Having a hard time reaching my calorie goal?

Helloitsdan

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.

Most of your top fitness coaches go off TDEE.

Voca_Star

I've tried eating itty bitty amounts and it doesn't work for me! Great if it does for others, but it does NOT do for me. I've never lost weight under 1400 calories.

simplynaturalfarm

I wish I had a hard time reaching that goal I do not indulge in sugar or flour or most grain products (now and then a soaked baked oatmeal yum). We raise all our own lovely meats and have a huge garden so we eat fruits, veggies, meats, cheese (we have a milk cow), and such. I can get to 2200 rather easily but that includes 4tbsp of coconut oil per day. And we cook in real butter, have cottage cheese, fresh mozza - lots of healthy dairy around.
My breakfast would be a raw dairy shake with milk, coconut oil, yogurt, blueberries and strawberries. or fresh peaches, cranberries etc. DH sometimes throws in a raw egg I don't usually. THat gets me to 400.
My lunch is 2 eggs, a big pile of veggies (usually sauteed spinach and or zucchini with garlic or a stir fry) avocado if I'm in a splurge mood, and maybe one slice of our own home cured side pork or homemade healthy sausage. It usually gets me to 600.
Supper is often a steak or bunless burger (grassfed and delicious) with a couple slices of delicious tomato, a big salad with sweet carrots, lettuce, maybe some cooked beets (if I have extra calories that is), a pickle or two, saurkraut or some homegrown chicken on a salad with a balsamic or coconut vinegar dressing, or zucchini soup or with a Greek salad etc. I go salad if I need to cut back on calories, sauteed veggies and bunless burger with melted cheese, tomato and lettuce if I have extra calories.
My husband has blood pressure problems and gains weight if he does not eat this way. I have switched because I feel better when I do and because I raise it all and feel confident in it's source and the health.
I'm a huge eat "healthy fats" kind of gal also and that puts the calories up there but in a good way.
I stick to 2200 but the coconut oil takes 4 tbsp right there.
What are you eating?

Voca_Star

I'm sorry, this may seem like a weird question, but....is that picture on your weight loss ticker a Cloud Strife cosplay?? :O

mgobluetx12

If you want to eat low carb, then go into My Home, Goals and set your goals up differently. I think MFP has everyone set up to eat something like 50% carbs, but you need to change that to much lower, depending on what you want to eat.

Maybe buy some low sugar, natural peanut butter instead of Skippy.

Treats are fine, but really not every day if you're already over on fat and sugar.

Voca_Star

Look at my diary, lol. I'm trying to eat less sugar and more fruits/vegetables right now though.

Voca_Star

I usually don't eat them every day.
I'll try to fix my carbs, lol. Thanks. *sigh*

Louiyen

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.

you're body goes into starvation mode between 48-72 hours.

angelalf1979

Didn't he (helloitsdan) suggest working out only 3 days a week and 10-20% of your calories be "junk"?

Voca_Star

Yes, I know. But if I eat that much for a week, I start to GAIN weight and fat. I can't lose weight eating that little.

Voca_Star

I can't workout that little. I don't feel right if I exercise less than 6 days a week.

merimeaux

I'm sorry, this may seem like a weird question, but....is that picture on your weight loss ticker a Cloud Strife cosplay?? :O

haha, that's what I was wondering, Miss Vocaloid

Voca_Star

It sure looks like it! xD

simplynaturalfarm

I should have mentioned that I work on a farm with very active lifestyle and am nursing a baby - if I eat 2200 normally I would gain a LOT of weight. Have you tried doing more like 1800? Also, if I eat lots of sugar. . even if I'm eating the same amount calorie wise I gain weight, feel like crap and it doesn't look so good. I would disagree with somebody saying you need 2200 and you filling that with lots of sugary snacks that get you there. I can get there with avacado, dairy etc.

Voca_Star

I just don't know what the heck to do anymore. Besides lame fad diets, I've tried everything. BESIDES eating above1700 calories.

Voca_Star

I'm pretty active, too. Exercising, playing WII, walking around in my backyard, doing an hour or so of cleaning every day.

Helloitsdan

I'm sorry, this may seem like a weird question, but....is that picture on your weight loss ticker a Cloud Strife cosplay?? :O

Yes.

As for weight loss heres the deal.

You are set to 2k for a reason.
It covers your activity.
If you eat 1500 on rest days you wont be covering the nutrients you need while cutting.
Heres an explanation from another thread I used....

<snip>

he trouble with new ppl and mfp is simple.
They don't tread stickies.
They set themselves up for unrealistic goals.
They setup the program incorrectly.

Mfp and my method are very alike.
Both use a form a cyclical dieting so one would have to understand how this works.

My method has you eating below TDEE 20-30% to lose fat.
So a regular week with 3 days working out using my cals as an example...

Sun rest 2k
Monday lift 2k-300=1700
Tuesday rest 2k
Weds lift 2k-300=1700
Thursday rest 2k
Friday lift 2k-300=1700
Sat rest 2k

Mfp method of eating back cals.

Sunday rest 1700
Monday lift 1700+300=2k
Tuesday rest 1700
Weds lift 1700+300=2k
Thursday rest 1700
Friday lift 1700+ 300=2k
Saturday rest 1700

It's a difference of 300 cals between the 2 methods.


I'll lose just about the same amount.

My method takes the stress out of worrying about eating back cals.
The end result is the same.
<snip>

Soes this make sense?

And didnt we just set up your numbers?
If you are just getting started then ease into the calories.
Youll get used to the volume!

Voca_Star

So 2000 does sound about right then? My TDEE is about 2500 calories.....I exercise 5 days a week.

BeantownSooner

My gut feeling is that I think you may be eating too much. As I mentioned, I'm a 210 lb male and we eat the same amount of calories and we're burning the same amount as well (I am doing Insanity now). I've never had luck doing the TDEE method nor the MFP method of eating back all calories. I've only had luck when I eat back some of the exercise calories but my rule of thumbs is always....If I'm hungry eat, if not don't.

Here's what I would recommend that you do:

- Track the sodium vs. saturated fat. It's pretty hard to stay under the 2500 limit MFP uses as a default but do your best. The better you are the more results you will see if you can moderate your sodium intake. If not, drink tons of water (which you should be doing anyway).

- I would ignore the TDEE stuff for the time being and go back to the MFP method. However, in your goals change the activity level to Sedentary, goal to lose 1lb per week and save.

- I would then go back into your goals and change Macro nutrient levels to something more balanced. When you're trying to lose weight carbs can be a challenge for some people. I'm not saying go "no or low carb" but use something like 40% Carbs/40% Protein/20% Fat or 40%/30%/30%. It should eliminate those red negative numbers on your diary in most cases. You do this by going to your home screen, then Goals on the blue bar at the top. Do Custom and change the Macro %'s and Save Changes.

- Keep doing what you're doing food wise as it appears your making good choices

- I am guessing this will give you a 1200 calorie target. Continue with your exercise, log it and do one of two things. Bounce your calorie intake so that one day you eat the exercise and the next day you don't. Keep that within reason however and if you're hungry, eat. Or, and this is what I would do, eat back about half the calories on a daily basis.

- Lastly, to make ultra-sure that your numbers are very accurate are you using a heart rate monitor with chest strap to monitor your calorie burn? The MFP database can be off quite a bit so if you're not burning what you're entering you could be consuming more than you really need to be.


I hope that helps. Again, that's what works for me and we're all different. But you're searching to alternative so perhaps this approach might work out for you. Regardless, keep at it!

Helloitsdan

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

Most men on my numbers eat between 2k and 3600 and lose fat.
If that pic on your avatar is you then you would already know that.