MFP...Friend or Foe?

ExplorinLauren

I'm so confused by all of this Back in the day... all you had to do was eat 1200 cals a day, and you would lose weight. Now... all I hear is eat above this, but below this... do this, not that... UGGHHH. I'm kind of frustrated, not to mention..completely confused!!! Idk if MFP is a blessing or a torture! lol ... Everyone says, eat 20% below TDEE, but I have a VERY hard time convincing myself that I can eat 1900-2000 calories a day (which is 20% below my TDEE) and still lose weight!? Very frustrating!!! Don't get me wrong, I love MFP... I've spent the last 4 months getting my DIET under control, so I can learn to eat better, eat cleaner, and make real changes to my lifestyle... but now that I'm getting down to the real nitty-gritty... I'm finding it very hard to find out what is real and what is bs... I worked realllllllllllly hard to get here... and I want to make sure I'm doing the right things, to get where I need to go. Ultimately, that means happier, healthier and skinnier

RunAlyndaRun

People, myself included, love to give advice! We can all go into paralysis for all of the advice floating around. I'd say (see, I told you I love to give advice! LOL) that if something has been working for you, you have energy, feel good then keep doing it! Not everything works for everyone. I think people get a bit cocky or over confident at times when they've been intensely successful at something or had an aha moment then they want to "share" that with the world. Usually it is a good thing, but other times can drive people BATTY!

Good luck!

Melanie_RS

make smart friends that know what they are doing and align with your eating style. TDEE, paleo, whatever....

1200 calories is pretty 80's.

Peta22

Hmmm.. I can relate to the confusion! And the 'preaching' about eating this and that or doing this and that has been wearing me down. I'm starting to find myself feeling very aggrevated by my own 'need' to keep up with all my MFP friends in the clean eating and exersizing stakes - to the point that I start feeling down and want to binge eat!

I think its all about the individual and what works for you. Maybe we all need to spend more time focusing inside ourselves and less time worrying about what the rest of the world is doing!

ExplorinLauren

People, myself included, love to give advice! We can all go into paralysis for all of the advice floating around. I'd say (see, I told you I love to give advice! LOL) that if something has been working for you, you have energy, feel good then keep doing it! Not everything works for everyone. I think people get a bit cocky or over confident at times when they've been intensely successful at something or had an aha moment then they want to "share" that with the world. Usually it is a good thing, but other times can drive people BATTY!

Good luck!

Fully agree! I feel there is an abundance of great advice, and people are always willing to give it lol But Idk what is actually good advice, and what is just "something that worked for them" . I do try to follow the rule ' if its working for me.. follow it... I feel pretty good, I'm doing what I THINK is right... sigh.. but who knows?! .. lol...Thanks

caraiselite

do what works for you.

taunto

I am not very bright and so I get confused easily which is why I just eat if I feel hungry and workout as much as possible. I try to eat clean per MY DEFINITION. I try to keep my tushy moving. I try to keep my calories near what MFP recommended but don't cry if I go over or under since it usually balances out.

I haven't weighed myself in 1.5 months but my pants are feeling loose. I am happy

ExplorinLauren

make smart friends that know what they are doing and align with your eating style. TDEE, paleo, whatever....

1200 calories is pretty 80's.

I agree, I feel like 1200 cals a day is outdated. I just don't know if I wanna go a full 2000 cals., its hard to convince myself that is ok! I try to make good friends... I will NEVER do Paleo.. way too far in left field for me. lol I need dairy... lol but I see what you are saying.... Thanks for the input

TheVimFuego

1200 calories is pretty 80's.

If I had a signature I'd steal that

Yeh, people respond differently to nutrition, MFP is my friend because it allows me to experiment and track, not because it provides and kind of prescriptive guidelines.

Jessika_Lynnn

I am not very bright and so I get confused easily which is why I just eat if I feel hungry and workout as much as possible. I try to eat clean per MY DEFINITION. I try to keep my tushy moving. I try to keep my calories near what MFP recommended but don't cry if I go over or under since it usually balances out.

I haven't weighed myself in 1.5 months but my pants are feeling loose. I am happy

I think this is awesome. In other words, don't think about it too much, or let a few calories get to you. If you feel good about YOURSELF, that's all that really matters (:

TheVimFuego

I agree, I feel like 1200 cals a day is outdated. I just don't know if I wanna go a full 2000 cals., its hard to convince myself that is ok! I try to make good friends... I will NEVER do Paleo.. way too far in left field for me. lol I need dairy... lol but I see what you are saying.... Thanks for the input

Pretty much the reason I will never be strict Paleo, I love my cheese and tolerate it well.

