Does myfitnespal make anyone else feel like a failure?

AudreyMari
AudreyMari Posts: 5
in Motivation and Support
Let me explain...
My allocated calorie intake for the day is 1200. I can increase it with exercise, as you all know, but I can't exercise everyday. Needless to say, I find it impossible to only eat 1200 calories. I'm always going over, 100 calories one day, 300 the next, 51 the next, nothing extreme, but I can't just eat 1200 no matter how hard I try.
Now maybe this too is a problem or not, but I am a vegetarian so the main stay of my diet is beans. I'm not sure if meat has less calories pound for pound or not.

While using this program I have exercised 5/6 days a week for months, not exercised, exercised a few times a week,...and I loose weight for a while, but ultimately I end up feeling frustrated and give up myfitnesspal for a while. When I was inputting the rest of my calories for yesterday into the program this morning and I went over 130, I felt completely upset, because I felt as if I was so good!!!! I think that the small daily failure of missing my goal everyday is what eventually causes me to stop using the program and completely regress.

Just wanted to know if anyone else has dealt with these issues, and any suggestions anyone has to overcome the daily struggle of not meeting a seemingly easy goal, but realistically hard one. How do you stick to a daily 1200 calorie diet? What foods should I integrate or eliminate that will help me maintain 1200 calories and not feel deprived. Remember, this is a life-style, not a goal,so it can't be a quick fix. Thank you ahead of time for any and all suggestions.

Yours Truly,
Frustrated

Replies

  • Anonycatgirl
    Anonycatgirl Posts: 502 Member
    1200 calories is what my husband eats for lunch some days. Granted, he's probably twice your size, but that's still not a lot of food to sustain you through the day. Are you trying to lose 2 lbs. a week? You might find the effort more sustainable if you go for the slow and steady approach so you can eat a little more. You'll feel better and you won't see the dreaded red numbers that discourage you.
  • fknlardarse
    fknlardarse Posts: 210 Member
    I will get loads of really helpful scientific replies on this which will be more informative than mine, I'm no expert. But honestly and truly you need to set your calorie goal much higher. You will still lose weight and you will feel a success rather than a failure. I've been in your exact shoes.now I use a TDEE calculation (google scooby tdee) to work out roughly my calories taking into account exercise then you geta much higher goal (mine is 1550) but you don't eat your exercise calories it's already taken into account. It's much better! Now I love my food and still lose weight and have energy to exercise. Good luck.
  • kirili3
    kirili3 Posts: 244 Member
    I'd love to hear suggestions about sticking to 1200 too, though I reckon it's best not to stress over that.

    About whether it makes me feel like a failure... not so much, really. I don't hit goal a lot, but logging in everything helps me see the patterns in my behaviour (and also that, when I'm not trying to control intake too much but maintain strict eating times, I average about 2,500 a day!).

    You can increase your daily calories, 1200 is the minimum and there's no point using that if it annoys you. There's a thread titled something like 'eat more to lose more' or something like that with tips, hope someone can link it here.

    Best of luck!
  • AudreyMari
    AudreyMari Posts: 5
    No, only one! That is what sucks. Not only is the weight loss "healthy" and supposedly sustainable, but it doesn't really register on the scale for weeks and weeks, with water weight and loss.
  • GreenIceFloes
    GreenIceFloes Posts: 1,491 Member
    According to your ticker, you only have 5 lbs to lose! You should be aiming to lose 0.5 lb a week. 1200 cals is the minimum MFP gives to people who have a lot of weight to lose.

    From http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
    More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
    40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
    10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
    Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
    Yeah, even 1lb a week is too much for 5lbs to lose. Set it for 0.5lbs per week....gosh, if you are active you could even set it to maintenance and then use your exercise calories as your deficit.

    Also, make sure that you are weighing, measuring, logging, etc. These last 5 will be more challenging to get off, but you can do it :)
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
    You should definitely eat more then. I've found out I can lose relevant amounts of weight by eating between 1300 and 1500 kcals - and I'm short, and most of the time sedentary (I'm a student and I'm not going to classes at the moment, but I try to keep myself constantly active with exercise).

