Can someone help me decide how much I should be Eating?

wish21

Im just so confused even after 5 and a half months of mfp i am still confused about how much I should be eating.
I have tried all of mfp settings 1200, 1400, 1600 and the most I have got down to is 165.4. But the scale is sayng the same numbers 166.4, 166.8, 165.4. I have a goal to get down to 140 I am 166.4 right now. 140 is supose to be my mini goal, but right now all I want to do is get away from the obese bmi line.

I feel better yes, from working out etc. I feel smaller lol i look smaller than I actually am. I haven't measured in a while but the last time i did the #s were the same. I started out 16/wide, after the shred I went to a 15 and I can now sqeeze into a 14/wide

My diet I try my best to make it "healthy" as possible but I work with what my mom buys for the household

I am eating a 1640 cals a day right now.
I work out regularly all most everyday, they consist ofBanish Fat and Ripped in 30
My bmr is 1522
I do eat out 1-2x a week, i don't think that should cause this
My water intake is over 8 cups a day
My maintenance is 1890

Tell me what I am doing wrong please?

xraychick77

could be anything. you'd be suprised how many calories you intake when you eat out..even if its only a few times a week. you can eat two slices of pizza and depending on the toppings you could very well eat all your alloted calories in one sitting.

perhaps you arent tracking your calorie intake good enough and are actually eating more than you are.

i am 125 lbs and my maintenance is around 1750. On days I eat 1500 and others i eat 2000. I have so far maintained. i work out a lot too.

try being more consistant with your calories..if your maintenance is 1800, then drop down and stick with 1300 cals. try changing up the types of exercises you do. and i know people will complain about this..but maybe try a thermogenic to help get you out of that stall. the one that helps me is Lipo 6 black hers.

wish21

could be anything. you'd be suprised how many calories you intake when you eat out..even if its only a few times a week. you can eat two slices of pizza and depending on the toppings you could very well eat all your alloted calories in one sitting.

perhaps you arent tracking your calorie intake good enough and are actually eating more than you are.

i am 125 lbs and my maintenance is around 1750. On days I eat 1500 and others i eat 2000. I have so far maintained. i work out a lot too.

try being more consistant with your calories..if your maintenance is 1800, then drop down and stick with 1300 cals. try changing up the types of exercises you do. and i know people will complain about this..but maybe try a thermogenic to help get you out of that stall. the one that helps me is Lipo 6 black hers.

Thank you for responding! I don't plan on giving up at all because of this. the benefits that are coming with my fitness levels are just awesome. I will keep working and trying very hard to reach my goal. Maybe try eating less and changing my calorie goal lower

wish21

BUMP, could really use the feedback guys:ohwell:

Sherbog

Using the food diary helped me. It is amazing how little I thought I was eating until I started recording my food intake and using MFP. How about skipping eating out for a couple of weeks to see how the impact that might have.

_David_

I looked at a week of your diary and this is MY opinion but I would lower the carbs and up the protein to about 90-100g a day. Your getting in 50-60g of protein but 250-275g of cabs and carbs are not your friend. Like Xray said watch your two nights out, they could be a bit worse than you thought.

wish21

I looked at a week of your diary and this is MY opinion but I would lower the carbs and up the protein to about 90-100g a day. Your getting in 50-60g of protein but 250-275g of cabs and carbs are not your friend. Like Xray said watch your two nights out, they could be a bit worse than you thought.

What should my carbs be?

wish21

bump

astrampe

Your diary shows LOADS of carbs, and very little protein...Up your protein, and change carbs like the cheerios for fruit and vegetables.... that might help....

wish21

Your diary shows LOADS of carbs, and very little protein...Up your protein, and change carbs like the cheerios for fruit and vegetables.... that might help....

I never thought carbs were that bad lol thnx for responding

ysamatar

Bump! I'm in the same position. My protein is up, but still stalling 165 for weeks.

2012dancingqueen

Me too... i just started on MFP a week ago - i tried to stick to the 1200 calories for about 4-5 days but was hungry all the time so i moved it up for 1420 which was my BMR - and still no weight loss.

I watch my carbs pretty well... still nothing is happening.

wish21

Me too... i just started on MFP a week ago - i tried to stick to the 1200 calories for about 4-5 days but was hungry all the time so i moved it up for 1420 which was my BMR - and still no weight loss.

I watch my carbs pretty well... still nothing is happening.

