Plateua/too few calories?

juliemouse83

Thanks everyone, i really appreciate it! My BMR is 1326 and then i used 1.5 factor for moderate exercise resulting in 2055/day. 2055-1000 (lose 2 lbs / week) would be 1055.... is that simply too fast? That's what i was doing. And my fitness pal auto sets at 1200. If i targeted -500/day that would be 1550 calories. Should i go from 1100 to 1500? or too much? I am losing inches by walking at 13% inciine also, so that feels good. I've never been able to figure the science to get the right # of calories when i'm used to running nearly every single day. I've tried running 3x/week but then i feel sluggish and stiff on the days i don't run.

As for not paying attention to the settings-I have done that for years past and DONT LOSE the weight!!! HELP. The only system that's worked is WW, the points seem a better indicator than calories ? . I am eating a good balance of foods and nearly eliminating anything processed. No soda either.. and watching salt. This time I am using MFP and WW simultaneously which is really time consuming.

I think 1500 would be better than 1055...My TDEE is just over 2300. My BMR is 1499. On days I do really light or no workouts, I eat about 1600. With a 20% reduction from my TDEE, based on the 4-5 days a week I'm doing more (lifting, jogging, cardio) I'll eat 1800. It's working for me. I did the numbers here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

I learned the hard way (from the last two time I looked at this weight situation as a "diet" that eating less than my BMR is just going to making me ill as a hornet. I don't know if this will help you, but I thought it would throw it out there. :flowerforyou:

onyxgirl17

Thanks everyone, i really appreciate it! My BMR is 1326 and then i used 1.5 factor for moderate exercise resulting in 2055/day. 2055-1000 (lose 2 lbs / week) would be 1055.... is that simply too fast? That's what i was doing. And my fitness pal auto sets at 1200. If i targeted -500/day that would be 1550 calories. Should i go from 1100 to 1500? or too much? I am losing inches by walking at 13% inciine also, so that feels good. I've never been able to figure the science to get the right # of calories when i'm used to running nearly every single day. I've tried running 3x/week but then i feel sluggish and stiff on the days i don't run.

As for not paying attention to the settings-I have done that for years past and DONT LOSE the weight!!! HELP. The only system that's worked is WW, the points seem a better indicator than calories ? . I am eating a good balance of foods and nearly eliminating anything processed. No soda either.. and watching salt. This time I am using MFP and WW simultaneously which is really time consuming.

Do not eat less than 1200 calories average per day. 2 pounds per week loss is way too much for your height and weight. You only have 10 pounds you'd like to lose. Aim for 1 lb per week loss. I'd say eat 1400-1500 calories a day for the next month and see what happens. It's not a race! Give your body time

If you are trying to lose only 10 more lbs then you'll want to set yourself to 1/2 lb a week to lose so that you can set your body up for better maintenance to stay at the same ideal weight once you hit it.

yea but the 2055 estimate might actually be a bit high for her TDEE

savithny

I asked a nursing student recently if starvation mode is a myth or not as argued about so much on this website. She busted out laughing and asked if people were seriously arguing over that. She finally answered me after she stopped laughing and said no, it is not a myth. Eating too few calories can seriously hurt your metabolism. It puts you under some major stress and your body may end up breaking down body mass other than fat to get the missing nutrients needed to function. It will steal nutrients from your bones and muscles to power vital organs.

Yep. The people "Debunking" starvation mode set up a strawman by saying "oh, you won't go into starvation mode if you miss breakfast and anyway, people who don't eat any food all eventually starve to death so starvation mode can't possibly be real."

They're disproving starvation mode by claiming that its something that researchers have never said.

What research has found is that creating too big a caloric deficit can cause major drops in your basal metabolic rate. The experiment that named it found drops of up to 40%, while experiments with smaller deficits find smaller numbers (ive seen 10-25%, variously. The latest study, based on Biggest Loser contestants, didn't have percent decrease but said that near the end of data keeping, contestants were burning more than 500 calores a day LESS than would be accounted for by loss alone.

Using 20% slowdown: That means someone with a BMR of 1400 would burn something like 280 fewer calories a day. Women, who have lower BMRs, can pretty quickly set up a situation where the numbers suggest even their very low calorie diets are no longer creating a deficit, simply because the slowdown can offset the on-paper deficit. So women find themselves depriving themselves of nutrients .... and not losing.

Yeah, some of those people might be cheating or mismeasuring or whatever. But why not feel more satisfied, eat closer to what you burn minus a reasonable deficit, and create a more sustainable process?

mrsgates21

This post scares me because I fear that this could be a negative result of tracking using myfitnesspal. Beyond the fear of plateauing or yo-yoing with weight, it is so damaging to a persons body to eat too few calories. There are individuals who can become so obsessed with this site and its functions that it becomes a primary focus of their day. EAT FOOD. Humans eat food. Eat your allotted calories and don't be afraid. If your body averages about 1900 calories a day to maintain, that means that even when eating a 1300 calorie minimum a day you are already having a 600 calorie deficit. Multiply that by 7 days and you are looking at 4,200 calorie deficit. +/- 3,500 calories is a pound gained or lost. If you are adding in exercise, you are burning even more than that.

Most research shows that 1 pound a week is the recommended rate of losing weight. Of course, right out of the gate you will lose more if you are transforming your diet and adding exercise, but it will slow down. If it is coming off slow and you are feeling better don't be concerned. Your body is taking its time and adapting to your new lifestyle. Chances are, when you lose slow it will stay off. Which, that's the goal of everyone's weight loss right? Weight loss isn't fun, but we do it to ourselves. If I take the calories in the wrong way, I know I must take them off the RIGHT way.

Weightloss can turn into an eating disorder in a hurry if you aren't careful. Be good to your body, friends! That's the real purpose of MFP anyways, correct?