going CRAZY on how many cals I should eat????

jessicae1aine

Ok, I swear this whole topic makes me feel like an idiot but let's give it one more shot!

MFP says I need to eat 1680 calories so I have been, but then you minus the exercise calories, like today I did Zumba so I burned about 1000, which means for the day I only netted 680....is this going to make me plateau right away?

The BMR calculator says I need to eat 2100, MFP says 1680. Someone please help me understand. I need the "calories for dummies" version if you don't mind :-)

Diary is public....let me have it!

My method, which the nutritionist I spoke with this morning confirmed was a good plan: Use a TDEE calculator and find your TDEE for your lifestyle at your goal weight. Then eat that amount of calories, eating back any exercise calories unless you chose "active lifestyle" or whatever that would account for those.

BklynEibhlin

Nobody except morbidly obese ppl should be eating below BMR for any reason.
It's asking for lean mass loss and is very counter productive.

This is interesting... I went to a doctor last year who specialized in weight loss. She weighed me, took blood then immediately handed me a photocopy of a set plan for 800 calories a day and told me I should come back in 2 weeks. I'm 5'1" and I was 170 at the time, so I was obese but not morbidly. I took my "non-personalized even though she charged me $90 for a specific personalized" meal plan home with me and ate 800-850 calories a day, no alcohol and took my Phendimetrazine Tartrate as instructed. When I went back for my 2 week follow up, I fully expected to be told that I could increase my calories (I assumed I was on a jump-start) and I could stop taking speed twice a day, because I had lost 11lbs. No dice, she told me I did "oooo-kayyyy..." and I should continue as I had been. When I asked her how long, she said I would probably need to eat like this for the rest of my life, gave me another bottle of pills and had her assistant give me a B12 shot that felt and bruised like Miguel Cotto let loose on my arm. That was my last visit. I guess I was right to be skeptical of her method.

Helloitsdan

Her vital organs and her lean mass are not limited to today's intake. If they were, no doctor or accepted diet plan would ever have you go below your BMR. They all do. I have never seen a diet plan (outside this forum) that had that floor. I think I've read about as many books on it as you have peeps.

It would be hard to maintain LBM at those rates.
OP would diet down then have to spend extra time building back up what she lost in her diet.

tmauck4472

Sweetheart I've been eating 600 a day for about 2 months now and I haven't plateaued yet. And I have a lot of exercise thrown in. Some days I eat more due to exercise some days like today I'm not. I will begin increasing my intake soon and have on some days, but I kinda like what I'm losing now.

Helloitsdan

Sweetheart I've been eating 600 a day for about 2 months now and I haven't plateaued yet. And I have a lot of exercise thrown in. Some days I eat more due to exercise some days like today I'm not. I will begin increasing my intake soon and have on some days, but I kinda like what I'm losing now.

How tall are you and how much do you weigh?
How much body fat do you have?
When lifting, how heavy can you go before you lose strength?
In the amount of time youve been dieting, how much weight have you lost?

mcarter99

Her vital organs and her lean mass are not limited to today's intake. If they were, no doctor or accepted diet plan would ever have you go below your BMR. They all do. I have never seen a diet plan (outside this forum) that had that floor. I think I've read about as many books on it as you have peeps.

It would be hard to maintain LBM at those rates.
OP would diet down then have to spend extra time building back up what she lost in her diet.

We all have to do that, or at least we all have the option. There is no magic calorie level at which you lose fat only. Yes, lower deficits usually mean less LBM loss. They also mean less total loss, more patience needed, less initial success and more quitters. That's why most diet plans start with an aggressive phase. The benefits outweigh the consequences.

Helloitsdan

Her vital organs and her lean mass are not limited to today's intake. If they were, no doctor or accepted diet plan would ever have you go below your BMR. They all do. I have never seen a diet plan (outside this forum) that had that floor. I think I've read about as many books on it as you have peeps.

It would be hard to maintain LBM at those rates.
OP would diet down then have to spend extra time building back up what she lost in her diet.

We all have to do that, or at least we all have the option. There is no magic calorie level at which you lose fat only. Yes, lower deficits usually mean less LBM loss. They also mean less total loss, more patience needed, less initial success and more quitters. That's why most diet plans start with an aggressive phase. The benefits outweigh the consequences.

I can understand that.
Its one of the reasons programs like MediFast have weekly meetings at their facilities to make sure everyone is staying healthy.
Unfortunately a lot of women on this site tend to not have any doctors involved and end up hurting themselves in the long run.
It's like going skydiving or shark hunting without doing any research.
Someone will get hurt.

IMO, and i'm no expert, a mild 20% deficit has shown better long term weight loss with less bounce back and more sustainability than crash dieting.
Crash dieting reduces vital hormones involved in weight loss, you know this!

Crash dieting causes loss of LBM.

Crash dieting causes early plateauing.

Crash dieting tends to happen over and over for the same people.
They diet down then regain the fat thus making it harder to lose the second time.
Lyle McDonald covers this in depth in his Stubborn Fat Solution.

I dont know about you but id rather get to my goal once then maintain eating 1600-2500 cals a day than eating 600-1500 like some of the people on here.

I maintain LBM.
I get to eat just about anything I want as long as it fits into my macros.
I lose fat!

kazhowe

edited

heathermarie517

LAWDY, LAWDY! I'm jumping on this post, because I don't have it figured out either! 34 years old, and NADA! Eat too much, eat too litte!?!? I've tried it all, and will continue to try, and READ all of these postings. At least the ones that have some substance to it. Not the jerk who simply says, EASY. There is nothing "simple" about this process.

