Am I eating too few calories?

Schmidty102
Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all,

I went on a diet about two weeks ago but have yet to lose any weight. I started out at 180lbs, and am still there. I have been restricting myself to roughly 1500 calories a day.

I am 18, male. 5'6"

I do about 200-250 calories of cardio every day.

Any suggestions on how to get myself down?

Replies

  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    Bump
  • CloverCreeper
    CloverCreeper Posts: 178 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • misssiri
    misssiri Posts: 335 Member
    What she said

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    Open your diary, so we can see,
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    You are still growing - my son is also counting calories and we had a tough time finding a TDEE calculator that worked for someone who was still growing. Maybe use this site I found: http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html

    It is specific to kids aged 2-20. When we did the typical BMR/TDEE calculator for my son it came out to 1900 calories a day to lose about a pound a week. Well, it worked for 3 weeks then he stalled. We found that other site and recalculated - his TDEE is 2800. So, with a cut of 500 a day he is eating at 2300 a day. We tried it last week and he lost 2 pounds.

    Best of luck to you!

    Edit: I put your info into that website and at a 20% cut (nearly 2 pounds a week) you should be around 2400 calories a day. I know it sounds high - but when you are still growing your body needs more than a fully developed adult. If we do not eat enough, our body loses lean body mass and slows your metabolism (from everything I have read, and personally experienced, this seems to be true).
  • jenniferldorris
    jenniferldorris Posts: 15 Member
    You have many advantages that will assist you at reaching your goals, 1. You are male and therefore are going to have a higher metabolism, 2. You are 18 so you have the advantage of age as well as energy levels. I would make sure your intake for those 2 weeks was accurate because you should have seen a loss the first week. Increase your activity as much as you can and as you start to build muscle you will begin to burn even more calories per day. Good luck and stick to it! It will work.


    I would also say make sure you are getting enough protein, alot more than what your breakdown says.
  • symonspatrick
    symonspatrick Posts: 213 Member
    1700 or 1800 calories sounds more healthy than 1500 since you should be eating 1666 if you were just laying in bed all day. You should be losing weight even with 1800 calories. Maybe you need to more carefully track your food intake and make sure you are logging correctly. Also it would help if you open your diary so people can give you better feedback.
  • krickeyuu
    krickeyuu Posts: 344 Member
    I am a 52 year old female, 5'4" and I eat more than 1500 calories a day so I am sure you need to eat more food. See a Dr. or Registered dietician to find out what an 18 year old young man should be eating to lose weight but not compromise development.
  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    I just joined the site today, so I do not have any food tracked in there yet. I will start keeping track tomorrow. I was trying to use an iPhone app called "Lose It!" and it told me to eat 1,581 calories a day. Do you think I should eat about 1600 calories for another week and if there is no loss, up the calories by about 200?
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    I'm a 119lb short old lady and I'm on 1650 and doing about the same exercise calories. Yes you need to eat way more.

    Did the app include exercise calories. I'd say eat what it says plus your excercise cals. Best though is to do the roadmap link above.
  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    The link above says I should be eating roughly 2000 calories. That seems really high to me, as I ate around that in the summer and did not really fluctuate in weight any, plus I worked mowing lawns all summer. Does this seem right?
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    are you just doing cardio or also weight training...

    you said you do cardio everyday..is that seven days a week no matter what or is every day really five days?

    at 3-5 days of activity your maintenance calories are 2990 deducting 30% from that gives you about 2090 calories per day and that is a 4200 a week deficit...

    If you are not strength training you should seriously consider starting a total body workout plan and mixing in some cardio...at the minimum you should probably bump up to 1800 and see how that goes for a few weeks...
  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    I generally do 2-3 miles of walking/jogging/running 6 days a week. I do a little bit of weight lifting twice a week, but nothing big.
  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    bump
  • Energizer06
    Energizer06 Posts: 311 Member
    This sounds right for u.....plus add the 200 or so calories from your workout days. Yep, its a hell of a lot of heathly food everyday. I'm 38 burning close to 2900 calories a day....eating 2500 which is very hard when its all healthy. And still losing a lb/wk
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    I generally do 2-3 miles of walking/jogging/running 6 days a week. I do a little bit of weight lifting twice a week, but nothing big.
    can you join a gym or do you already belong?

    If yes, then you should probably try and go with a total body work out three days a week where you hit legs, arms, chest, back, etc...and are doing squats, deadlifts, overhead press, pullup/chin up, etc...and then do cardio on your two days and take two days off...

    try that for four to six weeks and adjust as necessary...
  • julesxo
    julesxo Posts: 422 Member
    It seems too low. I would bump it up to at least 1800 cals
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    For the love of [insert your deity here], eat some more food.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Hey all,

    I went on a diet about two weeks ago but have yet to lose any weight. I started out at 180lbs, and am still there. I have been restricting myself to roughly 1500 calories a day.

    I am 18, male. 5'6"

    I do about 200-250 calories of cardio every day.

    Any suggestions on how to get myself down?

    Men should not go below 1600 calories. At your height and weight, you should shoot for only a slight deficit. You are NOT obese.
  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    At 1800 calories MFP says I will lose about .8lbs a week. I am wanting it closer to 1.5lbs a week. Are you thinking I will lose more than what MFP says with 1800 calories? (I am trying to get down to 155lbs by graduation).
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    I used to retain water weight when I first started working out, at a tune of 4 lb the first week at the gym.

    Measure your foods to make sure you aren't overdoing it on calories.

    Usually small changes will reap big rewards at first.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    At 1800 calories MFP says I will lose about .8lbs a week. I am wanting it closer to 1.5lbs a week. Are you thinking I will lose more than what MFP says with 1800 calories? (I am trying to get down to 155lbs by graduation).

    It's not about what is more, it is about what is healthy.
  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    Does anyone have a suggestion for a workout program that requires little equipment?
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Does anyone have a suggestion for a workout program that requires little equipment?

    I don't but I have heard that body weight exercises are great for building muscle if you don't go to the gym so maybe google that if no one else helps you out.
  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    I have gone ahead and set my calorie intake per day to 1800 and will be logging everything from today on with the app.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    At 1800 calories MFP says I will lose about .8lbs a week. I am wanting it closer to 1.5lbs a week. Are you thinking I will lose more than what MFP says with 1800 calories? (I am trying to get down to 155lbs by graduation).

    With 25 lbs to lose, you will be lucky to lose 1 lb per week. It's more important to fuel your body properly for your workouts. In terms or workouts you can look up body weight exercises on youtube or www.bodyrock.tv . Also, if the roadmap is suggesting 2000 calories, you should probably aim for that. I know I failed at 1800 calories but have seen a ton of success at 2500-2700 calories. Keep in mind, the more active you are, the more calories you need. I have a desk job and workout 6 days a week. I am 5'11 @ 195 lbs and 30 years old. It's quite possible you will need more like 2400 calories.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    I have gone ahead and set my calorie intake per day to 1800 and will be logging everything from today on with the app.

    If you do this, make sure you eat back exercise calories.
  • kcallas88
    kcallas88 Posts: 192
    Eat lots more id say. i'm 5ft2in, 24yrs old, 128lbs, and eating close to 2000 a day while still loosing weight.
  • Schmidty102
    Schmidty102 Posts: 168 Member
    I'm having a hard enough time eating 1500 calories a day. How do I manage to eat that much!?
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
    Add calorie dense foods that don't take up a lot of volume. Peanut butter. Nuts. Olive Oil and healthy fats. Avocado. A protein shake. Full fat dairy.

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