Registered Dietitian in TX here to answer questions.

AbsoluteNG

Seriously the only people that believe it's not ok to eat under your BMR are people on this site. I have been to 2 dietician and neither had a problem with it.

I think it's because most people's educational level are that of what they find off of MFP, the 1200 calorie mark when you sign up, and some are under the impression that MFP has staff with some type of formal education on nutrition. MFP was created by a software developer and I'm sure the 1200 mark is just to protect him against any liability.

Edit: Anyway. Cool thread and thanks tony.

I do know a nutritionist who recommended a woman eat MORE and then workout MORE in order to lose and it worked. I am not saying what is right, if I knew, I wouldn't be overweight, but it is confusing.

Yes, there has been a lot of success stories with people who "eat more" on MFP. I believe it has more to do with their energy levels as not eating enough can cause fatigue, leading that person to unknowingly sit down or lay down more often and in turn burning less calories throughout the day. Eating the right foods and the right amount can make you workout even harder. Have you ever tried eating a big mac before going to the gym? From my experience, it made me feel sluggish during my workout routines.

Edit: I should also note that you did say that the person "worked out more" which is what I am trying to get at. If you don't have enough energy to workout then it's probably related to not eating enough.


.

pragya728

Hi,

I have a 10 month old daughter and I am currently breastfeeding her. How do I figure out how many calories to eat? I am 5'5" and 176lbs. I have currently set myself for 1400 calories. I jog with my baby for an hour (I am slow. I do about 4.5 to 4.8 miles), while pushing her in her stroller about 4-5 times a week. I am losing about a 1lb a week but I just want to make sure my milk supply does not go down but I would still like to lose weight.

Thanks!

CristinaL1983

Hi,

I have a 10 month old daughter and I am currently breastfeeding her. How do I figure out how many calories to eat? I am 5'5" and 176lbs. I have currently set myself for 1400 calories. I jog with my baby for an hour (I am slow. I do about 4.5 to 4.8 miles), while pushing her in her stroller about 4-5 times a week. I am losing about a 1lb a week but I just want to make sure my milk supply does not go down but I would still like to lose weight.

Thanks!

I'm not the expert and you weren't asking me but I thought I'd share my experience. Feel free to use or dismiss as you see fit.

When I lost the first chunk of weight shortly after my daughter was born, I was eating around 1200 calories per day (I only occasionally tracked calories just to check so I cannot guarantee that number it might have been up to 1400 sometimes or lower than 1200 others). I lost 50 lbs in 6 months. I never had supply issues. I pumped while I was at work and actually over produced so much I had to buy a storage freezer and then when the storage freezer got full I had to donate an entire freezer full of milk to the milk bank.

Before I started losing weight, I consulted with a lactation consultant, my OB and my daughter's pediatrician. They all said the same thing. As long as your body has stored fuel, you will produce milk. They were right. I breastfed for 22 months and only quit because we both got tired of it.

Thepinkdaisy

Edit: I should also note that you did say that the person "worked out more" which is what I am trying to get at. If you don't have enough energy to workout then it's probably related to not eating enough.


.

Very good point. That makes sense.

pragya728

Hi,

I have a 10 month old daughter and I am currently breastfeeding her. How do I figure out how many calories to eat? I am 5'5" and 176lbs. I have currently set myself for 1400 calories. I jog with my baby for an hour (I am slow. I do about 4.5 to 4.8 miles), while pushing her in her stroller about 4-5 times a week. I am losing about a 1lb a week but I just want to make sure my milk supply does not go down but I would still like to lose weight.

Thanks!

I'm not the expert and you weren't asking me but I thought I'd share my experience. Feel free to use or dismiss as you see fit.

When I lost the first chunk of weight shortly after my daughter was born, I was eating around 1200 calories per day (I only occasionally tracked calories just to check so I cannot guarantee that number it might have been up to 1400 sometimes or lower than 1200 others). I lost 50 lbs in 6 months. I never had supply issues. I pumped while I was at work and actually over produced so much I had to buy a storage freezer and then when the storage freezer got full I had to donate an entire freezer full of milk to the milk bank.

