Am I eating enough, too little, too much?

Breauxmontana

I'm 243 pounds, six foot tall. Exercise three times a week which usually consists of a 45-60 minute strength training workout and 20-30 minutes of cardio.

My fitness pal app has me on a daily calorie goal of about 1900 which is aimed towards a two pound a week weightloss. However, after reading other sources (bodybuilding.com, mayoclinic, etc) other sources have me aiming for around 2300-2600 calories a day aimed towards a two pound a week weightloss.

I'm hitting around 1700-1850 a day and most days I definitely feel as if my food is just sitting in me. Almost as if some days my body isn't doing anything positive. I'm currently at 9 1/2 pound weightloss after a month which I know is considered solid, however Ifeel with my effort on my diet and the gym, I should see slightly better results. Please point me in the right direction in how many calories I should be taking in. I'm slowly losing my mind.

melaniecheeks

Don't overthink! Sometimes when there are so many numbers to play with, from lots of different sources, it can appear that there is One True Number that you should be aiming for.

In reality, it's more like trial and error, with tweaks along the way.

If you're losing on the range you're currently working with (1700-1850) - and believe me 9 1/2 lbs is fantastic! - then I wouldn't change too much.

TavistockToad

i would say you are about right. if you find youself hungry eat your exercise calories back, if not then stick to the number MFP gives you.

The one thing you do need is patience... you didnt get over 200lbs over night, so it'll take a while to get it back off! you're doing a great job so far, be pround of your achievements and just think where you will be in a years time if you keep it up....!!!!!

ladyraven68

The difference is that those other sites include your exercise when working out your daily expenditure, then take a deficit.

MFP works out a deficit without taking into account exercise, and then if you exercise you can eat back the calories to get back to the deficit you chose.

If you add your exercise calories to the MFP allowance I don't expect there's much difference to the numbers.

You are doing well, and there is no reason to be disappointed with 9.5lbs loss in a month.
If you consider that the maximum healthy loss per week is 1% according to some fitness/ nutrition experts, you are smack on target.

Keep it up you are doing well.