HELP!! I'm a bit confused!!! (Re: calories)

BGM325
BGM325 Posts: 78
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All,
I'm 5'3" and currently weighing 152lbs (started at 160 on Jan 15, 2013), I'm looking to get to 130. I'm not in a particular hurry to lose as long as it's lost and I'm not doing anything crazy or reckless. I've been cutting out crap foods, eating healthier and working out at least (but usually more than) 30 minutes daily. MFP has me at 1200 daily calories and for the most part I stay within that range. I don't eat back the calories I add through exercise, and here's where I'm confused: I am perusing the boards and I keep seeing that 1200 is not enough calories. I've been sticking to that since that's what was recommended but I don't want to %*&^ myself over in the long run. I'm pretty new here and learning as I go along. I am not feeling hungry, I eat 3 meals a day and have 2-3 healthy snacks, so what am I doing wrong? Or right? Opinions welcome! Thanks in advance!!!

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    Hi All,
    I'm 5'3" and currently weighing 152lbs (started at 160 on Jan 15, 2013), I'm looking to get to 130. I'm not in a particular hurry to lose as long as it's lost and I'm not doing anything crazy or reckless. I've been cutting out crap foods, eating healthier and working out at least (but usually more than) 30 minutes daily. MFP has me at 1200 daily calories and for the most part I stay within that range. I don't eat back the calories I add through exercise, and here's where I'm confused: I am perusing the boards and I keep seeing that 1200 is not enough calories. I've been sticking to that since that's what was recommended but I don't want to %*&^ myself over in the long run. I'm pretty new here and learning as I go along. I am not feeling hungry, I eat 3 meals a day and have 2-3 healthy snacks, so what am I doing wrong? Or right? Opinions welcome! Thanks in advance!!!

    1200 is too low for an active person. Eating too little will increase the chances to catabolize lean body mass (aka lose muscle; muscle is what makes your body tight and lean). The way MFP is designed you need to eat back exercise calories. And with less than 20 lbs, you should be aiming for around 1/2 - 1 lb per week and at least aim to eat 50% of those exercise calories. Depending on how much you workout, you will probably be averaging around 1700 total.
    '

    Based on your stats, if you workout 3-4 day a week, it would be around 1600 calories, 5-6 days a week 1800 calories.
  • BGM325
    BGM325 Posts: 78
    Thanks!! :happy:
  • hteapot
    hteapot Posts: 29 Member
    Hi All,
    I'm 5'3" and currently weighing 152lbs (started at 160 on Jan 15, 2013), I'm looking to get to 130. I'm not in a particular hurry to lose as long as it's lost and I'm not doing anything crazy or reckless. I've been cutting out crap foods, eating healthier and working out at least (but usually more than) 30 minutes daily. MFP has me at 1200 daily calories and for the most part I stay within that range. I don't eat back the calories I add through exercise, and here's where I'm confused: I am perusing the boards and I keep seeing that 1200 is not enough calories. I've been sticking to that since that's what was recommended but I don't want to %*&^ myself over in the long run. I'm pretty new here and learning as I go along. I am not feeling hungry, I eat 3 meals a day and have 2-3 healthy snacks, so what am I doing wrong? Or right? Opinions welcome! Thanks in advance!!!

    1200 is too low for an active person. Eating too little will increase the chances to catabolize lean body mass (aka lose muscle; muscle is what makes your body tight and lean). The way MFP is designed you need to eat back exercise calories. And with less than 20 lbs, you should be aiming for around 1/2 - 1 lb per week and at least aim to eat 50% of those exercise calories. Depending on how much you workout, you will probably be averaging around 1700 total.
    '

    Based on your stats, if you workout 3-4 day a week, it would be around 1600 calories, 5-6 days a week 1800 calories.

    Totally agree! I am 5'4 and at 133 lbs. I workout 5-6 days a week and I recently upped my cals to 1745 and I have been feeling awesome! I have seen a major improvement.
  • pnm21
    pnm21 Posts: 3 Member
    My calories on MFP are extremely low. I went to different sites to grab second opinion. I love this site, but I always double check. Eating to little is horrible for you if you are this active. Get to know your body and it will naturally tell you.

