newbie, way under calorie limit

Sadly, if you keep this up you will be losing mostly lean muscle mass and will be working your way towards a very unhappy place of a lowered and damaged metabolism. A lot of users on this website have had to come to terms with this have had to spend a very long time repairing it.

The way this tool works is that the goal calories it sets for you to eat already has your deficit built into it, you don't even need to exercise. So when you DO exercise, you need to eat the calories it gives you. Some people feel that MFP overestimates their burn, so they choose to eat slightly less than the app says.

Trust the numbers and this website, it works. It's not a quick fix, just do it everyday. Time is going to pass regardless.

I would guess you fall off the wagon because your body can only do so much on no fuel. Much easier to be successful when you don't under eat and over exercise and instead lose weight in a healthy manageable way.

I would try to stay as close as you can with your net goal so you can do more of a body recomp then just losing weight. This along with a good cardio/weight mix will help you to firm and tone up at the same time. It's also a good way to tell if that is the right calorie goal for you to lose weight or not...if you are always under then it's hard to find what your sweet spot will be and if you want to maintain or change your goals later you will have a better idea of this. Hope this helps!

Hey.. I was doing the same thing when I started.. completely unintentionally.

If you're still hungry the fix is easy.. just eat..

if your not.. it's a bit tougher (this is my struggle)

Add things into your diet.. I found it easier to drink my breakfast rather then eat a breakfast. I started making smoothies. Sometimes they are low calorie, sometime they are high calorie. I just make sure to have something in the morning. that seems to help me, plus i feel better at work. I still don't eat super early. I usually take ti to work and drink it around 9. I don't usually feel hungry, but if I don't eat something then i wont' eat anything until late afternoon and i'll fall way under my calories.

Don't eat diet, low fat or diet foods. Good fat is good for you. Eat it. I switched to whole milk and i love it :~) The only fat free thing I eat is greek yogurt and that's purely because i don't like the taste of full fat version. Eat peanut butter and jelly on a tortilla or make a super awesome salad complete with apple juice sweetened cranberries, sun flower seed and feta cheese. (squeeze lemon over the whole thing and chopped up garlic cloves so good!!)

There are so many ways to get your calories up.. just do it one step at a time. I had to make my first goal 1,000 and when I could reach that my next one was 1,200.. now my goal is 1,600. I still think I am undereating (because i exercise like a madwoman) but it's leaps and bounds above where I was.

Good luck and remember the key to long term change is baby steps! the tortoise always wins!!

Thanks. I guess I needed this hard truth, because what you described is how I've been already for years and years-yo yo dieting, gaining it back, and you're right, it gets harder every time, not to mention I'm sick of starting from the beginning over and over.
I'll just have to eat more and learn to deal with it, and stop the less is best attitude

Good, much better to reflect on this now with only 12-15 years of doing it.

Now imagine being 50 to 60, and you still haven't reached a healthy weight, and you can ONLY eat 1000 cal daily on avg to even maintain barely. And every treat meal, every special occasion, every vacation, actually adds on lbs through the years.

If you've already done this a few times, you likely already have less muscle mass than expected for your age, weight, height, and therefore MFP's estimate of your maintenance level, that they take the goal loss off of, is probably inflated.

Use this for best estimates of everything, plus track the progress that will really matter to anyone that can see you - inches.
Unless you carry your scale on your back with current weight on it - no one will know anything but inches.

It will suggest a deficit amount based on your amount to lose to healthy weight, and your time and type of workout. Pick a workout routine that is realistic and sustainable.
Diet is for weight loss, and done right just fat loss.
Exercise is for heart health and body improvements, and can help or hurt just fat loss.

And you need a strength training program. Heavy for you. Here at the beginning you'll have a rare opportunity to actually add some muscle mass. May be only a pound in many months, but any is better than none, which is way better than a loss of muscle.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

I had a similar problem (I say had, like I've got it all figured out and trust me I don't). Either I would eat way under my calories or way over. It's taken me a long time to figure it out. Don't be quite so afraid of high calorie foods if you have problems reaching your calorie goal. I noticed a similar problem when I ate too many low calorie food thinking it was good for me. It's taken time, but I'm pretty good now at getting close to my goal every day. I don't quibble too much if I'm over or under by a couple hundred calories, but anything more than that I know I need to be more diligent with my food planning.

Good luck! And remember, like everything, it takes practice.

I too started tracking yesterday and got the same message. My struggle is the activity calories that you earn. I hadn't reached my calorie goal for the day, I worked out at 8pm last night and earned another roughly 300 calories, which turned into me having 800+ more calories for the day. I don't feel right eating at 9pm, so what do I do then? I know that mentally I'm not allowing myself to do what I know I need to in order to shed 90+ pounds, 800 calories to consume on top of the 700 I already consumed - just seems like a hard pill to swallow.

on the days you know you're going to work out at night - eat more throughout the day. you're not going to drop 90 pounds in 3 months (like they do on those reality shows) so don't be so strict on yourself food wise. i'm not saying go out and eat mcdonalds everyday i'm saying eat more protein dense with some fat foods throughout the day. for example my lunch today was 2 hard boiled eggs, an oz of unsalted peanuts, 1 serving of hint of salt wheat thins and for dessert strawberries with balsamic. snack later on will be string cheese and homemade peanut butter granola bar.

I too started tracking yesterday and got the same message. My struggle is the activity calories that you earn. I hadn't reached my calorie goal for the day, I worked out at 8pm last night and earned another roughly 300 calories, which turned into me having 800+ more calories for the day. I don't feel right eating at 9pm, so what do I do then? I know that mentally I'm not allowing myself to do what I know I need to in order to shed 90+ pounds, 800 calories to consume on top of the 700 I already consumed - just seems like a hard pill to swallow.

Carry those calories over to a bigger breakfast and lunch. Many days of doing that in a row works out exactly the same.

Use this example for why to hit your calorie goal for the day. Being 30% short of goal is no good. Would you accept that for reaching goal weight, 30% over? Just stop trying to lose and say that's fine? Then don't do it for your eating goal either.

The only kicker is after exercise during your sleep is when your body would like to do some repair and improvement from your exercise - and you've barely given it what it needs to do basic functions of life, so forget improvements.

If you aren't going to feed your workout to actually make improvements from it - don't waste your time and create additional stress for the body by doing it. Stress on the body will mess up hormones and fat loss.