Im finding it difficult.

scotty38886

I am finding it difficult to understand how many calories and stuff i should be eating a day, I dont understand the numbers fully, and i want to make sure i am eating right to lose weight because i have heard people mention going into starvation mode and that its bad , i have only registered 2 days worth of my calorie intake yet i dont know if im eating too little or too much.

please help.

twnzmom

Welcome, all I can tell you is make sure at the end of the day your net calorie total is very close to the suggested amount or you will get the little message that you are in starvation mode. My pilates instructor has told me don't eat all of your earned exercise calories, I still have a little trouble at the end of the day coming up short but if its early in the day I will usually have a little something more to eat. You will soon get the hang of it. Good luck on your journey.

MissAnjy

What does MFP recommend you eat? what is the daily goal provided by MFP?

NuclearGirl

Have you read through this Scott?

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

There is some good advice & tips here and should help you to figure it out. Feel free to add me as a friend if you need encouragement - (I'm rather fond of cider myself!)

K.

anovasjo

Hi Scotty!

The first thing you could do is make your food diary public (at least temporarily) so that we can see your goals and what you're eating.
Go to My Home > Settings > Diary Settings > Diary Sharing = Public

navvs15

Hello Scott,

Before I got on MFP (the minimum calories I would eat would be 1200, the maximum would be 1800. Even when I ate the maximum and exorcized, I was still losing weight. Now that’s a few hundred calories over what MFP had me on. They recommended that I eat 1568 calories. So, I shifted from the minimum and maximum of calories (I was previously eating and ate around the amount of calories they suggested. So far, I’m still losing weight with my daily exorcize routine.

I do think that they recommend the right amount of calories to eat a day.

But I’m no doctor, and they could probably give you better advise than I could. ^_^

Thomasm198

You need to be a bit more specific.

What did MFP set as your calorie target? Do you exercise, if so do you eat back those calories? How many calories do you consume per day?

scotty38886

ok i have made diary public now. im not sure where to find what mfp suggests i intake a day. im all confused

mummum2

OK click onto my home and under there is a tab for goals, click into there and you should see that MFP have for you, note you can change if needs be. Let us know if you need more help.

scotty38886

Net Calories Consumed* / Day 2,250 calories/day I think this is it? So as long as i follow the nutritional values mfp also sets and dont go above that and with my current exsercise routine i should have a 1000 calorie defecit and lose roughly 2lb a week am i correct? please feel free to look at my pages.

scotty38886

but the number has changed because of exsercise so do i have to eat more than originally suggested beacause of the excersise?

anovasjo

Hi Scott,

The 2,250 calories per day that MFP has allotted you already figures in a deficit. That means if you eat 2,250 calories/day you should be losing weight.

If you've calculated a 2 lb/week deficit in your "Goals" section, then it would make sense that you're running a 1,000 cal deficit / day x 7 days = 7,000 calories (a 3,500 calorie deficit is required for 1 lb weight loss, roughly).

So far, so good.


Now as far as your diary goes, it looks like you aren't eating enough. There is some back and forth as far as personal opinions go, but most people suggest eating back your exercise calories, and you aren't even eating your baseline.

I would suggest to you that you start off by eating your allotted 2,250 calories.
You'll quickly learn that dieting isn't all about restriction.


I hope that helped?

anovasjo

but the number has changed because of exsercise so do i have to eat more than originally suggested beacause of the excersise?

Start by eating how many calories you've been allotted. If you eat less than that number, it's more and more likely that your body will "stall" and stop losing weight (because your metabolism will slow).

Most people recommend that you eat about half of your exercise calories. That way, if you have overestimated how many calories you've burned, you will still be safe.

scotty38886

thank you now i understand. *You've earned 1702 extra calories from exercise today means i could if i wanted also eat that extra because of going to the gym. but would it be a bad thing to just eat what my target was when i woke up or do i have to eat the calories ive earnt also? your all v patient and helpfull.

anovasjo

thank you now i understand. *You've earned 1702 extra calories from exercise today means i could if i wanted also eat that extra because of going to the gym. but would it be a bad thing to just eat what my target was when i woke up or do i have to eat the calories ive earnt also? your all v patient and helpfull.

