Hello All Started last week ... need some advice.

RichDalrymple

Hello all,

I started on here last week. What a great website wish i found it sooner.

Any who im a 236lbs M 6"2 and it says I the maximum amount of calories I consume daily should be 2,231. I consumed 1,353. Does that make sense. I had a decent breakfast., Salad for lunch and a decent dinner. I thought it would be much more. This almost seemed kinda an easy day. I also exersized for 60 minutes today two 30 minute walks through out the day. Am I missing somthing here. Granted this is a drastic change from the way Im used to eating but im willing to change just dont know if im readying this right.

kelliebel78

Hey Rich- Is the 2200 before or after you've logged your exerise? I find that the amount of calories burned through exercise to be really high (as much as I would love to think I'm buring 1000 calories in my kickboxing class).

mhk0719

Welcome!

RichDalrymple

This was at the end of the day after I logged everything. Exercise and Food

rosebarnalice

Given your gender, height, and weight, I don't find a 2,000+ calorie goal to be unreasonable. But it's also not unreasonable to be satisfied after eating 1300 or so.

Your goal calories are also affected by the goas you set. So ifyour goal is 1 lb a week, your calories per day will be higher than if you set it at 2 lbs a week.

RllyGudTweetr

Welcome, Rich! Good news, it sounds like you can eat more and still meet your goals if you're willing to maintain that level of activity. MFP is set up on the premise that you can eat back your exercise calories.

RichDalrymple

Thanks everyone I think i just had a dumb moment and did not understand it. But yet again ive never dieted in my life lol..

Gworkmanii

When you log your exercise, you should watch how many calories it says you burned. I have found that what MFP says vs what the treadmill says are a big difference. I go by what the screen says and enter that into MFP, rather than just taking what MFP says. There is a few monitors you can use to help you keep track of your heart rate and what you burn. I've seen a few people here post about them. I'm just don't have the knowledge about them.

Good luck with your goals.

Gary

kcpond

I know what that feels like. I am 5'11" and 212 lbs. According to MFP I should eat about 1850 calories while doing nothing. I keep a fitbit (electronic pedometer) and between that and the exercise I do it can add almost 1000 calories that I can eat. I usually find it difficult to eat more then 2300 calories, unless I each junk food which I am trying to avoid. I usually try to eat 2100-2200 calories a day, as it allows me to eat a bit extra and still lose some weight.

RichDalrymple

So i'm thinking if i just eat healthy and different than i used to and exersize a decent amount i should be ok

CJDaniel7

I am relatively new here, so take that into account. But someone who has been all over the place with my weight and diets. I generally eat under what MFP says also, but don't alter your diet so much that you feel like you are missing out on life.

This time around, my focus is to "get healthy" instead of trying to "lose weight". I am trying to mold my meals around a healthier lifestyle rather than to eat foods to lose weight. Salads won't last long for me, unless they have some meat (chicken) and other healthy goodies. But there are plenty of healthy foods out there that are not salads.

When I am out with my friends, I don't pick the restaurant often, but I do pick what i choose. There are often times that there is no good choice, so I choose what I want, make sure sauces are on the side, and maybe eat half and take half home.

In the past when I drastically change the way I eat, I usually feel cheated and fail. So, in my opinion, take it easy, slowly change the foods you chose to eat and most certainly portion sizes. Exercise, Eat healthy-slowly, Enjoy life.

emma155

Hello all,

I started on here last week. What a great website wish i found it sooner.

Any who im a 236lbs M 6"2 and it says I the maximum amount of calories I consume daily should be 2,231. I consumed 1,353. Does that make sense. I had a decent breakfast., Salad for lunch and a decent dinner. I thought it would be much more. This almost seemed kinda an easy day. I also exersized for 60 minutes today two 30 minute walks through out the day. Am I missing somthing here. Granted this is a drastic change from the way Im used to eating but im willing to change just dont know if im readying this right.

it will seem easy if you only have good foods, it just get hard when so have the odd bad food, eg pizza, chocolate. keep going tand you will work out this one for yourself let today be a low day and then eat a bit more tomorrow as you might feel hungy.
Fell free to add me if u want

Jim_1960

^^^^ I agree with what Emma said.

Try not to beat yourself up if 1 day is higher than you expect, or indeed lower than you expect.
I did!!!!
Confirm your goals as well. I used www.fat2fitradio.com's military calculator and then moved to calories per day.
Slightly different results from MFP but not far out.

What I then found was if you average calories over a week it works out and you will see results.
Be aware, results are not always on those lying *kitten* scales.

Take measurements as well and you will see change probably weekly!!!

Good luck man.

nczuczu

First of all WELCOME! Glad you found us here at MFP!

There are many great tools. One is called "Instead of a Roadmap" and can be credited to IAMDAN. Just do a search and it will come up. There is a lot of math and the post is quite long, but for many this makes sense to them. I have also used a calorie deficit calculator (http://www.fitwatch.com/qkcalc/caloriedeficitcalculator.php). You just plug in your gender, weight, height, age and activity level and it will give you the calories you need to sustain life and then various deficits to lose weight. According to the calculator, for the information you provided:

Daily calorie needs - 2673
15% deficit - 2272
20% deficit - 2138
25% deficit - 2005
30% deficit - 1871

I would suggest you start somewhere in the range above and you will lose weight. Give it a try!