Eating too little for my weight?

soidade

Hi,

I've had a somewhat confusing experience with MFP. I'm 28, female, 5'6, 345 pounds. I think it's important to note that my weight has not changed in the last few years, regardless of diet. My first week I set MFP to "maintain weight" just to see if I could that. MFP gave me a target of 2900 calories. Now, while I understand that the goal of this was to "maintain weight," 2900 calories was a LOT less than I was used to eating. I used to eat fast food every day, "supersize," eat whole pizzas in a 24 hour period, drink 4 sodas a day, etc. I must have been eating 5000 calories at the very LEAST, and my weight had NOT gone up in a few years. After the first week of successfully keeping to 2900 calories, I changed my goal to "lose 0.5 pounds/week." That brought my calorie goal down to 2700. After a week of that, I weighed myself and had lost 5 pounds. I thought, "wow, this is great" and changed my goal to "lose 1 pound a week," which brought my calorie goal down to 2400. I log everything that I eat very meticulously, so I know I'm under.

This is where it's gotten stagnant, or at least inconsistent. I've had weight readings of 340.4, 343, 341, 346, and most recently 345. I'm just scratching my head trying to make sense of it, because there are days when I eat 1900 calories, which is 500 calories under my goal. I've always felt that my goals were low - not because they're not achievable, but because I know that I'm eating 2000-2500 calories less a day than I did when my weight was stable (but very unhealthy).

Is it too much, too soon? Should I go back to eating 2700 calories, since I lost 5 pounds in two weeks, even though the MFP goal was "0.5 pounds a week?"

I did this: http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html

And i come up with a BMR of 2318 and activity of 869 for a TDEE of 3187, if that helps. Maybe eating 1900-2400 is too much of a drop? I don't know. I'm just trying to makes sense of how I can eat 2000-2500 calories less than I used to and still weigh roughly the same.

melaniecheeks

How long have you bee trying 2400? How often do you weigh?

ravenmiss

You need it give it longer than 2 weeks, reassess in 2 months.

soidade

I've been at 2400 for about 3 weeks now. I usually weigh every 4-7 days.

Should I be trying to hit 2400? I assumed it would be okay to eat 1900 sometimes because I assume that's what the "2 pounds/week" goal would be.

soidade

Also, not sure if this was important, but I read a guide on this forum that said that the MFP activity levels were inaccurate.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

I have mine set to "sedentary" because I don't have a job on my feet (which was the MFP description), but I'm a student, so I do a fair amount of walking across campus throughout the day, which can be pretty taxing at my weight. If I set my MFP activity level to "lightly active" on MFP, my goal is 2700.

davenporter

You are well within a reasonable diet. I wouldn't change anything. People will tell you different, but the reality is that you need a calorie deficit to lose weight, period. As long as you are able to function well, 2000-2500 calories per day is fine. You could even get away with less. But you need to choose a level that works for you, that you can maintain. That is the most important part of a diet: making sure it's not too much that you'll give up, and not too little that it won't be to any effect.

soidade

You are well within a reasonable diet. I wouldn't change anything. People will tell you different, but the reality is that you need a calorie deficit to lose weight, period. As long as you are able to function well, 2000-2500 calories per day is fine. You could even get away with less. But you need to choose a level that works for you, that you can maintain. That is the most important part of a diet: making sure it's not too much that you'll give up, and not too little that it won't be to any effect.

Yeah, I'm functioning fine, and I have no problem eating 1900-2400. Just wondering why I'm not seeing any results, I guess. Everyone seems to say that the weight "melts off" when you're 300+ pounds, and then slows down later, but there's been no melting for me.

kelsully

Any changes you make could take your body a little while to adjust to. Give the calorie goal 2 more weeks and if nothing starts moving the way you want it to then reassess.