too high cals MFP
joselo2
Posts: 461
I think mfp is putting my calorie goal toohigh, nearly 3000. I mean it is working in that i am losing weight (but not very fast) but it looks bad compared to other peoples, it doesnt looklike am make enough effort, and not lose as fast. what do you think?
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Replies
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What is your height, weight, etc? The goals are all dependant on those things and what you set your daily activity to.0
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It's healthier, and more maintainable, to lose slowly. Maybe if it's only a pound a month, you might want to speed things up a bit, but if you've got even a half a pound a week coming off regularly, I'd say stick with it! Why make things harder than they have to be!0
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Who cares what it "looks like" it's a number and it's working for you. Everyone is different. Do what works for you. PERIOD.
Did you choose a higher activity level? MFP is set up to let you eat back alories from extra workouts so if you workout for weightloss 6 days a week and put your activity levler at the highest level then it's giving you the calories you need without asking you to log or eat back exercise calories. I put mine lower then log and eat back so that on days I rest I end up eating less calories.0 -
It has taken me 10.5 months to lose 36.5 lbs so technically I'm not losing as fast as others on here either, but I'm still losing so who cares. If you don't like what YOU are doing, look to change it, but PLEASE...do not compare your journey to other peoples. We will always fail if we try to measure up to other people.0
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Slower weight loss is generally healthier, allows you to preserve lean muscle mass, and will help you transition into maintenance and keep the weight off when the time comes.0
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I'm 5'7 (male) started at 406lbs, now 370lbs. losing about a lb a week, though it can vary a little. I put low exercise as a base line but i log when i swim or do entle circuit training or walking (these are the main kinds i do). I just worry that it doesn't seem as good as other people, when people point out these people like 'this person is doing great, we should aspire to follow like them', those people always have lowers cals and bigger losses than me and it gets me thinking i might not be doing enough. i dont know.0
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You're losing at a good rate. I think as long as you're losing then there's no need to worry. No point in crash dieting.0
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Have you tried cutting down a little for a few weeks? At your current weight I don't think it would hurt to try shaving another 250 or so off a day.. As you get closer to goal I would be more conservative then.0
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I'm 5'7 (male) started at 406lbs, now 370lbs. losing about a lb a week, though it can vary a little. I put low exercise as a base line but i log when i swim or do entle circuit training or walking (these are the main kinds i do). I just worry that it doesn't seem as good as other people, when people point out these people like 'this person is doing great, we should aspire to follow like them', those people always have lowers cals and bigger losses than me and it gets me thinking i might not be doing enough. i dont know.
Don't worry about anyone else. Do what works for you. As you lose weight, log it and let MFP recalculate your cal goals. It will probably go down as you get smaller. Your body is used to consuming a large amount of calories. If you just jump into 1500 cals at your weight currently, you will feel horrible. Start slow. if it's working, then it's working. If you really feel like it is too much, maybe start tapering your daily calories off by 50-100 per week and see how you feel. But in any event, who cares what anyone else is doing? You are doing this for you!0 -
I'm 5'7 (male) started at 406lbs, now 370lbs. losing about a lb a week, though it can vary a little. I put low exercise as a base line but i log when i swim or do entle circuit training or walking (these are the main kinds i do). I just worry that it doesn't seem as good as other people, when people point out these people like 'this person is doing great, we should aspire to follow like them', those people always have lowers cals and bigger losses than me and it gets me thinking i might not be doing enough. i dont know.
Well looking at these numbers you could change your MFP goal to 2 pounds a week goal and be okay. As long as you are eating at or above your BMR and eating back exercise calories (but not all if you're not using a HRM the calulators online are WAY off) you should be fine. Your BMR using the MFP calculator is 2642. You can safely lower your intake to 2600 (rounding and estimation will cover the extra 42) and lose a little more per week.
BUT please don't get stuck comparing yourself to others. Compare yourself to where you were if you must....but not to others.0 -
Based on your stats you gave, 21 (per your profile), 5'7, 370 pounds...your BMR to maintain your current weight is 3073 cals.
Make sure that you keep your stats current in the settings.... Set your deficit aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadn GO0 -
Who cares what it "looks like" it's a number and it's working for you. Everyone is different. Do what works for you. PERIOD.
Did you choose a higher activity level? MFP is set up to let you eat back alories from extra workouts so if you workout for weightloss 6 days a week and put your activity levler at the highest level then it's giving you the calories you need without asking you to log or eat back exercise calories. I put mine lower then log and eat back so that on days I rest I end up eating less calories.