    We would need your stats to determine whether you actually need 1200 kcals to lose weight or not. Most people will lose by eating more than that, unless they're very short, very thin, very sedentary and so on. I'd personally suggest you to set a reasonable goal that allows you to keep being dedicated without feeling deprived but keeping a good deficit in the meantime.
  • Muffie22
    Muffie22 Posts: 77 Member
    yep. hate all the red when you go over. 1200 only puts me at a 0.8lb loss per week, so not loads. I tried it higher at like 1400, and 1500 as well but didn't lose anything then either really
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    what are your stats? Are you sure you set up MFP correctly …

    i have some females on my friends list that are 32 and eat anywhere from 1500 to 1800 a day …and are losing and look great...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    if you only have 5 pounds to lose it may be time to set up MFP for .5 pound a week and move to a heavy lifting program focused around compound movements like 5x5, starting strength, new rules for lifting, etc….
  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
    No, only one! That is what sucks. Not only is the weight loss "healthy" and supposedly sustainable, but it doesn't really register on the scale for weeks and weeks, with water weight and loss.

    Do you weigh daily or weekly?

    I weigh daily and use the weight to calculate a 7-day moving average that helps smooth out the fluctuations. I use an an app called WeightTrend+ that does this for me. So each day I enter a new weight, it gets averaged with the previous 6 days to get my "trend weight." My trend weight is always going down even if my daily weights fluctuate as much as a couple pounds.

    Personally, I would go insane if I were only weighing once a week.

    Also, if you have only 1200 calories and you are only set to lose 1 lb a week, are you fairly close to your goal weight? If you are within 15 lbs of your goal, you should be only trying to lose 0.5 lbs per week.

    Oh, and are you eating all your exercise calories?
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    Someone is going to finally post all the great links to carefully crafted advice such as the roadmap and sexypants. When they do, OP, I highly recommend that you read them and follow the directions.
  • ILoveGingerNut
    ILoveGingerNut Posts: 367 Member
    Lol change the limit to 1300- 1400. The goal is losin weiht/fat, not matching a number.
    For the record, yes, I do feel like a failure
  • cheripugh1
    cheripugh1 Posts: 357 Member
    I increased my calorie limit, put in to lose less per week and it brought me up to 1400 range... I just battled hard to stay at or under the 1200 max. Now that I have raised it, I typically do not hit the 1200 or do not go over it! I think it was a psychological thing, you get so focused on that low limit and you fail which makes you fail again... so I suggest you raise it up and see if that doesn't help you too... BTW even at that higher limit you will lose weight just not as fast.
  • donnacunningham37853
    donnacunningham37853 Posts: 1
    I have been doing 1200 for about 10 weeks. I have only lost 21 lbs so far. My profile indicates 14 but I had lost a few lbs prior to that. I have gone ever a few time easter being a biggie, I have been able to go under.i dont feel im loosing quick enough.i had one total knee done and cannot go thru a second .
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,861 Member
    I'm always going over, 100 calories one day, 300 the next, 51 the next, nothing extreme, but I can't just eat 1200 no matter how hard I try.
    The calories counters are rough estimates. If you are within a couple of hundred calories either way, you're within tolerance.

    Whether or not you can achieve 1,200 calories a day is highly individualized. From what I read on MFP, most people can't seem to do it. I can and I have, but I've been on maintenance for a couple of years so I no longer do.

    Five pounds is not much to lose. Many of us can see that much swing in a week or less do to water gain/loss.
  • sun_fish
    sun_fish Posts: 864 Member
    Someone is going to finally post all the great links to carefully crafted advice such as the roadmap and sexypants. When they do, OP, I highly recommend that you read them and follow the directions.


    Here ya go!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Your ticker says you have 5 pounds to lose. Set your weight loss to .5 pounds per week. You'll feel like less of a failure because you'll get more food, you'll feel better and you will still lose weight.
  • GreenIceFloes
    GreenIceFloes Posts: 1,491 Member
    Someone is going to finally post all the great links to carefully crafted advice such as the roadmap and sexypants. When they do, OP, I highly recommend that you read them and follow the directions.
    I already posted one of them and nobody noticed. :frown:
  • Erikalynne18
    Erikalynne18 Posts: 558 Member
    First off you are not a failure! I hate how MFP goes red when you go over your goal, it's discouraging. But you are not a failure! Every good decision you make is a step forward and they all add up. Unfortunately MFP likes to set 1200 cal for a lot of people :/ I lead a very active life and it still set me as 1200 cal in the beginning. I lost some weight but I hated it! I was grumpy, dizzy, headaches, and I wanted to quit. I did some research though (check out https://www.google.ca/#q=scooby+calorie+calculator+accurate ) and increased to 1700 cal, and lost quite a significant amount in the following weeks after the increase! :) I'm NEVER going back to 1200 cal! I suggest you check out that site and see what it recommends. Also, use a lower goal please like maybe a 5% or 10% reduction. If you don't have a lot to lose it is better to take your time :) Good luck!
  • ScottH_200
    ScottH_200 Posts: 377 Member
    No, MFP doesn't make me feel like a failure at all.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    According to your ticker, you only have 5 lbs to lose! You should be aiming to lose 0.5 lb a week. 1200 cals is the minimum MFP gives to people who have a lot of weight to lose.

