Not a good start

boognish1972

So, my first day and I'm already over my 1,500 calorie target, and I haven't even eaten dinner yet. Who would have guessed that so many calories were locked up in a couple of breakfast burritos and a small plate of gnocchi?

I may have to forgo my artichoke and goat cheese strata for dinner tonight in favor of some tree bark and lettuce.

How depressing.

boognish1972

Does 1500 calories/day seem reasonable? The American Heart Association recommends 2,200 calories per day for a "Sedentary" male in my age bracket.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3040366

katdanash

I found that my first couple of days were really awakening to just how much or maybe rather how bad I was eating. I am in no way perfect but i have learned over that last couple weeks what not to eat. It is not always easy but dont get depressed. Chaulk it up to a day of learning ... and go on from there.
One day at a time, one meal at a time and keep on keepin on....... The journey to health is life long and like all roads we sometimes hit potholes but we keep on movin.
Good luck to you on your journey.. We are here to help you. We all started somewhere

jen31889

It is the most difficult the first week or two. Once you get the hang of what works for your body, what fills you up, and portion control...it gets much easier.

lukimakamai

If you want more calories make sure you workout because you get to eat your exercise calories. Your 1500 calorie is is the final goal after everything you eat and working out. I find it helpful to try to plan out my meals ahead of time, rather than eating and then finding out I made bad choices. At this point in the day I would just go work out and eat a meal that is as many calories as I work off...or just take it as a learning experience and make different food choices tomorrow :happy: GOOD LUCK!!!

aehenson

This site was an eye opener for me as far as what i consumed vs what i need to consume....that's how we got here - meaning overweight... . maybe you should ask your doctor if that is unreasonable if you are concerned though!

EDBENAGLIO

WHAT IS YOU WEIGHT AND AGE BUT YES COULD BE RIGHT NOT DO YOU WORK OUT


MIGHT WANA TRY THIS THE IS THE 2ND TIME MOST OF US HAVE DONE THIS 10 LB CHALANGE PEOPLE HERE CAN HELP OUT ALOT

ALSO FRIEND IF YOU LIKE
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/184822-men-lose-10-in-march-challenge

Celo24

Does 1500 calories/day seem reasonable? The American Heart Association recommends 2,200 calories per day for a "Sedentary" male in my age bracket.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3040366

How many pounds are you trying to lose weekly? MFP builds in a deficit for you so that even if you don't exercise, you'll still be on track to lose weight. If you worked out today, be sure to enter the workout into MFP and you'll have earned more calories. There is a HUGE debate on here regarding whether or not to eat the calories you burn through exercise, but I always try to get within 200-300 of my post-exercise goal. It's worked for me as I currently have lost almost 19 pounds since December (a few of those pre-MFP).

So, to answer your question, that AHA website is most likely given you the number needed to maintain your weight and doesn't factor in any desired weight loss. Hope that helps! Good luck!

LaDiablesse

MFP sets your calories, carbs, etc... based on how much weight you want to lose, how quickly you want to lose it, etc... The numbers are set for you to lose the weight based on calories alone. That's why you need to eat your exercise calories back. You'll get the hang of it. I either plan my meals ahead of time, or I will plug something into my food diary before eating it to see where it will put me. I wish you all the luck on your journey. You can do this!

krista42

If you're trying to lose weight, go with the 1500. Don't feel discouraged, you start by realizing how calorie-rich the food you're used to eating is. If you're like me, you'll probably feel hungry for a few days, but then you start figuring out which foods you can sort of "fill up" on without going over your calories.

fitroute33

When I first started on here MFP told me I needed just under 1500 calories to lose a pound a week. I ate what I was supposed to, was starving all of the time, and lost 6 pounds the first week. Considering I only had about 20 pounds to lose that was excessive. I've since bumped up my calorie intake.

If I were you I would play around with it a little. Maybe try 2000 the first week and see what happens.

And I definitely agree with exercising so you can eat more. And also do some research to find foods you like that are low in calories, but very filling. Air popped popcorn with chili powder is my fave for when I want to stuff my face but don't want to eat a lot of cals.

Celo24

If you're trying to lose weight, go with the 1500.

Could not disagree more. 1500 net calories AFTER EXERCISING is way too low for a guy. I'm the same age you are, 5'8, 171 lbs. My maintenance calories are about 2300 and my net goal on MFP is 1840 in order to lose a pound a week. Most days, I get very close. Occasionally, I burn a ton of calories in the gym and have no shot at my goal. If you don't exercise, then yes, you are stuck with 1500. But you HAVE to eat more if you hit the gym.

woja9640

Celo24 is right about sticking to the 1500 if you're not exercising and being able to eat more because of that.

When eating to the calorie the key is portion size and eating healthier foods that are lower in calories. It does get easier as you go. I promise.

I did the same thing my first day using this. However, in the lst 28 days since I have started using mfp I have only had a handful of days where I was over my calorie goal. The other 22 days I was either at or under my calorie goal.

As a 29 year old woman who is 4ft 7in and 170 lbs when I started I was told in order to lose the weight, I could only eat 1200 cal.

I have been successful so far in losing 7 lbs hoping to lose more.

boognish1972

Thanks for all the great responses. I'm 38, 5'6" tall and 165 lbs. I'm trying to get down to 150 lbs. I play tennis pretty much every week day at lunch for an hour. I think my problem was that I put "sedentary" on my profile, because I do have a desk job, and I put down that I exercise 2x/ week for 30 minutes. I changed my profile to "lightly active" and three workouts per week of 60 minutes (just in case I miss a couple of days). This increased my allowable calories to 1,650 per day, which seems a lot more "doable" than 1,500. Hopefully I can get this thing fine tuned and be able to meet my goal. I really like the tools on this site, and the community here seems very active, which can only help.

atsteele

Go to tickerfactory.com.

Also a few tricks: If you are way over your calories today, try to exercise more today. Exercise those extra calories away. OR if you are way over today, you can try to balance it out by exercising more tomorrow and eating less (meaning dont eat all the calories allowed by exercising, eg, if you exercise and MFP gives you 400 additional calories, only eat 100 or 200 more calories that day). Make sense?

Good luck! It gets easier with practice! You can do it!

Thanks for all the great responses. I'm 38, 5'6" tall and 165 lbs. I'm trying to get down to 150 lbs. I play tennis pretty much every week day at lunch for an hour. I think my problem was that I put "sedentary" on my profile, because I do have a desk job, and I put down that I exercise 2x/ week for 30 minutes. I changed my profile to "lightly active" and three workouts per week of 60 minutes (just in case I miss a couple of days). This increased my allowable calories to 1,650 per day, which seems a lot more "doable" than 1,500. Hopefully I can get this thing fine tuned and be able to meet my goal. I really like the tools on this site, and the community here seems very active, which can only help.

On a side note, how do I go about getting that ticker at the bottom of my signature line?