confused help!

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Myamya123
Myamya123 Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, Im 5'7 160lbs and my goal is 140lbs. No matter what i do i dont loose weight? I calculated my BMR and it says calorie intake to become 140 is 1700.. and this is where i get confused MFP says to eat 1200 calories? which for the past 2 weeks i have eaten between 1100-1300 calories and have gained weight?! So how would eating more make me loose weight? Im just really confused and dont whats going on in most the posts because i dont understand the terms and the different calorie thing?

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  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    you put what rate of loss into MFP - the recommended 1 lb/week ? or a high deficit 2 lbs/week.

    The 1200 is what you eat on days with no exercise so if you do exercise and log the calories the target goes up accordingly.

    In general terms if you're gaining weight on a consistent basis over a period of weeks then you're eating too much or too inactive.
  • downinaggieland98
    downinaggieland98 Posts: 224 Member
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    I'm your height and 1200 is not enough calories for you. I'd find a place to calculate your TDEE and then set your calories at that - 20%. See how that goes. If you don't see any change, maybe lower your calories a little.

    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    Make sure and drink plenty of water and watch your sodium. Those are two huge factors for me. Hope this helps. Feel free to add me if you'd like!
  • Myamya123
    Myamya123 Posts: 30 Member
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    hi i caculaated the tdee and its 2100? I dont understand how that wouldnt make me gain weight when i gain weight from eating 1200-1500 calories somedays?
  • Myamya123
    Myamya123 Posts: 30 Member
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    Could someone possible calculate it for me because i have no clue what im doing im 5'7 160 and walk Moderately 3-5 times a week for 1-2 hours. Its just crazy to me how i eat less gain weight and its saying eat more calories?
  • shaleyn
    shaleyn Posts: 125 Member
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    Are you weighing and measuring all your food?
  • Myamya123
    Myamya123 Posts: 30 Member
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    no but i know im not going up that high in calories.
  • shaleyn
    shaleyn Posts: 125 Member
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    If you don't weight and measure, you have no idea how much you are consuming and could easily be at 2000+. Also, if you track your exercise, the MFP estimates are usually high.
  • kgibson17
    kgibson17 Posts: 23
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    Are you weighing and measuring all your food?
    [/quote
    Great advice! I am always shocked how off I can be when I don't actually weigh and measure.]
  • Love_Is_My_Fuel
    Love_Is_My_Fuel Posts: 211 Member
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    I bought a food scale and realized I've actually been eating 1500-1600 calories instead of 1200 that I logged. I've been losing 2-3 lbs. a week for about 2 months. I'm also much bigger than you... 236lbs. now, started at 265. My big things are sugars and sodium..limiting those, drinking lots of water, limiting carbs and exercising you should lose weight the way you want in no time :)
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    Change your MFP settings to lose 0.5 pounds per week. Really, it gets tiring that everyone expects to lose at least 1 or 2 pounds every week even when they only have 20 pounds to go. MFP spits out 1200 minimum. Thankfully.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    edit: double post.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Could someone possible calculate it for me because i have no clue what im doing im 5'7 160 and walk Moderately 3-5 times a week for 1-2 hours. Its just crazy to me how i eat less gain weight and its saying eat more calories?

    First time doing the walking exercise?
    Your body will respond by storing more glucose for those efforts, since out of shape walking can be a big carb burner for you. More stored carbs is with water, increased weight with no extra calories.
    Good needed water weight gain though, increases LeanBodyMass and that increases metabolism - congrats.

    What were you eating before that got you in to trouble?
    Any ideas at all to compare to 1200 or 2000 to have an informed opinion if one really seems high or one is low?
    Most have no clue, so your concept of high or low is totally based on seeing 1200, and that's it.

    Would it surprise you that you easily could have been eating around 3000 calories daily, with less exercise during that time?

    Anyway, no age mentioned, so guessing 35 for no reason. Middle of the road. Goal Weight 140, which is reasonable.

    So walking I'm guessing 3-4 mph range for 4 x 1.5 avg, or 360 min weekly.
    Assuming sedentary desk job 40 hrs weekly since no comment on that, outside walking sedentary too.

    So lot of assumptions there, that probably tend to put you on the low end of the estimate.

    BMR - 1453 (what your body would like to burn if you slept 24 hrs a day)
    TDEE - 2032 (what your body would like to burn if your activity really matches what I said above)

    So unless you have a medical problem or have yo-yo dieted yourself to a much lower muscle mass than average expected, you could eat at 2032 and not gain or lose weight with that level of activity.

    Only light cardio being done and no resistance training to help retain muscles, and only 20 lbs to go.
    Eat 1742 daily with that average routine. That changes if day job is a nurse on your feet or other more active job, or you start walking longer or more frequent.

    Macros to 40 carb, 30 prot, 30 fat %. At least get enough protein to help retain muscle mass.

    If you knew a decent bodyfat estimate, you could improve the estimate of that, daily activity increases.

    Used this.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    no but i know im not going up that high in calories.

    If you are gaining weight, then you are not really eating what you think you are eating. Accurately measure and log everything.

    MFP sets your calorie deficit *not including exercise*. It only counts what you need to live on and what you need for daily activities (work, school, caregiving, etc). When you exercise you need to log it and eat some more fuel for working out. Some people do not eat all of their exercise calories because they think the estimates are off.

    OR - calculate your TDEE-20% and do not eat back exercise calories.
  • emsdelems
    emsdelems Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm your weight and height and have found the same problem. It's been driving me mad. So I'm on a personal mission to see what's causing the craziness. I'm logging, weighing food, and have upped my exercise to see if it makes a difference. IF the BMI is right, and 1200 cals is too little for me (us?!) then I've been eating too few calories for a very long time. I'm adding the exercise I do to My Fitness Pal, and then making sure I'm round about eating the correct amount. So far the effect is a) I'm going to the look a LOT more and b) the weight is creeping up. But it's early days so I'm persevering. I'm putting it into a blog too on MFP so that I can record it for my own sanity as much as anything!

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