SkinnySonia79

The program is designed for long term weight loss...not a get skinny quick kind of thing. That's why the calories are so generous! Eat yourself skinny and you will have long term success. I have a long way to go but I'm confident this will work

Hezzietiger1

I lost 50 lbs eating 1200 calories then hit a plateau. I changed my macros around and lost 10 more. Then hit a plateau. Now, I'm keeping my macros switched and increasing my calories... we'll see what happens. U find what works and you do what works. If it stops working, change it. If it's not broken, why fix it. Everyone has their opinions and philosophies but ultimately it's your body and you know what is going on with it. Currently I'm at 1500 cals, keeping my protein above 120, carbs below 75 (no grains, breads, pastas, etc) and filling in the rest with fats... it's called primal. On heavy training days, I might add a few more calories and I add some more carbs. 20% below my tdee would be 2200.. no freakin way i'm gonna eat that much.. even on a complete cheat day. Maybe one day I will.. like when I've hit my goal. LOL

SkinnySonia79

Perfect! I love your comments

Hezzietiger1

make smart friends that know what they are doing and align with your eating style. TDEE, paleo, whatever....

1200 calories is pretty 80's.

I agree, I feel like 1200 cals a day is outdated. I just don't know if I wanna go a full 2000 cals., its hard to convince myself that is ok! I try to make good friends... I will NEVER do Paleo.. way too far in left field for me. lol I need dairy... lol but I see what you are saying.... Thanks for the input

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-succeed-with-the-primal-blueprint/#axzz22utKtyUn

My advice... Try this... It's what i do..

I love dairy too.

amyn73

Good discussion! I was just talking about this with my sister. She and I are both adopting healthier lifestyles...she went 1600 calories in food and at least 2600 calories in exercise. This makes sense to me. Ive been doing less in calories but my running has gotten difficult. Duh! I have no energy. So I am going to 1600 calories and if I dont lose I will re assess

ExplorinLauren

I am not very bright and so I get confused easily which is why I just eat if I feel hungry and workout as much as possible. I try to eat clean per MY DEFINITION. I try to keep my tushy moving. I try to keep my calories near what MFP recommended but don't cry if I go over or under since it usually balances out.

I haven't weighed myself in 1.5 months but my pants are feeling loose. I am happy

Fully agree! I try to eat clean also... by MY DEFINITION! Great advice .. thanks

ExplorinLauren

make smart friends that know what they are doing and align with your eating style. TDEE, paleo, whatever....

1200 calories is pretty 80's.

I agree, I feel like 1200 cals a day is outdated. I just don't know if I wanna go a full 2000 cals., its hard to convince myself that is ok! I try to make good friends... I will NEVER do Paleo.. way too far in left field for me. lol I need dairy... lol but I see what you are saying.... Thanks for the input

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-succeed-with-the-primal-blueprint/#axzz22utKtyUn

My advice... Try this... It's what i do..

I love dairy too.

I'll be honest with you... I only skimmed over this when I had a second while my babies were having lunch.. but I saw the whole "carb" idea... and then went through my diary, the last 4-5 days, I've stayed between 50-75 carbs...and honestly, I've had the biggest loss (weight wise) over this weekend... Def looking forward to reading more of this when I have the time...Thanks for the read

gpstrucker

Why not just fill out your profile correctly, log everything honestly, follow the MFP numbers, and stop worrying about all that other stuff?

Seems to work for me :happy:

PayneAS

but I have a VERY hard time convincing myself that I can eat 1900-2000 calories a day (which is 20% below my TDEE) and still lose weight!?

Raise your calories a little bit each week (300ish calories) until you reach 1900 or until you start gaining weight. I had to do it because my body was so messed up from my eating habits. 900 calories a day was an amazing goal, now I'm up to 1500ish.

lambing05

listen to your body. Do whats work for you.

ExplorinLauren

The program is designed for long term weight loss...not a get skinny quick kind of thing. That's why the calories are so generous! Eat yourself skinny and you will have long term success. I have a long way to go but I'm confident this will work

I agree... I believe this is truly working...
I've looked at it as a real LIFE CHANGE... I don't feel like I'm on a diet AT ALL! ...
Honestly tho, I'm here to get in the best shape of my life before a tummy tuck in March/ April of next year... I have all the time in world to stick to this.. and I feel hopeful about it But at the same time... I don't have time to try this for 6 weeks, wait ...see if it works... try this for another 6 weeks.... yada yada lol
Hopefully, I'll figure it all out soon... But I feel happy that my diet has changed so drastically over the last few months!! I used to eat out (between breakfast, lunch and dinner, at LEAST 10 times week!!) I feel pretty good about where I'm going now
Thanks for your input

Louiyen

Watch this on Youtube. Eat, Fast, and Live Longer. It's a documentary that is n hour long separated by 4 videos. Maybe that'll help. This is what I'm currently doing but modified to my style. GL and let me know what you think.

In addition, I've been doing this for 3 weeks now and see more results than i ever saw.

darrcn5

You have to figure out what works for YOU! For me, it is lower carb eating, a splurge day, and eating around my BMR or very slightly above. I am losing between 1-1.5 pounds a week, so I am happy.

ExplorinLauren

Why not just fill out your profile correctly, log everything honestly, follow the MFP numbers, and stop worrying about all that other stuff?

