going to gain weight. Because that is 200 calories over maintainance mode. I would be leary of this advise. Maybe there was a typo. ?? Who knows, even if not a typo I can't buy into it myself. But hopefully it works for someone.

My basic plan right now is to eat less than 2000 calories a day no matter what I do for exercise. When this stops working I will bring calories down. Because MFP suggest that I eat 2020 or 2080 calories I forget. That is why I asked have you tried just doing what they recommend.

abricklin

Mollie,
I am set for a loss of 1.5 lbs per week, the recommendatin is 1240. I burn 400 calories most days a week, one day off, and one day 600-700 calories or so. If I netted 800 calories a day, I DEFINITELY would not lose weight.

IsMollyReallyHungry

Mollie- a lot of my questions stem from that very post and as a result I have sent several msgs back and forth with Banks. He suggested I up calories, about 100-150 per day, for a week. IE, this week I went from 1400ish to 1500ish to 1600ish each day I exercise. If I don't start drastically gaining, and depending on how much I lose, I will continue to up until my body finds that "good spot" for me to lose consistently. After years of eating about 13-1400, exercising and never feeling deprived, its hard to adjust MENTALLY, although not necessarily physically.

Sounds good and I adjusted my thinking after reading his post. I will re-read the portions that pertains to me. I thought it was an awesome post and very helpful for me too. Keep up the good work!!

abricklin

You either don't track your water, but do drink it....or else your are severely dehydrated because there are barely ever any beverages in your diary!

Yes, I drink water, I would be updating that thing nonstop. I usually plan MOST of my day the day before andupdate once or twice as needed but rarely add the water. I drink 8 cups on an ok day, 10-12 on a better day.

IsMollyReallyHungry

I think I read the same post you read, and what she actually said was to NEVER eat LESS than your weight times ten. That's the absolute minimum that would be considered healthy, and even then, NOT every day. You need to eat MORE then your BMR every day.
It sounds like you are under the impression that your BMR is the same thing as your maintenance calories, when in fact it isn't.

Your maintenence is HIGHER than your BMR, so if you eat your BMR, you will definitely lose steadily, as that is already a deficit.

My opinion is that 1500 IS too low for someone who weighs 195 lbs. At least it is too low to maintain over a period of time. Maybe switch it to 1 lb a week, redo your goals, and make sure you are getting your water in. You either don't track your water, but do drink it....or else your are severely dehydrated because there are barely ever any beverages in your diary!

Sometimes upping your calories makes the weight come off faster, trust me, there are a lot of people on here that will say the same thing!Your food choices look pretty good though. A lot better than some people's I've seen that's for sure!

You are right, I am confused. My MAINTENANCE calories, according to MFP is 1990. I checked this by changing goal to maintain weight. My BMR is 1677. I have a hard time believing that if I ate 1990 calories a day and did zero exercise I would not gain weight. In fact, I know that I WOULD gain weight. In 1 year of law school I gained 30 lbs eating between 1300-2000 calories a day, and I put that broad range because I did NOT track but I also did no take out, dine out, drive through, etc. No sweetened coffee, etc etc. I ate a "healthy" diet and gained weight-- perhaps it was combo of medication and stress.

I am glad you came to this conclusion because you probably would be gaining if you ate this much food.

alantin

How much do you weigh now?
- 88kg (Originally started at 97kg)

How many calories do you eat on average per day/week.
- I eat 1400 -1500 a day without exercise. I try to eat back all of my exercise calories so many days it's twice that.

If you exercise, how many calories do you burn per session (or in a week, perhaps more helpful)
- Something between 1000-2500. It usually adds up to about 5000-7000 a week.

How much of those do you eat:
- I try to eat back them all. I usually succeed.

How much do you lose per week or month?
- About a kilo (about 2 lbs) a week.

I'm keeping a pretty high deficit for now but I'll start upping my calories once I hit 83kg and ease the rest of the way to my target weight of 75kg from there.

jerren

I think I read the same post you read, and what she actually said was to NEVER eat LESS than your weight times ten.

I understand you didn't make this up so of course I won't hold it against you. But I'll debunk this theory right now as depending on what system of measurement you use, this number could be substantially different.

canstey

I have been steadily losing weight by using the value MFP calculated minus 2lbs a week (1000 calories) and eating 100% of my HRM indicated calories. Most HRMs attempt to only compute the calories from exercise and not simply total calories for the period so you may be subtracting resting calories twice.

After 6 weeks I added up the calorie deficit according to MFP and divided by weight lost and it came out to almost exactly 3500 calories per pound, just like it was supposed to so the BMR and lifestyle calories MFP computed for me and my HRM calories from exercise are correct for me.

abricklin

. Most HRMs attempt to only compute the calories from exercise and not simply total calories for the period so you may be subtracting resting calories twice.

I use the Polar F6.... this is a good thought, wonder if it does that for me or not.

ETA:
found an old post on a similar topic and Banks said that Polar does NOT take into account rest calories so you DO have to deduct the approximate calories you would burn by not working out during that time, for me, 45 minutse would be roughly 70 calories, so I usually eat all but 100, because, I can't really ever be 100% accurate with EVERYTHING that is going in. I realize that 50 calories won't make or break me.

mrayniak

I weigh 203 lbs (started at 293).
I eat an average of 1200 - 1300 calories a day.
I do not eat exercise calories. I work out 6 days a week with at least 60 - 75 min of cardio per day and resistance training on alternating days. I have lost at least 2+ lbs a week consistently. The last 65 lbs I lost was in the last 5 1/2 months (the total 90 lbs in 8 1/2 months).
I do not follow MFP number - I follow guidlines set by a nutritionist and personal trainer. I count my calories and the amount of carbs i eat.
If you have any specific questions feel free to message me.

abricklin

bump

LotusF1ower

I read on another post, "free advice" that her trainer said to eat 10x her body weight in calories. However, I suspect that is to maintain rather than to lose? I weight 195 and my BMR is 1990.

So, I want to survey those that are steadily successful (I know we all have our rough weeks, that is still a success to me) and lose mostly every week.

Survey:
How much do you weigh now?
How many calories do you eat on average per day/week.
Is that with or without exercise
If you exercise, how many calories do you burn per session (or in a week, perhaps more helpful)
How much of those do you eat
How much do you lose per week or month.

no 2 people are alike but I keep getting told I am not eating enough and, like for many heavy people, that is hard news to accept and really agree with and take in and adjust to. Most recently I was told that 1450 -1500 may not be enough for me at 5'3, 26 yrs old and 195 lb female, with about 400 calories of exercise most days. MFP says 1240 a day for 1.5 lb loss each week. Not really sure what I am looking for. I should note that I have yoyoed for many years but 190 seems to be my lowest adult weight and perhaps my body is being especially stubborn. The other possibility is that I am not eating enough. This week I upped it to about 1600 per day, so I am eating most of my exercise calories. However, I enter exactly what my HRM says into the calorie boxes here but do NOT deduct for the calories I would have burned simply functioning during that same time period. ie- in 45 minutes I burn about 380 calories on the elliptical. Sitting at my desk I would have burned about 70 calories so REALLY I should only be eating back 310 calories, and this is why I eat all but 100 calories on the days I eat back exercise calories. I AM now eating back all but 100 whereas before it was all but 250 or so.

How much do you weigh now? 158lbs
How many calories do you eat on average per day/week? 8400
Is that with or without exercise? without
If you exercise, how many calories do you burn per session (or in a week, perhaps more helpful) ? 2100-2200 per week
How much of those do you eat? between 0-300 per week
How much do you lose per week or month? 6lbs approx. per month