Eating too few calories?

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linoleumbob
linoleumbob Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Alright, I posted about something similar before but I'm still confused about all the BMR, TDEE stuff. I'm 23, 148lbs and would like to be 125 ideally. MFP set me initially at 1200 calories a day, but between workouts, etc, I was constantly starving. Couldn't do it. So I posted, and many people told me to increase my calories, so I did. I increased them to 1400, but I'm having the same problem - I occasionally eat some junk, but mostly good stuff, and I'm tracking accurately. But I'm very often hungry - despite this, I'm seeing no changes on the scale.

Exercise-wise, I don't eat back my calories. I run 5-8k three times a week and I'm currently doing a 30 day fitness challenge so I work out regularly, I just hate tracking it in MFP. Should I just not be following what MFP says? I calculated my BMR and TDEE (from the IIFYM calculator) and it tells me:

BMR: 1413
TDEE: 1942

So how much should I be eating? Thank you SO MUCH in advance to anyone who answers, this stuff is ridiculously confusing.

Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    How much time have you given your body to adjust since increasing your calories? You need to give any changes to your diet or exercise routine a few weeks because our bodies have a tendency to get all weird when we make changes.

    I'm assuming that you included your exercise in the calculations for you TDEE? With this you'd want to eat around 1450-1550 calories every day, and you would not eat back extra calories after your workouts with this method.

    If you're not losing at 1400, though, increasing calories may not help. Have you taken a look at your logging to be sure it's accurate? You're not skipping any cheats condiments, cooking oils, etc? And you've given it more than a few weeks to be sure this isn't just a water weight stall?
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    Sorry I have no advice for you but you look like Emma Roberts in your profile pic. Very lovely, had to comment on the resemblance!
  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
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    Alright, I posted about something similar before but I'm still confused about all the BMR, TDEE stuff. I'm 23, 148lbs and would like to be 125 ideally. MFP set me initially at 1200 calories a day, but between workouts, etc, I was constantly starving. Couldn't do it. So I posted, and many people told me to increase my calories, so I did. I increased them to 1400, but I'm having the same problem - I occasionally eat some junk, but mostly good stuff, and I'm tracking accurately. But I'm very often hungry - despite this, I'm seeing no changes on the scale.

    Exercise-wise, I don't eat back my calories. I run 5-8k three times a week and I'm currently doing a 30 day fitness challenge so I work out regularly, I just hate tracking it in MFP. Should I just not be following what MFP says? I calculated my BMR and TDEE (from the IIFYM calculator) and it tells me:

    BMR: 1413
    TDEE: 1942

    So how much should I be eating? Thank you SO MUCH in advance to anyone who answers, this stuff is ridiculously confusing.

    At 1400 calories and exercising you could potentially be near a 1000 calorie/day deficit. That might be too aggressive. However, how long have you been exercising? Would you say your fitness level has improved and or muscle tone?
  • linoleumbob
    linoleumbob Posts: 8 Member
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    @diannethegeek You make some good points. I've been exercising roughly the same all along but it's only been about a week since I changed my calorie intake. Could be that I just need to give it more time.

    @sheltol Hm, I didn't think of it that way, but I have noticed some strength improvements and my running has improved since I started. I guess it's easy to get caught up in the weight.
  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
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    @diannethegeek You make some good points. I've been exercising roughly the same all along but it's only been about a week since I changed my calorie intake. Could be that I just need to give it more time.

    @sheltol Hm, I didn't think of it that way, but I have noticed some strength improvements and my running has improved since I started. I guess it's easy to get caught up in the weight.

    If you were pretty inactive until just recently you can have some pretty significant muscle gains initially. I think you just mentioned you only started a week ago? It's also not unusual to gain weight when first starting a new exercise regimen. If you've been sore you muscles may be holding onto a little bit more water to heal/protect. This should subside in a week or so for most people. As mentioned you really can't get a good feel for how things are progressing in a week. The body undergoes lots of changes. Give yourself another good week and see how things progress. Just from my previous experience in weight loss groups it's pretty typical for people to not lose hardly any weight in the first month of Insanity, but when they hit Month 2 things start moving in the right direction. If you are noticing strength and cardio improvements, things are going in the right direction. Try to look at all your health improvements not just the scale. Best of luck to you.

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