Calorie Deficit ??!?! What am I supposed to do ?? plz help

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Hi all,

I am really confused on what I am doing!! I have never done this much exercise and followed a diet regime .

I have a daily goal of 1200kcals , I burn about 515 calories daily ( 5 times a week )
So, I earn 515 calories and I have a TOTAL of 1715kcals daily.

What my question is, should I consume only 1200kcal or should I meet 1715kcal ? Or should I eat around 1200-1700kcal? All these week I have been eating less than 1200kcal, losing weight but quite slowly... I have about 28lbs in TOTAL still to lose even though my ticker says much less...

Anyway, would appreciate your input and adv...

x

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Goal means goal, especially at 1200, which is considered the bare minimum for women. :smile: The way MFP is set up, you are at a deficit already with your daily goal - meaning eat to 1200 every day without doing any exercise at all, and you would lose weight (although I still think 1200 is too low for nearly all of us, but I won't go into that...yet). :tongue: When you factor in exercise, you burn calories which creates an even larger deficit, too large, and that can lead to problems and a stall in weight loss. That's why MFP adds those burned calories back into your goal, so you'd have a goal of 1751, but your NET cals would still be around 1200.

    Since you only have around 28lbs to lose, make sure you didn't set your weekly goal to lose 2lbs a week - that's too aggressive unless you're over 200lbs and have a lot to lose. Set it to 1lb a week, you will get a more realistic daily goal, and your body will be happier - and eat back those exercise cals. Eat too little over a long period of time and you're giving your body a reason to store fat, not burn it.

    Hope that helps!
  • SKAVY7178
    SKAVY7178 Posts: 165 Member
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    HIiiii Amy,

    Thank you so much for your answer... You cleared up every single doubt I had with this calorie deficit :D Thank you so much!!!

    I had set ,y weekly goal to 1.5lb a week..is that too much? anyway, I will reduce it to 1lb a week as recommended!

    SO, all these days I have been eating so little O.O sometimes even lower than 1200kcal OMG !!!!! Food, here I come (healthy choice :P )

    Thanks a ton,

    x
  • NikSpears
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    Hello,

    So my goal calories by MFP is 1550 I ate 1548 and gained 508 from exercising which made my daily goal go up to 2058, so I should be eating 2058 instead of the 1550 to lose weight?
  • BenjaminMFP88
    BenjaminMFP88 Posts: 660 Member
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    Hi all,

    I am really confused on what I am doing!! I have never done this much exercise and followed a diet regime .

    I have a daily goal of 1200kcals , I burn about 515 calories daily ( 5 times a week )
    So, I earn 515 calories and I have a TOTAL of 1715kcals daily.

    What my question is, should I consume only 1200kcal or should I meet 1715kcal ? Or should I eat around 1200-1700kcal? All these week I have been eating less than 1200kcal, losing weight but quite slowly... I have about 28lbs in TOTAL still to lose even though my ticker says much less...

    Anyway, would appreciate your input and adv...

    x

    Lol, probably neither. Go to IIFYM, find out what your BMR/TDEE is, and it at a caloric reductions of a bout 20% of your TDEE :)

    And you should eat back at least a portion of your work out calories.... at least enough to net higher then your BMR
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
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    Hello,

    So my goal calories by MFP is 1550 I ate 1548 and gained 508 from exercising which made my daily goal go up to 2058, so I should be eating 2058 instead of the 1550 to lose weight?

    Everybody's going to have a different opinion on this, but my thoughts? Eat part of the exercise calories (like half) but not all, because it's possible there's a miscalculation somewhere. Sometimes a website like this one, which calculates on averages, overcalculates what you've burned.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Options
    Hello,

    So my goal calories by MFP is 1550 I ate 1548 and gained 508 from exercising which made my daily goal go up to 2058, so I should be eating 2058 instead of the 1550 to lose weight?
    See my answer to the original poster - same thing applies. This is of course assuming you entered all your info at set up accurately and with realistic goals, and that you are accurately logging your food & exercise.

    That's how MFP works, and it works well.

    Eat your cals, drink water, exercise, take rest days, get good sleep, have patience.