hello and help!

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ingy1990
ingy1990 Posts: 22
in Introduce Yourself
I'm new to MFP and I am going crazy. I put my food in and come out around 100 calories short sometimes. Is that ok? Am I going to gain weight? It tells me I am in starvation mode! I have a lot of weight to lose, and I am not starving myself.
My problem is is that I love food, so if they are telling me to eat more I am confused. Then if I eat the right amount of calories and I work out for awhile and post it it tells me to eat more calories!! I need a little guidance.

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  • Shannoncore
    Shannoncore Posts: 135
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    its all very confusing. it wants you to hit around a certain amount of calories so your body does not think you are starving and store everything you eat as fat. if you are a few short you are ok. i try to eat around 1200 calories a day and sometimes i am under and sometimes i am over. even if i exercise i still try to stay around 1200. but stick to your numbers and you will be ok.
  • Samerah12
    Samerah12 Posts: 610 Member
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    Its ok to eat your exercise calories, you will still lose! I've been exercising a lot and eating almost all of my extra exercise calories (though I stop when I'm full) and I've dropped 7 lbs in 2 weeks! Possibly more, I haven't weighed in in like 4 days. If you eat too little your body will start breaking down muscle and storing anything extra straight to fat.

    Good luck!
  • Newfiedan
    Newfiedan Posts: 1,517 Member
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    think of it like driving a car, you have a limited amount of gas before the car starts to break down. The calories or fuel that mfp gives you will get you to your destination driving at 80 mph. Now think of exercise as getting you there at 120 mph but not stopping for fuel means that the tires get worn down faster, the car will break down easier and in the end will explode. The body is the car, the calories are the fuel, the tires are your muscle without proper fuel they break down and in the end the body feeds off itself. The point of the exercise is to increase the metabolic rate (the speed at which you can safely drive) not to burn off the fuel (calories)
  • CharityShantell
    CharityShantell Posts: 53 Member
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    If you are just 100 calories too low, you are probably ok if you still have a lot of weight to lose. But it's also really easy to add a very healthy 100 calories to your day using calorie-dense foods such as:

    1) Nuts
    2) Olive oil
    3) Avocado
    4) Peanut butter (or almond butter, yum!)

    Sometimes it can feel weird to eat more when it feels like eating more is what GOT you where you are. But you can get to a point where less is NOT "more", when it comes to healthy weight loss. The calorie recommendations on this site are good. Hang in there- you can do this!
  • sissimay
    sissimay Posts: 2
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    I'm new to mfp too. I hope the other entries will help. Just wanted to say hi.

    you can do this, :flowerforyou:

    Sissimay
  • Mykidsmama
    Mykidsmama Posts: 17
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    I just started and this was confusing to me as well. I hope it really works! :)
  • CharityShantell
    CharityShantell Posts: 53 Member
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    Yes, it's based on scientific formulas that estimate the number of calories your body needs to maintain weight, then it creates a calorie "deficit" according to your goal of how many pounds you want to lose per week.

    So if you have your weight loss goal set at "lose 1 pound per week", and your activity settings are set well (sedentary unless you have a very active job), then you should be able to eat all the calories the site says you can eat and you should still lose according to the goal you set.

    Everyone's different, but in general it does work. Just measure everything and track it carefully and you'll see results. I did!

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