Most people suggest you eat those extra calories as well, but then again some people's baseline for their calories is much lower- around 1,400/day.

Personally (and I am not a doctor) I would suggest you eat half of your exercise calories for a week or two, as well as your base calories, listen to what your body is telling you, and decide for yourself. Maybe you won't end up eating those extra calories, and maybe you will. Everybody's body works slightly differently and everybody approaches weight loss differently.

When it comes to my exercise calories, I tend to eat most of them... But like I said, I'm on a much lower caloric baseline than you are, so I exercise in order to be "able" to eat dessert! Ha!

charityateet

Sounds wierd eh, eat to lose weight?!
True. So true!

You must fuel your body (with the right foods) to lose weight. If you don't eat enough, your body feels like it is starving, give me food! Doesn't know when it's going to get it's next meal - so it reserves all the calories you do eat (just in case you don't eat again, or eat spuratically). If you eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat - good CLEAN healthy foods - your body knows it's going to get fed again so it burns the extra calories you have stored.

You need to eat a good healthy whole grain breakfast paried w/some carbs. Like steel cut oats or oatmeal with peanutbutter or a scoop of protein powder, or a hard boiled egg.....you might need about 5-600 calories for breakfast - I have 3-400. SNACK! Fuel your body every couple of hours, even if you are not really "hungry" a couple (2-3 hours after your bfast) EAT! Have an apple and a light string cheese, a cup of low fat, low sugar yogurt with some protien - Lunch, have grilled or steamed vegis with some chicken, have a salad w/some tuna, have a turkey sand w/light cheese whole grain bread and NO MAYO (hehe) after lunch a couple hours later have another snack!!! Eat! Have your carbs paired w/protien, I like crackers and low fat cheese with some fruits and vegis - dinner, same as lunch but add sweet potato or brown rice - protien/carbs......

If you are hungry later have some v8 and a hard boiled egg, or have some cottage cheese and fresh fruit.

I am going a little heavy on the protien here because it looks like you burn a lot of calories at the gym and you need protien to gain muscle.

Good luck in your journey! You can do this! Oh and beer and wine, OK in moderation - crap we'd all be miserable if we didn't do anything fun every once in awhle :-)

scotty38886

thank you so much, only reason i havent payed attention to the protein is because i am quite muscular and very strong but if a couple of poached eggs during the day will solve it i wont complain lol i love them with black pepper yum. im just findin it hard to increase my fat intake. how do you do it without say eating mc donalds lol?

charityateet

Fat intake? Good fats?

Avocado - add a slice to your turkey sandwich (NOT 1/2 avocado, like 1/4 or so!)
Olive Oil - drizzle on steamed vegis (in moderation)
Nuts are full of good fats and they help satisfy the appetite, handfull of nuts (fats/protiens) paired with complex carbs.

scotty38886

Could anyone please look at my diary for today and see if i have eaten well, just so i know , or get a rough guidline. i am going to bed soon so i wont be eating again. thanks.

janesmith1

Scott, are you able to wear a HRM (heart rate monitor) while going to the gym to get your true calories /HR? That might help. Also, I and other don't always eat the total caloric amt they say to eat.

So don't worry about not coming up to the daily allotment of cals. I saw your diary and you're doing well on it! Don't worry about eating up all your cals, but as I said, get a HRM to make sure you're actually burning all the cals you think you are.

charityateet

I personally think you need to eat more meals, and eat them more often. I can't quite tell, but it sure looks like you didn't eat much for breakfast or lunch, but had quite a large dinner and no snacks in between?

You need to be feeding your body every couple of hours, depending on your caloric goal. I eat 3-400 calories every 3-4 hours and 500 or so calories for dinner. I'm allowed 1400 calories a day - and get 400-500 extra for working out, so I get about 1800 and eat most of them BUT NOT ALL AT ONCE OR SPLIT IN A COUPLE MEALS. Bfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack (or drinks lol).