    Good luck!
  • bunzai07
    bunzai07 Posts: 6
    i started doing MFP last october 2012. I have always made sure that i have went 1000 calories LESS than the calorie goal (so a total defecit of 4500 cals.) i was able to achieve this defecit through exercise- so i still think i eat quite a lot!
    i have only lost about 4 lbs in 4 months :S with the exeption of a couple weeks here and there where i would not exercise and eat a lot (christmas!) but i have always managed to get back on the horse and am really honest with my cals and am TOTALLY religious with my work outs.
    so, is the reason i have not been losing a steady lb per week because i left a 4500 defecit rather than a 3500 one? if so- that's a LOT of food to eat! i exercise 3500 cals a week. am i exercising too much? sure doesnt feel like it.
    i'm confuzzled.
    ps. i dont have much to lose. i'm 133- my goal is 130.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    i started doing MFP last october 2012. I have always made sure that i have went 1000 calories LESS than the calorie goal (so a total defecit of 4500 cals.) i was able to achieve this defecit through exercise- so i still think i eat quite a lot!
    i have only lost about 4 lbs in 4 months :S with the exeption of a couple weeks here and there where i would not exercise and eat a lot (christmas!) but i have always managed to get back on the horse and am really honest with my cals and am TOTALLY religious with my work outs.
    so, is the reason i have not been losing a steady lb per week because i left a 4500 defecit rather than a 3500 one? if so- that's a LOT of food to eat! i exercise 3500 cals a week. am i exercising too much? sure doesnt feel like it.
    i'm confuzzled.
    ps. i dont have much to lose. i'm 133- my goal is 130.

    You burn calories even without exercise. How much are you eating and how often do you workout and for how long. Also, what types of workouts are you doing?
  • wahmx3
    wahmx3 Posts: 633 Member
    you definitely should eat more and eat back about half your exercise calories. You body needs the fuel to function...brain,heart,lungs and every other body organ needs nutrients.
  • dianefisher47
    dianefisher47 Posts: 234 Member
    Hi All,
    I'm 5'3" and currently weighing 152lbs (started at 160 on Jan 15, 2013), I'm looking to get to 130. I'm not in a particular hurry to lose as long as it's lost and I'm not doing anything crazy or reckless. I've been cutting out crap foods, eating healthier and working out at least (but usually more than) 30 minutes daily. MFP has me at 1200 daily calories and for the most part I stay within that range. I don't eat back the calories I add through exercise, and here's where I'm confused: I am perusing the boards and I keep seeing that 1200 is not enough calories. I've been sticking to that since that's what was recommended but I don't want to %*&^ myself over in the long run. I'm pretty new here and learning as I go along. I am not feeling hungry, I eat 3 meals a day and have 2-3 healthy snacks, so what am I doing wrong? Or right? Opinions welcome! Thanks in advance!!!

