We are pleased to announce that on March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor will be introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the upcoming changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Input please :)

Amy62575
Amy62575 Posts: 422 Member
edited January 12 in Social Groups
Hey guys,

My current height 5'2", weight 152 lbs, and body fat using the fat2fitradio calculator says 36% yikes. I am 37 years young.

This is my second attempt at losing weight with mfp. In 2011, I ate 1200 cals/day a worked out (30 mins of cardio and lifting 5-6 x week) for 5 mnths. I only lost 8lbs and went down 1 clothing size (10-8) in those 5 months. I realized on this attempt (end of Dec 2012) that I was stupid and should have listened to wise people on here and eat my exercise calories back.

In Jan 2012 I began working out 4-5 x week 20-30 min cardio with lifting (not heavy) and then changed to Insanity 3 weeks ago. I am still occasionally doing cardio maybe 1 x week in addition to the Insanity and stopped lifting. MFP set my calories to 1330 for a 1 lb loss per week and I've been eating that plus exercise cals back daily. Macros were set to the default 40/30/30. I measure my food but no scale. I track everything excep a couple days when I was sick and barely ate. I do not take cheat days or days off. I lost 2lbs the first 2 week% s and 1lb the next week for a total of 7lbs. This past week I lost nothing. My diary is set to lightly active and nothing has changed except I went from cardio (usually walking on treadmill, zumba, or elliptical) and lifting to just doing insanity.

I just changed my diary today to 1500, (previously 1330) so it may look "off" when you view prior days. I was a bit confused about whether I should increase cals but reading some of your posts/links it looks like if my BMR is 1300 I should be eating more like 1500...hence the change today.

My questions are: Am I on the right track? What am I missing, if anything?

Replies

  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Have you tried setting your targets based on the information here?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • Amy62575
    Amy62575 Posts: 422 Member
    I read this link this morning and just changed it today. I was 40/30/30 by default and changed to 40%carbs/35%Protein/25%Fat. based on the calculations indicated. Do you think that may help?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Help with what? Sorry, just trying to clarify.
  • Amy62575
    Amy62575 Posts: 422 Member
    Help with my ignorance LOL. Ummm I guess help make sure I'm not way off track. Sorry.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Help with my ignorance LOL. Ummm I guess help make sure I'm not way off track. Sorry.

    No worries. I will see if your numbers make sense and get back to you shortly.

    Macros in themselves do not help you lose weight per se, a caloric deficit does that. They do help with maintaining LBM (protein), assuming you are also strength training, keeping your body healthy (fats) and giving you energy (carbs).
  • Amy62575
    Amy62575 Posts: 422 Member
    Thanks :smile:
  • Amy62575
    Amy62575 Posts: 422 Member
    Just bumping so I can find your answer later :smile:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    So, your settings look reasonable. A couple of suggestions/questions though:

    - Invest in a digital scale – measuring dry foods can be really off – see this video for a bit of an eye opener. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY

    - Why did you up your calories to 1,500 and where did you get this number from? Not saying it’s wrong, just that it is higher than the MFP setting – and as you used lightly active, you did not make the usual mistake of assuming sedentary which is good, the increase does not seem necessary. I recalc'd your numbers using an online calculator, without exercise, and they are coming in, in line with MFP.

    - Eat about 75 % of your exercise calories back if you are going with MFPs settings

    - Set your macros at:
    - Protein: 106g
    - Fats: 53g
    The balance can be wherever but treat the protein and fats as a minimum.
This discussion has been closed.