Before I started losing weight, I consulted with a lactation consultant, my OB and my daughter's pediatrician. They all said the same thing. As long as your body has stored fuel, you will produce milk. They were right. I breastfed for 22 months and only quit because we both got tired of it.

That makes sense. I just worry, I guess, because neither her, nor me are ready for weaning yet. Thanks for your help :-)

bunbunzee44

Hi, I'm 26-years old, 5'3'' and about 115lbs. My body fat is 34%. My work is sedentary.

My goal is to gain more muscle and reduce the body fat. Currently I'm going to the gym 2-3 times a week, and trying to do cardio once or twice a week, not too keen on it though.. I've set my goal calories to 1550 to maintain this weight somewhat, but since I don't log every thing (spices, cooking oil, coffee) I'm sure it's actually more than that.

Do you think this is a good way for me to achieve my goal?

trudijoy

Sorry if this has already been asked, but I assume it's okay to go over in fats a little if they are healthy fats like avocado and nuts, as long as you stay within your calories. IS this correct?

Also, i know fish is good for you but I'm allergic to it. How can I get the good stuff from fish without eating fish product? I can't take fish oil capsules because I'm pretty sure it's the actual oil I'm allergic to.

JAT74

I am looking for a little advice:

I'm a 38 year old female, 5 foot 4 with approx 31% body fat and I currently weigh 144 lbs. I am looking to drop to around 22% body fat and I'd even be happy with 25% but it seems like an impossibility right now.

I've been logging calories on MFP since 2nd January and in that time have lost 4 lbs and gained back 1lb. My body fat may have been 32% so I might have dropped 1% in that time but I've been working out for 6 days a week burning off 3000-3800 calories per week through HIIT training and using light weights, although I switched to lifting heavy about 2 weeks ago and plan on doing Insanity plus heavy lifting 2-3 days a week (I may skip the Insanity workouts on weights days).

I've tried various methods of eating but I've generally been working to TDEE -20% based on an active TDEE of 2250. I also tried using a sedentary TDEE -20% which came out to 1350 and then I was eating back exercise calories but that way I think I was quite often eating at or above maintenance.

I generally try and eat below 100g of carbs and above 100g of protein but don't really moderate the types of foods I'm eating. I'm not losing scale weight or inches now (although overall I've probably lost 2 inches in 11 weeks) so I'm obviously not doing something right.

I am now going to try TDEE -25% to see if this helps and have also thought about switching to clean eating with the same calorie intake but was trying to avoid doing this as I don't really like eating fish, plain chicken etc. I really like sauces, bacon, hame and red meats and I always drain the fat but don't know if this is where my problem lies?

What's the best way to drop the body fat and what do you think I should change? My new TDEE -25% is 1650 calories so I plan on eating 1450 daily during the week and more at weekends.

Obviously I know that TDEE and BMR figures aren't always 100% accurate but does this sound right to you to start seeing changes or am I going to have to eat different foods too and lower my calories further.

cryswest57

I'm 5' 1". I weigh 149 lbs. right now. I have a large bone structure (or endomorph) I had a c-section five months ago, but I have been cleared to exercise. I'm almost back to my pre-pregnancy body. I still have some "pooch" near the center of my stomach still. I have worked hard to get this far because I had bad ab separation, but I closed the gap. I'm trying to eat more clean. I have been eating anywhere from 1250-1450 calories (trying to stay within macros too). Right now, I have them set to 25%/55%/20% (carbs/protein/fat). Do you have any recommendations for my macros and how to lose belly fat (I know it can't be spot reduced)?

Koldnomore

Oh god not this guy again.. *smh*

daphne_m

Oh god not this guy again.. *smh*

Why? I imagine a lot of people here can't afford the services of a dietitian. I've found mine to be invaluable, so I'm glad to know that others are being given the opportunity to ask questions of someone with qualifications and experience in the field.

Great thread, OP. I know your reason for engaging with users here is not entirely altruistic, but that doesn't make the advice you give any less helpful.

terlyn20

thank you. your responses have been very straight forward and helpful to me also.

FoodandFitness

I agree with everything said so far except the part about Tosca Reno, but as you said, "you're not here to argue". Neither am I.

None the less, I thank you for your help.

One question. I do not understand how to calculate protein percentages. My weight is 165, I am 41 yrs and my goals weight is 117. Can you explain this? If it's been explained and I missed it, just tell me to "reread" and I will.

Use a % that gives you 1g protein per pound of lean mass up to 1g per lb of body weight.

FoodandFitness

What ratios should I be aiming for? I am doing 55 carbs, 15 protein (but I eat more like 20% protein, 50% carbs) and 30% fat.

Thanks for the super quick reply

First of all, it depends on your goals. If your is weight loss, generally more protein will help you feel satiated and preserve your muscle. For this I normally go with 35% protein and carbs and 30% fat- those number usually add up nicely.

FoodandFitness

Will fasting hurt me, such as stopping eating at 6pm and then starting again about 11am? Something of that nature. It helps me create a deficit comfortably. When I eat six mini meals I stay hungry and I gain weight. I have tried and tried. Not eating makes me feel more energetic. When i eat just one large meal or two larger meals vs the mini meals I feel better.

Also is it safe for me to cut to about 600 calories three days a week and then eat normal the rest of the week in order to create a deficit? On my three days, I would eat only veggies, lean meat and two fruits to create a carb deficit as well.

1. Fasting in that nature will not hurt you. There is plenty of research to support that your preference of meal frequency will work just fine for you. You don't need to eat 6 small meals a day to "stoke the metabolic fire" this is a myth and has not been proven.

2. Normally, I recommend a medium daily deficit and not to calorie cycle, but this is entirely up to you and your preferences. The only reasons I don't recommend cycling is because it tends to be a little more micromanagement for my clients. It really boils down to preference.

NYCNika

Hi Tony,

does carbonation in seltzer have any negative effect on my body?

FoodandFitness

Hi,

I have a 10 month old daughter and I am currently breastfeeding her. How do I figure out how many calories to eat? I am 5'5" and 176lbs. I have currently set myself for 1400 calories. I jog with my baby for an hour (I am slow. I do about 4.5 to 4.8 miles), while pushing her in her stroller about 4-5 times a week. I am losing about a 1lb a week but I just want to make sure my milk supply does not go down but I would still like to lose weight.

Thanks!

Generally, breast feeding will allow for an extra 250-500 calories in your diet (I know this is a large range, but it varies from person to person)

Losing 1 pound per week is a healthy weight loss. I'm not concerned with this rate being too aggressive.

Make changes according to how your body changes. If you stop producing as much milk, try bumping up your calories by about 10%. Most importantly, your physician should be networked with a lactation consultant nurse, you can also find a lactation consultant nurse at your local WIC center. Breast feeding is not my specialty, but there's some general advice for you.

FoodandFitness

Hi Tony,

does carbonation in seltzer have any negative effect on my body?

Nope. It all depends on your personal preference and tolerance.

hannah723

Hi Tony, I don't know if you would have any info on this as an RD, but I've always loved healthy foods and working out and was in really great shape until some bad eating habits caught up with me in college. My issues with food are completely mental I'll admit - if I'm stressed, lonely, overwhelmed I will eat and eat (even healthy foods) to the point where I feel sick. Then I feel so embarrassed and disgusted with myself that the cycle tends to repeat more and more often. I'm in grad school so my trigger emotions happen a lot (stress etc). I've gained close to 10 lbs this school year. Do you happen to have any tips to deal with emotional eating?

FoodandFitness

Hi, I'm 26-years old, 5'3'' and about 115lbs. My body fat is 34%. My work is sedentary.

My goal is to gain more muscle and reduce the body fat. Currently I'm going to the gym 2-3 times a week, and trying to do cardio once or twice a week, not too keen on it though.. I've set my goal calories to 1550 to maintain this weight somewhat, but since I don't log every thing (spices, cooking oil, coffee) I'm sure it's actually more than that.

Do you think this is a good way for me to achieve my goal?

I would certainly measure your oil. Base your methods off your results. If you're losing 1 pound per week or so with your current strategy, great! If not, reduce your caloric intake about 10% and go from there. Try to make it in the gym at least 3 times per week, lifting heavy, if you want to preserve that muscle.