Calorie food calculator

coconutbuNZ

Hi, I'm new, only been here 2 days, please see my food diary for today, I had a few too many roast potatoes for dinner, a white bread bacon/egg sandwich for breakfast, see for yourself - and I can't believe I still have 454 calories remaining! What am I doing wrong? This seems too good to be true.

carolemack

Your food diary isn't open for anyone to see.

coconutbuNZ

I thought I had changed the settings for everyone to see my food diary, will try again

ericgAU

Hi there

Yea I also cant see your diary. You might also want to check your goal settings to make sure they are accurate. What you will find amazing with MFP is that you can every now and then eat pretty much what you want and so long as youve done your exercise your calorie intake will show you still have more to consume. Obviously though this is how you lose the weight. The more you keep your calorie count intake in deficit the quicker you start losing weight.

coconutbuNZ

Eric I clicked the wrong button, der, done it now, changed my settings so everyone can see my diary and yes I did do my exercise today and thank you for your encouraging message.

ericgAU

Cheers for that. I had a quick squiz at your diary. All looks pretty good. I noticed you didnt have lunch. I reakon if you did you probably wouldve gone pretty close to your goal calories for the day. If you need any help along the way I'm more than happy to help out.

coconutbuNZ

Thanks Eric, yep didn't feel the need for lunch, just wasn't hungry so I drank heaps of water and had a fruit instead. I'm amazed that I am still not hungry. Maybe it's because I'm too used to "starving myself" when trying to lose weight. Feast or famine. Stupid fad diets. Well I'm over that now. This is not a "diet" anymore, this is the beginning of a life change for me

juliekaiser1988

You didn't log your fruit as your lunch. There's a few calories there...

also, eventually your body will want those calories you forgot to eat, so I'd try and get lunch in there. Some kind of healthy protein/ carb snack at least.

dakitten2

Hi and glad you have joined MFP. The "feast and famine" is a typical fad diet that causes us to gain weight back after reaching our goals. I've done that type of thing many times and always gain more weight back each time. Things I would encourage you to do is to eat your calorie level or close too since you have it set at the minimum. Try to eat 3 meals a day, which I know is sometimes impossible, because after 22 weeks on here, I still end up missing lunch or breakfast on occasion. Those nights I tend to have things for dinner that are higher in calories to get closer to my goal. Also, drink 8 glasses of water every single day. A day of only eating 800+ calories once in a great while wont reset your metabolism, but continuing along that route will lead to a lower metabolism. What you are working for is something you can sustain for the rest of your life. Once you achieve your goal weight and determine your maintenance calories, you'll want to have developed food changes and a lifestyle that you can maintain for the rest of your life. I've had days like yours where I ate under 1000 calories and didnt feel hungry but that catches up with you.

Wish you luck with your journey and much success if finding sustainable lifestyle changes for your future.

Elizabeth_C34

Make sure you are actually measuring everything you eat. Also, yes, you can eat a lot of good food at under 1500 calories per day. Weight loss isn't about being miserable.

ericgAU

Thanks Eric, yep didn't feel the need for lunch, just wasn't hungry so I drank heaps of water and had a fruit instead. I'm amazed that I am still not hungry. Maybe it's because I'm too used to "starving myself" when trying to lose weight. Feast or famine. Stupid fad diets. Well I'm over that now. This is not a "diet" anymore, this is the beginning of a life change for me

If you've cut out sugar, dont be surprised that the disapperance of those hunger pangs are as a result of this. And yea, GOOD ON YOU for saying that its not a diet. I always made a point of correcting anyone that said that to me lol.

coconutbuNZ

Thanks everyone for your advice and opinions, very helpful. For me it was a pleasant surprise to learn that losing weight does not involve being hungry, miserable and grumpy! Honestly, who would be happy with eating grapefruit and cabbage soup all day? 1200 calories is quite a lot of good healthy food, sometimes more than enough and it is good to see how many calories are burned when I exercise, even if that exercise is just a stroll in the park. It is also good to know that I CAN have that slice of cake if I include it into my daily calories and exercise plan

ericgAU

Thanks everyone for your advice and opinions, very helpful. For me it was a pleasant surprise to learn that losing weight does not involve being hungry, miserable and grumpy! Honestly, who would be happy with eating grapefruit and cabbage soup all day? 1200 calories is quite a lot of good healthy food, sometimes more than enough and it is good to see how many calories are burned when I exercise, even if that exercise is just a stroll in the park. It is also good to know that I CAN have that slice of cake if I include it into my daily calories and exercise plan

Its great huh. I've been telling my wife whom looks after our 4 kids that she needs to eat. The reason that shes overweight is due to not eating not necessarily eating the wrong foods. Gotta get that metabolism firing!!!

coconutbuNZ

I can understand that Eric where your wife is coming from. She probably comes from the same place as me, mentally that is. I'm still trying to get my head around it. Still trying to change my thoughts where I used to believe that if I don't eat for hours on end, that that is the ONLY way to lose weight.

Soucy2022

So can you go over on your protein if you are within your calorie count for the day ?????

coconutbuNZ

So can you go over on your protein if you are within your calorie count for the day ?????

Well I'm no expert, I've only been here one week, but from my own experience I went over my protein and still managed to lose nearly 2lb.

susannamarie

So can you go over on your protein if you are within your calorie count for the day ?????

Yes. You can also completely customize your macronutrients intake -- many people set protein quite a bit higher than the default.

Soucy2022

Thanks Ladies !!

ericgAU

So can you go over on your protein if you are within your calorie count for the day ?????

Calories are calories. Yes proteins are processed by your body more readily as a fuel for energy but overdoing protein long term is pretty risky too.