Am I eating enough?

What's your current bmi? Why have you chosen a goal of 147 pounds? As you admit, you're not overweight, and therefore weight loss will be slow - 10 pounds since January sounds great, why not just carry on as you've been doing?

I'd eat the 1468 calories. Yes, the weight loss might be slower (maybe not) but its more sustainable in the long run. Plus, if you can eat more and still lose weight, why not?

do a google search for a BMR checker. This is your Basal Metabolic Rate, and determines how many calories you should be eating. check this often as it will fluctuate.

M

That seems reasonable in terms of goal setting, though I find being overly precise on a final target can be frustrating - maybe make it "get under 150 pounds then re-assess".

Where do you do your parkruns - I've just started in Wallace Park, Lisburn.

Aloha,
Here is a spreadsheet that really helped me out. It will give you all your numbers and even help out with meal planning as far as calories go!
Hope this helps you out! Download, use and share!

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3kFzsaVmRjmd1k4YjA1SlVWaFU/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you for this! Not quite up to doing anything but MFP's suggestions, but I know that will change.

helenlucyburn: I think everyone's right on target. The weeks that I ate up to my calories are the weeks that I seem to lose weight. YMMV.

If your BMR is 1530, your TDEE is not 1836. you have used a sedentary multiplier of 1.2, and you aren't sedentary doing that much exercise.

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

•If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
•If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
•If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
•If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
•If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

I just want to add that if you use this method (with exercise figured into your TDEE) then you would not enter and eat back your exercise calories on MFP.

I have only been logging for the last 5 weeks and lost 4kg in the first 1 1/2 weeks, but then hit a plateau. MFP also told me to eat 1200 cals a day. For the last 5 days I have increased my calorie intake to 1400 and have started to lose weight again Psychologically it was hard for me to increase my calorie intake as I didn't believe I could eat more and lose weight, but it really is working.

I incoporate significant exercise into my daily routine and I have been studying Anita Bean's Guide to Sports Nutrition.

Calculate your RMR then factor in your activity level which will give you your daily calorie expenditure. I have done this manually using the formula in the guide but you can use a website for this. (I can get you the formula from the book when I get home)

Factor in your exerise calories for the week so for me this is a minimum of 5000 exercise calories burned over the course of a week so 5000 / 7 = 714 exercise calories per day. (In reality I burn this over five days but levelling this out is better for your metabolism)

Add this onto to your daily calorie expenditure and you have your maintenance rate i.e. to keep your weight the same for your level of activity.

Now multiply this by 0.85 and this will give you your daily calorie intake optimised for fat loss. (note

A key problem when losing weight using cardio is that you will lose both lean mass and body fat. To minimise this you want to do two things, as a minimum eat 1.6g of protein per kilo of body weight (not as hard as it sounds), this helps the body to maintain lean mass and ideally introduce some strength training into your programme, calisthenics is perfect, some sit ups, push ups, lunges that sort of thing. What this will do is ensure that the weight you lose is predominantly fat and your body composition will change. 0.5kg of extra lean mass will burn a n extra 50 calories per day (350 per week) and will tone you up!!

Obtain your calories from the following:

Carbohydrate - 60%
Protien = ((1.6 x body weight)*4)/calorie intake for fat loss = ?%
Fat = 100% - 60% - Protein % = ?%

Enter all of these manually into myfitnesspal. Ignore the projected weight loss for now. (n.b. mfp will only let you select from a drop down list for percentage for protien etc.. soo if the above calculates at 18%, I suggest you select 20%, Fat is then obvisouly 20%. if 16% then slecte 15% and fat becomes 25%.

If you want to log your exercises then fine, but log them and record 1 calorie against them (remember you have already taken the benefit of the exercise).

Weight yourself fortnightly and recalibrate all of the stats to reflect your changing position.

bump

I doubt that 1200 calories is slowing down your weight loss but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't eat more. It seems like 1500 to 1800 would be a healthier calorie intake and one in which you would still lose weight. Trying to lose 2 pounds per week when you are so close to your goal weight is pretty aggressive. 1/2 pound to 1 pound per week would be easier to maintain while getting enough calories to get good nutrition.

Bump

Just as an update I've been eating 1500 now for a week and weighed in this morning for the first time - 1.75 pound loss - first loss for a long time! BOOM! Thanks for the advice everyone! 1500 it is!

Woohoo well done!

@Amanda241174 - I think this is what I need to do - thanks for the encouragement, just goes against the grain doesn't it?! After restricting and watching everything carefully to then eat more?!

Yes, SO MANY people struggle with this concept. That is "goes against the grain." So many people know they should eat more, see evidence/science that they should eat more, and yet don't eat more. Its an emotional battle. I'm not sure how to help you past it except to remind you of a few things that might give you perspective:

1) If your TDEE is about 1850 (I'm rounding), you can eat that EVERY DAY and not gain weight. So why would you fear going from 1200 to 1400?
2) if your TDEE is 1850, in order to gain even a half pound in a week, you would need to eat 2350 EVERY DAY all week. (It take an extra 500 calories a day to gain a half pound in one week)
3) Since you know that it's physically impossible to gain weight as long as you eat less than you burn (1850), there is ZERO risk to eating 1400 even 1500.

If you want to know why eating too few calories actually sabatoges your weight loss goals whereas eating a moderate deficit (moderate amount below TDEE, such as 20%) will accellerate weight loss, the simple answer is: HORMONES.

Hormones have an enormous impact on weight loss. If you eat too little, you get the wrong hormones.