Not using MFP right for the long haul?

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keziak1
keziak1 Posts: 204 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
MFP gives me a budget of 1680 calories a day to lose 1.5 lbs a week. All I"ve been doing is striving to get as much below that amount as I can. But when I did that in the past and lost slower than I wanted, I just gave up any effort and reverted to overeating. I want to be in it for the long haul this time. I'm thinking I should just eat the calories, dang it, put the scale away for the week, and focus on eating healthy not just low calorie. Thoughts?

BTW, my non-scale goals are to reduce the pain/stiffness in my knees and improve my energy (no more sugar highs and crashes). I'm already seeing progress with these goals! :happy:

Replies

  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
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    Your post is confusing. This is not rocket science. Set an accurate profile in MFP, MFP tells you the calories needed for the selected rate of loss, log your calories accurately. Repeat. Why revert to overeating? Stick to the plan and be patient.
  • HerbertNenenger
    HerbertNenenger Posts: 453 Member
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    It's all very psychological. If we deprive ourselves and make crazy restrictions on kinds of foods and go too low on calories, then we are going to NEED TO HAVE IT RIGHT NOW and then go crazy (binge) when our guard is down, even if we're not truly hungry. Eat at a slight deficit, don't rule out anything you like (as long as it fits in your range), and watch it slowly go. The calorie range that you mentioned sounds very realistic and doable. Don't undereat - that way lies disaster. Good luck !
  • KendraElmendorf
    KendraElmendorf Posts: 837 Member
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    You are not supposed to eat as far under the allotted calories as you possibly can. You are supposed to eat up to the allotted number and then when you exercise you are supposed to eat those back as well.

    When MFP calculates your daily goal, they only take into account your personal stats, how many pounds per week you said you want to lose and your set activity level (non exercise). Therefore when you exercise, in order to avoid creating too high of a calorie deficit, you need to eat back at least half, if not more of the earned calories.
  • csuhar
    csuhar Posts: 779 Member
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    MFP gives me a budget of 1680 calories a day to lose 1.5 lbs a week. All I"ve been doing is striving to get as much below that amount as I can.

    That could be part of your problem. Just as, when it comes to exercise, more time in the gym is not always better, when it comes to weight loss, eating even less than your already reduced daily goal doesn't necessarily help.

    Take some time and trust the math. Then, log your activity as accurately as possible, and log your calories as accurately as possible. Even if you're losing at a slower rate than you want, you're still losing weight.
  • LCFulmer
    LCFulmer Posts: 183 Member
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    The calorie limit MFP set is a good enough to ensure proper weight loss... you shouldn't eat less than what they've already set. Eat the set amount and workout and you'll be ok. Be sure to capture all of your calories.

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