Feel like I won't lose weight eating?

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Voca_Star
Voca_Star Posts: 140
in Motivation and Support
MFP says I should eat 1500 calories in order to lose weight without exercise......Since I exercise 6 days a week and I usually burn 250 - 400 calories, I know I ought to eat more, right?

For the last few months I've been changing up my workout almost daily, eating about 1500 calories, and I haven't seen ANY results. At all. Not just by the scale, but by how my clothes fit, too. It's so irritating. So from time to time I'd cut my calories down and still not see results....I'm thinking I may not be eating enough....

Thanks to a lovely message I got, I figured I need about 1900 to maintain my weight. To make a deficit of 20-25% I should eat between 1400 - 1500 calories. And then, there's the exercise. I'm trying to eat my exercise calories back, or at least most of them, and I burned about 300 calories today with exercise, so my calories today was up to 1800, and I ate 1700, and I feel like I won't be able to lose weight! I feel like I should eat like 1000 calories and exercise to lose weight, although I know this is wrong.

I'm just scared to eat so much all week, and then weigh myself and see yet again, no results.
Has anyone had results eating back most if not all of their exercise calories back? Has anyone had results eating 1700 calories a day and exercising?

By the way, if it helps, I'm 5'3" and 139 pounds right now ^^;;

Replies

  • steph1278
    steph1278 Posts: 483 Member
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    I'm 5'11" and 224 and eat an average of 2000(give or take a few hundred depending on the day) calories per day and lose 1-2 pounds pretty consistantly each week.
  • teamfit2day
    teamfit2day Posts: 213 Member
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    MFP says I should eat 1500 calories in order to lose weight without exercise......Since I exercise 6 days a week and I usually burn 250 - 400 calories, I know I ought to eat more, right?

    For the last few months I've been changing up my workout almost daily, eating about 1500 calories, and I haven't seen ANY results. At all. Not just by the scale, but by how my clothes fit, too. It's so irritating. So from time to time I'd cut my calories down and still not see results....I'm thinking I may not be eating enough....

    Thanks to a lovely message I got, I figured I need about 1900 to maintain my weight. To make a deficit of 20-25% I should eat between 1400 - 1500 calories. And then, there's the exercise. I'm trying to eat my exercise calories back, or at least most of them, and I burned about 300 calories today with exercise, so my calories today was up to 1800, and I ate 1700, and I feel like I won't be able to lose weight! I feel like I should eat like 1000 calories and exercise to lose weight, although I know this is wrong.

    I'm just scared to eat so much all week, and then weigh myself and see yet again, no results.
    Has anyone had results eating back most if not all of their exercise calories back? Has anyone had results eating 1700 calories a day and exercising?

    By the way, if it helps, I'm 5'3" and 139 pounds right now ^^;;

