Advice needed- how do you stick to your calorie goal ?

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elw90
elw90 Posts: 41 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello

Just looking for some advice really on sticking to my goal of 1350-1400 calories a day. I know if I'm disciplined and I stick to this I will be successful. I'm accurately logging everything and I find myself at 1700 so often and don't know why it keeps happening. Considering setting my goal to 1,000 as if I go over by. 400 I will be at my goal. I always feel I've done half my calories by like 1 and the rest of the day is such a struggle and calories add up so quickly..:/

Any advice from people who have been here and tips would be great
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Replies

  • ME0172
    ME0172 Posts: 200
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    When I started a year ago and saw my goal was 1400 calories I thought I was going to starve. BUT... I bought everything low fat and "light". Most of it tastes ok and what i could deal with I kept and what I couldn't I went back to full flavor. I cut out regular sugar and started using Splenda... since I'm a coffee and tea drinker that made a big difference. We started making our favorite recipes with turkey sausage or ground turkey instead of beef. There are a lot of little things you can do to change what you eat for every meal that can cut a couple hundred calories out. Breakfast was 1 whole egg and 2 egg whites... little things like that. It can be hard at first but you can do it. Oh and if you're like me and like creamer in your coffee I use sugar free because it has less calories, no sugar and tastes way better than fat free. Also, eat back your exercise calories if you haven't been.

    Good luck!
  • Experttrainer
    Experttrainer Posts: 5
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    Have u figured out what your BMR is first? Body weight x 10 =
    That's your big # of calories your body is burning during rest and sleep, and for digestion. Then u take that # and calculate it with your activity factor. Look at this chart, pick the # and multiply it with your BMR. U have to eat less than your calorie expenditure. Just keep track of ur calories.. Take 9 cal per 1g of fat, all fats each, 4 cal per 1 g of carbs and protein. U get ur calories for each. Then add em all up to get your total. Then divide each nutrient by that big # to get your %. U need 20-35% of fat calories, 45-65 % of carb calories & 15-35 % from protein. Avoid saturated fats and Trans fats, high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils in your baked goods, deserts, etc.

    Calculating your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) or BMR
    Physical activity factor levels for your calorie expenditure
    Very light: seated or standing activities like in an office, driving or cooking. 1.2 – 1.3
    Low active: In addition to your sedentary life routine, 30 minutes of moderate activity equivalent to walking 2 miles in 30 minutes. (1.5 – 1.6)
    Active: In addition to the activities of a low active lifestyle, an addition, 3 hours of activity such as bicycling 10-12 miles per hour or walking 4.5 miles per hour. (1.6 – 1.7)
    Heavy: Planned vigorous activities, physical labor, full-time athletes or hard-labor professionals such as steel or road workers. (1.9 – 2.1)
    Calculation
    Use those activity level numbers to calculate with your RMR down below:
    Step 1. Body weight x 10 = RMR
    Step 2. Your RMR x activity factor = calorie expenditure
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    Open your diary. If we can see what a typical day for you is, we can give some suggestions as to where you could make changes to hit your goal.
  • Experttrainer
    Experttrainer Posts: 5
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    (Nutrition label procedures)

    Figure A

    Fat = 9 calories per gram
    Sat. Fat = 9 calories per gram
    Carbohydrates = 4 calories per gram
    Protein = 4 calories per gram

    (Find the percentage of calories from each nutrient)

    Figure B

    Fat = 20 – 35%
    Sat. Fat = 10% or less
    Carbohydrates = 45 – 65%
    Protein = 15 – 35%

    Example nutrition label using Figure A

    Fat = 5g… (5x9 =45 cal)
    Sat. Fat = 1g… (1x9 = 9 cal)
    Carbohydrates = 20g… (20x4 = 180 cal)
    Protein = 10g… (40x4 = 40 cal)

    Total calories = 324

    Use Figure B to check if you match up to that guide line. You take each nutrient and divide it by the total calories and you’ll get the percentages. It’ll be a decimal and you may want to round the number up. For example: Fat = 45 calories ÷ 324 total calories = .13 or 14%. This is an example, but the fat percentage would be low in this case.

    Fat = 45 calories ÷ 324 = %
    Sat. Fat = 9 calories ÷ 324 = %
    Carbohydrates = 180 ÷ 324 = %
    Protein = 40 calories ÷ 324 = %

    (Protein intake)

    Average sedentary person = .8g x body weight in kg
    Endurance athletes = 1.2 - 1.4
    Strength athletes including football players, etc = 1.4 – 2.0

    Calculation: body weight ÷ 2.2 = kg body weight
    Kg body weight x protein intake

    (Carbohydrate intake)

    6 – 10 g per kg body weight
    (Kg body weight x 6 =)
  • 1two3four
    1two3four Posts: 413 Member
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    Hello

    Just looking for some advice really on sticking to my goal of 1350-1400 calories a day. I know if I'm disciplined and I stick to this I will be successful. I'm accurately logging everything and I find myself at 1700 so often and don't know why it keeps happening. Considering setting my goal to 1,000 as if I go over by. 400 I will be at my goal. I always feel I've done half my calories by like 1 and the rest of the day is such a struggle and calories add up so quickly..:/

