HELP ( HOW DOES MFP WORK)

Okay so MFP gave you 2260 calories to eat a day...that already has the deficet built into it.

You exercised creating a bigger deficet so now you need to eat back exercise calories so that you are getting enough nutrition and fuel for the next workout.

MFP exercise calories are high so the suggestion is to eat back 50-75% of them.

So no don't burn as much as you eat....Your net should be as close to 2260 as you can get it...keeping in mind exercise calorie estimates are high...so today try to net 1900..give or take..so you have 1100 calories to go..

Calm down for now. really. its ok.

If your number is GREEN eat.

If it is red stop.


Try that, then the game is just getting more accurate about everything.

Is it possible to eat to little,

They say that a good healthy calorie intake is based on 1200-1400.
So would that stale me if I stuck to those numbers

Just read this article, and still had the tab open, so here it is for you: http://berzinatorfitnessdesigns.com/2014/03/06/are-you-dieting-too-hard/

It is
1. your body takes a certain amount of calories just to function wether you decide to get out of bed that day or not, since you currently have a larger body that number is higher for you. Eating much below that number is usually frowned upon becuase it can lead to medical problems long term
2. This is all a change for your body, its great that you are feeling so awesome to start with and hopefully you stay that way, but you might also decide next week you are really freaking hungry. It is worth eating more and losing slower if you will continue to process and not quit 2 weeks in.

1200-1400 sounds like pretty low numbers? Not sure where you are getting them from? Just to give you an idea I am a 200lb 5'6 female and my BMR (what I was talking about in #1) is about 1700 calories at the moment

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

that is a great link to a website if you are interested in calculating your BMR

Stick to your goal calories for now. Don't rush it. 1200 calories is the bare minimum for a person at a healthy weight and light activity to stay healthy. Those of us who weigh more or do more need more. When we try to lose too much too quickly the weight loss tends to stall and come back easier. I think of it like the body panics "We're STARVING!" and fights against losing the weight.

Give yourself time to adapt. You will see significant results if you just stick to MFP goals for awhile.

Ok, now I know some people have told me but everyone is telling me sort of different things so I really just want to get a better understanding..

I am 21 and 400 pounds. Started MFP 3 days ago and I just love the support and people

So
On my Home page it says my

Goal is 2260

But for instance.
Today

I consumed in total 1385... and I burned 629 (for now, walking in a bit) after that it says = 756 NET
It says I have 1509 calories remaining

Everyone talks about having a deficint to lose weight.
But I am not really understanding that.

So does that mean that I have to have a 0 Net, that I burn as much as I eat ...

PLEASE HELP...
Thanks guys

No, you're not understanding what a deficit is...you don't have to exercise off every single calorie you consume...your body burns an *kitten* ton of calories just being and keeping you alive and breathing. Those are your basal calories....your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). Then you have energy (calorie) requirements for just moving around and doing your day to day type of stuff...then you have exercise. All of these things combine to your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure)...these are the calories you would consume to maintain your weight.

MFP gives you a weight loss goal just based on your day to day type of stuff...this is called your NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) and is exclusive of exercise...in other words, if you ate to the calorie goal MFP gives you without any exercise whatsoever, you would lose weight...because the deficit is built into your calorie GOAL as per your stats and whatever rate of loss you told MFP.

So here's how it looks using my numbers. My NEAT is right around 2300 calories...If I didn't do a lick of exercise and just lived my day to day life and did my day to day stuff, I would maintain my weight consuming roughly 2300 calories...I "burn" roughly 2300 calories per day doing nothing but living my life. To lose 1 Lb per week I need a 500 calorie per day deficit...so MFP would give me a calorie GOAL of 2300 - 500 = 1,800 calories. You see...this number includes that 500 calorie deficit to lose weight.

Now, when I exercise, I have gone above and beyond my day to day...so my calorie requirement increase and I can eat a bit more and achieve the same goals. Lets say I burn around 400 calories and log that...now MFP will increase my calorie goal to 2,200 calories....but I still have my 500 calorie deficit because my maintenance number of 2300 has also increased by those 400 calories of additional activity to 2,700 calories and 2,700 - 2,200 = 500 calorie deficit still.

You're quite overweight so if you stick to MFP until you get closer to your goal. I say this because once you get stared its easy to understand and follow and you will lose weight. Once you've lost some weight, it gets harder to shift, from there you might like to look into other methods which are more complicated to understand.

Good luck

I was 215 when I started and was eating 2500 calories a day + all of my exercise calories and dropped weight like nobody's business. It was such a relief to KNOW how much I had to eat (a lot of food, but not all the food) so I was neither starving nor stuffed.