^^ This!0 -
I'm 5'7 (male) started at 406lbs, now 370lbs. losing about a lb a week, though it can vary a little. I put low exercise as a base line but i log when i swim or do entle circuit training or walking (these are the main kinds i do). I just worry that it doesn't seem as good as other people, when people point out these people like 'this person is doing great, we should aspire to follow like them', those people always have lowers cals and bigger losses than me and it gets me thinking i might not be doing enough. i dont know.
Screw other people. You are not other people. You are you.
I think 1lb a week is a good loss rate - *some* people do well eating very large deficits and losing very fast, but IMO they are the exception and not the norm. How many people do you know who went on a super low cal diet, lost a lot very fast, and then gained it all back immediately?
If you want to you can try some other calculators. I'll give you some links. I think 3k is good - that's your BMR according to the calculator I just looked at. I wouldn't eat less than that, but if you want to lose a little faster I would say go and do a little more exercise, rather than cutting your cals down.
When I cut too low I get hungry and tired and it makes me want to binge eat after a few weeks.0 -
Is that 3000 cal intake they post for you AFTER your exercises for the day? I do not follow that part. I only follow my regular daily calorie intake WITHOUT the additional calories they give us for exercising. I always feel thats the best way to do it. LIke yesterday i burned over 700 calories and only ate about 750 calories but it said i can eat more because i earned calories. Uh, no.... i stick with my daily 'average' calorie intake of no more than 1200.
do what works for you. if you feel the intake of 3000 calories is too much for you, and you are only losing like half a pound a week - eat less and see how things balance out for you. Maybe once you balance it out youll find what works for you. Once you get to that point where you are happy with your weight loss, stick with it. I mean obviously as you probably know you dont want to lose too fast but a pound to 1.5 pounds a week loss is perfect - even if you lose 2 pounds thats okay also.0 -
I tend to think that MFP underestimates rather than overestimates.0
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Have you tried cutting down a little for a few weeks? At your current weight I don't think it would hurt to try shaving another 250 or so off a day.. As you get closer to goal I would be more conservative then.
yes, what amanda said. the higher the weight the more calories you can eat and still lose weight, you have the choice to easily stay there or drop more calories to lose faster, the rate you are losing at is better in the long run (as far as things like extra skin when you get to goal weight, the slower you lose the more time your skin has to adapt to this new shape) but ultimately the choice is yours, either way works, i am pretty active but i eat 3300+ calories a day, every day, and have maintained at this for about half a year now,(my weight has not been lower than 168 or higher than 172 in that time) so just because less calories is way more popular here doesn't mean people like me are not out there
long story short, don't care what other people are doing if what you do works for you 
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I'm 5'7 (male) started at 406lbs, now 370lbs. losing about a lb a week, though it can vary a little. I put low exercise as a base line but i log when i swim or do entle circuit training or walking (these are the main kinds i do). I just worry that it doesn't seem as good as other people, when people point out these people like 'this person is doing great, we should aspire to follow like them', those people always have lowers cals and bigger losses than me and it gets me thinking i might not be doing enough. i dont know.
Screw other people. You are not other people. You are you.
I think 1lb a week is a good loss rate - *some* people do well eating very large deficits and losing very fast, but IMO they are the exception and not the norm. How many people do you know who went on a super low cal diet, lost a lot very fast, and then gained it all back immediately?
If you want to you can try some other calculators. I'll give you some links. I think 3k is good - that's your BMR according to the calculator I just looked at. I wouldn't eat less than that, but if you want to lose a little faster I would say go and do a little more exercise, rather than cutting your cals down.
When I cut too low I get hungry and tired and it makes me want to binge eat after a few weeks.
100000% agree. 95% of people regain lost weight--many of them are the people you describe, eating less and losing faster. Take your time, follow the plan and only change it if it stops working.0 -
I'm 5'7 (male) started at 406lbs, now 370lbs. losing about a lb a week, though it can vary a little. I put low exercise as a base line but i log when i swim or do entle circuit training or walking (these are the main kinds i do). I just worry that it doesn't seem as good as other people, when people point out these people like 'this person is doing great, we should aspire to follow like them', those people always have lowers cals and bigger losses than me and it gets me thinking i might not be doing enough. i dont know.
Screw other people. You are not other people. You are you.
I think 1lb a week is a good loss rate - *some* people do well eating very large deficits and losing very fast, but IMO they are the exception and not the norm. How many people do you know who went on a super low cal diet, lost a lot very fast, and then gained it all back immediately?
If you want to you can try some other calculators. I'll give you some links. I think 3k is good - that's your BMR according to the calculator I just looked at. I wouldn't eat less than that, but if you want to lose a little faster I would say go and do a little more exercise, rather than cutting your cals down.
When I cut too low I get hungry and tired and it makes me want to binge eat after a few weeks.
