I'm SOOO Confused

2013is4ME

I just started logging in using MFP. Today I had 2300 calories however I have burned 1550 calories today. I'm not sure if I am eating too much or too little. I work out 2x a day and walk at least 5-6 miles a day and eat mostly healthy but I have my weakness for Mt.Dew.

Am I eating enough or too little or too much......HELP

ottermotorcycle

Opening your diary would make it much easier to help you!

But just as a sidenote I think diet dew tastes pretty similar if you want to give it a try, save the regular for special occasions.

Aaron_K123

I just started logging in using MFP. Today I had 2300 calories however I have burned 1550 calories today. I'm not sure if I am eating too much or too little. I work out 2x a day and walk at least 5-6 miles a day and eat mostly healthy but I have my weakness for Mt.Dew.

Am I eating enough or too little or too much......HELP

If you truly burnt 1550 calories then you would be eating not enough because what you want to aim for is a calorie intake that is below your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) by no more than 20%. Assuming your basal metabolic rate (BMR) or the amount you burn with zero activity just because you are alive is lets say 1300 (guessing, you can calculate it) and your day to day activity of being upright and walking around normally burns an extra lets say 400 so 1700 for maintenance. Then on top of that 1550 for exercise would be a TDEE of 3250. -20% of that would bring you down to 2600 being what you should eat. Keep in mind I guessed at your numbers so don't use this exact calculation.

That said I'm guessing you probably didn't burn 1550 calories as that is extremely high and a lot of exercise calculators overestimate your burn. For example I'm 6' tall and 188 pounds and I estimated that I burned 1300 calories on a day I walked for 13 miles and did 55 minutes of aerobic cardio.

Why do you exercise so much? I mean if you enjoy it more power to you but if you are forcing yourself to you probably don't need to push yourself that hard.

2013is4ME

I actually do enjoy working out. I just purchased a FitBit so I can make sure that I am burning calories like MFP says. I wake up in the morning and do 45-60 minutes of calisthenics, then after I drop my oldest off at school I go walk the track pushing a stroller for at least 90 minutes most times it is close to 2 hours. Then after I pick up my daughter from school, we come home do home work, then we head to the track and I walk another 60-90 minutes then come home and do more calisthenics. Then it's dinner, bath and bed for my kids. In between everything else I am usually in my garden, cleaning or doing yard work. I have had this same routine for around a month and really haven't seen much change. I know that I have let myself go so now it's time to get serious.

So I need to eat more? Still kinda confused lol

Aaron_K123

I actually do enjoy working out. I just purchased a FitBit so I can make sure that I am burning calories like MFP says. I wake up in the morning and do 45-60 minutes of calisthenics, then after I drop my oldest off at school I go walk the track pushing a stroller for at least 90 minutes most times it is close to 2 hours. Then after I pick up my daughter from school, we come home do home work, then we head to the track and I walk another 60-90 minutes then come home and do more calisthenics. Then it's dinner, bath and bed for my kids. In between everything else I am usually in my garden, cleaning or doing yard work. I have had this same routine for around a month and really haven't seen much change. I know that I have let myself go so now it's time to get serious.

So I need to eat more? Still kinda confused lol

Well it is possible that you are overestimating the amount of calories you are burning from your activity although it does sound like you are extremely active. All that aerobics + walking + gardening could add up to 1000 calories but it is hard to say. Bottom line is if you keep to a routine for a while and see no change then either you need to wait longer to see the change because the change is slow or you are at maintenance. I think you are eating enough for the sake of nutrition and perhaps therefore it would be safe to drop your intake a little lower (say to 2000) and try that out. If that makes you tired or dizzy or lethargic then probably not a good idea but if you are fine with that give it another month and see what happens.

editorgrrl

Everybody's different, and it will take trial & error to find what works for you. With 42 lbs. to lose, set your goal to 1 lb. per week. Log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Weigh your food. Eat back your exercise calories for two weeks, then reevaluate. If you aren't losing, try eating back half your exercise calories for another two weeks.

Take before photos & measurements, and read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Aaron_K123

"So I need to eat more? Still kinda confused lol "

If you go off the numbers you gave and the general wisdom of TDEE and if your BMR was 1300 then yes technically you would want to eat more.

That said those calculations could be off and they might not accurately reflect how much you are actually burning. Ultimately you have to just be very rigorous in your record keeping and try to be consistent for a long time (months) and see what happens to your body. If you are not losing the weight or inches you wanted to be then you should eat less, if you are losing plenty of weight but feel tired then you should eat more.

Ultimately your own body is the barometer here you just have to pay close attention to it.

Aaron_K123

Everybody's different, and it will take trial & error to find what works for you. With 42 lbs. to lose, set your goal to 1 lb. per week. Log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Weigh your food. Eat back your exercise calories for two weeks, then reevaluate. If you aren't losing, try eating back half your exercise calories for another two weeks.

Take before photos & measurements, and read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Good advice for you. A lot of people eat back half of their predicted burn from exercise simply because a lot of the time the estimates are overestimates and like I said earlier 1550 calories burned from exercise in one day sounds really high to me.