Should I be eating more calories???

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jessicabailey529
jessicabailey529 Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Currently I’m working off of a 1200 calorie diet. I’ve been eating 5 times a day, and the caloric intake is around 200 calories each time. I’ve been ranging between 1000-1200 calories. Really sticking to it, really doing well with it. I’ve been exercising about 5-6 days a week, including Zumba. Really busting my butt here. In January I lost 13 pounds.. But I feel like I go two step forwards, one step back, two steps forward, one step back. I feel like I’m missing something because it’s not coming off steadily.

Someone suggested that I’m not eating enough calories. If I’m burning 800 in a zumba class for an hour, then I should be eating more. I don’t think Bob Harper would be sitting in front of me telling me to eat more, I just don’t think that it makes sense.

Thoughts? I need help with this one. If I really just have to eat more, that’s fine, I will. My BMR is also calculated at 1600 if that helps anyone to understand. I can boost the calories to 5 meals of 300 calories if I need to or just push more protein and fiber.
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Replies

  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    There's no way of knowing for sure without knowing more about you.

    How tall are you?
    How much do you weigh?
    More importantly, what's your TDEE and your BMR?

    Generally speaking, people who exercise regularly should NOT be limiting themselves to 1200 calories. I work a desk job, exercise very little (compared to you), and eat around 1900 a day for weight loss. That's because my BMR is about 1800 and my TDEE is about 2500. You should eat between BMR and TDEE for the most effective weight loss.
  • Controversial
    Controversial Posts: 157 Member
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    Yes.
  • jessicabailey529
    jessicabailey529 Posts: 28 Member
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    I'm 5' 7", I currently weight 184. My goal weight is 150. My BMR is 1600. My TDEE is 2800
  • misssiri
    misssiri Posts: 335 Member
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    Yes, eat more.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I'm 5' 7", I currently weight 184. My goal weight is 150. My BMR is 1600. My TDEE is 2800

    Wow, with a TDEE of 2800 you should be eating more like 2240 (80% of TDEE of 2800), this will result in slightly more than 1 lb/week, which is a healthy pace with the amount you have to lose.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
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    I'm 5' 7", I currently weight 184. My goal weight is 150. My BMR is 1600. My TDEE is 2800

    For most people who want to lose fat and maintain lean mass, they take 10-20% from their TDEE, work out, and eat sufficient protein.

    larger deficts can result in losing lean a larger % of lean muscle than smaller deficts.

    if your calculations are right, your defict is currently almost 60%.

    You could be losing weight at eating between 1800 and 2300 calories, there is no need to go as low as 1200.
  • jessicabailey529
    jessicabailey529 Posts: 28 Member
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    so would all of these things be factoring in as to why I've only lost 13 in 30 days? With the amount of exercise, etc I think i should be losing more.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    If you're really burning that many calories when you exercise, yes, eat more (don't rely on website estimates or even an HRM %100 to tell you what you really are burning, though).

    I don't always eat mine back but I usually only burn around 200 a session and except for work outs I'm totally sedentary. People in active jobs or people walking a lot-such as students crossing campus back and forth for classes-need to eat more even if they don't exercise. Taller, younger people need to eat more than short old people like me, too.

    Also no matter what we do, weight loss isn't linear. Some days or weeks you'll lose slower, some days or weeks faster. Stall outs also will happen but keep doing things right and you will start losing again.
  • jessicabailey529
    jessicabailey529 Posts: 28 Member
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    at least three times a week I'm doing zumba which burns 750-800 calories per session. The other days, I'm working the arc trainer which is burning 330-350.

    I don't want to eat more calories unless it's going to help me lose them.
  • jessicabailey529
    jessicabailey529 Posts: 28 Member
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    Holy crap, contrats to you!!! 95 pounds lost? That's amazing!!! How long have you been working at that?
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    You do need to eat more, but are you eating back your exercise calories currently?

    I can pretty much guarantee you that you aren't burning 800 calories an hour in Zumba. If you're eating back exercise cals that might be offsetting the fact that you're base target intake is so low.
  • Rhozelyn
    Rhozelyn Posts: 201 Member
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    I'm 5' 7", I currently weight 184. My goal weight is 150. My BMR is 1600. My TDEE is 2800

    I am older than you but we have the same stats almost. The only question I have for you is "how long can you keep going like this?".....I would struggle to keep my calories under 1200...So I am still eating quite a lot of food and lost 9 lb with less work and more food.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    Holy crap, contrats to you!!! 95 pounds lost? That's amazing!!! How long have you been working at that?

    Thanks! I've been on MFP since November of 2011, but I haven't always been consistent. I've had bad weeks and even bad months.

