Hey I'm new and have a couple questions

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KatrinaFahlman
KatrinaFahlman Posts: 4
in Introduce Yourself
Hey i just joined on Monday....i never used to calorie count, but i had a baby 8 months ago and am really struggling to loose all the baby weight..i have been under my calories since i started, just wondering if this is normal for everyone or if maybe i'm doing something wrong...pls let me know what you think!

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  • sgp329
    sgp329 Posts: 184
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    Welcome to MFP!

    Firstly, how far below your calorie goal are you?
  • ganesha303
    ganesha303 Posts: 257 Member
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    I found that MFP's default setting for carb/protein/fat ratios are not good for me. One challenge with weight loss is to make sure you mostly lose fat. You want to keep your muscle. I find that a protein/carb/fat ratio of 40/40/20 works much better for me to make sure I get enough protein to maintain my muscle. This ratio also presumes you are going to be somewhat active. You can change this ratio in the settings (I think it is in the goals area).

    One other thing is I find that I will weight the same for several days and then one day I will drop by a pound. I am not sure why this is. I weigh myself at the same time every morning naked before I eat or drink anything. It may have to do with varying water retention due to sodium intake, etc. But I just keep my chin up until I start seeing the result in a few days. If you go a couple weeks without any change, you probably want to change something in your diet or exercise regimen.
  • ashlee954
    ashlee954 Posts: 1,112 Member
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    As long as you are eating 1200 cals NET (minimum for a girl) then being under your goal is ok, as you will lose faster. You do not want to eat less than 1200 NET calories typically because you can put your body into starvation mode and you will hold onto the weight, mess up your metabolism, and ultimately stall your metabolism. So eat 1200 plus exercise calories minimum per day. Some people only eat some of their exercise cals but if your goal is set at the lowest 1200 (you'll notice MFP won't ever place any female at a goal less than 1200/day or a male 1500/day) then you really should eat all of them because your goal has already created the deficit to lose the amount of pounds/week that you entered in as what you wanted to lose.
  • publady1
    publady1 Posts: 1
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    hello,, good luck and keep it going. as for your question....are you eating enough,,and are you eating the right things? are you getting a little exercise?
  • azlady7
    azlady7 Posts: 471 Member
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    Usually I am a bit under my calorie goal. Sometimes its the foods we eat that will make all the difference. Excersizing ups your allowed cals for the day too. If you need to up your cal intake there are many good foods that will do that without adding pounds. It boils down to what types of foods your eating and how little or how much along with excersize. If your breastfeeding that may be a reason for needing more cals. So be sure to eat extra cals for that if you are!
  • KatrinaFahlman
    KatrinaFahlman Posts: 4
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    by about 300-400 calories each day...
  • Rubycherries
    Rubycherries Posts: 20
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    by about 300-400 calories each day...

    And your max calories intake per day is? 1200?
  • kiekokay
    kiekokay Posts: 101 Member
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    Hello,
    Im also new and although I have not had this problem too often, I think it is dependent on exercise for that day correct? So since I do yoga and dog walking mainly, I burn fewer calories and therefore have less to eat. But if someone is doing something that burns more calories (running, etc) they will be adding more calories to their total.
    So...for those of you who burn more calories through exercise, do you usually eat all of those? I find that on the days I am more active, I would have to add food to equal the calories...and I don't want to do that! Im just wondering....
    Crystal
  • KatrinaFahlman
    KatrinaFahlman Posts: 4
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    yea it says for me to intake 1240 calories....

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