New here with some questions

bnelly55

Hello everyone! Im currently on my 4 week of mfp and I'm confused about a lot of things. First off I am considered morbidly obese and when I plugged in my info to lose 2 lbs per week, it sat my calorie goal to 2630? Does that sound rignt? The other thing I'm struggling wIth is I can't seem to get 1200 calores in! I work out everyday for an hour and what does eating your exercise calories back mean? I'm afraid I'm in starvation mode. Can anyone help out?

agthorn

It's hard to tell if that's accurate or not without knowing any of your stats (current weight, height, and daily activity level). But yes, 1200 calories is definitely WAY too low for you. I took a wild guess and checked the BMR for a 350 pound woman of your age and average height and came up with 2,333 - so maintenance cals for sedentary daily activity (outside exercise) would be 2916 and a 2-pound a week loss would have a net calorie goal of 1916.

Eating your exercise calories back means that MFP has already calculated a calorie deficit to meet your weight loss goal through diet alone (1000 calories per day for 2 pounds per week). When you exercise, the calories you burn are added back into your goal for the day to maintain your original 1000 calorie per day deficit. When you don't have a lot to lose (say 30 pounds or less) it's important to stick to your original goal so that you don't make your deficit too large. When you have a lot of weight to lose, its less important because you have a lot of fat reserves to lose and can run larger deficits, so some people choose to eat them back, and some people choose to eat only a portion or none. For that I'd say to do what works for you. If you're having trouble just getting to 1200, I wouldn't worry about the exercise calories *for now*. As you get closer to your goal, you will probably have to start eating some of them back.

If you can post your actual stats I can show you the correct math.

bnelly55

Thanks for the reply. I'm currently 5' 5 and I weight 382 lbs. I work out 6 days a week with 30 mins of cardio and some weight training. Usually I burn 400+ calories on workouts. I'm not sure if my diary is public or not, but yesterday I hardly ate anything. I just can't seem to get the calories up.

Lozze

Well I looked at your diary and I have some suggestions for more calories.

Where's your fruit and veg? You seriously eat almost none. Have more protein. Bigger breakfasts as well.

You're starving your body on what you're currently eating. And I don't think it's sustainable. A lot of the snacks are still junk food too but the smaller versions. Which is great if you're getting your nutrients elsewhere, but looking at your diary you're not.

I'm currently on 1600 calories and I never stop eating. I'm rarely hungry. And it's by having three pieces of fruit a day, plus a big bowl of frozen vegies with dinner when I'm home. I was about 50lbs smaller than you when I started and in just over three months I've lost 40 pounds.

I just did your BMR which was 2504. So to maintain you need to eat 3004 calories. Even taking 1000 calories off (so 2000) would help you lose weight. Going less than 1200 every day? You're shocking your body and not in a good way.

agthorn

Thanks for the reply. I'm currently 5' 5 and I weight 382 lbs. I work out 6 days a week with 30 mins of cardio and some weight training. Usually I burn 400+ calories on workouts. I'm not sure if my diary is public or not, but yesterday I hardly ate anything. I just can't seem to get the calories up.

Okay so I get 2479 for your BMR. Which means to maintain your current weight, you'd need to eat 3099 calories if you're 'sedentary' or 3347 if you're 'lightly active' in your day-to-day life (NOT including exercise). A 1000 calorie deficit for 2 pounds a week loss works out to 2099 and 2347, respectively. So the 2630 does seem a little high, unless you're extremely active during the day (nurse, delivery person, etc). I would double check your settings just to be sure.

But definitely try to be netting 1200, unless a doctor tells you otherwise. That would mean eating 1600, since you say you're burning about 400 calories a day. Try fuller fat foods (dairy, salad dressings, etc) instead of "light" versions; add olive oil to veggies or bread, have a handful of nuts for a snack, drink some milk or juice in place of water (yes, it counts). You don't necessarily need to start eating a ton more to start getting more calories.

agthorn

One other thing I'd add is to work up to a more reasonable calorie level slowly. Decide that you're going to eat 100-200 calories a day more than you currently are eating. You can accomplish that with a glass of milk or juice and a small snack (piece of fruit, handful of nuts, a few crackers) - not so daunting. Once you're comfortable at that level, add another 100-200 calories. Also, take a multivitamin.

At 380 pounds I don't think you are really in danger of "starvation mode" - which is a loaded term anyways; it means that your metabolism would be slowing down in the face of inadequate calorie intake AND inadequate reserves. But I DO think you are in danger of actual malnutrition from not eating enough. You probably will continue to lose weight, but it's not making you any healthier.