I still don't understand...sorry. Need help "under calories"

coneyl83

Okay so i have searched the topics to see if i can figure out the info on ending the day with half my calories still in tact. I found alot of topics but i didnt see any that related to my situation. So if there is anyone that can break it down for me i would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Okay to begin i have a Very slow metabolism, and I need to lose about 100-150 lbs. MFP suggests that i need to eat 2,460 calories a day. my diet usually consists of 2 eggs oatmeal for breakfast, chicken salad for lunch, something hearty but healthy for dinner. and grapefruits with protien (turkey or chicken) as snacks in between. Somedays i may stray from the ordinary but i still end up with about 1100 calories left over. Then when i add my exercises, i burn about 946 calories. at the end of the day i end up with =Net 2100 calories! i work out 4-5 times a week. Honestly Idk what i'm supposed to do but i really want to do this correctly and i can't mak sense of what it all means. Some say you have to eat all your calories, others say if your really overweight then it's ok to not eat them all... Help anyone? lol :flowerforyou:

jeffherren

I usually eat most of my calories, however I donot "take" all the calories I burn for excercise, I usually take about 75 percent. There are sometimes food that I may forget to log in or "nibbling" while cooking I may not add, the calories I donot "take" for excercise I hope normally covers these little mistakes. I am allowed 1500 calories a day and then add anywhere from 1000 to 1200 calories for excercise ( 1 to 1.5 hours a day). I have lost about 45lbs since the middle of January, this website has helped me take control over my eating habits. I was 265lb at the beginning of the year, and now weigh 221lbs. I want to get back to my 190lb weight at 30 (10 years ago), when I got out of the military. I have found success in eating most of my calories and cutting back on carbs ( I did not eliminate them), Also I have 2 glasses of Green Tea a day, it helps burn Visceral Fat and gets me thrpugh that mid-morning hunger. I wish you luck and hope this helps.

Melwith9

I would have a hard time eating that many calories.. but honestly you need to eat MORE.. you don't have to eat all your exercise calories back but you should eat at least some of them back. try adding some healthy high calories foods.. yogurt, cheese, avocado..grapefruits are pretty low in calories which is a great idea but since you are having a hard time getting all those calories in maybe lean towards higher calorie fruits..eat a banana here and there.

I can attest to losing weight better when eating some of my exercise calories back.

tross0924

You're right. There good reasons on both side. Nobody's gonna be able to give you a 100% definitive answer. Sorry.

I can tell you what I do though, and tell you how that's worked for me. During the week I pack all my meals for work and they usually wind up being the same thing. Oatmeal, protein shakes, fruit, rinse, repeat. MFP says for me to loose 1.5 lbs a week I need to eat 2250 calories. Well at the end of the day I usually have anywhere from 300-600 calories left. And then I go exercise. On cardio days, I wind up with about 1000-1200 calories left at 9:00 at night. Now way am i going to eat that much then. I eat back 200-300, leaving me about 800-900 or so under my calorie goal and a "net" for the day of 1400ish.

Now as for my results, I've lost 85 lbs in about 7 months. I weigh myself everyday, but I only record the weight in MFP if it's less then the last weight I recorded. Doing this I've found that even though there are weeks at a stretch where I've hit a "plateau", when I chart my progress I get a nice steady line that falls at about 2lbs a week and never goes up (which is really nice for motivation).

I'd recommend that you talk to a doctor who can do a detailed exam of you and see if what you're currently doing is effecting your blood chemistry. Once you find out from the doc how your health is and how what you're currently doing is effecting you, you can decide if you need to change anything or keep on as you are.

Good luck. :-)

bethinagain

You definately need to eat more. Try snacking between each meal. That would give you a total of 6 times to eat per day. Make it healthy and light. You will see the weight fall off. As for eatting all the workout calories.......Do the best you can but I wouldn't eat all of them. Plus, it's nice to complete your day with "under your calorie goal" note. From the sounds of it, you should probably be eatting around 2000 calories.

coneyl83

Thank you guys for all the help! I do follow a recommended meal plan that the nutritionist at the doctors office handed me. She said for my metabolism to kick in i should eat, turkey, chicken, eggs, and fish for my protien, grapefruits, peaches and berries as fruits, potatoes, sweet potatoes as carbs and lots of green veggies. There is a List of foods, even though they are healthy they could actually slow down my metabolism. ,So now its metabolism vs calories lol .I suppose the best thing to do is definitly go back and ask this of the doctor. Thanks again for all the help!

pinecone

Maybe just include some more good fats, like whole yogurt/milk, and nuts, and see where you get to? Then as the calories (and your weight:)) creeps down it'll be easy to make the switches to lower fat versions. You should check what vitamins and minerals you're missing out on at the moment; www.nutriprofile.org is a nice free service that'll tell you. it's all about hocking vitamin pills, but once you know you're deficient in one thing it's easy to work out what to eat to get more.

Having said that, I'm going against the grain here - if after making switches and including a few higher-calorie snacks, and your not undernourished nutritionally, if you're calories are still under but if you don't feel hungry or tired, you'll probably be ok. These rules are just based on averages, and if you say you have a naturally slow metabolism you probably know your own body better than a one size fits all program.

marioz49

I'm also still trying to work out my food chart for the day. I have figured out that if I have light breakfast and lunches, then I can add more at dinner time. I was also wondering whether I should be eating all of my calories and whether I should add in my exercise calorie points. I am finding it hard to stay within the protien goals and usually end up in the red. Any ideas?

