How much am I supposed to eat?

PK0993

Hey,

I've been on MFP for about 3 weeks, eating less, trying to eat more healthily (with some slip ups I fix with lower calories on other days) and exercising at least 4 times a weeks, with a combo of cardio and strength training. I also walk everywhere. I've been eating at about 1400-1500 calories per day on average, but have lost no weight. I am weighing out food wherever possible and logging everything accurately but still no losses. I sometimes eat exercise calories (only up to 1/2 if I do).

I did a search on MFP and can't tell if I'm supposed to eat less or eat more in order to maybe see some changes. I don't have much to lose, about 14lb (CW: 140, height 5ft 4), but still a significant amount. The Scooby workshop calculator TDEE said I should be eating around 1800 which seemed like far too much, and if I'm not losing as I am now I don't understand why going that much up would help.

Could someone help me with how much I'm supposed to be eating at to see a difference? Would really appreciate the guidance as the information out there is so overwhelming!

accelerashawn

How do you have your macros split?

It does take time for your metabolism to learn to deal with whatever changes you throw at it...so 3 weeks may not be enough time. How much do you trust your scale...and do you weigh at the same time and under the same conditions each time?

How much exercise are you doing? Instead of dropping your calories more, you could try increasing the intensity and/or duration of exercise for a few more weeks to see if that makes a difference (it definitely should)

Ninkyou

Just the amount of calories seem fine, to be honest. I'd work on your logging though. You say you're weighing your food, but that isn't really reflected in your diary.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=accurate+logging

As for how many calories... when done correctly, MFP + Exercise should come pretty darn close to what TDEE-20% (or whatever %) is. I prefer TDEE because then I eat the same amount of calories (or close to it) every single day, no matter how much or little I exercise, because it's already been factored in for me.

Another possibility though, is water retention. Sure water retention for 3 weeks is a bit on the extreme, but as a female, there's all sorts of things that could be masking your weight loss. For example, Week 1 you're ovulating. This causes water retention for some women. I know it does for me. Then, Week 2 is the start of your new exercise regime. Well your muscles retain water for repair. Anytime you increase your current activity, start up a new exercise, you will retain some amount of water. It happens to probably just about everyone. So now you're exercising, and ovulation is over, why else would you retain water? Well, it could be from having high sodium at dinner last night. That's enough to bounce the scale around. And then finally you think you might be making headway, and then BAM, Aunt Flo comes knocking on the door and damn her, she's brought 5 lbs worth of water with her.

You can probably see where I'm going with this. Give it some time, let your body adjust. Note the weight fluctuations and be cognizant of where you are in your cycles for correlation, etc. And work on the accurate logging. :flowerforyou:

WBB55

These are just suggestions. They might not apply to you. Just my 2c.

-What do you have your MFP settings set to for your weightloss goal? Is it set to 0.5 lb per week loss? If not, change it.

-The first suggestion I'd make based on your diary is try to level off your eating. Some days you eat 2100. Some days you eat 900. I know it can be hard to get into a habit -- and you can look at your calories as more of a weekly goal than a daily one -- but eating below BMR one day and then above TDEE on the next is a possible reason why you're not losing at a steady predictable rate.

-Try to eat back half of you're exercise calories. It will help. (Unless you're going the full TDEE method, where you eat the same every day).

-Your fiber is also up and down. Some days 13. Some days 29. Some days 1. Again, for some people, leveling this off to 15-25 every day might help with fullness and keep the pipes moving every day.

-I'd also try to get a little more protein in. Again, to help with fullness and just overall muscle health while you're restricting calories.

PK0993

Thanks everyone, I will take all the info on board