Calorie Amount Seeming Too Low? Is This Right?

VeggChick
VeggChick Posts: 23
in Food and Nutrition
Hello all. I'm a bit of a newbie to here, so bear with me...

When I downloaded the MyFitnessPal Ap I entered all my information and it suggested I eat 1,380 calories a day...problem is some days I found myself a bit hungrier but stuck due to the calorie cap. Does this sound like a reasonable number?

Also, another thing is, following this, I've lost around 6 pounds in 11 days. To me that seemed a bit quick, does anyone else think so? I was only a few pounds overweight when I started out, my BMI hit right at the overweight mark.

Thanks for your responses and time!

-VeggChick

Replies

  • Followingsea
    Followingsea Posts: 407 Member
    Hard to say without knowing your age/weight/height/gender, but it sounds like it might be a bit low, especially if you don't have much to lose.

    It's very common to see big losses at the very beginning of any weight loss endeavor. When you start eating at a deficit, the first energy stores burned up are glycogen, which is stored in the muscles, along with water (which makes the glycogen accessible). When the glycogen is burned, the water is dumped, and you lose the water weight. Typically this tapes off by the end of the 2nd week and you will fall into a more regular 1-2 lbs a week loss pattern.
  • VeggChick
    VeggChick Posts: 23
    Ah, my bad, I for some reason thought I had posted age and such. I'm a 19 year old female who is around 5'6-5'6.5 and as of today I weigh 151.2 pounds.

    Yeah, I've gone through a weight lost process before but never dropped weight this quickly. I found it a bit odd. Especially because I haven't been able to be the most active due to my schedule.

    Thanks for you response!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Do you exercise? You're supposed to log exercise on MFP and eat those calories back as they are supposed to be EXCLUDED from you activity level and treated as extra activity. For example, when I was doing MFP my NET calorie goal was 1,850 to lose 1 Lb per week...but with exercise I routinely grossed 2100-2200 calories per day to lose 1 Lb per week.

    Just make sure you're not overestimating burn...people don't burn as much as they think they do.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    Sounds like you don't have all that much to lose if you are 151 now. Set MFP to .5 or 1 lb. a week, and you should have more calories to work with. Also, MFP is set up so you still have a deficit if you eat back the calories you burned with exercise.
  • VeggChick
    VeggChick Posts: 23
    Cwolfman13-
    I exercise when I can but I have been doing a fair amount of traveling and such and recently have felt under the weather so I haven't been able to but the prior week I did a lot of outdoor work. The calories that I burned off I did eat the majority of them back, so I'm not sure what is going on there.


    Laserturkey-
    MFP has been set to 1lb per week since I started out. I'm looking at about 26 more pounds to lose at the moment. And yeah, when you exercise it recalculates. I've noticed that.
  • leahgoldgirl
    leahgoldgirl Posts: 61 Member
    I asked a similar question yesterday.

    It seems to be coming in low for me too, but also make sure that you are logging your workout, if you are using the MFP recommendation. MFP works on NET calories, so, if you workout and burn 300 calories working out (working out is considered anything past the lifestyle you put in), than you can really eat 1,600 calories, because you are only netting 1,300.

    Even with that, I thought the calorie counts were severe, but I've only been using this again for 3-4 days, so who knows?
  • VeggChick
    VeggChick Posts: 23
    Yeah, I considered maybe it just seemed that way since I'm getting back into all of this again and maybe I was just adapting again...but everyone I've talked to has thought that number,1380, to be a bit low. My fiance is working on losing weight as well and was shocked when comparing his against mine even.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    Cwolfman13-
    I exercise when I can but I have been doing a fair amount of traveling and such and recently have felt under the weather so I haven't been able to but the prior week I did a lot of outdoor work. The calories that I burned off I did eat the majority of them back, so I'm not sure what is going on there.


    Laserturkey-
    MFP has been set to 1lb per week since I started out. I'm looking at about 26 more pounds to lose at the moment. And yeah, when you exercise it recalculates. I've noticed that.

    I think setting it to a half pound a week would be a good idea. Also, make sure you have your activity level accurately assessed. I have mine set as sedentary because my exercising is highly variable from week to week. I always eat all the exercise calories back, though.
  • VeggChick
    VeggChick Posts: 23
    I'll look into setting at .5/lb per week. I just want to make sure I have plenty of time if things taper off. I'm getting married next summer and want to have room to work with if something comes up. I'm not sure how things will be once I move and am stuck eating cafeteria food at college again.

    Yeah, I have mine set at sedentary as well.
  • leahgoldgirl
    leahgoldgirl Posts: 61 Member
    Yeah, I'm through a week and I'm pretty convinced that if the calorie recommendations + exercise/calorie burn calcs that MFP and my UP band provide were accurate, I would be significantly overweight already, as my normal diet goes over them regularly and my weight has held steady (= or - 3 to 4 lbs) for the last year. I was slightly less 2 years ago, but less muscle.
  • MzManiak
    MzManiak Posts: 1,361 Member
    Ah, my bad, I for some reason thought I had posted age and such. I'm a 19 year old female who is around 5'6-5'6.5 and as of today I weigh 151.2 pounds.

    Yeah, I've gone through a weight lost process before but never dropped weight this quickly. I found it a bit odd. Especially because I haven't been able to be the most active due to my schedule.

    Thanks for you response!

    I would recheck your stats. One time I couldn't figure out why it was giving me such a low number and it turned out I had put my height as 51 inches (I'm 5'1") instead of 61 inches. :embarassed: Oooops! lol

    Otherwise, go here: fat2fitradio.com and calculate your calories that way. Good luck!

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