New and confused..HELP!

jennwhite38

Ok I am a almost 2 weeks into exercising and using the Body By Vi shakes. I've lost about 6 lbs so far with 20 to go. I do about 25 minutes a day on the elliptical and usually walk a couple of miles in the evening. Everything was going good up until yesterday when i weighed I had gained a half a pound back and then this morning it says I gained another pound!! I don't understand how I'm gaining unless it's that I'm not understanding how many calories I should be consuming a day?? MFP says I should be eating 1200 a day, fat2fit says 1786 so I am confused at what to do here! And also the calories that are burnt off exercising should I be eating those back?? Any help and support would really be appreciated!!

phinphanbill26

The scale is the worst way to judge your fitness level. Have you been taking other measurements? Do your clothes fit differently/better? That's what is important. The calories (1200) seems low. It sounds counter-intuitive, but, you need to consume calories to lose weight once you start getting into better and better shape. The body becomes much more efficient with what you take in.

SherryTeach

How did you decide to go on this kind of plan rather than eat 1200 calories of real food?

Neecy_Pooh

When you put your info into the formula for MFP, it calculates your cals for how many pounds you want to lose weekly and depending on your activity level but automatically starts you off with a 500 cal deficit. So in actuality, the calculator thinks you should get 1700 cals daily but in order to lose 1 1/2 lbs or 2 lbs a week, it puts you at 1200 daily. However, it is advisable to not consume only 1200 cals forever. You should maybe zig zag your cals so that your body doesn't get used to consuming too few cals, thus being more efficient at losing weight. Good luck!

BurtHuttz

1200 calories is low. MFP says you should be eating 1200 because it does not go below 1200.

There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. If you eat 500 calories *below* what you burn, each day, you would lose one pound per week. Right?

So if you're burning about 2100 calories a day, which is probably accurate, and you told MFP that you want to lose two pounds a week (because who doesn't, right?) then it said 2,200 - 1,000 = 1200 calories per day, congratulations, you will "lose" two pounds a week.

But what if you want to lose four pounds a week? Then you would eat a 2,000 calorie deficit, for a net of 200 calories a day.

What if you want to lose five pounds a week?

Long story short, eat more food.

jennwhite38

I haven't been measuring but I do notice a difference in my clothes they do fit better. I am worried that I am not taking in enough calories. I like the shakes because I am not a big eater, I would rarely eat breakfast or lunch just eat here and there and then eat dinner, so with the shakes I am replacing all the nutrients I was missing, I feel alot better than I was before I started them. Each shake is 135 calories so I'm only getting 270 from those and then Im left with 930 for the rest of the day and then I try to do at least 40 - 45 min of cardio/ exercising a day.

CopyCat97

From what I have been told is that eating at least 1500-1600 cal a day is ideal for loosing weight and that you don't have to eat back what you burn. You have to eat at least 3 times a day. Skipping a breakfast or lunch puts your body in starvation mode. That is counterproductive to weight loss.

I try to eat at least 1600 cal a day and no more than 1800. I also try to do at least 1 hour of activity each day.