Eating 1800+ cal

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tofufingers
tofufingers Posts: 21 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I have a question about the amount of calories eaten and how your body changes.

I originally wanted my goal weight to be 115lb, but I see that it may not look healthy on me. I was told to eat 1400cal to lose .5lb a week.

However, I usually eat about 1800cal or more a day. I do not log everything I eat, but I try to for the most part. However, with that in mind, I am definitely consuming more calories than what is logged. When I "complete my diary", it tells me that will have gained some weight in 5 weeks! However, after a month of somewhat consistent logging, I have actually steadily lost weight little by little. I do cardio 5x a week and strength (without weights) 4x a week. I am not particularly active aside from walking my dog and walking around a college campus.

I have had friends complain to me that MFP suggesting to only eat 1200cal a day can be unhealthy. My question is... Does MFP set these calories too low? I am obviously not gaining weight like MFP stated when eating ~1800cal a day.

Replies

  • MagnumBurrito
    MagnumBurrito Posts: 1,070 Member
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    Up your activity level setting. Walking around a college campus every day is a lot more exercise than most people do.
  • tofufingers
    tofufingers Posts: 21 Member
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    Would you suggest that I set my activit level to lightly active?
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    The amount MFP tells you to eat is a NET value, meaning after you eat your exercise burned calories back. If you workout that much you are likely burning 400+ calories daily so your "1800" is actually around 1400 net (more or less dependent on your actual burn from exercise).

    The way MFP is designed you are supposed to log your exercise and then MFP will adjust the calories you are supposed to eat accordingly for that day.

    If today for example you logged that you went for an hour run and burned 400 calories then MFP would adjust your goal to 1800 calories for that day.

    It is a definite good thing that you recognized you should be eating more and ended up eating 1800+ calories because if you had tried to stick to 1400 and on top of that exercised as much as you do you would have felt weak and likely struggled to maintain your diet not to mention probably losing muscle and causing yourself harm.

    Remember...if MFP suggests you eat X calories it is assuming you are logging your exercise into the system...if you are not then what MFP tells you to eat will ALWAYS be lower than it should be.

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