I need help with this whole calorie intake thing!

nbreteil

I know the question has been asked again and again, and I also know everyone's body works differently. I am asking because I want to make sure I get this right.

I am currently 213 pounds for 5'3. I'm a 24 year old female. I set my MFP to loosing 2 pounds a week, and I put my lifestyle as lightly active ( I exercise every day at the gym but other than that I'm pretty much sedentary). I started back in march and have already lost 30 pounds.

Right now, MFP has me at 1270 calories. I don't find this hard at all, actually I've gotten used to eating better and enjoy it. I make sure I include whole grains, protein and vegetables in every meal. I don't feel hungry because I'm feeding my body the right food.

Now, the weight loss was fast the 1st few weeks back in March, I was loosing the 2 pounds a week, even more some weeks. I know it was water weight. Now it has slowed down. A lot. And I'm not happy about it. I'm loosing about 1 pound every 2 weeks and I don't understand when I'm eating WAY below what my calorie intake should be if I followed anything but MFP (went to scoobysworkshop and it gave me something like 2500 calories a day)

The reason why I'm wondering about this is because I spend a week in NYC at the end of June, during which I didn't pay attention to what I was eating at all. We ate out for every meal and most meals were made of burgers, greasy chinese food and cheesecakes. But I was also walking all day long (not kidding. all. day. long). I came home thinking I was gonna have gained a couple pounds...NOPE, I had actually lost.... 4 FREAKIN POUNDS! SO, my question is: should I be eating more calories. or was my body just in shock?? I have no idea. Again, I really don't feel like my body needs more. I have never had as much energy as I do now (afternoon nap not needed anymore!) but if eating more could help me loose...I really don't know what to do and need help. I'm "scared" of eating more and gaining the weight back. Thank you for your help and for reading this looooong post and congrats if you made it all the way through!

giftieetcetera

If you aren't ALSO eating your exercise/workout calories, then your net is going below 1,200, which is too low to lose weight. Try 1,270 plus exercise calories for a better result.

pickle1968

I too have wondered these things! I am set for 1340 calories /day for a 2lb./ week as well. It has not happened yet. Like you, I feel full all day from the good choices I make. I finally figured it out that perhaps it is due to the "credit" calories that come from exercise. As an example, I have found inconsistencies between what my exercise bike summarizes and what the minutes/calories burned are on MFP. (MFP is much higher!!)
I do know that you have lost a lot already and it is very common to hit a plateau. Don't give up!! I don't know if I have helped you at all but you are not alone in questioning!!

sorrelduncan

It's all terribly confusing, but you might want to check out the group Eat More to Lose Weight here on MFP, also on facebook & youtube. They can explain how increasing calories and adding weight training can increase metabolism and get you back to losing. Then again, lots of people have results with MFPs allotted calories. Good luck, I hope you find your mojo again! At any rate, you know you are making better choices now and that's a big deal! You're better off already, whether the scale says so. Lots of people suggest going by measurements and pictures rather than the scale. Seems to make a lot of sense.

PinkiePie07

I've been through the same thing and hopefully I can help. Interestingly enough I'm 23, started MFP at 212 pounds (lost almost 20), I'm 5'2" and currently eating 1,850 calories a day. I hit a plateau way too early in my weight loss and it caused me to re-evaluate some things I did. I was eating low calories just like you are now, and I can tell you, it's not the way to go. I understand that you feel like you're at a sedentary activity level, but I promise you that you aren't. Most people, in fact, are not. If you exercise every day, you are at a high activity level and adjusting your calories to that level will help you immensely. I'm not going to lie, you will probably stop losing weight and in fact probably gain a pound or two. It's kind of hard, but it's just going to be your body adjusting to the new amount of calories. It will last 2 weeks to possibly a month, but it will stop and things will go sooo much better for you. I know this all sounds crazy, that I'm asking you to stall your loss for a bit and eat more to lose more, but it really does work.