MisterTEZ

When I began MFP I was lost in a sea of conflicting suggestions but one that made a lot of sense to me was helloitsdan's recommendation of working out my TDEE and eat a 20% deficit.

I have since lost 33 pounds and reached my goal and steadily maintaining on my maintenance allowance (TDEE)

I have never felt better and healthier for many years....We can make all the arguments we like but I do know dan's recommendation worked for me and there is no reaon why it shouldn't work for others

juliebeannn

When I began MFP I was lost in a sea of conflicting suggestions but one that made a lot of sense to me was helloitsdan's recommendation of working out my TDEE and eat a 20% deficit.

I have since lost 33 pounds and reached my goal and steadily maintaining on my maintenance allowance (TDEE)

I have never felt better and healthier for many years....We can make all the arguments we like but I do know dan's recommendation worked for me and there is no reaon why it shouldn't work for others

awesome! congrats on your success. this is the plan i'm following now as a lifestyle change, not a crash diet. i feel a million times better and STRONGER. eating does a body good.

ladyraven68

When I began MFP I was lost in a sea of conflicting suggestions but one that made a lot of sense to me was helloitsdan's recommendation of working out my TDEE and eat a 20% deficit.

I have since lost 33 pounds and reached my goal and steadily maintaining on my maintenance allowance (TDEE)

I have never felt better and healthier for many years....We can make all the arguments we like but I do know dan's recommendation worked for me and there is no reaon why it shouldn't work for others

Me too - and on a 20% deficit, with a good protein intake, I have been able to maintain my lean mass too.

Happy Bunny

SJS39

Her vital organs and her lean mass are not limited to today's intake. If they were, no doctor or accepted diet plan would ever have you go below your BMR. They all do. I have never seen a diet plan (outside this forum) that had that floor. I think I've read about as many books on it as you have peeps.

It would be hard to maintain LBM at those rates.
OP would diet down then have to spend extra time building back up what she lost in her diet.

We all have to do that, or at least we all have the option. There is no magic calorie level at which you lose fat only. Yes, lower deficits usually mean less LBM loss. They also mean less total loss, more patience needed, less initial success and more quitters. That's why most diet plans start with an aggressive phase. The benefits outweigh the consequences.

I can understand that.
Its one of the reasons programs like MediFast have weekly meetings at their facilities to make sure everyone is staying healthy.
Unfortunately a lot of women on this site tend to not have any doctors involved and end up hurting themselves in the long run.
It's like going skydiving or shark hunting without doing any research.
Someone will get hurt.

IMO, and i'm no expert, a mild 20% deficit has shown better long term weight loss with less bounce back and more sustainability than crash dieting.
Crash dieting reduces vital hormones involved in weight loss, you know this!

Crash dieting causes loss of LBM.

Crash dieting causes early plateauing.

Crash dieting tends to happen over and over for the same people.
They diet down then regain the fat thus making it harder to lose the second time.
Lyle McDonald covers this in depth in his Stubborn Fat Solution.

I dont know about you but id rather get to my goal once then maintain eating 1600-2500 cals a day than eating 600-1500 like some of the people on here.

I maintain LBM.
I get to eat just about anything I want as long as it fits into my macros.
I lose fat!

You throw around a lot of advice that directly contradicts much of my personal research (medical journals and studies) and the advice of highly qualified MDs, including research PHD/MDs I have personally spoken with. Specifically the dangers of eating below BMR. Do you have any reliable articles to backup your theories? I'd love to check them out in the event i am missing something you're not.

mcarter99

I think that's the logical leap being made here... That eating below BMR is 'crash dieting'. It really isn't. Medifast and cabbage soup diet and master cleanse and grapefruit diets... OK. 600 calories, yes. But 1200? I think you'd be hard pressed to find any authorities (outside of bro science) who'd call that 'crash dieting'.

RoseAsRose

bump to read b/c i have same qs

ketchup38

bump

WendyTerry420

Nobody except morbidly obese ppl should be eating below BMR for any reason.
It's asking for lean mass loss and is very counter productive.

This is interesting... I went to a doctor last year who specialized in weight loss. She weighed me, took blood then immediately handed me a photocopy of a set plan for 800 calories a day and told me I should come back in 2 weeks. I'm 5'1" and I was 170 at the time, so I was obese but not morbidly. I took my "non-personalized even though she charged me $90 for a specific personalized" meal plan home with me and ate 800-850 calories a day, no alcohol and took my Phendimetrazine Tartrate as instructed. When I went back for my 2 week follow up, I fully expected to be told that I could increase my calories (I assumed I was on a jump-start) and I could stop taking speed twice a day, because I had lost 11lbs. No dice, she told me I did "oooo-kayyyy..." and I should continue as I had been. When I asked her how long, she said I would probably need to eat like this for the rest of my life, gave me another bottle of pills and had her assistant give me a B12 shot that felt and bruised like Miguel Cotto let loose on my arm. That was my last visit. I guess I was right to be skeptical of her method.

Holy crap! I'm glad you quit that quack! :flowerforyou:
Then again, maybe you could have sold that speed on the streets. It's a higher profit for pharma-pure speed than for the bath-tub-gin-meth crap. Just sayin' :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

But seriously..........

Here's the deal though, IMO, even if it is "safe" to eat below BMR, why the hell WOULD you WANT to do that? If it isn't necessary to starve yourself to lose weight, then don't. I am steadily losing and just eating smaller portions and making small changes to smarter choices to give my body more nutrients. I had birthday cake last night. Still losing. Why be miserable? :bigsmile:

Fiona_Bullough

Bump to read later