To eat or not to eat?? I have 100lbs to lose

kyleefreeman

Okay, I'm so confused! I am 5'3 I weigh 238lbs....I am looking at a goal around 130-135ish to put me at a Healthy BMI. MyFitnessPal has given me 1240 calories to consume. I live a fairly sedentary life, but I do walk everyday burning about 300 cals. *hopefully i'll be able to turn my walks, into jogs, and my jogs into runs!* Anyway.. with 100 pounds to lose should I be eating those 300 calories back? So really I would be eating about 1540? I have no idea what I should be netting either, with this much weight to lose....not gunna lie, I'm so hungry!!! but I feel like it may subside, or I truly am hungry? PLEASE HELP!!! Thanks

rosemary98

when you entered in your information did you say you were sedentary or lightly active? if you chose sedentary, then you should eat your exercise calories back. if you chose lightly active, MFP already factored those calories burned in the equation and you should eat the 1240 calories per day. That is my understanding.

LH85DC

Yes, if you are using the MFP setup (hence the 1240 calories), then you should be eating back your exercise calories. Just be sure to find a good way of measuring your calories from exercise (MFP often overestimates). You may want to look into a pedometer or heart rate monitor. Give it a month, then re-evaluate. If you're still feeling hungry, then set your account to only lose 1.5 or 1 lb per week- it'll give you a higher starting calorie count to play with.

Good luck!

kyleefreeman

I set myself up as sedentary....and I have my fitbit zip synced to mfp.

TeaBea

Think of it like this ....if you eat (only) 1240 and exercise for 300 ....that's like giving your body 940 calories everyday. That's quite low. True it is more important to eat calories back as you get closer to goal.....but 940 is not a lot. Your basic bodily functions (heart, lungs, kidneys)....need calories everyday.

deksgrl

when you entered in your information did you say you were sedentary or lightly active? if you chose sedentary, then you should eat your exercise calories back. if you chose lightly active, MFP already factored those calories burned in the equation and you should eat the 1240 calories per day. That is my understanding.

MFP does not include "exercise". It calculates for your daily life NOT INCLUDING exercise. So, things like getting up, walking up and down the stairs, going to work, taking your kids to school, preparing meals, all of those things are included in MFP's calculation, but exercise is not. If the OP's exercise is walking then that should be logged as exercise and eaten.

bethanytowell

Okay, I'm so confused! I am 5'3 I weigh 238lbs....I am looking at a goal around 130-135ish to put me at a Healthy BMI. MyFitnessPal has given me 1240 calories to consume. I live a fairly sedentary life, but I do walk everyday burning about 300 cals. *hopefully i'll be able to turn my walks, into jogs, and my jogs into runs!* Anyway.. with 100 pounds to lose should I be eating those 300 calories back? So really I would be eating about 1540? I have no idea what I should be netting either, with this much weight to lose....not gunna lie, I'm so hungry!!! but I feel like it may subside, or I truly am hungry? PLEASE HELP!!! Thanks

Myfitness pal is great but can be confusing. Your best bet will be to forgoe the math and set up your own calorie goals using your tdee. TDEE(Total daily energy expenditure) minus about 20% is a very effective and sustainable way to lose weight in the long term. I find that i lose at or more than 1lb per week using this method. According to your stats, your TDEE is 2209(all the calories your body burns in a whole day includes light excercise and activity). If you subtract 20% (a moderate sustainable deficit) you are left with 1767 calories per day. If you plug 1767 calories into my fitnesspal in the custom goals section you can follow that and not have to mess with adding in excercise calories and the like. Its easier overall and evens out. 120 calories in the long term is just not sustainable. Some people manage but most people burn out. I reccomend doing some BMR and TDEE research and deciding for yourself what is the best approach for you. Please just dont get on the 1200 calorie wagon and get frustrated and jump off. There are other ways. I had to learn it the hard way. Thanks to some tough love from some very experienced MFP friends.

kyleefreeman

So as far as net calories...am I shooting for a bigger number or a lower number haha...sorry might be a stupid question, like today so far i've eaten 590 calories, i've burned 300. So I have a net of 290...in simple terms is "net" just another term for how many calories I have truly consumed? So....say at the end up the day I have consumed 1240, and burned 600, putting me at a net of 640, is that a good thing or a bad thing when trying to lose so much?

rosemary98

when you entered in your information did you say you were sedentary or lightly active? if you chose sedentary, then you should eat your exercise calories back. if you chose lightly active, MFP already factored those calories burned in the equation and you should eat the 1240 calories per day. That is my understanding.

MFP does not include "exercise". It calculates for your daily life NOT INCLUDING exercise. So, things like getting up, walking up and down the stairs, going to work, taking your kids to school, preparing meals, all of those things are included in MFP's calculation, but exercise is not. If the OP's exercise is walking then that should be logged as exercise and eaten.

I agree. if she said she was sedentary, any calories she burned from exercise should be eaten. Sorry, i mispoke a bit.

Siansonea

When in doubt, try it out. Use 1540 as your starting limit, and see how you do for the first month or so. If you're losing at an adequate rate, stay with it. You can always ramp up your exercise or scale back your calories later. It's a calibration process, find what works best for your body, but don't "crash diet" right out of the gate. Losing weight is really just math, and like any equation, having exact numbers for your two variables (calories eaten, calories expended) will yield the best results. Track your food as exactly as you can, and you'll do fine.

Just remember it takes time, but a year from now, you'll either be well on your way toward your goal, or wishing you had stuck with it. Just stick with it. If you want this to be the last time you lose that hundred pounds, you'll realize that you're making a lifelong lifestyle change. That means understanding what your maintenance responsibilities are. You'll have a calorie limit at your goal weight, just as you do while you're trying to lose weight, and exercise will of course help with your overall fitness.

Best of luck to you! And definitely take advantage of all the knowledge and advice available to you here. Be aware that some people are cuckoo for cocoa puffs, though, and just tell everyone "you need to eat more!" before even finding out if their math is accurate. Ignore those people. :bigsmile:

deksgrl

So as far as net calories...am I shooting for a bigger number or a lower number haha...sorry might be a stupid question, like today so far i've eaten 590 calories, i've burned 300. So I have a net of 290...in simple terms is "net" just another term for how many calories I have truly consumed? So....say at the end up the day I have consumed 1240, and burned 600, putting me at a net of 640, is that a good thing or a bad thing when trying to lose so much?

If MFP gives you 1240, then you NET 1240.

1240 (amount MFP gives you to lose x amount per week - not including exercise)
-300 (amount you logged for exercise)
+300 (amount more to eat for fuel for exercise)
=1240 (Net)

See, you still maintain the amount of deficit to lose whatever you set it to for pounds to lose per week.

kyleefreeman

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Francl27

I believe if you synchronized the fitbit though, you don't eat walking calories back, it will add them automatically or something?

Either way, with 100 lbs to lose, you could probably eat way more and still lose. Don't go nuts and overdo it... you want it to be sustainable. Personally I'd pick the 'lose 1.5 lb a week' setting at most.

deksgrl

I believe if you synchronized the fitbit though, you don't eat walking calories back, it will add them automatically or something?

Either way, with 100 lbs to lose, you could probably eat way more and still lose. Don't go nuts and overdo it... you want it to be sustainable. Personally I'd pick the 'lose 1.5 lb a week' setting at most.

I didn't know about the Fitbit sync and not eating back cals, something to look into.