Having a hard time reaching my calorie goal?

Voca_Star

After following advice from Helloitsdan and finding out my TDEE (which turned out to be about 2600 calories) I've decided to try eating about 2000 a day and exercise 5 days a week (and eat 1500 on the days I don't exercise). But it seems I'm having some issues filling in those calories completely. I can usually get to 1600, maybe 1800 if I really push it.

I've tried eating anywhere from 800 calories to 1700 for weeks at a time (as in, 800 for a few weeks, 1200 for a few weeks, etc etc) and I haven't had any luck so I'm going to try this 2000 calorie thing for a couple weeks, and see how it does and keep an eye on my inches, too.

Is it alright if once in a while I treat myself to a little treat to help reach my calories? I won't go over my calorie limit, and I'll keep it in moderation. I burned a lot of calories today with exercising for an hour, and walking for at LEAST 45 minutes. I plan on playing some WII to burn more calories, too.

Thanks.

Louiyen

i wish my calories intake can be that high. So what is your goal exactly besides reaching your caloric maintenance???

Voca_Star

My goal is to lose weight.

Mechelle1967

I have the same problem as well. I am shooting for 1500 per day and am having a hard time reaching this goal. I'm not hungry between meals and try to eat every 3-4 hours. I've come close a couple of times, but I'm usually 200-500 calories short or more. I'm eating healthier and trying to stay away from simple carbs

Louiyen

To be honest, I don't follow that TDEE thing. My TDEE is around the same as yours. I never heard of anyone taking their TDEE in consideration until i came upon MFP. Try ignoring TDEE and do what you're doing now. Follow your MFP calorie goal and leave it at that.

Louiyen

Intermittent fasting would be perfect for you! Have you ever heard of that?

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>for mechelle

Voca_Star

I've tried following my MFP goal before and it doesn't work. For a month I ate 1500 calories, and exercised 5 days a week and NOTHING happened.

Louiyen

I've tried following my MFP goal before and it doesn't work. For a month I ate 1500 calories, and exercised 5 days a week and NOTHING happened.

It won't hurt but you can also try intermittent fasting. It helped me lose 3 lbs in 3 weeks but i have been plateaued for a couple of week now b/c i've been out of town and consuming too much alcohol but i'm back in it again.

Voca_Star

Can't fast -- parents. Go figure. I don't know what to do anymore. I've been trying for so long and so hard. *sigh*
I'm just gonna stick with this 2000 calorie thing for now I guess. >__<

danne32339

I had gastric sleeve surgery in June and I am really having trouble meeting my calorie goal. There are several days that I get close but then I have some really busy days when I just don't get it all in.

Voca_Star

It's hard, isn't it? Still doesn't answer my question *Sigh*

mgobluetx12

How tall are you? 2000 calories seems very high. My TDEE is 3049 and I eat 1400-1600 calories a day and am losing 2lbs per week pretty consistently.

BeantownSooner

OP a couple of questions for you.

What are your current stats, height, weight, age, gender? I'm male and 210 and we're eating the same amount. I'm losing, you're not.

Also, one quick thing on the diary is there a reason why you're tracking saturated fat? I would suggest you change that to sodium just so you can see what that looks like as it can often be an issue when trying to lose weight (water retention).

Lastly, what are you Macro nutrient goals? It seems to bounce around a little and did you customize those when you set things up or did you just keep the MFP default settings?

SillyFitMe

2,000-2,600 calories? That's a lot for most women (even with heavy exercise). Stick with 1,200 a day and your light exercise (walking routine) and it will come off. If you give it more than a month you will start to see results. It takes many months... Hang in there!

Voca_Star

I'm 5'3". 140 pounds. I exercise 35 - 60 minutes a day PLUS other things like walking and chores and WII.

Voca_Star

I'm 18 years old, female, 5'3" and 140 pounds.

My macros are the same as MFP had it. I just track saturated fat for something else to track I guess.

mgobluetx12

I see in your diary that you pretty consistently go over on fat, protein and sugar. Fat and sugar are not things you want to be over your limits if you're trying to lose weight!

Maybe you need to recalculate your goals and set up something like 40% carbs, 30% fat and 30% protein so you're not always going over. If you have 300-500 calories left at the end of the day and have usually eaten over on fat and protein, something is wrong.

You should probably also cut down on the sweets. I saw you ate Twix for breakfast one day. There are so many better choices and losing weight is about exactly that.

Voca_Star

I eat 2000 a day. Not 2600. 1200 puts my body in starvation mode. I've tried it numerous times and it does NOT work for me.

Voca_Star

I didn't eat it ONLY for breakfast, I had a couple with. A little treat once in a while doesn't hurt.
I know i exceed on the fat thing a lot, and protein, but it's because of all the peanut butter I eat. I try to get a lot of protein and low carbs so peanut butter helps. I'm working on reducing my sugar, too. *sigh*

palmerig88

Everyone keeps trying to tell her not to eat and she is trying to eat! Yeah I think treats are great maybe you can just watch your fat and some other macro and see if the treat fits into your overall nutritional goals for the day

palmerig88

And twix. Yum