Worried I'm not eating enough calories to lose

bradp1979

I started out toward my goal by downloading the myfitnesspal app 3 weeks ago, and have already lost 10 lbs. However, in the past week, I have gained back 2. I know that at my weight (214, now), 2 lbs is nothing, and could be anything from water retention to muscle growth, but every week since I have signed up, I have steadily been losing 2+ lbs a week by going to the gym 4-5 days a week and following the calorie recommendation set by the app. However, it tells me that I need to net 1430 a day, where a lot of other websites have been telling me it's supposed to be closer to 1900. Anyone have any advice?

P.S. I'm a 32 year old male, 5'10, and I generally focus on cardio at the gym.

psuLemon

I started out toward my goal by downloading the myfitnesspal app 3 weeks ago, and have already lost 10 lbs. However, in the past week, I have gained back 2. I know that at my weight (214, now), 2 lbs is nothing, and could be anything from water retention to muscle growth, but every week since I have signed up, I have steadily been losing 2+ lbs a week by going to the gym 4-5 days a week and following the calorie recommendation set by the app. However, it tells me that I need to net 1430 a day, where a lot of other websites have been telling me it's supposed to be closer to 1900. Anyone have any advice?

P.S. I'm a 32 year old male, 5'10, and I generally focus on cardio at the gym.

It isn't muscle growth. You cant gain muscle on a calorie deficit, especially if it's cardio only. Lets put things in perspective. I am 5'11, 30 yrs old, 200 lbs, 12% body fat and I eat 2600-2800 calories to lose weight. If you net 1430, you are more likely eating around 1900 calories total. When I ate at those levels, I plateau'd very quickly. Keep in mind, you need fuel to burn fuel. Also, cut down on cardio, you may lose a bit more weight, but that is because you will lose muscle and less fat. Heavy weight training will cut down on fat and maintain your lean body mass.

Based on your stats, I would have you ate 2500 calories.

bradp1979

I never actually net 1430, I tend to eat around 1600, and net around 900. I'm doing that without really trying. I eat until I'm not hungry anymore. When I'm hungry again, I eat again. I don't do tons of cardio every day. At the gym, I bike at a moderate pace (115+ watts), and I jog for about 15 minutes at 5.2mph, and follow it all up with walking 3.5mph for about 30 minutes. After that I go to abs and if I have time/energy left, I do weights.

My current bf% is the astronomic number of ~30%. BMI same.

What I guess I'm reading is that I'm not eating enough, and the MyFitnessPal is having me eat too little?