I feel like 2,340 calories a day isn't going to help me lose

swander572

You know? Seems like too much to be effective. any thoughts?

purpleipod

Everyone needs a different amount of calories to function properly. Men usually are allotted more because their bodies require more to function. Usually the more active you are the more you are able to eat too. Active bodies require more fuel.

HMonsterX

Depends on how much you're actually burning. If you burn a good amount, you get to eat a good amount too, to maintain the same net deficit.

chevy88grl

Well.. it depends on your activity level. I am a 5'4", 145 (ish) pound female who maintains while consuming 2200-2500 NET calories.

All of our bodies work a little differently and we have to figure out what works best for us. According to most information, I should be consuming less than 2000 calories a day, but that isn't enough for me.

Pandorian

Depends where you're starting from too. Starting at 330 pounds I get 2000 calories (before any exercise) and have been losing. Scary to think that 2000 was a reduction (had to be since i started losing) but it was.

swander572

So the system on "myfitnesspal" is trustworthy? I put I exercise 4 times a week for 30 minutes and I want to lose 1 pound a week. I also said I am on my feet during the day

mrmarius

thats not a bad place to start, depending on your size etc... mfp is pretty good at calculating a good range for you and after a while if you dont get results you can play with the numbers

crazylikefox

MFP has earned my trust so far. I've done it for a month and lost a pound a week, just as predicted.

Kyliechristie

If it seems like it is too much and you are satisfied with less, eat less. You'll reach your goals sooner.

DopeItUp

Crap, that's what I eat every day and I'm losing about 2lbs a week. Granted, I used to eat that and more in a single meal on a regular basis, that's how I got here!

jwil1231

Hello, perhaps I missed some of what you wrote but how many calories were you eating before? How come you decided on that number? See how it works you can always adjust it.

My allottment is 1200 c. a day.But every so often I will drop it down to 1000 c a day and do some extra exercises and this sort of "rewires" me. I actually feel a little better then head back to my 1200.

swander572

Hello, perhaps I missed some of what you wrote but how many calories were you eating before? How come you decided on that number? See how it works you can always adjust it.

My allottment is 1200 c. a day.But every so often I will drop it down to 1000 c a day and do some extra exercises and this sort of "rewires" me. I actually feel a little better then head back to my 1200.

I decided that because that's what "myfitnesspal" put me on

emergencytennis

So the system on "myfitnesspal" is trustworthy? I put I exercise 4 times a week for 30 minutes and I want to lose 1 pound a week. I also said I am on my feet during the day

I followed it very carefully and it worked just as it said.

Someone else should confirm because I am new, but I am pretty sure your 2340 factors in your light activity, but not your exercise. You have to log this in separately just like you log food, and mfp works out how much you need to eat on top of your 2340; the infamous exercise calories. Mfp will add these on to your 2340 so that you actually end up with 2700 or something to eat on your exercise days.

poisongirl6485

So the system on "myfitnesspal" is trustworthy? I put I exercise 4 times a week for 30 minutes and I want to lose 1 pound a week. I also said I am on my feet during the day

To be on the safe side, i told MFP that I was sedentary with no workouts (even though I'm working out 4-5 times a week 20-30 minutes each). That way the calories allotted are based on diet alone, and not 'guessing' on if you're working out or on how active you 'might' be.

jellybaby84

a lot of people say they're sedentary then add their etra calories burned manually so that the amount they are supposed to eat varies from day to day depending on what they've done.

chatterbox3110

I started off on a similar amount, but it seems that for every 10lbs you lose, MFP evaluates your weight and adjusts the calories to take it into account. It's happened a couple of times automatically, and a couple of times I've received a prompt asking me to re-evaluate my settings. I'm now down to 1700 calories daily.

The weight is coming off so something must be right........ good luck!

AmberRSkelton

Well, if you are creating a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. The best tips I can give are:

LOTS of water...at least 8-10 cups a day. That's water, just plain water, or with a bit of lemon juice.

Strength training...for so many reasons! Muscle functions more efficiently, it looks nicer, and the strength training will help you burn/lose fat instead of muscle.

Always over estimate how much you eat, and under estimate how many calories you burn with exercise...for example, if I drink 3/4 a cup of milk, I log one cup, or if I eat 4 oz. of chicken, I log in 6 oz. If I'm pretty sure I burned 500 calories in a workout, I log 450. Or if my total workout time was 50 minutes, I'll log 40-45.

