Trouble getting to the calorie goal...

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SmallerFather
SmallerFather Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
...yeah, I know, a horrible problem to have.

I started MFP about two weeks ago weighing in at 285 lbs (6'1"), and MFP gave me a calorie goal of 2120. As seems to happen with a lot of people here, I love the calorie counter. I've never done calorie counting before, and the getting the healthy 'bang-for-your-buck' has turned out to be quite fun. But I have discovered two things about myself: (1) Since I love eating, before MFP, quality definitely took a back-seat to quantity, and (2) with a little effort, I can get the quantity I want/need, without sacrificing quality. What this means is that I always end up being roughly 1000 calories under my recommended caloric intake every day.

This is perpetuated a bit by the fact that a lot of my size comes from a large frame, and as a former college athlete, I've returned to running about 30 minutes a day. At my size, this returns about 600 calories a day to my allowance (and yes, I factored this in for the 1000 quoted above.)

While I've lost 11 pounds since starting MFP, all the message boards have me worried that this low intake of calories will have my body plateau quickly, and I won't lose as much weight overall. Any big guys/gals out there that have a perspective on this? Should I force myself to eat more, or a little less healthily? I'm in this for the long-haul and I dont want to kill my stride by doing too much, too quickly....

Replies

  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
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    You don't have to eat unhealthy to get more calories. Its your call but eating 1000 calories at your size IMO is the fastest way to a weight loss plateau and unhealthy. If you want to eat more (healthy) calories, what about peanut butter, olive oil, etc to add some more calories without feeling overly full?
  • SmallerFather
    SmallerFather Posts: 4
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    Thanks!

    I may have been a bit ambiguous -- I eat roughly 1800 calories a day, exercise off about 600, and therefore have a total of 1200 calories consumed. The 2120 allotted minus 1200 consumed gets me to the ~1000 calorie deficit I referenced.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    If I was you I would try to eat back those calories. Its not just about weight loss its about helathy weight loss. If you end up loosing muscle and other tissue other than fat it is not good. Even though it looks good on the scale. Nuts are healthy and high calorie.

    Also you may be putting to much concern behind "healthy" food. Unless it is full of chemicals or poisons then there is nothing wrong with sugars or desserts or dairy or any other thing that is high calorie. As long as you are meeting your nutrient and macros needs with your regular diet then adding these things in is fine. At least thats my opinion.
  • MikeFlyMike
    MikeFlyMike Posts: 639 Member
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    Ensure you are getting lots of protein. Like 160-200g daily. Exercise and try to lift heavy things several times a week.
    Don't worry about the calories.
    Different things work for different people - so simply watch what works for you - that is the beauty of tracking.
    I didn't eat back and also ended up with a large deficit and didn't lose any muscle mass - only burned fat.

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