I want to make sure Im doing this right

FaithHope76
FaithHope76 Posts: 53 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,
I am a 36 yr old stay at home mom. I'm 5'2". A couple of weeks ago I started exercising regularly with Fitness Blender videos. The great thing is they tell you about how many calories you burn. I have been trying to work out at least 5 days for 30 minutes. I'm pretty out of shape. Lol. So last week I got the app and started counting calories. I realized how much I really eat and what. I have had a problem eating too much in one sitting and then feeling over full and bloated for a long time. Also I was previously snacking at night and completely cut that out. When I made my fitness profile to loose 1lb a week and exercise 5d/30m it says I should eat 1400 calories a day. With exercise I usually am 100 calories or so less.

So I want to make sure I am getting enough calories and exercising enough to loose weight. Also it seems like I keep feeling really full still after lunch and dinner, even with smaller portions, because I am drinking a lot more water with meals. I am cutting portions town more and more, but it doesn't seem like I'm eating that much. Would love some insight. Thanks!

Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    I'm not sure I completely follow, but...

    1400 cals + whatever you burn during exercise is very reasonable. The way MFP is setup, you want to eat back the calories you burn through exercise.

    So on a rest day you'd eat your base 1400 cals and be done.
    On an exercise day, you'd eat your base 1400 cals PLUS an additional 300 cals (or however many cals you burn exercise) to make up for the exercise.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
    it would help if you opened your diary - then people could see what you're eating and evaluate. also make sure you are measuring everything. even though you say you have cut your portion size down you could still be over eating. a cup of pasta is a LOT smaller than you think (just an example not sure if you even eat pasta but this little example was an eye opener for me the first time i measured out a cup)
  • FaithHope76
    FaithHope76 Posts: 53 Member
    Thanks : ) Ok, opened up my diary.. I have looked up what portions should look like according to hand size, so I going off that for the past few days.
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Thanks : ) I will try to figure out how to open my diary. I have looked up what portions should look like according to hand size, so I going off that for the past few days.

    Edit: You got it open already.

    I'd suggest picking up a digital kitchen scale. The deck of cards/palm/tennis ball estimations are helpful, but never worked well for me. A kitchen scale will let you see exactly how much 1 oz is or that the cup of rice you measured up is really two servings sometimes.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    I'd suggest picking up a digital kitchen scale. The deck of cards/palm/tennis ball estimations are helpful, but never worked well for me. A kitchen scale will let you see exactly how much 1 oz is or that the cup of rice you measured up is really two servings sometimes.

    This! It's amazing how off eyeballing is.
  • unFATuated
    unFATuated Posts: 204 Member
    The best part of what you've done so far is realise exactly how much you were eating before. I did the same about a year ago and was quite shocked about how much food I was taking in. I agree with getting/using a scale to work out what portion sizes you are using/need. It gets easier to eyeball over time, but if you haven't done it before or for a while it can be easy to over or under estimate what you're putting down. I used to weigh everything but don't need to so much anymore. Sometimes I go back to weighing just to make sure my eyes haven't gotten bigger :tongue:
  • FaithHope76
    FaithHope76 Posts: 53 Member
    Well I do have a kitchen scale - guess I better start using it!
  • Bootjockey
    Bootjockey Posts: 208 Member
    I agree with some of the other posters here. It sounds like your 1400/cal/day diet is about right for you. If you're figuring to lost 1lb a week, that means your metabolism burns about 1,000/cal/day. Reducing that number (1,900) by 500cal/day should net you about a 1lb per week weight loss.

    Best of luck on your journey!

    -David / BootJockey
    -257lbs
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Well I do have a kitchen scale - guess I better start using it!

    It really is an eye opener. Depending on how I was feeling on any given day my serving of pasta or rice might be half of what it should be or twice what it should be. The scale takes my perception swings out of it.
  • FaithHope76
    FaithHope76 Posts: 53 Member
    Thanks for your help everyone! I have been under 1400 with exercise, so I'm hoping to loose more than a lb a week! I'm so excited to get healthy!
  • mlnick69
    mlnick69 Posts: 84
    Completely up to you but it seems that most people here feel the default macros for carbs/fat and protein are not the best. One way people set up their macros is to take your weight x .8-1.2 and eat that many grams of protein. Your weight x .4 and eat that many grams of fat, fill the remaining calories in with carbs. Protein and carbs are 4 calories per gram, fat is 9.

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