Am I eating the right amount ?

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katewright699
katewright699 Posts: 28
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,bit of advice please if I may... I'm 5 foot 4 and female, 35 years of age and currently 12 stone 11 pounds( list 10 pounds so far with mfp) I have set my self to sedentary because I'm a stay at home mum at the moment,but do a little cardio from home each day.mfp has given me a goal of 1360 per day.my weight hasn't changed at all for the last week(I'm not moaning,just interested to know if I'm on the right amount) I'm usually ok with sticking to my goal calories and don't often eat back my excercise calories unless I'm especially hungry.i usually go over my carbs and realistically that will probably be the case for a while.do my calories for the day seem about right for what I have to lose or should I be eating less to get the scales moving,or should I carry on with 1360 for a few more weeks and see what happens. Thanks in advance and I'm pretty new to all this and fairly naive,so please be kind lol :D

Replies

  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,363 Member
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    As a stay at home mum I wouldn't have thought you would be sedentary, I assume you do housework, shopping, looking after and running after the kids? Definitely not sedentary.

    You may want to re-do your daily allowance after choosing another setting other than incidental, but if you don't I think you should be eating some of your exercise calories back.
  • katewright699
    katewright699 Posts: 28
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    True,but I was scared to overestimate my activity level lol
  • katewright699
    katewright699 Posts: 28
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    Ok thankyou,it's so confusing knowing whether to eat less or whether you're sabotaging yourself by not eating enough.. Either that or I'm just a bit simple lol ;)
  • Mr_AH
    Mr_AH Posts: 32
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    A lot of people here go by TDEE as opposed to what MFP sets.

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ this is one of the best calculators to use for this.

    How much exercise do you do a day that doesn't relate to day-to-day activities?

    I have not once limited my carbs and I've had no trouble losing weight. You're a week in so it's not surprising the scales haven't moved. Weight loss isn't linear so there will be times when the scale doesn't move at all and then, one day, you'll hop on to see a big drop.

    -Edit-

    I forgot to mention that it was over a month before I started seeing results. Here's a big thing, measure yourself and take photos. Take photos and measure yourself the minute you see this. Photos from as many different angles as you can think of.
  • katewright699
    katewright699 Posts: 28
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    I do about 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer and 15 minutes on the stationary bike a day.. This is my 3rd week on mfp... But I know what your saying.i do sometimes go to bed really hungry it's weird because some days I'll feel fine on 1360 and other days I feel starving :/
  • katewright699
    katewright699 Posts: 28
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    My diary is open if you want to have a look :)
  • katewright699
    katewright699 Posts: 28
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    I used the scoobys calculator and it comes out at tdee- 2436 and calories needed per day at 1950.. That's at a 20% reduction set to lose fat and 3-5 hours of moderate excercise a week, and to lose 1 pound a week
  • Mr_AH
    Mr_AH Posts: 32
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    I would advice you not to go with the MFP recommendations as it's very easy to overestimate calories burnt etc.

    TDEE works for a lot of people here. Going by it for you and putting in that you work out five times a week puts your TDEE at 2184 and, thus, to lose weight you should aim for 1684. Rememer that you eat to fuel your body.

    Looking at your diary it's no wonder you are going to bed starving, as you are often under even 1200 calories. That's really not good. It might seem strange to eat more to lose weight but it does work. If you change and decide to go by TDEE remember you don't log your exercise as TDEE takes that into consideration and you do not 'eat back' exercises calories (as there shouldn't be any logged to make you think you have them to eat).

    Have a read of this:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • Mr_AH
    Mr_AH Posts: 32
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    I used the scoobys calculator and it comes out at tdee- 2436 and calories needed per day at 1950.. That's at a 20% reduction set to lose fat and 3-5 hours of moderate excercise a week, and to lose 1 pound a week

    It's hard to know what they mean when they say exercise so I personally underestimate what I burn. I work out everyday but put that I work out only five days a week.
  • katewright699
    katewright699 Posts: 28
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    Thankyou so much for your advice, so if I set my calories on here to 1684 and not eat back any excercise calories,hopefully I'll feel a bit better lol
  • Mr_AH
    Mr_AH Posts: 32
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    Hopefully, yes.

    But just remember that you won't see results for a while and the scales may actually increase for a bit.
  • katewright699
    katewright699 Posts: 28
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    No problems will bear that in mind, thanks again :) x
  • clrtaylor2
    clrtaylor2 Posts: 9 Member
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    I'm lost. What is TDEE?
  • Mr_AH
    Mr_AH Posts: 32
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    Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

    There's a link in this thread which will give you more info.

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