Do you cut your calories?

honkytonks85

I was just watching the biggest looser for the first time, and I noticed that they are cutting down their calories. For a girl whos 320+ pounds they did 1500 calories, which is about what MFP suggested for me, and I'm 182 @ 5.4.

1500 feels pretty a lot for me, so I did cut it a little... I mean aren't you supposed to eat less to loose weight?

But at the same time i see that a lot of people eat all their suggested calories, plus their exercise calories...

So I'm a little confused...

I'm 22, 182 pounds, 5.4 - and my suggested calories are 1500, but i eat 1000 or less...
(I eat a lot of salads, fruits, vegetables, fish, things like that, so its not like I'm eating nothing, just the things I eat are not high in calories, so I do get full from it.)

How much do you eat?
Is anyone else cutting down on their calories?


PS: Feel free to add me.

Lose* weight

Yes the key to losing weight is to cut calories. That is ultimately the way all diets work. Your body has a certain number of calories you need to eat in a day to *maintain* your body weight. This is called your TDEE (which is a combination of your base metabolic rate - eg how many cals you burn just by breathing + your activity level like sedentary, lightly active, etc). When you sign up for MFP you punch in how many pounds you want to lose a week and MFP calculates your TDEE based on your figures then subtracts from your TDEE the number of cals you should eat in a day to REACH the goal. MFP factors it in - so people following their suggested calories will lose weight if that was the goal they entered in when they signed up for MFP.

Note that if you enter in your activity level as sedentary and you add exercise, you burn more calories and thus your calorie goal is adjusted so you can eat more calories and still lose the same amount of weight as you would have if you hadn't done the exercise at all.

So in answer to your question yes, anyone who is looking to lose weight on MFP is cutting calories and their suggested calories is given to them by MFP.

Bobby_Clerici

The Biggest Loser is simply an encyclopedia of how NOT to lose weight and keep it off.
Forget everything you see.
It's ABSURD!

jennyredfern

Sometimes it's easier to count your total calories for the week, or several days together, and take an average. It gives you a lot more room to work with. That way if you want to splurge one day, you don't have to feel bad knowing you can make up for it the rest of the week. Helps this become a lifestyle and not just a short term weight loss.

heybales

MFP suggested that I eat 1200 calories a day to lose 2lbs a week. I typically eat around 1200-1400 plus add exercise. I have even eating up to 1900 (not often) calories. I am trying to make healthier choices and add exercising instead of starving myself. I am rather new to MFP and still confused about whether to eat my exercise calories or not.

You got it!

You understood it correctly. That's why you get the credit for exercise, and your daily goal automatically goes up - because your daily goal, with or without exercise logged, already has that deficit in it.

Daily maintenance - deficit = daily goal + optional exercise done = increased daily goal

is the same thing as

Daily maintenance + exercise - deficit = daily goal

If the exercise is done.

MFP is a fitness pal because you don't get those calories until you do the exercise.

honkytonks85

Sometimes it's easier to count your total calories for the week, or several days together, and take an average. It gives you a lot more room to work with. That way if you want to splurge one day, you don't have to feel bad knowing you can make up for it the rest of the week. Helps this become a lifestyle and not just a short term weight loss.

I am for this, this is why I have my goal set to maintenance and then aim to see some green numbers there every week whether I go well over some says and others I go under, the overall deficit is what counts