confused

teachparents

ok according to this website, i need 1200 calories a day in order to lose .5 pounds a week.. which is ok with me... but what if i go over,, then under the next day.... how do you target those 1200.. if i go under does that mean i will not lose weight? if i go over do i gain more weight? i am waaaaay to stressed about the calories...

and when it says that i gained 74 calories from exercise,, what does that mean,, that i have eaten 74 calories during the day but they are discounted due to the exercise/?????


really, i'm not stupid.... just graduated with honours!!! lol

teachparents

ok according to this website, i need 1200 calories a day in order to lose .5 pounds a week.. which is ok with me... but what if i go over,, then under the next day.... how do you target those 1200.. if i go under does that mean i will not lose weight? if i go over do i gain more weight? i am waaaaay to stressed about the calories...

and when it says that i gained 74 calories from exercise,, what does that mean,, that i have eaten 74 calories during the day but they are discounted due to the exercise/?????


really, i'm not stupid.... just graduated with honours!!! lol

ashley2011

okay.. if you go over your calorie intake just try to do better the next day... DONT COMPENSATE by eating less the next day. You want to get as close as possible to 1200 because thats the minimum anyone should have in a day.

as for exercise.. say you burned 100 calories , in your food diary it will say you gained 100 calories from exercise... that means you can (and should... well most of us on here do) eat them... you earned them so enjoy

I hope you like the website!

flcaoh

I read this some where on here but can't remember who posted it (sorry!).

But the body doesnt work in black in white with definite lines of calories. It works in shades of gray. I wouldn't worry too much about getting EXACTLY 1200 calories. Just try to get close (by 100-200 calories or so). There's so many factors that can throw off the calorie counts of food and exercise anyway and all of it is just an educated estimate... so, try not to stress and try to just eat about 1200 cals.

Oh and definitely eat your exercise calories. At 1200 calories, if you exercise and don't eat those calories then you're techinically feeding your body less than 1200 cals which could put your body in "starvation mode" and it will start to get much much harder to lose weight (believe me, I've been there several times). Plus, exercise calories have been a great incentive for me... the more I exercise the more I can eat LOL.

jpketz

You're not stupid! Let's clear that one up. This stuff can be confusing at first.

This is an article that Banks recommended. It explains better than I can the implications of going under and over with your calories:

http://www.fitsense.co.uk/fit_article.php?id=100

Good luck.

teachparents

i think you nailed it.. i am eating about 1200 calories but making sure i exercise a minimum of 15 minutes a day.. in fact on Tuesday night ladies golf league, i walked and used 200 minutes of exercise... i am soooo frustrated.. no inches lost, no weight lost since i've joined...

teachparents

thanks.. i wondered if there is a way to post my report and see if someone else can make sense of what i can't but i believe i am eating just barely 1200 calories a day and exercising 30 minutes a day.. on thursday night golf league i walked and exercised 200 minutes

shorerider

You don't have a lot to lose, so it is going to be a slllooooww process.

Also, you might be eating too little. 1200 calories is a large daily deficit for most people--and one that is also too low for most people. You are probably already close if not in you healthy BMI and might want to aim for a higher daily amount of calories with a smaller deficit.

It is possible that your body is not wanting to lose because it is not getting enough to eat! Try upping your calories a couple hundred a day and see what happens.

But keep in mind that it takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose 1 pound--for someone with a small amount of weight to lose, like you, you should be aiming for no more than 1/2 pound to 1 pound a week. That means it will take time!

How much of a daily deficit are you getting right now?

cwilson715

Hey, I understand how you feel. What I am doing is only watching my consumed totals even those I burn 760 calories a day. I am only going to eat 1200 calories. With doing all this it saws I will only lose 1.7 lbs a week which no right. You will only know your weight loss until it happens. some weeks you could lose 6 lbs and then next none. So forth. I know this because I worked for a weight loss company for almost 3 years. Only measure every 4 weeks. Also remember that weigh at the sametime everyday because you flucuate weight throughout the day and try to only weigh once a week. I gain 3 lbs by the end of the day.
I hope this helps:happy:

teachparents

here is todays report so you could maybe clarify for me. not sure what you mean by my deficit..

net calories goal 1200
calories burned 233
-calories consumed 1,115
calories remaining 318.

melissa73

I agree with Shorerider... I like to look at my nutrition in the reports when I doubt myself... I like to see it in the graph.... I stay really close to the calories recommended on MFP... I burn between 400 to 600 calories a day on my workouts and really enjoy eating those extra calories... I may not eat all of them but at least 2/3 of them.... Just try looking at the graph that is in the reports. It will go back as far as 30 days. Good luck... It is a learning experience for us all. I learn something everyday...

As far as your deficit it is pretty much 500 calories a day for 1 pound. ( 500 cal x 7days = 3500 calories per week) Which equals 1 pound... Mfp has already figured that for you when you set your goals when you signed up... Hope this helps.

I don't know if you have read this post but it may explain alot...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

shorerider

Deficit is what it will take to maintain your current weight minus what you are eating now. You need to figure out your Basal Metabolic Rate in order to set your deficit. MFP will do that for you--it's in the Tools section.

ONce you know that, then you can figure out what your daily calorie intake should be.

Given the small amount you wish to lose, you probably don't want to have more then 500 calories a day deficit.

Oh, and make sure you're eating your exercise calories!