    Looking at your diary, your problem is not calories, its your macronutrients (Fats, Carbs) Your eating to many grams of fat per day and your dinners should be lower in carbohydrates. Why? Because a lower carbohydrate dinner allows your body to burn its body fat stores during the night while you sleep. Carbohydrates should be consumed early in the day since your body uses them for energy. You can start with high carbs and taper down as the day goes on. By dinner time, you should have higher protein and lower carbs for your last meal. Trust me, this will help your body burn the most body fat and your weight loss is gonna happen so fast that you wont believe it.
  • jhunt90
    jhunt90 Posts: 78
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    I have the same problem!! It's like you understand how stuff works and yet it doesn't make you feel better, I sometimes have a really hard time making myself eat as much as I'm supposed to because I feel like it's gonna make me gain. We can push through this! :)
  • jonilynn70
    jonilynn70 Posts: 145 Member
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    I agree completely with teamfit2day. It's not just calories - it's what those calories consist of. Technically you could eat 3 meals at McDonalds and still stay within 1500 calories but those would be lacking nutrients and high on carbs all throughout the day. Follow his advice and see how you do after week 1. Good luck!!!
  • awillkies
    awillkies Posts: 53 Member
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    i agree w/ the above poster about eating carbs in the mornings & tapering off. that works for me a little bit too. i'm also having a hard time getting my head around the concept of eating more. i do notice though, like a cranky toddler, my body is MUCH happier w/ me when i feed it every 4 hours. i allow for 4 'meals' (includes a snack) a day. i'm still trying to figure this whole thing out too. good luck, lots of great support here (& some to be taken w/ a grain of salt) but none the less ... it's an awesome board!
  • mariposa224
    mariposa224 Posts: 1,269 Member
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    I eat a LOT and I've been losing. I only had 25-30 to lose to begin with, but lost the 25 (it took about 6.5 months) with only a couple of short plateaus... And still seem to be losing. Most of the time I eat between 1500-2000 (which, considering I'm 5'5" and about 140 lbs, is a decent amount), though I've lost even when eating as much as 2200-2300. It seems that there's a place where each person's body is happy with getting sufficient food and will lose weight... But the crazy part is trying to figure out where YOUR sweet spot is. Give it a shot for at least 2-3 weeks and see how it goes.
  • Telugammayi87
    Telugammayi87 Posts: 170 Member
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    I'm 5'8 and 190lbs. I eat between 1900 and 2200 calories per day, and my main exercise right now is walking my dog 1 hour about 4 times per week.

    I lost 3lbs last week........

    I WAS eating 1400 per day and going to the gym 2-3 hours 5-6 days per week and losing nothing...
  • nangel4u
    nangel4u Posts: 119
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    Yea I think you have to eat more to lose more.....I eat 1800-1900 calories a day and I have been losing like crazy...Your body needs energy (food and exercise) to burn fat!!!!!!!!
  • mikeschratz
    mikeschratz Posts: 253 Member
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    Don't know your age, but I used 36 just for arguments sake! Here are your numbers per the spreadsheet.
    These numbers are with an activity level of 1.6 (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week), so if you workout 6-7 days a week, it would be higher.
    BMR 1,292
    Maintenance 2,067
    Cut (@ 15%) 1,757
    Build (@ 15%) 2,377

    If you would like to play with the numbers, the spreadsheet is located here: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3kFzsaVmRjmd1k4YjA1SlVWaFU/edit
    This is the way I learned how to eat more to weigh less... thanks to HelloitsDan and folks like him...
    Good luck with your numbers...
  • kiminikimkim
    kiminikimkim Posts: 746 Member
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    I am 5'3" and I was losing weight at 1200calories per day and eating 50% of my burned calories.
    My basic metabolic rate is 1191 calories
    TDEE is 1491 ( if I eat more than that, I will gain weight)

    Now that i have reached my goal, I am currently maintaining at 1400calories. I eat all my exercise calories back.

    Since we are the same height, you may be eating at maintenance!
    Reduce to 1200 and give that a try.
  • kiminikimkim
    kiminikimkim Posts: 746 Member
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    Oops it posted twice
  • jonilynn70
    jonilynn70 Posts: 145 Member
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    I eat a LOT and I've been losing. I only had 25-30 to lose to begin with, but lost the 25 (it took about 6.5 months) with only a couple of short plateaus... And still seem to be losing. Most of the time I eat between 1500-2000 (which, considering I'm 5'5" and about 140 lbs, is a decent amount), though I've lost even when eating as much as 2200-2300. It seems that there's a place where each person's body is happy with getting sufficient food and will lose weight... But the crazy part is trying to figure out where YOUR sweet spot is. Give it a shot for at least 2-3 weeks and see how it goes.


    May I ask what you are doing for exercise and how many calories/day - days/week you are doing it? I am about your size and I am trying to stick to 1,200 and am just maintaining my weight. Not losing anymore. The only tme I lose is with very low carbing but then I can't keep the loss when I return to healthy, clean, or low glycemic eating which is the only way I can live long-term. I believe if I ate between 1500-2000 I would gain a considerable amount of weight. Not sure I could even find that many healthy calories in a day. I am glad you found your sweet spot - it is very sweet!!!

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