    Any advice from people who have been here and tips would be great

    In the when I find I am repeatedly going "over" I take the time in the morning (or at the beginning of the week) and I pre-log all of my food. I plan all of my food to the last calorie. I take into account treats and what not too. This is my biggest help.
  • elw90
    elw90 Posts: 41 Member
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    I opened my diary so people can help me, I feel like I eat too much in the morning, maybe I should try intermittent fasting?
  • JennyKCarty
    JennyKCarty Posts: 457 Member
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    What's your ht, wt and activity level? Your ticker says you want to lose 14lb, which isn't a whole lot. Perhaps 1700 is a good # for you. Setting your calories to 1000 sounds like a bad idea.
  • Onderwoman
    Onderwoman Posts: 130
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    Try this, it works for me: separate roughly equal amounts for meals and stop eating when you get close to the goal.
  • Marcia315
    Marcia315 Posts: 460 Member
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    I have a hard time sticking to 1300. That's why I exercise.
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
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    what works best for me is to planand log my food the day before. I usually log for the next day when I go to bed. I leave about 200-300 unplanned calories for snacks.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    What's your ht, wt and activity level? Your ticker says you want to lose 14lb, which isn't a whole lot. Perhaps 1700 is a good # for you. Setting your calories to 1000 sounds like a bad idea.

    I'm not seeing anything off about your diary, which leads me to also wonder about ht, wt, activity, and what you have MFP set to as your goal weight loss per week. At 14 lbs to lose you should be set to lose 1/2 lb per week as a healthy, realistic goal.
  • elw90
    elw90 Posts: 41 Member
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    I think it's a good idea to pre log my food and leave 300 for snacks / random occurrences to be flexible. I'm definitely going to try this. And knowing that my weakness is night time eating I will eat less during the day so that I can have more at night . I want to lose about 16 lbs to get to 9 stone. 7ish and I'm 5ft 5 with a bf % if 28
  • Cal28
    Cal28 Posts: 514 Member
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    Pre-log all your main meals! When I don't log I tend to go over too.

    If you log your dinner, lunch & breakfast you'll then have an allowance left for snacks which you can then decide on the day.

    Have you looked at some lower calories recipes? Try The Hairy Dieters or 5:2 recipe book (whether you decide to do it or not) you can get both from The Book Depository (if not locally) and they ship worldwide. x
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    I think it's a good idea to pre log my food and leave 300 for snacks / random occurrences to be flexible. I'm definitely going to try this. And knowing that my weakness is night time eating I will eat less during the day so that I can have more at night . I want to lose about 16 lbs to get to 9 stone. 7ish and I'm 5ft 5 with a bf % if 28

    What do you have your MFP goal set to as a loss per week?
  • LRoslin
    LRoslin Posts: 128
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    Pre-log all your main meals! When I don't log I tend to go over too.

    If you log your dinner, lunch & breakfast you'll then have an allowance left for snacks which you can then decide on the day.

    Have you looked at some lower calories recipes? Try The Hairy Dieters or 5:2 recipe book (whether you decide to do it or not) you can get both from The Book Depository (if not locally) and they ship worldwide. x

    Seconding the pre-logging. I do this when I first get up, while having my tea, and I plan out my breakfast, lunch and (if possible) dinner. I do not have a morning snack, I'm usually busy teaching. Then I get my workout in in the afternoon, and I look at my log and see if I need to have a snack to get to the minimum of calories, or if I'm in danger of going over.

    Before I started pre-logging I was usually over my calories by dinner and still hungry. Now my nutrition is better and I'm always satisfied. The weight started dropping faster, as well.
  • birdiecs
    birdiecs Posts: 237 Member
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    Easy, I don't set my calorie goal unrealistically low. This is why diets more often than not fail. Figure out your TDEE, in your case you have less than 20lbs to lose, aim for 10-15% deficit.
  • ohiowhthse
    ohiowhthse Posts: 38
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    I opened my diary so people can help me, I feel like I eat too much in the morning, maybe I should try intermittent fasting?
    I would not recommend that at all. In fact, eating LESS more frequently would benefit you. Problem is, you need to really re-train your brain and eat less at a sitting. A strategy I used was to make my normal plate, then go to the table with an extra plate. Take half of it off, and store it for later. Or in general, plan all of your meals and snacks that way you can prepare yourself for what to eat each day and how much. Hope this helps!
  • charliejenny
    charliejenny Posts: 79 Member
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    Its so refreshing to hear I'm not alone, I'm studying for a ba in criminology and social psychology and my job is sedentary, so apart from my exersize each week I'm sitting by a fridge or smelling peoples snacks all day

    I'm starving, its such a struggle....I'm starving, I've lowered my goal from 11/2pound loss o just 1/2 which has taken me up to 1400...it was 1200...I'm only 5.1 so it's so low for me...doesn't make me any less hungry
  • MyFoodGod
    MyFoodGod Posts: 184 Member
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    You're eating a lot snacks. Even though some of them are healthy I get the impression that you are grazing all day long. That's not going to be a good way lose weight.

    And unless you are logging as you eat them, it's very easy to forget one. For example if some one brings cookies to work and you pop one into your mouth on the way pass the goodie table.
  • MyFoodGod
    MyFoodGod Posts: 184 Member
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    Its so refreshing to hear I'm not alone, I'm studying for a ba in criminology and social psychology and my job is sedentary, so apart from my exersize each week I'm sitting by a fridge or smelling peoples snacks all day

    I'm starving, its such a struggle....I'm starving, I've lowered my goal from 11/2pound loss o just 1/2 which has taken me up to 1400...it was 1200...I'm only 5.1 so it's so low for me...doesn't make me any less hungry

    True hunger and emotional eating can feel the same. Learning to tell the difference is key.

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