Eating too few Calories?

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bmkess
bmkess Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I'm a 23 year old male at 5'11" and 240 lbs. I've lost about 22 lbs so far but I have been stalled at around 240 for a month and a half now. It's getting pretty frustrating. I've been eating under the calories that MFP gives me, so I'm wondering if I possibly am eating too few calories. I'm walking for 30 minutes 3 times a week and jogging for 2 minute intervals 3 times. I've been eating anywhere from 1400-1500 calories a day. Any help to get past this barrier would be great! Thanks!

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  • NWCountryGal
    NWCountryGal Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Just try upping your calories. Eat half of your exercise calories and let us see your diaries so we can see if you are getting the foods you need. Also, there is a lot on this subject put out by pandorian, helloitsdan and I found this link that also helped me: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/diet/calorie-deficit-to-lose-weight/ What I am coming to understand is that we each have to find our own "pace" or that right amount of food(and good food I mean)to allow us to lose the fat yes, but also build and maintain strong muscle, which, in turns burns even more fat). It seems to me the more I get into this that is just like used to here, eat healthy, exercise. If we do that the fat will slowly start to melt away at least that is how it has worked for lots of people here. Read and decide what you believe is right for you.

    Just my personal belief is that the Group: Eat More to weigh less is on the healthy track. You could read many of their threads as well. If you want to just keep with MFPs settings which are fine, you could try eating say 200 more calories a day for a couple of weeks. It is worth those 2 weeks to find out if you feel better and your body is starting to shed more pound. If something isn't working I change my strategy;)

    denise:drinker: :drinker:
    Hi, I'm a 23 year old male at 5'11" and 240 lbs. I've lost about 22 lbs so far but I have been stalled at around 240 for a month and a half now. It's getting pretty frustrating. I've been eating under the calories that MFP gives me, so I'm wondering if I possibly am eating too few calories. I'm walking for 30 minutes 3 times a week and jogging for 2 minute intervals 3 times. I've been eating anywhere from 1400-1500 calories a day. Any help to get past this barrier would be great! Thanks!
  • AFitJamie
    AFitJamie Posts: 172 Member
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    At the risk of this becoming a "Eat more to lose More" thread.... I'll jump in...

    A quick look indicates that your BMR is quite a bit higher than you are eating at. If you are not eating back your exercise calories, than you are quite a bit below your BMR.

    When you do this, your body makes a number of adaptations - Studies do indicate that these adaptations are generally NOT enough to offset the calorie deficit completely, but people seem to have very differing views on the subject....

    I would suggest that regardless of the noise around this issue, I believe you could eat a few more calories and work at increasing your exercise as you can... eat back a portion of your calories.

    Now, I'm not trying to be argumentative here, but suggesting an area for you to explore yourself... Studies do show that many people change their rigor around calorie counting and measuring as time progresses. Some studies on "Plateaus" demonstrate that individuals have generally been miscounting and measuring as a result of the drop in discipline of measuring and weighing and counting. S0 I would suggest you up your calories to somewhere around 2200-2300.. that is where your BMR is.... and CLOSELY monitor your discipline around measuring and counting and weighing, and tracking...

    Good luck!

    (Edit Typos)
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
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    Running your age, height and weight through a BMR calculator shows that your Basal Metabolic Rate (the "baseline" amount of calories your body needs to function BEFORE exercise and daily activities are factored in) is around 2300 calories. You're eating about 1000 calories below that. I won't get into the "starvation mode" argument, but whether it exists or not I don't think it's a good idea to be eating that far below your BMR.
  • bmkess
    bmkess Posts: 5 Member
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    Ok thanks for the help everyone, right now I'm supposed to be eating something like 1650 calories according to MFP, I'm eating below that right now, so I will up the calories and see if that works. Thanks for the quick replies I was wanting to confirm my suspicions and I seem to be doing just that.

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