Need help with calorie goal!

laughing_fire

So I'm having this problem. When I first started recording my meals and snacks I found I was almost always over my calories, now I find that I'm almost consistently under my calories by almost 400 for the last while. I'm not super active (30 mins walking a day at most). I also find that I'm not super hungry either so I don't want to eat, therefore leaving me under my calories. How can I fix this? I don't have a whole lot in the house that has a lot of calories in it either.

duckfan06

Try eating a serving of nuts or peanut butter with an apple during the day. The fat, oil, calories in nuts are good for you and should provide you with a good amount of calories to help you get back to your daily goal.

lknorthstar

Try eating a serving of nuts or peanut butter with an apple during the day. The fat, oil, calories in nuts are good for you and should provide you with a good amount of calories to help you get back to your daily goal.

That is a very good idea. I also like to have some milk if I am low on calories too!

ron2282

I may get some flack for this but I'm going to post this anyway. I'm always 200 to 300 under my calorie goal, but I eat almost all day (3 meals and 3 snack) and will not force myself to eat when I'm not hungry. I listen more to my body than a number on the computer. I love this site and it's helped my lose 19.5 pounds so far, but you know your body better than a compter does. As long as you have energy and are satifsied, I don't see the problem.

MacMadame

To add to ron2282's post .. you have to go by what happens to your body. It's quite possible MFP is telling you to eat too many calories. The calorie goal is based on a formula that estimates your BMR based on a number of factors. Those factors are going to be spot on for some people but inaccurate for others.Plus, a lot of people over-estimate their activity level and so are being assigned too many calories that way.

Basically, if you are eating what you are eating and losing 1-2 lb. a week, then what you are eating is the right amount for you.

In my case, if I'd listened to MFP in the beginning, I'd have never lost weight. It was giving me way more calories than I needed because it was estimating my BMR to be much higher than it was.

But it also goes the other way. Now that I'm at goal and am very active, MFP is under-estimating my BMR. If I ate as little as it said to, I'd wither away. So I adjust my activity level to make it match the reality of my calorie requirements for maintenance.

geri1geraldinesuzanne

you know? the same thing is happening to me. this afternoon i had to more or less force myself to had something for my mid afternoon snack, weired!
:bigsmile:

laughing_fire

Thanks for the advice everyone!
Well I weighed myself yesterday and I found I gained three pounds in the week since I last weighed myself, so I'm kind of wondering what I did wrong. I'll try these suggestions, and see if it helps.