Do you think my diet would work?

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  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,250 Member
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    This doesn't sound like enough calories. Find out your TDEE number on an external site to see how much you would need to eat to maintain. Simply take 15-20% off to see how much you would need for weight loss.

    or plug your height/weight etc into MFP and work it out from that - much easier and available right there in the program. :smile:

    MFP doesn't take into account your BMR. It often gives a number that is much lower then a person actually needs in order to lose weight. MFP wanted me at under 1400 calories to lose. I did the TDEE - 20% method (and never under my BMR) which gives me 1700ish. I am losing weight better and I feel better with the higher calorie amount.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    This doesn't sound like enough calories. Find out your TDEE number on an external site to see how much you would need to eat to maintain. Simply take 15-20% off to see how much you would need for weight loss.

    or plug your height/weight etc into MFP and work it out from that - much easier and available right there in the program. :smile:

    MFP doesn't take into account your BMR. It often gives a number that is much lower then a person actually needs in order to lose weight. MFP wanted me at under 1400 calories to lose. I did the TDEE - 20% method (and never under my BMR) which gives me 1700ish. I am losing weight better and I feel better with the higher calorie amount.

    MFP also expects you to log any additional exercise and eat those calories back. That in itself usually is enough to cover the difference between your goal and BMR.
    Your 1400 would have been higher on days your exercised (which I assume you do with your TDEE).
    What weight loss per week goal did you choose with MFP?
    It expects you will choose an appropriate weight loss per week goal. If you choose one that is too high your calorie goal will be too low.
    I've come out with basically the same numbers using TDEE and MFP (averaged over a week since with TDEE you eat the same everyday, MFP plus exercise you don't).
    Also TDEE - 20% if you are sedentary will put you under BMR. Sedentary TDEE is only BMR x 1.2.

    I am always for eating more and still losing. Both methods can have you doing that.
  • Fuax75
    Fuax75 Posts: 70 Member
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    Sounds like it's too few calories, plus you will get bored of eating the same things after a week!

    Use MFP, set it to lose 1lb per week and find some regular exercise you enjoy. Get food scales and weigh everything - you can eat what you like, but just do it in moderation.



    Best advise you will receive IMO!!!!!!!
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    Thank you everyone for your advice, I guess when I look at it I would not want my family to only eat that..... This is my updated version :


    Breakfast : 2 pieces of wholemeal toast + 2 egg whites + 1 egg yolk.
    Snack : Yogurt + a serving of fruit
    Lunch : A sandwich + a small salad.
    Dinner : Either Lean Cuisine or a homemade meal (Pasta, curries etc)



    My basic stats are :

    Height : 173cm tall (5'8)
    Weight : 89kg (190lbs)


    Do you think that this is better?
    Of course it will change day to day but it's just a sample menu.

    YES I think this is better. Especially since this is a sample menu and will vary from day to day. Do you like to cook a lot of your own foods already? You can have a lot of fun learning and/or tweaking more recipes to meet your goals. Do you have a food scale to measure your food? For the sole goal of weight loss you simply need to consume less calories than you burn. It doesn't have to be some tiny number. For instance, if to MAINTAIN your current weight you are eating 2500 calories per day, to lose you could still eat 2000 and lose about a pound a week. A diet with too few calories is likely to not be sustainable over the long term.

    Definitely give the links posted up thread a read. It's a very helpful post (though you may have to google some acronyms you may never have seen before)
  • Xaudelle
    Xaudelle Posts: 122 Member
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    Sounds like it's too few calories, plus you will get bored of eating the same things after a week!

    Use MFP, set it to lose 1lb per week and find some regular exercise you enjoy. Get food scales and weigh everything - you can eat what you like, but just do it in moderation.

    +1
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
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    Pre-packaged meals tend to be very high in things like salt and sugar, among other things. Also, you're not learning to cook sensible meals by throwing something in the microwave. I think you'll feel better physically, and be more satisfied if you cook real food.
  • bc2ct
    bc2ct Posts: 222 Member
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    I always worry when I see people back-loading their caloric intake. The problem is that a lot of people will get to dinner with a low intake (for example, let's say you have 1000kcal remaining) and then will snack and binge at night and go well past their goals. I used to do this all the time - I would strictly control my intake for most of the day, come back from PM workout with 750-1000kcal remaining, and binge eat 1250-1500kcal. This "restrict during the day, overate at night" is not optimal.

    My suggestion would be to eat more at lunch and breakfast and leave yourself with a smaller amount of remaining calories for the nighttime meal but make sure that you get all the way up to your essential net. I make this last point because the above-pattern can go another way -- where you have 750-1000kcal remaining at 6pm and chose to only eat 300-500kcal so you are always below your net. All unhealthy eating patterns and probably general issues with the MFP system for hyper-analytic people like me.

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