Ok...Really???

PhoenixFire975

Alright. I'm not really sure if this goes in this particular forum (and I might totally regret posting this), but there is so much confusion on this. Calories. I have seen wayyyy too many posts where they are made out to be your enemy. THEY'RE NOT!!!. For goodness sakes, you need these for energy and to survive. Not eating enough cals will make your body go crazy. I know MFP has you eat at least 1200 cals per day, but that is too extreme for most of us. And really, the exercise cals need to be eaten. At least to where your net cals equal your daily goal. So say your goal is to eat 1500 cals a day and you work it off, you still need to make sure you eat to where your goal is met. This doesn't mean eating yourself sick if you exercise a bunch, but plan out meals and try to eat frequently in small portions instead of a few, large meals a day because these are much harder to burn.

Sorry for the random ranting, but a lot of this was getting to me, and even though I've had some success with MFP, there are a lot of misconceptions that could really mess people up and confuse them.

My last thing to say is, just go to the doctor if you really have to or at least consult with one on what you need to do for YOU because it could be dangerous trying to do things by yourself if you are unsure of things.

Grokette

I don't believe in consuming xxx amount of calories...........

I listen to my body. If I am hungry, I eat. If I am not hungry I will not force myself to eat just to meet a calorie goal.

I am not on this site to track calories, but to journal my food to ensure I am eating appropriately for my body and my lifestyle.

PhoenixFire975

That's good. I actually joined this site for the cals at first, but then found out that it doesn't really matter to eat seriously-low cal amounts and I just try to make sure that I keep the amount of food I eat in check every day. I sorta wrote this post because I was so upset with the huge numbers of ppl that think its ok to do the low-cal thing. I'm actually worrying for the well-being of random, online strangers (haha, cuz thats not weird at all XD). I just want people to be careful.

dreamc08

I really appreciate this post. I met with a dietician and she recommended I eat between 1700-2100 calories per day based on my age/height/weight. I'm very comfortable with this number and sometimes I end up being under. I look at other people's diaries (granted, I dont know their exact age/height/weight) and it seems like so many people are aiming for only 1200 calories per day.

When I log my food and exercise and click to see what MFP projects what my weight in 5 weeks to be, it's almost always less the more I eat.

Crazy calories!! :huh:

auntiebabs

Yes, I wanted to lose weight, but I wanted to do it smart and healthily want to make sure I'm giving myself the nutrition I need to function.

At my age/height/weight when I set myself at the lose 1lb/wk I got 1290 cal. This was stressing me so I did so other calculations.

To maintain my GOAL weight I get 1670 cal. So as long as I'm coming in under that number. I figure I'm doing okay. I will take me longer to get to my goal, but that's okay if I do it in a way I"m more likely to be able to maintain.

Food is not the enemy.
Oddly enough on my journey here I've reduced guilt over food.
I have the occassional treat and I fully enjoy it with no guilt involved.
The thing is since I'm not eating crap all the time the occassional treat is just that a TREAT it's special and I enjoy it so much more than when I was unconsciously shovel junk food into my face.

PepsiGal

Thank you for being so brave and honest to post this topic. You're right, 1200 calories are too extreme. I started out at 1200 calories and was miserable, hungry, and irritable all the time. So, I upped my calorie goal to 1500 and I'm feeling much better and less deprived. I see so many people who are under-eating and over-exercising and I wonder how long can they keep that up. At 1500-1700 calories/day, I might take longer to lose but that's okay because it's more sustainable over long term.

soysos

loosing weight is the easy part. I know I have said this before, but the number one cause of obesity is malnutrition. as long as you get popper and actually listen to your body it will tell you when enough is enough, and when you need more. just my experience.

vinster345

I'd agree with the OP's post. Now there are days I do come in aroun 1300 (which for my size is pretty low), but that's only due to work being very busy and not being hungry. But My MFP target is around 1800-1900 calories and I normally stick to that. Otherwise I just ruins things like energy levels and blood sugar.

sarahanne40

Here, here! Everyone does things differently, and we all have to listen to our bodies, but eating just 1200 cals a day, then excercising and not eating back your calories from that is just going to burn you out and erode all your initial motivation! If I have eaten just 1200 cals in a day I feel like a right crabby b***h, then I binge on crap cos I am feeling so bad. Unrealistic targets in very short time frames is not my thing - if I get to my target (initally 31 lb loss) in 6 months I would be happy as I know that exceeds a lb a week (and I would be lighter than when I left school!!). Even by eating 1500 cals a day I have lost 9 lb in 6 weeks - good going I reckon. People watch things like Biggest Loser on TV and think that losing excess amounts (over 3lb a week) should be easy - but hell, if we were all that heavy then it probably would be - providing we had a dietican and all day to work out!! Great post!

krissy_pooo

ok I have experienced a ton of confusion over this topic too... I usually stick to my 1200 cals/day BUT I don't find that I'm hungry. If I was, I would not let myself starve, I would eat back some of those exercise cals. It's such a confusing topic because everyone is so different. I would agree that it's smart to ask your doctor/dietician to know for sure, but I know for me, the only problem I have is that I want more carbs at the end of my day (not because I'm hungry, because I'm a craver).

scagneti

Listen to your body? My body convinced me that I needed cookies after every meal and that it didn't want to exercise ever. It was when I started listening to my BRAIN that I lost the 40 lbs my BODY put on. Some days my body STILL tries to tell me that I need cheesecake or cookies and that sleeping in a couple of days and not working out would be ok since I'm a healthy weight, but it's my brain that gets me out of bed and moving. And my brain tells me that if I need 1300 calories just to keep my organs working, then consuming 1200 minus exercise calories doesn't make any sense at all.

My body? Damn traitor.

PhoenixFire975

Listen to your body? My body convinced me that I needed cookies after every meal and that it didn't want to exercise ever. It was when I started listening to my BRAIN that I lost the 40 lbs my BODY put on. Some days my body STILL tries to tell me that I need cheesecake or cookies and that sleeping in a couple of days and not working out would be ok since I'm a healthy weight, but it's my brain that gets me out of bed and moving. And my brain tells me that if I need 1300 calories just to keep my organs working, then consuming 1200 minus exercise calories doesn't make any sense at all.

My body? Damn traitor.

Listening to your body means that you put all aspects into perspective. Technically, your brain IS part of your body. You have to listen to your body as a whole, which means if you get hungry and need something to eat, then use your brain/common sense to find something healthy and good for you. Your brain is actually doing all the thinking, so when you feel like you don't need to exercise, you rationalize that out in your mind, and when you have cravings for something, that is usually your brain too, sending signals to say that you may need a certain nutrient in the food you are craving. Of course, there are a bunch of other reasons too like stress, so you should think about what you are craving and say to yourself, "Why do I want to eat this?", and use common sense to decide.

Just saying that your brain controls the body, and you can control your brain (do I sense a connection?:)

logitech

Funny, Awesome and perfect! Hope you don't mind if I use your material - made me laugh out loud...thanks

PhoenixFire975

Funny, Awesome and perfect! Hope you don't mind if I use your material - made me laugh out loud...thanks

Haha, thx:) I didn't mean for it to be funny, just telling what I think :P

auntiebabs

Thank you for being so brave and honest to post this topic. You're right, 1200 calories are too extreme. I started out at 1200 calories and was miserable, hungry, and irritable all the time. So, I upped my calorie goal to 1500 and I'm feeling much better and less deprived. I see so many people who are under-eating and over-exercising and I wonder how long can they keep that up. At 1500-1700 calories/day, I might take longer to lose but that's okay because it's more sustainable over long term.

Yup, what she said