    The thing about eating more is, you can workout harder and longer if you fuel your body properly. You can also feel better the rest of the day. Personally If I go under 1200 on any day I am one mean, fatigued, dizzy, foggy headed human. And many days I need 1200 plus at least some of my exercise calories back.

    One issue, especially for people drinking as much coffee as I do is that we don't feel hunger the same as others. But our body still tells us when it's time to eat in other ways. Irritability and fatigue are my signs to add more calories on a particular day regardless of whether I even worked out at all.
  • Davina_JH
    Davina_JH Posts: 473 Member
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    I just upped mine to 1640.
    Use this:
    http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator

    :drinker:
  • jessifreehugs
    jessifreehugs Posts: 81 Member
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    I've lost all of my weight eating between 1500 and 1800 calories per day. If I exercise, I eat back most of my calories. I'd suggest trying to eat a few hundred extra calories per day, and get a heart rate monitor to make sure that you really are burning what you think you're burning. The MFP estimates can be wildly off. For example, if I put in that I did circuit training for 30 minutes, it says I burned over 300, but my HRM says I only burned around 200...big difference.

    Also, don't be disappointed in a 13 pound loss. That's AMAZING progress for 1 month of work! Good job so far, and just keep doing what your doing with maybe a few small adjustments :)
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    I'm 5' 7", I currently weight 184. My goal weight is 150. My BMR is 1600. My TDEE is 2800

    I am older than you but we have the same stats almost. The only question I have for you is "how long can you keep going like this?".....I would struggle to keep my calories under 1200...So I am still eating quite a lot of food and lost 9 lb with less work and more food.

    I wholeheartedly agree with this. My biggest misconception when I started trying to lose weight was that the less I ate, the more and faster I would lose. Sure, you'll lose a bunch of weight at first, but you'll crash and burn pretty quickly, start to have a terrible relationship with food, stop being able to have fun with friends, etc.

    I'm 5'8" and I started at 175. I lost almost 30lbs by eating anywhere from 1400-1700 cals per day and 5-6 days a week of exercise (usually a 250-500 cal burn). I've had bad days/weekends/weeks so if I was perfect every day, it wouldn't have taken me 8 months, but I am human! I love all food, "good" and "bad", and if I want something "bad", I'm going to have it but will do my best to plan for it.

    In sum, eat more, exercise (you already are and that's awesome!), and set your calories at something you can live with.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    so would all of these things be factoring in as to why I've only lost 13 in 30 days? With the amount of exercise, etc I think i should be losing more.

    What, what do you mean only 13lbs in 30days? that is actually a very fast loss, faster than it should be essentially you have lost 12 lbs in 4 weeks weeks, which is 3lbs/week, when based on your stats you should be aiming for and losing only 1lb/week.

    Losing faster is not better, the faster your loss the more likely you are to gain it back, have loose skin, and a larger % of your loss will come from lean muscle, than if you lost slower.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
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    Currently I’m working off of a 1200 calorie diet. I’ve been eating 5 times a day, and the caloric intake is around 200 calories each time. I’ve been ranging between 1000-1200 calories. Really sticking to it, really doing well with it. I’ve been exercising about 5-6 days a week, including Zumba. Really busting my butt here. In January I lost 13 pounds.. But I feel like I go two step forwards, one step back, two steps forward, one step back. I feel like I’m missing something because it’s not coming off steadily.

    Someone suggested that I’m not eating enough calories. If I’m burning 800 in a zumba class for an hour, then I should be eating more. I don’t think Bob Harper would be sitting in front of me telling me to eat more, I just don’t think that it makes sense.

    Thoughts? I need help with this one. If I really just have to eat more, that’s fine, I will. My BMR is also calculated at 1600 if that helps anyone to understand. I can boost the calories to 5 meals of 300 calories if I need to or just push more protein and fiber.

    Weight doesn't come off at a steady rate. Two steps forward, one step back is still one step forward. Keep doing what you're doing because you're succeeding.
  • Txnurse97
    Txnurse97 Posts: 275 Member
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    I think you've gotten some good advice. I would also say to eat more. And 13 pounds in 30 days is AMAZING! Give yourself some credit!
  • mareeee1234
    mareeee1234 Posts: 674 Member
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    OKAY, PLEASE watch this vide!

    Figure out your TDEE and BMR. If you wanna lose weight, subtract 20% from your TDEE. When you exercise, eat enough calories back so that you're eating AT LEAST your BMR! If your BMR is 1600, you need to NET at LEAST 1600 every day!


    This video explains it well... pleeassee pleasee watch to understand how it works!! :flowerforyou:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYi9xjIRvbY

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