I'm New To This, A Little Advice?

complikaited
complikaited Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone. :) I'm Kait, and a newbie.

Firstly, I'm 24, female, 5'3" SW: 277, CW: 266, GW: 150, UGW: 130.

According to the calculator, my daily calorie goal is 1,420. I understand that a deficit is a good thing, but every time I finish logging it says I'm eating too few calories. This confuses me, because I'm eating till I feel sated. I'm not going hungry, and I feel like I'm eating a good balance of foods.

Granted, I'm losing weight, so what I'm eating paired with exercise is working, but I'm afraid I'm going to do more damage than good. I'd like to get closer to my calorie goal, but how do I do that when I'm just not hungry?

Any advice is really appreciated. (I believe my diary is public, but if you want to view it and can't feel free to add me. :) )

Thanks!

Replies

  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    My advice: you should eat the 1420 every day. Not the 900 you've been eating. You will lose at 1420. Especially if you're accurate by weighing your food and logging everything honestly.
  • All4Me2014xx
    All4Me2014xx Posts: 155 Member
    I took a look at the past week or so and most days you are netting less than 1000 calories. If you net at least 1200 calories, you probably won't get that 'eating too few calories' message. Evaluate your daily total (say after lunch) and figure approximately how many calories you will be burning for exercise and try to eat to reach a net of at least 1200 by the end of the evening.

    If you don't want to eat back your exercise calories, that's a choice for you to make. But your body needs fuel to keep up with the amount of exercise you are doing. If you start feeling run down, or feel like it's taking a lot for you to finish your exercise session, then you need some more fuel to get you through it.

    Add in a couple 100 calorie snacks during the day between your meals and that may help.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    Also wanted to add this:

    The neural firings that cause overeating are very similar to the ones that cause UNDER eating. If you can't eat a larger volume of food, then eat more nuts, peanut butter, full fat dairy, avocado, etc. I'm not trying to be critical, just trying to be supportive: listening to your brain got you to 277 lbs. Stop listening to your brain. Listen to science. Science says to eat 1420. Eat 1420.
  • complikaited
    complikaited Posts: 19 Member
    Don't worry you won't offend me. Like I said I'm new and trying to make a 'lifestyle' change and not just a temporary change to lose the weight.

    Thank you for the advice. :)
  • Jim_Barteck
    Jim_Barteck Posts: 274 Member
    Looking at your diary, you're consistently a little low on protein. I don't know your dairy tolerance, but adding a glass of milk each day might not be a bad idea. It's a good source of protein, and it will add some calories to your overall mix. 8 oz milk = 8g protein
  • complikaited
    complikaited Posts: 19 Member
    Looking at your diary, you're consistently a little low on protein. I don't know your dairy tolerance, but adding a glass of milk each day might not be a bad idea. It's a good source of protein, and it will add some calories to your overall mix. 8 oz milk = 8g protein

    Thanks! I keep whole milk in the house, I just haven't been using it. My SO loves it. I'll have some with dinner. :)
  • DrJenO
    DrJenO Posts: 404 Member
    Milk is my go-to when I'm not feeling hungry but need additional calories and protein.

    I agree with the above posters. Trust the numbers.

    Honestly, you could probably eat a lot more than 1420 per day and still lose.
  • Fit_Chef_NE
    Fit_Chef_NE Posts: 110 Member
    I swear to God, I started losing more weight consistently when I upped my calories. I am one of those people who gives things my all, and when I started trying to lose weight, I ate between 900-1200 calories a day. At first, the weight fell off. Then about a month in it all. stopped.

    I did a search on MFP and saw many threads with the advice of UPPING the calories during a plateau instead of eating even less. I was so uncomfortable with doing that, but I gradually upped them to 1500. The weight began to come off again. I feel SO much better.

    I also started drinking a lot more water. I wasn't drinking much at all before. It has helped even more. I drink between 64-100 oz per day, depending on many factors. I don't really enjoy drinking water, so I add lemons, strawberries, raspberries etc. to a large pitcher and fill it every night and put it in the fridge. By the morning, I have a delicious pitcher of water that I look forward to drinking. Not sure if that will help you at all, but it REALLY helped me, so I tell anyone who will listen now. :smile:

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