    I did the 1200 calories and yes I did lose weight...but not the healthy way cause your are doing damage to your metabolism...check to find your BMR go to Scoobieworkshop.com and enter your info and it will give you your BMR so then change your goal in MFP to reflect your BMR..and eat your exercise calories so that at the end of the day your NET = your BMR...example if my BMR is 1300 cals to eat and I burn 200 cals by exercise then I will eat 1300+200 so that I end up with a NET of 1300..good luck:flowerforyou:
  • bunzai07
    bunzai07 Posts: 6
    well,
    i do a LOT of tae bo, three times a week. according to this site thats about 500-600 cals per hour session. i do a lot of uphill walking, for about an hour and a half. thats about 300-400 per hour for me. and then i do a treadmill run to burn about 300 cals. (about half an hour running.)
    so i get a lot of exercise. but i just figured that i eat like an average of 1700 a day- thats 11900 cals. when you subract my -3500 exercise, my BMR stuff, ect., daily acitivities (and all that stuff MFP calcualtes for us)- i'm at a -3500 cal def, which is a lb per week.
    however i'm not always hungry enough to eat back the calories, so i often only eat like an average of 1600 per day- which is 11200 per week, and then doing all the subracting from there leaves me with a 4000-4200 def.
    am i doing the right math? and if not- is my deficit too high to lose weight causing plateau?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    well,
    i do a LOT of tae bo, three times a week. according to this site thats about 500-600 cals per hour session. i do a lot of uphill walking, for about an hour and a half. thats about 300-400 per hour for me. and then i do a treadmill run to burn about 300 cals. (about half an hour running.)
    so i get a lot of exercise. but i just figured that i eat like an average of 1700 a day- thats 11900 cals. when you subract my -3500 exercise, my BMR stuff, ect., daily acitivities (and all that stuff MFP calcualtes for us)- i'm at a -3500 cal def, which is a lb per week.
    however i'm not always hungry enough to eat back the calories, so i often only eat like an average of 1600 per day- which is 11200 per week, and then doing all the subracting from there leaves me with a 4000-4200 def.
    am i doing the right math? and if not- is my deficit too high to lose weight causing plateau?
    If you are burning that much, you probably need ot eat about 2x as much as your are. We need more details, like height weight and age. Also, why do you workout so much? Also can you open your food diary?
  • bunzai07
    bunzai07 Posts: 6
    well,
    i do a LOT of tae bo, three times a week. according to this site thats about 500-600 cals per hour session. i do a lot of uphill walking, for about an hour and a half. thats about 300-400 per hour for me. and then i do a treadmill run to burn about 300 cals. (about half an hour running.)
    so i get a lot of exercise. but i just figured that i eat like an average of 1700 a day- thats 11900 cals. when you subract my -3500 exercise, my BMR stuff, ect., daily acitivities (and all that stuff MFP calcualtes for us)- i'm at a -3500 cal def, which is a lb per week.
    however i'm not always hungry enough to eat back the calories, so i often only eat like an average of 1600 per day- which is 11200 per week, and then doing all the subracting from there leaves me with a 4000-4200 def.
    am i doing the right math? and if not- is my deficit too high to lose weight causing plateau?
    If you are burning that much, you probably need ot eat about 2x as much as your are. We need more details, like height weight and age. Also, why do you workout so much? Also can you open your food diary?



    WOW i didn't realize that i was working myself too hard. I eat pretty healthy with the exeption of a few cheat meals and treats on a weekly basis- nothing crazy. i'm female, 5'2", no health issues that would affect my weight.
    well, it's not going to be easy for me because i will feel like i'm eating too much: but i think that i will try maintaining the 3500 cal deficit either through eating more or exercising less...probably eating more as i love both food and exercise lol.
    we will see if anything changes! if anything it should help me out of this plateau.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    well,
    i do a LOT of tae bo, three times a week. according to this site thats about 500-600 cals per hour session. i do a lot of uphill walking, for about an hour and a half. thats about 300-400 per hour for me. and then i do a treadmill run to burn about 300 cals. (about half an hour running.)
    so i get a lot of exercise. but i just figured that i eat like an average of 1700 a day- thats 11900 cals. when you subract my -3500 exercise, my BMR stuff, ect., daily acitivities (and all that stuff MFP calcualtes for us)- i'm at a -3500 cal def, which is a lb per week.
    however i'm not always hungry enough to eat back the calories, so i often only eat like an average of 1600 per day- which is 11200 per week, and then doing all the subracting from there leaves me with a 4000-4200 def.
    am i doing the right math? and if not- is my deficit too high to lose weight causing plateau?
    If you are burning that much, you probably need ot eat about 2x as much as your are. We need more details, like height weight and age. Also, why do you workout so much? Also can you open your food diary?



    WOW i didn't realize that i was working myself too hard. I eat pretty healthy with the exeption of a few cheat meals and treats on a weekly basis- nothing crazy. i'm female, 5'2", no health issues that would affect my weight.
    well, it's not going to be easy for me because i will feel like i'm eating too much: but i think that i will try maintaining the 3500 cal deficit either through eating more or exercising less...probably eating more as i love both food and exercise lol.
    we will see if anything changes! if anything it should help me out of this plateau.

    Just set your account to 1 lb per week and if you exercise eat 50% of those calories back if MFP is estimating it. If you have an HRM, then eat 80% bad. Or if you exercise 5-6 days a week, just set your account to moderate and not worry about eating back calories.
  • ell5bell5
    ell5bell5 Posts: 38 Member
    Wow, I'm in this same boat. Mfp told me 1200 cal. My bmr says 1317.... To maintain it says I need q800 ish... Both I said I was sedentry. I'm not aiming to lose quickly. A pound a week or so. After a fair bit of research. I'm upping that net goat for Mfp.... I don't want to destroy myself or get into bad habbits straight away.

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