Calorie intake confusion

shelbek

Hi all! I'm new to MFP but am LOVING it! I am confused on this whole calorie in/calorie out thing tho. I was at the gym today and ran for 25 min burning 280 calories. So I stopped one of the workout guru's there and asked him this question. "I am on a plan where I am only supposed to eat 1200 calories a day. So, if I burn 280 calories here, do I add that to my calorie intake or do I stick with the 1200 calories?". Here's a summary of what he said. He asked if 1200 was what I'd burn if I was in a Coma. Yes, I said. Then he said I should be eating about 2300 calories a day given my 1200 base and my daily activity (just living life) and daily exercise (running and yoga). WHAT? 2300? He also said that if I eat only 1200 calories, my body will go into starvation mode (I can attest to that because OMG I'm so hungry!) and I won't lose weight. MFT says 1200 but then gives me calories I burn at the gym so for today, it gave me 1480. I'm so confused. I want to do this right but I will tell you, I am hungry and am worried that a. I'm not taking enough and b. I won't be able to stick with it. UGH! Please someone, clarify this for me!

StarryEyed500

You should definitely eat more when you work out. If you have an active life, you should probably eat no less than 1500 calories, unless you're 5ft tall. If your weight loss set low enough? If you only have 11lb to lose, you should be set to 0.5lb a week to make sure you get enough calories. You should also check you have the right activity level set. Make sure it's high enough to accuont for what you do day-to-day, without exercise if you're going to log it after you do it.

41degsouth

In order to understand your situation and be able to give you advice, the important question is how you got to your 1,200 calorie target in the first place. Did MFP recommend it to you based on your height, weight, age, weight loss target, and activity level? If so, what was the weekly weight loss target you entered and what activity level did you specify?

If, on the other hand, you selected a 1,200 target yourself, then my advice would be go back to the beginning, do the above process, and see what target MFP recommends for you.

shelbek

I'm 5'4 with 10 lbs to lose. I have lost 2 so far (yeah me!). I have my activity level set to active so should I change it to sedentary? That's not true. I have three kids and I'm a nurse. Haven't been sedentary ever. I did put in a goal of April 2nd for the 10lbs as I have a big FL trip coming up. Is that why the calories are different from what the gym guy said?

shelbek

In order to understand your situation and be able to give you advice, the important question is how you got to your 1,200 calorie target in the first place. Did MFP recommend it to you based on your height, weight, age, weight loss target, and activity level? If so, what was the weekly weight loss target you entered and what activity level did you specify?

If, on the other hand, you selected a 1,200 target yourself, then my advice would be go back to the beginning, do the above process, and see what target MFP recommends for you.

Didn't see your post until I already posted my answer. Yes, MFP recommended it based on all that info and my goal of April 2nd. I selected active as my activity level.

mmapags

Can't really say without much more info but a question is, how many pounds per week are you trying to lose? Your calories are def set low and you should eat more when you work out. On a seperate note, it's better to lose weight over an extended period slowly. If all you ahve is 8 more pounds to lose to get to your goal, your body is going to fight losing that weight. A good goal would be 1 lb per week and a 8 week time from for those last 8 lbs.

StarryEyed500

should I change it to sedentary?

No. Keep it as active. If you set it lower, you'll get even fewer calories lol

You're trying to do a loss of 2lb a week, that's why your allocation is so low. You could probably continue with that in the short term but it's not advisisble to keep this up for longer periods. Your body needs more than 1200 just to exist.

Nelly3369

I'm having the same confusion.. so many people say so many different things. I would like to lose 2+ pounds a week. I started p90x 9 days ago, I love the work out. It's super hard but a great challenge. I have my account set as lightly active and MFP put me at 1430. My BMR is 1829. I am a 33 yr old female and weigh 233lbs. I am not sure if I'm eating enough or not.. I don't feel hungry but I'm also not seeing the results on the scale. I east 5 healthy meals a day. Granted I know I'm possibly building muscle which I know weighs more then fat.. I also want to start some cardio.. I just don't want to put my body into starvation, but I also want to see the results!!! I've always heard it's simple math, burn more then you take in. But then I hear all this talk about eating too few calories!! Please help, I'm so confused on what is the right thing to do!!

StarryEyed500

I'm having the same confusion.. so many people say so many different things. I would like to lose 2+ pounds a week. I started p90x 9 days ago, I love the work out. It's super hard but a great challenge. I have my account set as lightly active and MFP put me at 1430. My BMR is 1829. I am a 33 yr old female and weigh 233lbs. I am not sure if I'm eating enough or not.. I don't feel hungry but I'm also not seeing the results on the scale. I east 5 healthy meals a day. Granted I know I'm possibly building muscle which I know weighs more then fat.. I also want to start some cardio.. I just don't want to put my body into starvation, but I also want to see the results!!! I've always heard it's simple math, burn more then you take in. But then I hear all this talk about eating too few calories!! Please help, I'm so confused on what is the right thing to do!!

Because you have set a 2lb/week loss, MFP gives you a low calorie count. As long as you eat all these calories and add on extra when you exercise, you will be eating enough to sustain the loss.

shelbek

should I change it to sedentary?

No. Keep it as active. If you set it lower, you'll get even fewer calories lol

You're trying to do a loss of 2lb a week, that's why your allocation is so low. You could probably continue with that in the short term but it's not advisisble to keep this up for longer periods. Your body needs more than 1200 just to exist.

Okay, I changed it to 1lb per week and it up'd my intake to 1380. Still different from what the trainer at the gym told me. I've already lost two pounds on MFP so I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing but make sure I increase my calorie intake when I workout. I think it's very confusing though, that MFP says one thing and they 'expert' at the gym says another. 2300 calories sounds like a lot but 1200 was definitely to little. Thanks for all the information!