Bump! I'm in the same position. My protein is up, but still stalling 165 for weeks

Isnt is frustrating? It's like you know/feel your doing everything right. Happy i'm not the only one whose going through this, good luck ladies hope you find that balance for you

GameBoiye

I think another thing to consider is how much you work out. You do not seem to be recording any workout sessions in your diary. If you are working out burning 300-500 extra calories a day then you could be severly cutting your calories too low reducing your metabolism and slowing your weight loss. I also agree with the protein, you should be eating more protein and less carbs. I would start making sure you add everything, even your workouts, to the diary. If you see you are too low (more than 700-800 below maintenance) then perhaps look at adding a few extra healthy calories to your meals to keep your body from lowering it's metabolism.

If you are strength training you should be eating more protein to help the mucle rebuild which should help burn even more calories. If you are having issues finding protein you can always look into protein suppliments, such as whey protein, to take after working out but most normal people shouldn't need that if the rest of their day's food is filled with enough protein.

queenofthekings

How much sleep are you getting?? Sleep plays a major role in weight loss. I think your cals look right on. I would avoid the 1-2 nights out. Those are likely part of the culprit here. You can very easily undo all of your hard work with one night out of overdoing it on food and drinks.

queenofthekings

Also, I think your cals look great, so I wouldn't necessarily adjust there. I've been successful at body weight x10 for my calories. It's a good ground to stick to.

wish21

I think another thing to consider is how much you work out. You do not seem to be recording any workout sessions in your diary. If you are working out burning 300-500 extra calories a day then you could be severly cutting your calories too low reducing your metabolism and slowing your weight loss. I also agree with the protein, you should be eating more protein and less carbs. I would start making sure you add everything, even your workouts, to the diary. If you see you are too low (more than 700-800 below maintenance) then perhaps look at adding a few extra healthy calories to your meals to keep your body from lowering it's metabolism.

If you are strength training you should be eating more protein to help the mucle rebuild which should help burn even more calories. If you are having issues finding protein you can always look into protein suppliments, such as whey protein, to take after working out but most normal people shouldn't need that if the rest of their day's food is filled with enough protein.

I do record my workout sessions. If you see in my diary where it doesnt say that I have added calories it mean I didnt work out that day. I never log the full 30 minutes of workout because I don't trust mfp database so i log half (15 minutes) that gives me about 150 cals back and i pretty much eat all those back depending on how hungry I am. I do circiut train 3 min of strength, 2min of cardio, and 1 min abs. Yes, I do plan on looking into some protein supplements because i'm not a person who just loves meat, etc thanks for mentioning that and responding.

wish21

How much sleep are you getting?? Sleep plays a major role in weight loss. I think your cals look right on. I would avoid the 1-2 nights out. Those are likely part of the culprit here. You can very easily undo all of your hard work with one night out of overdoing it on food and drinks.

Maybe thats my problem. I wake up 5:45-6:15 am on most days for school and go to sleep around 11-12 that night. I am really considering the eating out thing to. I talked to my mom just this weekend about it. And you think my calories goal is enough 1640?

2012dancingqueen

I'm reading different things about eating at BMR (instead of MFP suggested calories at 1200) and eating your exercise calories.

People seem to have very strong opinions both ways.

For those of you who have been successful - how did you deal with the above issue?

ysamatar

Bump!

BlooQKazoo

More fruits and veggies? From the looks of your food diary, it seems like you're eating a lot of processed, unhealthy food. I found that even if I stay under my calorie goal, my body would rather hang onto the fat and sugar from fast food and such rather than fat from almonds and sugar from fruit. You don't have to go vegan or anything, but maybe consider getting a salad and soup the next time you go out, or buy some fiber bars or whole grain, baked chips with hummus instead of Doritos. After a while, your body starts craving the good stuff!

wish21

More fruits and veggies? From the looks of your food diary, it seems like you're eating a lot of processed, unhealthy food. I found that even if I stay under my calorie goal, my body would rather hang onto the fat and sugar from fast food and such rather than fat from almonds and sugar from fruit. You don't have to go vegan or anything, but maybe consider getting a salad and soup the next time you go out, or buy some fiber bars or whole grain, baked chips with hummus instead of Doritos. After a while, your body starts craving the good stuff!

Thank you so much!

All the things you guys are mentioning is really really helping:flowerforyou: