Am I Eating Too Few Calories?

FitBlackChick

Hello my fellow MFP app users! Okay this post is a tad long but I really need help please!
I'm 19, 5'5 and I weigh about 147 lbs. My goal weight is about 125-130 lbs. I joined MFP a few months and I lost about 5 pounds in the first 4 weeks. After that I started to gain back the weight, and now my journey is going really slowly. :frown: One thing I've noticed is that lately my appetite has really been increasing. I'm finding it harder and harder to satisfy my hunger. I'm doing pretty intense workouts like The 30 Day Shred, Turbo Jam and jogging so I'm thinking maybe I eat too few calories to sustain my energy. My calorie intake everyday is meant to be about 1300. Does this sound about right? When creating my MFP account, I placed myself in the "Sedentary" category because right now I'm out of school and so I pretty much stay home everyday. But I do workout everyday, twice a day on most days so should I place myself in a different activity level category? I am so eager to shed this weight, so all advice will be greatly appreciated!

lawtechie

Are you eating the calories back that you exercise? If not, start doing that -- at least the majority of them. MFP builds in the deficit, so that 1300 is to lose by altering your eating. Exercise gives you the benefit of getting to eat more and satisfying your hunger.

cjsacto

Yes, I agree. Eat back your exercise calories to give your body the fuel to build lovely fat-burning muscle.

There are tons of links, but here's one someone gave me recently that I think is the best explanation of how many calories a person needs (though I don't agree with this website about macro quantities, it's geared toward protein loading weight lifters). http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

[This is probably blasphemy on this site, but I think the above link is better than the Roadmap post.]

Remember, your body needs calories to breathe, walk around, digest food, think, grow hair, etc. so if you exercise you should eat a little more to leave enough for your body's functions.

Riemersma4

Hey FBC!

1,300 calories could be fine, but that is 'net after exercise', remember? So, iif you are working out hard AND cutting calories way back (as 1300 seems to be), your body may be protesting and going in to a conservation state.Your level of activity level of Sedentary is probably right. Same as mine (and hard to admit!).

If you are working out intensely twice a day, your gross calories taken in needs to be alot higher than 1,300.

Let's say you do 60 minutes of workout and burn 600 calories. To refuel and let your body recover, you need to replace those calories, meaning, you need to eat a total of 1,900 calories per day. Your TDEE of 1300 already has your calories scaled back for your weightloss goals.

Don't starve yourself. It is unsustainable, as you are finding out. You can do it but only for a short period but...

Good luck and repost with your future progress!

FitBlackChick

Thank you for the advice! I'm not exactly sure how many calories my workouts burn though... It looks like I'll have to invest in a HRM to find out. Your help is much appreciated

berthabunny

The eat more to weigh less group has lots of info on this. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

FitBlackChick

Thanks so much for the advice, I really appreciate it I'll definitely look into figuring out how much more I should be eating

cjsacto

Thank you for the advice! I'm not exactly sure how many calories my workouts burn though... It looks like I'll have to invest in a HRM to find out. Your help is much appreciated

Also, you don't have a lot to lose so it may go pretty slowly.

Most of us started out with a "sedentary" setting, but that's meant to be REALLY low activity - if you do housework, go shopping, do almost anything but stay in bed, you aren't sedentary. You are probably at least "lightly active" in reality - and now that you are doing those great workouts maybe even "moderately active."

If you can't get an HRM right now, enter "circuit training" or "calisthenics" in the MFP exercise calculator for things like the 30 Day Shred, and give yourself about 80% of the calories burned it calculates for you, just to be conservative. Many people say the calculator is too generous with calories burned; while I found that to be true for some things, I actually found I burned more for some exercises (including 30DS) when I finally got an HRM.

FitBlackChick

Thank you so much for the link, I'll definitely put it to use

FitBlackChick

Thank you so much, I've been afraid of eating back my calories because MFP may be overestimating how much I should be eating. But I'm going to be bold and start eating a little bit more

Hibaakh

I am eating too few calories so i want some one that tall me how much calories i need to eat and my goal calories 1.590 and it is frast time i use this myfpl so plcs any one help