Dumb question

Its okay to be under your goal numbers rihgt? I just switched to MFP from LoseIt and its a little different.

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Well they are Goals so generally with a goal you want to reach it. Are you talking about being under your net calories? Depends on how far under. If you're hundreds of calories under your calorie goal that's bad. If you're 10 calories under you're probably fine.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    How much under?
  • knifeskunk
    knifeskunk Posts: 11 Member
    Basically my calorie goals is right around 2700 but I have trouble eating that many calories, and I eat around 1800. But then my main mode of physical activity is swimming but that drains so much of my calorie goal away.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    2700 seems quite high. Where did you get that? I.e. what are your stats?
  • My calorie goal is not quite that high but I still find myself under by at least 1000 a day. Side note: Under doctor's supervision. He says that as long as I am not suffering any side effects then my body knows what it is doing. COuld be because I have much more to lose too....
  • knifeskunk
    knifeskunk Posts: 11 Member
    My calorie goals are high because I weigh 386 lbs. I'm 5'8".
  • knifeskunk
    knifeskunk Posts: 11 Member
    I've been losing weight for a year now, started much much higher.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    given your size, eating 1800 cals is fine... if you're hungry you can eat more.
  • knifeskunk
    knifeskunk Posts: 11 Member
    Yeah, like I said I've been at it for a year, using a different program (LoseIT) but a lot of their exercise calorie burn numbers were super high and you couldn't plan days out ahead of time. I worked my way down on there from like 3500 calories a day to the 1800 I've been at for a few months now and I feel fine. Dropping weight quickly but not so quickly that it's worryying. 110 lbs before I came on here!

    I generally exercise a couple hours a day between swimming, walking, and doing aerobics or calisthenics too. Taking my life back and all that.
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
    As long as you're not hungry, getting headaches/low blood sugar/shaky feelings, and as long as your energy levels aren't going down, you should be fine on 1800. The issue with eating way below your calorie goal comes when there isn't as much excess fat to burn. The body resets, and your metabolism slows. I have a friend here who has lost 125-ish pounds so far. In the beginning she could eat well below her calorie goal and didn't feel any ill effects from it. Now that she's getting closer to her goal she's finding that she needs to eat more calories to lose weight.
  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
    Swimming usually makes me ravenous! Congratulations on the progress so far and for taking back your life! I think you've gotten some excellent advice here.
  • Happymelz
    Happymelz Posts: 536 Member
    110 lbs before I came on here!

    Great job!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Well they are Goals so generally with a goal you want to reach it. Are you talking about being under your net calories? Depends on how far under. If you're hundreds of calories under your calorie goal that's bad. If you're 10 calories under you're probably fine.
    This: don't you generally want to reach goals?

    If your goal is a college degree, is 3 years of college better than finishing middle school only? :happy:
    If you're going to use MFP to count calories, your goal should be to eat the number of calories it tells you to. (+- maybe 50)