Why MFP says I'm not eating enough?

libertychoury

I have read a few of the discussions on this board, and it sounds like for the most part you are reccommending to try and eat 10% less calories and that this might help if you encounter a plateau.
I am trying to understand something though, to see if this would be what I should do. If you don't mind, I am going to explain my situation and see if you see what I am seeing when I wonder why I am myself, stalling out in weight loss.
Starting weight: 240 (July 2012)
Started MFP: 225 (Late August 2012)
CW: 167
GW: 130 (and honestly, I don't even care if this is the actual number, I just don't want to have the fat I have around my middle)
When I started, I started just with calorie deficit. I ate waaaaayyyy less. I don't know what I was doing but i know I was eating less. Then when I started MFP I started I think with some 1300 per day allowance, and I ate less than that, and at some point started walking. In Oct I started biking and walking and then in January it got too cold, so I joined a gym. On initially joining I was given a consult with a trainer who kind of laid out a plan for what I could do to lose weight. I couldn't afford her, so I decided to try and follow that on my own. I was eating 1200 a day and started doing the following: alternating weight training days with cardio, with one day of rest in the week. Often, I would have days where I would burn 400 in the cardio, and I wouldn't eat those calories back. I think I started the gym around 180 or so, and around the beginning of March I hit 169. Since then, I am struggling to lose anything at all. I do not know my measurements, and I see a difference in how my body looks, but I really want the fat I have to take a hike. Some things you read say to eat more, but I have a lot of trouble hitting all those calories, especially on the days that I do cardio. So I try to stay at 1200. But MFP keeps saying to me, youre eating too little. Why, if I am burning so many calories, and not eating them back don't I continue to lose? Is the weight training the culprit? If so, then why don't I lose more inches faster, if bigger muscles burn more fat?
Should I try eating even less? Right now I am doing 5 meals a day, and granted, they are nutritionally quite different foods than when I initially started trying to lose weight. But I thought I would need to make up for some nutritional lackings (because honestly, what I was eating was like, just barely enough for a human to survive) and I eat around 6 times a day to get in the 1200 calories. What do you recommend to try to start losing weight again like I was before? Or should I accept that I have only lost 2 lbs in one month and say it was a slow month? I feel like exercising like I do should really see faster results, considering the calories I burn versus what I take in.
I am sorry if this post is confusing, I am just trying to understand all this.

Mads1997

It's hard for anyone to know what to tell you when you don't have your diary open.

If MFP is telling you you are not eating enough you are clearly not eating enough. MFP is set up that you are suppose to eat all your exercise calories back as a deficit has already been factored into the calorie equation when you set up your profile. If you don't eat enough it can be (most likely in your case) counter productive to your weight loss as your body tends to hold on to everything you are feeding it.

You should also only set yourself to lose 2lbs per week if you are obese. If you only have a small amount to lose then you should choose 1/2 - 1 lb per week or less. 2lb per week is a pretty aggressive weight loss goal.

Go back and reset your goals to something more moderate, eat the calories suggested and eat back your exercise cals.

I am not a dietician. Tony the dietician will come along soon to answer but in the meantime, I just didn't want you to think no one was reading your post.



PS: Sorry Tony

FoodandFitness

I would recommend the following:

1. perform your cardio as interval training- HIIT has a better effect for fat loss than steady state aerobics
2. Anywhere from 2-4 pounds weight loss per month is a great job
3. If your fat loss plateaus completely, try cutting calories 5-10%
4. You don't need to eat 5-6 meals per day, you can eat less frequently if you desire

libertychoury

Thanks for the responses!
After I posted this, I rethought about my diet, comparing my intake now to before. Seems certain that I am eating more now than I was, so that may reflect a slower result.
The reason I am doing 5-6 meals a day is because I really was under the impression that eating more often, smaller meals would make my metabolism faster. I think I take for granted the number on the scale as the actual sign of weight loss, but the reality is that I am asking for more fitness from my body and expecting the result to be thin-ness, and that those two things may not necessarily coincide - at least not simultaneously. Ultimately the goal is to be better off than the day before, so I think if I keep up what I am doing I will continue to see improvement if not day to day then month to month.
I do now have a question about HIIT or interval training. I gave that a shot this morning and noticed that the calorie burn was way less significant (100 cal difference). Does this matter in the scheme of weight loss? I'm normally doing the fat burning mode on the machine, so this was a little hard for me to accept. Granted, it's a machine, not an actual HIIT class, or insanity, so maybe that's the reason...I appreciate that you answered my initial question. Thank you!