Under calorie goal or meet it?

girlwithcurls2

I just joined MFP a little over a week ago. I have been exercising faithfully for over two years (a record for me), but weight has crept on due to portion size, snacks that I haven't realized throughout the day have added up tremendously, and alcohol. So, that said, I'm 45yo, female, 5'7", starting weight 180, hoping to drop 15-20 lbs. MFP said that given my exercise goal (45 min cardo, 5x/week), I need 1270 calories/day to lose 1.5 pounds/week. **Just based on that information**, do I want to meet that caloric goal every day? I have been under (as a result of just the thought of logging in those empty snack and alcohol calories-mercy!). But the more I read in the forums, being under your calorie goal isn't always wise. When I log out for the day, MFP says whether we were under or not, and I guess I took being under as a good thing. Now, I'm not so sure. I want this weight off fast, but I'm not willing to get into an unrealistic or unsustainable lifestyle to do it.

So what's the best thing? 1270 doesn't seem like much. On the days I exercise, I add in 300-400 more. Eat them back too?
Thanks for any advice,
~Curly

wibutterflymagic

I personally don't believe in the less is more theory. I've seen enough people lose big time eating more. I also don't believe it's healthy to consume less then 1200 calories. I eat back my calories. The goal is to be at your calorie goal after factoring in your exercise. MFP already has a deficit built into the calorie goal they give you so if you didn't want to you wouldn't have to work out and you'd still lose weight. By not eating back your exercise calories you are creating a larger deficit and many times an unhealthy deficit. So meet your goal. Unless you want to do this the fast, unhealthy way vs. the slower, healthy, sustainable way.

Tilran

First of all, Welcome to MFP....if you utilize it to its full capacity and are dedicated, you will succeed with your goal.


Next, to answer your question: You should try to get as close as possible to 0 on all numbers per day. (Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein)

That being said, MFP has its flaws.....for example it does not start you off with ideal percentage breakdown for carb/fat/protein for example, and it also gives you a very low calorie goal. I would recommend you strive for .5 or 1 pound a week loss to achieve weight loss that is more permanent and wont just jump back on you after you are done especially if you are only looking to lose 10-20 pounds.

For your age/height/weight and assuming you are working a desk job, you should be consuming around 1500 calories per day. I would also eat back exercise calories that you gain per day...so if you work out for 300 calories one day, eat 1800 that day...if you skip your workout, stick to 1500.

Under a general guideline when losing weight, is to eat around 0.8-1.0g of protein per LBM (Lean Body Mass) to maintain muscle mass.

Feel free to send a message and we can continue this conversation if you have more questions...but that should get you going on the right track.

concordancia

Calorie goal = target, your mission is to get as close as possible to the total number. That is, the original plus exercise, aka net.

Carb and sodium goals = maximum, your mission is to eat under this goal

Protein goal = minimum, your mission is to eat over this goal

Good luck!