NotLuigiTM

This method has worked for me and last week I lost 3 lbs. Total of 26 lost since November 16th, 2009. So I am living proof and this past week from Monday to Monday (I weigh in on Monday only) I ate 2 fresco beef tacos from taco bell and I had 1 suggested portion of Peppridge Farm Triple layer fudge cake and 1 serving of ice cream with it and still lost the 3 lbs. It is about eating your suggested number of calories so that you are eating enough. According to the Biggest Loser if you cut your calories too low your body will start to store food as fat. I eat about 1570 for my weight 216 and height 5 ft 6 in. Most times I am at the mark or just a few over or under. It is what my body needs to lose weight. Want to know more just ask me. If you look at the suggested number of calories from this site and eat that many or just a little more along with exercise you will do well. Do not do a FAD diet like weight watchers, Jenny Craig, South Beach or Atkins etc. Do a lifestyle change that is really what you need to do. Learn how to eat all kinds of food. You will feel much more full and less likely to binge on the foods you do love. One thing that I can tell you is PROTEIN PROTEIN PROTEIN and less Carbs yes but do not throw out all carbs. I also ate rice and Mac & Cheese. I used to think that those suggested serving sizes on the package or box were for kids but now I realize that eating that much will fill me out. Also use a lot of salad (Spinach more then lettuce) and green veggies and fruits in your meals too. Good Luck. I hope this helps. Too Few calories and you wont lose...Too Many and you wont lose...It is about eating just enough to lose!

Only a banana for breakfast is a bad idea. You need to eat more calories in the day and less as the day goes on. you should have protein protein protein. a much more filling meal is 9 grams of protein or more which will help you stay fuller longer. If you have a carb loaded meal, you will feel full but the fullness will wear off quite quickly and you will be hungry sooner. (Hence why Chinese makes you hungry after 2 hours). That whole thing about Low Fat and eating less does not work. You screw up your Metabolism if you do not eat enough cause then your body goes into survival mode. Good Luck.

Also either do not put in exercise on the site or ignore it and do not eat those calories back or you are just washing out the exercise.

My calories are 1570 and i eat 1400 - 1700 in addition to my exercise mostly around 1500 - 1600 so -70 or +30 regardless of what I exercise. EATING MORE BURNS CALORIES>

NotLuigiTM

I'm also still trying to work out my food chart for the day. I have figured out that if I have light breakfast and lunches, then I can add more at dinner time. I was also wondering whether I should be eating all of my calories and whether I should add in my exercise calorie points. I am finding it hard to stay within the protien goals and usually end up in the red. Any ideas?

That has worked for me but only because I do not make the dinner and the dinner usually has more calories in it. When I can control Breakfast and lunch I can eat less calories. If I was in charge of all my meals I would eat more calories at breakfast, cause i would burn them off in a day. I heard it said "Eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch and a pauper for dinner."

marioz49

so just to clarify....should you eat your exercise calories or not? I have carefully stuck to my menu and have been under on my calorie points all week, but haven't shown any weight loss since Monday??

misslizz6958

Don't stop you're doing grreat the amount of calories they say on this site is bs I typically eat half of what they tel me and then burn a ton n I've been losing

arewethereyet

Having been here for over 2 years and keeping the 38+ pounds OFF for over 1.5............I can tell you you are headed for disaster if you eat way under your calories.

The key to all of this is to lose it and keep it off in a healthy way.

I see the Orig Poster is seeing a doctor and nutritionist. Please show them this site and get their PROFESSIONAL opinion on the subject.

If they have given you a food list and told you to pick 1 from column A and 2 from column B.....they know what they are talking about.
you can then use MFP as a guide and log to keeping track of what works!

OH yeah and your exercise! I am pretty much on maint cals now with deficit coming only from exercise........Oh and BTW I am STILL losing about 1/2 every 2 wks doing this. Meaning I eat 1600-2000 cals a day and lose weight.

Read through the posts.............glean some info and use the experience of 100s of ppl who have lost thousands of pounds here.

and for others...........it is NOT ok to eat 500 calories a day. Period.

arewethereyet

:laugh: I must have really meant it, it double posted LOL!

Yurippe

Don't stop you're doing grreat the amount of calories they say on this site is bs I typically eat half of what they tel me and then burn a ton n I've been losing

It's great that it's working for you. I would say that what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. The vast majority of posters on this site seem to be losing weight successfully eating at least half of their exercise calories, myself included. If you think what is said on the site is BS I'm a bit confused why you use it.

arewethereyet

Don't stop you're doing grreat the amount of calories they say on this site is bs I typically eat half of what they tel me and then burn a ton n I've been losing

It's great that it's working for you. I would say that what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. The vast majority of posters on this site seem to be losing weight successfully eating at least half of their exercise calories, myself included. If you think what is said on the site is BS I'm a bit confused why you use it.

Thank you for saying that

marioz49

Also either do not put in exercise on the site or ignore it and do not eat those calories back or you are just washing out the exercise.

As per above quote....do others agree? do not add your exercise calories into your daily menu plan? I find that doing this motivates me to do the exercise because I add in the exercise at the beginning of the day which means I have to do it.

lilmissy2

Are you sure you entered your data correctly? It's just that 2500cal per day is a lot, most people for weight loss seem to have been assigned about 1200-1500 before exercise so maybe check that first.

twilight1542

I'd suggest you double check your settings. I honestly can't imagine that MFP would suggest that you would lose weight eating 2400 base calories. From what your profile states, you are a 27 year old female. I don't know what your current weight is, but when I started I was 235lbs (31 yr old female) and looking to lose 100+ lbs. To lose 2lbs per week, MFP suggested I eat 1200 calories per day. You also state you have a "slow metabolism". If that's the case, then your body burns calories slower than normal, which would imply that you would need to eat less to lose weight since your body burns fuel slower than the average person. So please go back and double check your setting to make sure they are accurate.