    From http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
    More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
    40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
    10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
    Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week

    Someone is going to finally post all the great links to carefully crafted advice such as the roadmap and sexypants. When they do, OP, I highly recommend that you read them and follow the directions.



    Here ya go!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    ^ Here. Start reading, OP.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
    Someone is going to finally post all the great links to carefully crafted advice such as the roadmap and sexypants. When they do, OP, I highly recommend that you read them and follow the directions.
    I already posted one of them and nobody noticed. :frown:

    Apologies. I skimmed down the page but have the attention span of your average fruit fly . . .
  • GreenIceFloes
    GreenIceFloes Posts: 1,491 Member
    Someone is going to finally post all the great links to carefully crafted advice such as the roadmap and sexypants. When they do, OP, I highly recommend that you read them and follow the directions.
    I already posted one of them and nobody noticed. :frown:

    Apologies. I skimmed down the page but have the attention span of your average fruit fly . . .
    Accepted. :happy:
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Read everything in the sexypants link a couple of people have posted. That's full of good advice (the quoted original post that's very first ... not sure about all the comments). Basically, though, there's probably little reason to be restricting yourself to 1200 calories. How many pounds do you have to lose overall, and what did you set as your weekly goal? (If you have 25 pounds or less to lose, go with 1/2 pound per week). Make sure your activity level is accurate - a lot of people just put in sedentary when they really aren't.

    Also remember that MFP already has a deficit in the goal. So if you go over by 50 or 150 calories, you're still in a deficit (at 1/2 pound per week, the deficit is 250, so you have less wiggle room, but more calories to work with to start ... if you're at 2 pounds per week, you are given a 1000 calorie deficit so going over by 150 calories isn't bad). Going over may slow down your loss, but feeling frustrated doesn't help it much either, right? :wink:
  • blakebailey87
    blakebailey87 Posts: 13
    MFP only makes me feel like a failure when I see my sodium levels at the end of the day and how much I've went over on it, lol.
  • krisg71
    krisg71 Posts: 34 Member
    Here's another non-scientific response. 1200 is what my plan defaults to, but I reset it to 1500. At 1200, I struggled to stay under everyday and the weight barely moved because my body entered starvation mode. That is one thing about MFP that bothers me, along with every other weight loss tool. Everyone always wants to default to 1200 calories. A smaller thinner person will do fine on 1200, but a taller larger person will struggle. There is no magic calorie number. Instead, you need to calculate what you need daily based on your weight, age, and activity level. Then, opt to stay as far below that as you need to achieve your goals. My body burns 2300 calories a day at my current weight. At 1500 calories, I've created enough deficit to lose a pound every 4/5 days. This past week, I lost 3 pounds. I guess I burned more than I thought. Anyway, lots of words. Do what you need to do for you and good sweatin'!
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    When I joined MFP, I diligently followed the 1200 calorie default setting. For about 6 weeks, I felt so superior to other dieters because here I was, eating "diet food", low calorie small meals and losing weight. Then I got sick of denying myself the food I enjoy (and I'm not talking the sweets, etc. I'm talking about good, nutritious filling foods) because I was eating Laughing Cow cheese and fiber muffins for breakfast, salads w/ little protein for lunch and packaged "healthy" frozen dinners. Sure I was losing some weight, but it was almost worse than just staying fat.

    Then I ran across a post in the forums that changed my life! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    I learned about TDEE and grabbed it. I started eating about 1800cals per day (I was walking 3-4 miles a day, strength training) and losing weight. Not more "diet" for me. I adopted the "lifestyle" mentality. My plan HAD to be something I can (and will) do for the rest of my life. It doesn't matter how long it takes (ok, I'm giving it 2 years) to get to my goal weight, but I have to be able to maintain that weight. 16 months in, I'm down 46lbs (from 232 to 186) and still losing. Albeit slowly, but it is steady consistent weight loss.

    And I'm not miserable and I don't feel like a failure. Actually, I'm rather proud of my success.
  • AudreyMari
    AudreyMari Posts: 5
    Thank you all so much. I checked out the Scooby Sight, flled out the prompts, and it says I burn 1336 Basal, so already I know that I can eat more. Coach Calorie also suggested a device called the BODY MEDIA LINK BODY MONITORING ARMBAND, which I ordered a few days ago from Amazon, and am waiting to arrive. I'll let you know how this helps the process and aids encouragement instead of the lingering feeling of disappointment. It has very good reviews!!!

    Truly Yours,

    Feeling Hopeful

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