Confused

leclairkina
leclairkina Posts: 4
in Getting Started
Hi everyone! My name is Kina. I am very familiar with weight loss. I am currently about 148, 5 "3 and this is my "heavier" weight. On my health nut days, I was 128. But my yo yo-ing between 20 pounds have caused my metabolism to slow down.

I am confused. MFP says I should be eating 1200 calories a day, and took into account the 1630 I usually burn from exercise. Let's say I go above 1630 in calorie loss with exercise, to 2630. Should I be eating those 1000 calories so that my body doesn't go into "survival" mode? What if I go under 1630 in one week? Should I be eating less than 1200 calories to make up for what I didn't lose in exercise?

I am trying to avoid doing this the wrong way and screwing up my metabolism even more. I want to do it slowly and surely, and then maintain my weight once I get to the ideal amount. The last time I followed MFP, I plateau'd at 139 pounds, 11 pounds shy of my goal weight. It seems I was doing something wrong because I was working out 6 times a week, eating well but not losing!

Anyway, any clarity on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Replies

  • humglum76
    humglum76 Posts: 5 Member
    You are burning 1600+ cals daily from exercise? How are you doing that?
  • SashaFarrelly
    SashaFarrelly Posts: 14
    You are burning 1600+ cals daily from exercise? How are you doing that?

    This ^
  • F00LofaT00K
    F00LofaT00K Posts: 688 Member
    Hi everyone! My name is Kina. I am very familiar with weight loss. I am currently about 148, 5 "3 and this is my "heavier" weight. On my health nut days, I was 128. But my yo yo-ing between 20 pounds have caused my metabolism to slow down.

    I am confused. MFP says I should be eating 1200 calories a day, and took into account the 1630 I usually burn from exercise. Let's say I go above 1630 in calorie loss with exercise, to 2630. Should I be eating those 1000 calories so that my body doesn't go into "survival" mode? What if I go under 1630 in one week? Should I be eating less than 1200 calories to make up for what I didn't lose in exercise?

    I am trying to avoid doing this the wrong way and screwing up my metabolism even more. I want to do it slowly and surely, and then maintain my weight once I get to the ideal amount. The last time I followed MFP, I plateau'd at 139 pounds, 11 pounds shy of my goal weight. It seems I was doing something wrong because I was working out 6 times a week, eating well but not losing!

    Anyway, any clarity on this would be much appreciated.

    Thanks

    You can eat "well" all you want, but if you're still eating more calories than you are using, you will NOT lose weight. 1600 is a lot of calories to burn. Are you positive that you're numbers are accurate?


    ETA: Regardless, you should make sure you get at least 1200 net calories each day.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Welcome, Kina.

    If you are only 11 pounds from your goal, setting your weight loss to 2 pounds a week is way too aggressive. I suggest you set you weight loss goals to lose .5 pounds a week instead.

    I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are not burning 1,630 calories during exercise, or even a 1,000. Where did you get that number from?

    Say, for example, MFP gives your 1,300 calories for food. You go do a great run and your heart rate monitor tells you you've burned 256 calories. You would include those 256 calories in your daily caloric intake for a total of 1,556 calories for the day.
  • leclairkina
    leclairkina Posts: 4
    Sorry guys, I wasn't clear. I meant 1630 calories per week for 5 workouts.
  • tammyvarley77
    tammyvarley77 Posts: 17 Member
    This
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Have a read of this, it should help clarify things

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • leclairkina
    leclairkina Posts: 4
    AMAZING. That COMPLETELY answers my question. I had a seen a post from this user but it hadn't fully answered it for me. THANK YOU

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