Today, you only gave your body a total of about 800 calories to subsist on and that isn't enough! You run the risk of starving your body at that rate, putting it into starvation mode.

Please read these posts for more information as well---they will be very helpful!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

melissa73

We were thinking the same thing.... :laugh:

shorerider

Oh, and by the way--there is no way you should be trying to lose 5 pounds a week!!!!!!

I am losing an average of 3-4 pounds a week but I have, still, over 100 pounds to lose--no one at your weight should be trying to lose that much per week. Like I said, you should be aiming for 1/2 a pound a week, maximum of 1 pound a week.

I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear but to be healthy, successful, and lasting, weight loss must be healthy and slower than we would like.

tashakoss

HI IM NEW ON HERE AND LOOKING FOR SOME NEW FRIENDS AND MOTIVATION. JOINED MONDAY AND HAVE REALLY BEEN ENJOYING THE SITE. I FIND IT VERY HELPFUL AND INSPRATIONAL READING ALL OF THE SUCCESS STORIES AND SUCH ANYHOW IF U WOULD LIKE TO BE MY FRIEND PLEASE SEND ME A REQUEST. THANKS AND HAPPY DIETING OR LOSING

jamieakame24

Hello I find it easiest not to go over 1200 calories if you mark down everything you eat. and if you exercise you can eat more calories,(I believe) I am new at this but am enjoying it very much. Hope that helps

christina31

Just to remind you, as a fellow golfer, I tend to walk the course so that I burn extra calories. This ends up giving me the chance to eat something higher in calories, or to eat a larger quantity. If I know I'm eating lunch and dinner out, I can eat what I want instead of ordering lettuce and water! Welcome to MFP! You'll get the hang of it soon enough. Hope you love it as much as I do! :flowerforyou:

atodaro

here is todays report so you could maybe clarify for me. not sure what you mean by my deficit..

net calories goal 1200
calories burned 233
-calories consumed 1,115
calories remaining 318.

I am not sure you ever got your answer. If so, then skip this. If not, here is what I am reading.
Your goal is to get the minimum of 1200 calories a day. You only ate 1115. You must CONSUME at least 1200... so you need at least 85 more (1200-1115=85). But you exercised off 233 calories. So you COULD eat another 233+85 for the total remaining calories of 318. You can eat all those 318 calories and still keep on track to lose, or you can eat 85 and have a bigger deficit than you planned on, which would give you a greater weight loss IF you don't go into starvation mode. If you don't consume 1200 calories, you'll get a warning when you hit the button on your home page that says you are done entering your calories for the day. But if you consume at least 1200 calories, then you won't get a warning, but instead you will get a new estimate of what you would weigh in five weeks if every day was like today. (At least that is the time period I get on mine... I don't know if it varies if you have a longer range goal or more weight to lose than I do). If you don't eat your exercise calories, and after a few weeks you reach a point where you are not losing, then your body may be in starvation mode, and you should try eating your exercise calories ... at least one day out of three. I have to eat about 1450 calories a day and I aim to burn an average of 214 a day with exercise. If I only eat 1200 calories, I plateau and the scale does not budge. Somedays I burn 500 calories, but I don't try to eat all those calories.
Don't let the ticker fool you... I've lost 19 pounds since December. The ticker just shows my progress since finding this sight.

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

Does that help at all?

And another take on deficit.... Deficit usually refers to the law of losing weight. In order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. If your body burns 1123 calories just laying around doing nothing (I think that is called BMR or Basal Metabolic rate... see the tools page), and another 600 in normal daily activity, then you need 1723 calories to maintain your current weight. To lose weight, you need to create a "deficit." A 500 calorie deficit every day will add up to 3500 calories in a week, or one pound. In this case 1723-500=1223. You can create the deficit by eating 500 calories less, or by burning 500 calories more each day with exercise, or you can use a combination.

teachparents

can you see why i'm not in the business of weight loss?lol thanks .. you cleared things up.... I will stop "dieting" and starving myself and just make healthy choices, but enough calories to eat up those exercise ones....

you made it alot clearer .. thank you

teachparents

i cannot believe the amount of support from you guys.... you guys rock!!!!!

thanks.. i'm working on eating more!

teachparents

i am trying to lose point 5 pounds a week, not 5 pounds.. . there would be nothing left of me ...lol

teachparents

do you golf like i do? zig zagging across the course because the ball went waaaaay to the right and then waaaaay to the left...lol i am not a good golfer, just enjoy "ladies night out" and then my partner and i get away from the kids for a few peaceful hours.... i do like my beer on the course thou... therefore i probably consume a few hundred calories there.....

teachparents

i don't know how to add you or request you as a friend... can you start that in motion? welcome to the site!

atodaro

To: Teachparents
It looks like you have tried to reply to several different people with your various posts. I'm not sure of the mechanics of this message board, so it might be helpful if you would put the username of the person you are addressing at the top of your post.
In the box for each post, there is a reply button, then at the bottom of the page there is also a reply button. I am not sure if you would give a different result, depending upon which reply button you choose.

shorerider

Ah .5 not 5--that is much better!!!

Sorry--missed the dot completely.

Good luck!

christina31

I tend to play gorilla golf. I can nail it, but I can't guarantee where it will land. I also seem to take that same amount of force on the green too! The way I see it, rather than getting upset that I'm not very good, I figure that I burn extra calories following my ball everywhere!