Don't jump in over your head with calorie cutting...if you normally eat 3000 calories a day, then try to cut it to 1800 overnight, you will be miserable and fail very soon. But 200 calories isn't very noticeable--if you cut out 200 a day for a week or two, then cut out another 200 for a week or two, you will be more successful.

Find a workout you like...there are tons to choose from, and there is no one best workout. If you don't like it, you probably won't do it, so it doesn't matter how good of a program it is. If you find one you enjoy, you are more likely to stick with it and put in full effort.

p.s. I kind of hate you, because I wish MFP would give me 2.340 calories a day!

AmberRSkelton

But yes, MFP is very trustworthy!

jetscreaminagain

So the system on "myfitnesspal" is trustworthy? I put I exercise 4 times a week for 30 minutes and I want to lose 1 pound a week. I also said I am on my feet during the day

To be on the safe side, i told MFP that I was sedentary with no workouts (even though I'm working out 4-5 times a week 20-30 minutes each). That way the calories allotted are based on diet alone, and not 'guessing' on if you're working out or on how active you 'might' be.

This is what I recommend. Then eat exercise calories. I'm really good at thinking I'll work out but life gets in the way. This way, I adjust my eating to my body's needs. By setting yourself as active with all that planned exercise those numbers are probably spot on but you have to do it. Me I'm a little motivated by the extra calories if I run harder or longer or at all

TavistockToad

So the system on "myfitnesspal" is trustworthy? I put I exercise 4 times a week for 30 minutes and I want to lose 1 pound a week. I also said I am on my feet during the day

It works for me. The only thing i have found is that it put my maintenance at 1600, when i can actually maintain at 1800 NET.

I would go with MFP for 4-6 weeks and see how you get on, and if you fInd its not workinG then you can tweek the cals yourself.

engineman312

i started off on this program with about that many calories, my activity level set at "lightly active" and my exercises set to 3 times a week. the latter does not give you any type of "extra" calories. i had it set for a pound a week, but after a few weeks i set it to a pound and a half.

i also re-eat my exercise calories, because i'm not trying to be skinny for the sake of being skinny. building my self to become more athletic.

McKayMachina

So the system on "myfitnesspal" is trustworthy? I put I exercise 4 times a week for 30 minutes and I want to lose 1 pound a week. I also said I am on my feet during the day

When you enter your exercise into goals it doesn't actually do anything to your calories. It's just a personal goal/to-do list for your notes. When you enter exercise in the EXERCISE tab, that's when it counts toward your net calories, meaning you get to eat more! I am a proponent of eating exercise calories since MFP builds a deficit in FOR you. And when you expend more energy you need more fuel. Seems to work great for most people I know.

Also, as long as your goals are all entered correctly, then yep, MFP will work! I always net what MFP tells me to (well, 90% of the time, because who's perfect?) and I am extremely pleased with my progress since January.

:drinker:

iceqieen

isnt too bad a number if you have an active job. My husband is eating at least that and still loosing weight because his job has him moving around and lifting stuff the whole day.

stevwil41

So the system on "myfitnesspal" is trustworthy? I put I exercise 4 times a week for 30 minutes and I want to lose 1 pound a week. I also said I am on my feet during the day

I set my activity level to active or moderately active (waitress, mailman, etc) and one lb a week and it gave me something around 2330. I'm 6'1 and currently weight around 211 and it's been working for me. I believe the exercise thing is more for personal accountability than anything else since you log your exercise and it adds to the calories you can eat that day. I don't believe it's actually factored in to your 2340. I always exercise more than I'm supposed to especially on days I know I'm going to splurge. Good luck with it.

geekymom57

Everything that everyone else has said with one comment. Depending on what you were eating before and how many were empty or high calorie/low nutrition calories such as soda, fried foods, chips, etc., you may actually be able to eat as much or more as you used to, it'll just be different things.

If you eat out much, be very attentive to how those meals can trip you up. Chain/franchise restaurant food in particular is ridiculously high in calories, fat, large portion sizes, etc.. Check out nutrition info before you go and assess what you plan to order so you don't unintentionally undermine your success.

swander572

Ok I got the gist of what you all were saying. The exercise doesn't factor in for the daily calorie number and to eat your exercise calories back!
Thank all of yall for being so helpful

tigersword

I'm a 5'7 215 pound male, and I consistently lose on roughly 2000-2600 calories a day, I maintain at about 2800. Don't overly stress on the calorie number, as less does not automatically mean faster or better.