100000% agree. 95% of people regain lost weight--many of them are the people you describe, eating less and losing faster. Take your time, follow the plan and only change it if it stops working.
Agreed. Also, way to go on your weight loss so far!0 -
Set your goal for 2 pounds a week. Try it for a couple of months and see how you like it. You're the one in charge of your diet.0
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Thanks for the advice everyone. i altered to 2lbs loss a week, i am terrified at how low the calorie goal is(2300) but it looks more impressive and like it should, so i think this will be better for approval from others, and hopefully i can lose 2lbs a week and be realy amazing... wish me luck!!!0
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I am just a little heavier than a third of your weight, and I can eat more than 2300 and maintain. If I were you I'd forget about impressing people with your calories and look forward to impressing them with how long you can maintain your weightloss instead. If I had a lot to lose, I think I'd try eating the maintenance calories of my goal weight, as some people suggest doing. That way you'd already know how to eat at maintenance when you got there!0
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I like what tameko2 said as well as others. Quit worrying about impressing other people. Lose slowly, retain muscle mass, and learn how to eat right and maintain, not eat like a bird and then binge or fight binging everyday!!0
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thank you all. maybe it is goo me to get used to ea less, i see how it goes... if it is extremely hard i might increase a little because i think it has to be realistic to maintain also.
i just cant help feel that impressing ppl is very important, just about the most important really. not even for them to be like 'wow amazing' but just not think that i am absolutely rubbish and shameful. id hate people to think i was an awful dieter who deserved to be fat forever. and say bad thing about me.0 -
thank you all. maybe it is goo me to get used to ea less, i see how it goes... if it is extremely hard i might increase a little because i think it has to be realistic to maintain also.
i just cant help feel that impressing ppl is very important, just about the most important really. not even for them to be like 'wow amazing' but just not think that i am absolutely rubbish and shameful. id hate people to think i was an awful dieter who deserved to be fat forever. and say bad thing about me.
Nobody thinks that! Who said that! I will punch them in the pie hole!0 -
thank you all. maybe it is goo me to get used to ea less, i see how it goes... if it is extremely hard i might increase a little because i think it has to be realistic to maintain also.
i just cant help feel that impressing ppl is very important, just about the most important really. not even for them to be like 'wow amazing' but just not think that i am absolutely rubbish and shameful. id hate people to think i was an awful dieter who deserved to be fat forever. and say bad thing about me.
Honestly, you need tot alk to a professional about this. Your need for approval from others is way off the charts. Are you losing weight for other too? Where does it end? If you're not doing this for you you're setting yourself up for failure.
Hmmm is approval from others is that important...then I highly disapprove of your placing so much importance on what others think of you and your eating habits! Who else agrees?0 -
i'm losing weight for me (heaven knows ppl in my family tried to gt me to for many years before i decided i was ready!) but not i started, it is jst really important that people think I'm doing good enough. I just find it so hard to cope with people thinkin I am arubbish dieter or not trying hard enough or whatever. I dont know why. One time a guy here said i was lazy and it hurt me so so much and idk why because i dont know him really, but it is just the way it is for me... plus, if people think bdly, i guess they got reasons, i mustnt be doin so good!0
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People in here can be so mean - and some of the fellahs in here are so far up themselves they can probably check their prostates visually. So could some of the some of the women in here if they had one.
Ignore (selectively) the "You-don't-want-to-do-it-like-that" brigade0 -
thank you all. maybe it is goo me to get used to ea less, i see how it goes... if it is extremely hard i might increase a little because i think it has to be realistic to maintain also.
i just cant help feel that impressing ppl is very important, just about the most important really. not even for them to be like 'wow amazing' but just not think that i am absolutely rubbish and shameful. id hate people to think i was an awful dieter who deserved to be fat forever. and say bad thing about me.
Awe, I just wanna hug you. You are doing awesome, listen to your body, stay focused, and you will see a difference
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The benefits of losing at a slower rate are that your skin will keep up better, you won't feel so deprived, and you will be able to keep from gaining the wait back much easier. Healthy is the way to go!0
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I'm 5'7 (male) started at 406lbs, now 370lbs. losing about a lb a week, though it can vary a little. I put low exercise as a base line but i log when i swim or do entle circuit training or walking (these are the main kinds i do). I just worry that it doesn't seem as good as other people, when people point out these people like 'this person is doing great, we should aspire to follow like them', those people always have lowers cals and bigger losses than me and it gets me thinking i might not be doing enough. i dont know.
Screw other people. You are not other people. You are you.
I think 1lb a week is a good loss rate - *some* people do well eating very large deficits and losing very fast, but IMO they are the exception and not the norm. How many people do you know who went on a super low cal diet, lost a lot very fast, and then gained it all back immediately?
Exactly.0
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