Confused about calorie intake, help please??

Marie3391

I'm so confused as to what to do about my calories!! I haven't been able to lose much when I eat 1200-1300 cals. If I super strictly stick to that every day I lose around .2 to .5lbs a week. However, I keep reading about eating more cals all over the forums. I'm super afraid of eating more calories on purpose. I do eat more on workout days and some days that I just plain eat too much.. Is it okay to eat more calories like that when I'm 20lbs from my goal??

silkysly

Eat the RIGHT calories…, not just any.

Dave198lbs

noone can answer this correctly without a bunch more info. just figure out how many calories you need each day to perform your normal day, then subtract 500 calories. the trick is figuring out how any you need each day to stay the same

KrispieKaos

I'm confused as well. I've been eating more the last 2 weeks and I find that when I eat back my exercise calories, or even just a portion of them (and eating about 1800 calories for that day) I feel way stuffed all day. Not full, but stuffed. Now that I've been eating more, my weight loss has really slowed. I was losing about 1.5-2 lbs a week and last week I lost .4 and this week I lost .2. After all the hard work I've done to lose, I don't want to gain it all back. I see people who say eat a ton, eat at 1200... I'm confused as well. I'd love to hear answers!

kmoore02

Who set your calorie limit? If you set your own calorie limit, you may be placing your body in starvation mode. Losing weight does include eating. You need fuel to burn.

Narisong

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

Dave198lbs

Who set your calorie limit? If you set your own calorie limit, you may be placing your body in starvation mode. Losing weight does include eating. You need fuel to burn.

oh god...not the "starvation mode"!!!!

bulbadoof

From what I understand about plateaus, there are 3 factors in successful weight loss: nutrition, cardio, and strength training. Notice I said nutrition, not calories. If you're not getting the things your body needs, your body will not do what comes naturally to it when it's getting what it needs (shedding unnecessary fat). If you are getting a balanced diet and all the macronutrients you need, chances are you need to make changes to one of your forms of exercise.

kmoore02

I'm confused as well. I've been eating more the last 2 weeks and I find that when I eat back my exercise calories, or even just a portion of them (and eating about 1800 calories for that day) I feel way stuffed all day. Not full, but stuffed. Now that I've been eating more, my weight loss has really slowed. I was losing about 1.5-2 lbs a week and last week I lost .4 and this week I lost .2. After all the hard work I've done to lose, I don't want to gain it all back. I see people who say eat a ton, eat at 1200... I'm confused as well. I'd love to hear answers!

Its possible that you're not burning as many calories as you're recording for your workout. So when you do "eat back calories" you are consuming more calories than you should to maintain weight loss. I never eat back more than half my calories, if I eat that much.

Marie3391

Well, I'm 5'1'', 21 years old and 145lbs wanting to be at 120lbs. Anywho, MFP set my calorie limit. It says my BMR is 1360, the lowest of all the calculators I checked out. I do cardio and strength train as well. When I choose the right foods, I'm actually never hungry as I eat 5-6 times a day...