Seems to work for me :happy:

lol... I do all of this
My daily allowance tends to fluctuate based on my settings... which I keep going between sedentary, lightly active and active... mostly because I don't know which one to put, so I follow others advice. lol
I have a fitbit and HRM.... I know I burn between 2600-3100 a day... depending on my activity level... so, on my own figured, if I eat around 1500, I should still have a 1000 cal deficit... and it should work? Right? Who knows. MFP still has me at about 1250 a day... so idk.

lehmann75

Paleo is the new gluten-free, which was the new vegan, which was the new vegetarian and so on and so on. Screw that noise. A healthy diet is not a fad that goes in and out of style.

1200 calories isn't outdated - it's a baseline. The quality of those calories is what matters. My best advice is to eat the calories MFP tells you to eat, do it with whatever whole, unprocessed foods you like to keep it nutrient rich (fresh produce, lean meats, preservative and you'll probably get pretty close to the recommended breakdown.

Edited because I should also mention:

Like I said, 1200 is a baseline, and adding your daily activity will add to your calorie allowance. After my workouts, I usually end up somewhere around 1400-1500.

Also, I threw the "unprocessed" caveat in there because preserved food tends to be higher in sodium, which promotes water retention. Besides, fresh corn is soooo much tastier than canned or frozen. But I do "cheat" with stuff like instant oatmeal and 100 calorie Oreo cookie snack packs every so often. Sometimes a girl just needs a cookie. Anyway, the point is that I'm not following any crazy trendy diets and sometimes even break my own rules, sticking to the calories and generally not worrying too much about anything beyond that and it's working out just fine.

shellygw

I'm new to this too and in the past let the frustration of too much information and too much contradiction derail my attempts to lose weight (among other things). I saw this site and felt it was an opportunity to see just what I do. I am focusing on calories right now, taking really good notes about my days--feelings, stress, etc. and monitoring my other nutrition. My ultimate goal is to lose weight but building a healthier diet in the process. For instance, I have low energy level and my diary has shown in the last 10 days I have only hit my iron goals once. Since anemia runs in my family and can affect energy, I am going to try to adjust my diet to include more iron and see what happens. I read all the advice but no longer let myself see it as the end-all be-all to my weight loss plan.

josyjozy

Here is what is working for me. Not advice, might just be anecdotal but I have to chip in. I find out what my BMR is when set to sedative life style - and I have a lightly active lifestyle. I try to eat under my sedentary bmr by a few hundred , but I don't sweat if I go over a little. Currently my sedentary BMR is 1,653 calories/day, so I have myself set at 1500. Some days I come in as low as 1300 and some days I'm at 1600, but I shoot for 1500.

At first the pounds just melted away - now I'm still losing but at a slower rate. I feel better, have a ton more energy and have changed the way I eat. This is something I could maintain for a lifetime. Even though I'd love to have that weight start melting again, it's still coming off and I am not usually hungry. I have lost every week, though sometimes it's not much, it's still lost.

splashangel

I am not very bright and so I get confused easily which is why I just eat if I feel hungry and workout as much as possible. I try to eat clean per MY DEFINITION. I try to keep my tushy moving. I try to keep my calories near what MFP recommended but don't cry if I go over or under since it usually balances out.

I haven't weighed myself in 1.5 months but my pants are feeling loose. I am happy
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Your profile pic always caught my attention but nice to see the real you!

OP, There is a lot of info out there. Study and weed through it. I know how you feel.

imchicbad

Look, I had the same fears, but if you listen and pay attention to what people are saying, especially the ones who are having results in a realistic life changing manner not a fad diet way, you would learn some things, HOWEVER, what works for one does not work for all, BUT if a majority rules, I am willing to try it. I was doing 1200 calories too, then I read about the TEDEE and did the calculations and eneded up with the 1500 calorie number. I was afraid and gave my self a week or two, and I noticed my hair stopped falling out (at 1200 my hair was all over the house), I felt less stressed about food choices, and had alot more energy, and I didnt gain any weight, and if i eat under 1500 I dont feel so bad. believe me sometimes i eat so much stuff that im not hungry after 1350. So i noticed with my new found freedom I also worked out one more day and didnt concentrate so much on the numbers on the scale. I didnt lose weight for 3 weeks, but my clothes fell off, and I had to buy clothes in just 1 month because the inches melted off. And thats what worked for me. oh and by the way, I have a free day once a week (every saturday) i dont count calories at all, but i dont way over do it, and i dont gain. Thats all I know. You will figure it out, dont worry:bigsmile:

clobercow

I was once in a position that was similar to OP. I was getting confused by all of the conflicting advice so. So I said **** the advice and decided to educate myself on how the body works and how food changes it.

Now I KNOW what I need to do rather than someone else telling me. It turns out, most of the advice I was given was wrong or *kitten*-backwards. I don't think it was purposeful, and the advice had good intentions.

Most people have the best intentions when giving advice, however good they are, intentions can lead to a bad experience when the advice given is bad.

Educating yourself is the the best advice I can give.