This is the thread outlining what I did:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/567092--read-this-figuring-out-your-calorie-goals

What you need to do is go to http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/
Do the military body fat calculator. Then go to the BMR calculator and add in your body fat % that the military calculator gave you. Use the Katch McGardle BMR number to know your BMR, it is the most accurate. Scroll down to the Activity Level chart and find your activity level there, going by how many days you exercise a week and how hard, finding the one that best applies to you. Add 20% to the number next to that activity level and that will tell you what your TDEE is. This is the amount of calories you have to eat for your body at that activity level to maintain your current weight. To lose a pound a week, you need to subtract 500 calories from your TDEE. Subtract more to lose more, but 1 to 1.5 pounds a week is a good healthy goal. Just be sure to never eat below your BMR. Every 10 pounds you'll need to recalculate for your calories since they do change with your body weight and fat %. Hope this helps ^^. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

nbreteil

thanks to all of you for your input. I will definitely take all your advices into consideration!! I don't think I'm ready yet to stall or even gain back some more pounds...I don't feel mentally ready to accept that!!

PinkiePie07

thanks to all of you for your input. I will definitely take all your advices into consideration!! I don't think I'm ready yet to stall or even gain back some more pounds...I don't feel mentally ready to accept that!!

I understand, because it is scary and even though your brain knows it's going on, it's still hard. That said, I want to be honest with you, if you don't do this now, you will have to do it at some point in time. I don't want to seem mean or anything, but I do really want to be honest and help you. From what you've said, it seems like your body is already starting to stall itself out already. My body did the same. I just don't want to see you stall out and plateau like I did. That said, I can't force you to do anything, and I really do hope you consider it. If you choose not to, and if you need it later, at least the information is there. :flowerforyou:

And also, again I want to stress that it's temporary. You will not stall out eating the way I suggested or gain back weight forever. It just lasts 2 weeks to a month and your body will level out again and you will start losing weight again. For me, at least, the weight I gained (1 to 2 pounds) during that time just fell off so fast once my body got going again.

nbreteil

thanks to all of you for your input. I will definitely take all your advices into consideration!! I don't think I'm ready yet to stall or even gain back some more pounds...I don't feel mentally ready to accept that!!

I understand, because it is scary and even though your brain knows it's going on, it's still hard. That said, I want to be honest with you, if you don't do this now, you will have to do it at some point in time. I don't want to seem mean or anything, but I do really want to be honest and help you. From what you've said, it seems like your body is already starting to stall itself out already. My body did the same. I just don't want to see you stall out and plateau like I did. That said, I can't force you to do anything, and I really do hope you consider it. If you choose not to, if you need it later, the information is there. :flowerforyou:

Thanks a bunch, I really appreciate your kindness and understanding. I plateaued about 3 months into my weightloss, then once again for only a week before I went to NY. I've lost 2 more pounds in the 2 weeks since I came back. I really think my body responded to being "chocked" with calories and then chocked again going back to eating normally haha. I know I really should try to log in and eat back my exercise calories, at least...the reason why I haven't is because I wasn't exercising in the goal of loosing weight, but in the goal of 1: train my heart and lungs because I was done being out of breath all the time, and 2: gain some muscles. I actually started loosing weight 5 months ago but only started going to the gym 2 months ago. I haven't noticed a faster weight loss with it, just an overall better condition and feeling better and some tightening haha

psuLemon

What most people dont understand is that your body needs fuel. Calories are that fuel so when you deprive it from calories it has to find an alternate source. Generally, its fat store and the more obese you are the easier it is to draw feom that. The closer to a healthy weight, not your goal weight, the smaller the deficit has to be. Now, you also have to keep in mind the body has defense mechanism in place in case of famine. Now if your total energy expended - metabolic function + daily activity + exercise - is over 2500 calories then 1200 calories isnt cutting it. And since no one actually consistently loses 2lbs a week over an extended period of time why not be less aggressive and aim for a small deficit and aim for cleaning up habits - less processes foods, more active lifestyle, etc- and enjoy food. Based on your stats i think 1700-1800 would be a better goal. This is set at lightly active and about a 30% deficit. The thing that would change this is if you hit the gym for an hour 5-6 days, then you would he around 2000 calories.

Also, sometimes when you fuel your body more, it drops fat quicker as its not afraid of famine and wont release cortisol as quickly.