To few calories??

Jen1499

Ok everyone I need some feedback here. I have plateued on my weight loss. I am doing the body by vi challenge. I have decided to start tracking my calories as some have told me I may not be getting enough calories. im sitting at about 1400-1500 per day sometimes less just depends on how busy I am . I have not lost any weight or inches for 2.5 weeks, which is why I am now tracking calories. I also added exercise and weights last week. Please help! It seems to me eventually after intaking that few of calories you would loose something. Im not hungry either so Im not starving myself.

jenilla1

How many calories are you burning?

Jen1499

1400-1500 is my net im sorry, thats after subtracting the exercise.

pandilicious

I try to keep it between 1200 and 1400 calories. I've told my doctor that was my goal, and he agreed that that was where I should be aiming.

Begsnapper

you better be eating AT LEAST 1500cal per day or your body will go into starvation mood. (aka. it will think there's a famine coming up and it will store all your current body fat instead of burning it off)

if you stick with a diet rich in lean proteins and vegetables and you continue to exercise the excess weight will definitely come off. having said that sometimes it takes longer for different individuals. just stay the course.

i bet you are feeling fantastic by eating better and exercising right? clothes starting to get a little baggy?

try using how you look and feel as a measure instead of the scale. weight is a somewhat arbitrary measuring device because as you are burning fat you are also creating more muscle which weighs more.

the beautiful thing about good nutrition and exercise is if you stick with it the results are the same for everybody

keep up the good work!

Begsnapper

follow up - i meant AT LEAST 1500 cals / day for a man

AT LEAST 1200 cals for a woman

KeriA

If you used MFP to figure out what your calorie goal should be based on weight etc. and you didn't enter too many pounds to lose a week and too quickly you should be getting enough calories. If you get more showing on your food diary when you exercise eat some or most of them as well. If you aren't losing you may have to do some adjusting. We are all a bit different. I do well with my goal set at about 1.5 pound loss a week. If I have it set for less I try to eat less. Theoretically I should be able to lose at it set at 1 pound loss per week with eating all my exercise calories back but I don't. That is why we track our calories and exercise - to see what works for us. Make sure you don't go under 1200 calories per day. For a while setting your goal at 2 pounds loss a week won't hurt but it might not work well for a longer period of time. Frankly I generally try less calories first to see if that works and if it didn't and nothing else like exercise was working then I might try more. Also you need to have MFP reset your calorie goal as you lose. The heavier you are the more calories you get to lose the asame amount of weight as you lose you weigh less and you need to lower your calorie goal. You go back into Goals and have MFP figure it out based on your new weight. I have done this about 2 times or every 10 pound loss. If you had eaten under 1200 consistently for a long period of time and didn't eat any exercise calories then you might look at whether you would lose more with more calories. Another thing you might consider is zig zag calories where you eat more on a few days a week and less on others. Do a web or MFP search on it. Also consider you water, sleep and I find green or what tea helps me. Are you eating healthier foods? Hope you figure it out!

Jade_Butterfly

follow up - i meant AT LEAST 1500 cals / day for a man

AT LEAST 1200 cals for a woman

Thank you for the correction. .. As when I was in the best shape of my life I was eating 1000-1200 a day. My fitness instructor said anything under 1500 calories and you will lose weight. I for one don''t believe in the philosophy of eating back calories. It may work for some people. :bigsmile:

katnz17

I plateaued recently and considered dropping my calories back from 1470 to 1200. Instead I discovered calorie zig zagging. Before I started zig zagging I was so proud that I'd finally got my daily calorie intake consistent but in retrospect I think that was the problem. It's been a lot easier for me having a few days where I can eat a bit more and not worry (especially because it's freezing where I am and I feel hungry all the time because of that) and I've started losing weight and seeing real process.

I say experiment. If you're doing a calorie deficit on a daily basis and not seeing any results you're just depriving your body of calories it wants and needs for nothing. Try eating more or zig zagging and if it doesn't work, try something else.

Jen1499

What is calorie zig zagging?