Can someone answer this for me?

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mamadriver13
mamadriver13 Posts: 33 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, I started last month weighing in at 245, lost 17lbs the first month eating 1520 cals- now I lost a couple more lbs's and I am at 226.8 and they dropped my cals to 1468, i am working out about 4 times a week, 5'5, 26 years old, shouldn't I be eating MORE cals to lose weight?

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  • marissanik
    marissanik Posts: 344 Member
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    I weight 154lbs and I'm netting around 1600-1700. Eating 2200-2100 on days of exercise.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
  • KylaDenay
    KylaDenay Posts: 1,585 Member
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    You would be eating more if you are eating back your exercise calories, as you are supposed to when following myfitnesspals method for weight loss. So if you were burning 400 calories during your workout then you would be eating around1868 calories.

    ETA: Should probably gross(including exercise calories) around 1800 - 2000 calories a day.
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
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    I'm probably misunderstanding your question, but your total calories needed will go down as you go down in weight. So you will eat less, not more, as you lose. If that's what you're asking.
  • 115s
    115s Posts: 344 Member
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    Whatever you do, don't forget to eat AT LEAST half your exercise calories back.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    As you lose your calorie goal will get recalculated lower because you are now smaller. Since you are smaller you need fewer calories to maintain your current body, therefore the same loss rate (your daily deficit) subtracted out of a smaller maintenance requirement gives you a smaller calorie goal for the day.

    Make sure you track your exercise calories and eat a portion of them back. Keep in mind that if you are basing your burns of off MFPs exercise database the exercise calories are often overestimated, most people chose to eat back 50-75% of the calories they burn to account for that.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    ...shouldn't I be eating MORE cals to lose weight?

    Turn that around....would you try eating LESS if you were trying to GAIN weight?
  • mamadriver13
    mamadriver13 Posts: 33 Member
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    See, I exercise 4 times a week and I haven't eaten back ANY of those calories...:-/
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    As you lose weight, your body will require less energy for bodily functions and basic movement. So calorie needs go down. Does this mean you constantly drop your intake lower & lower until you're eating nothing? No, As time goes on, you'll need to reassess your goals. If you're now aiming for 1 pound a week, you'll eventually need to drop to 1/2 pound.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    shouldn't I be eating MORE cals to lose weight?

    Eating more is never the answer to how to lose more weight. Eating more is sometimes the answer for how to stay healthy while losing weight.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    See, I exercise 4 times a week and I haven't eaten back ANY of those calories...:-/

    If you are getting your calorie goal from MFP then the plan is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories. Otherwise you are making your defiicit even bigger, which will speed up the loss but also could be starving your body.
  • rachelrb85
    rachelrb85 Posts: 579 Member
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    That 1468 should be net, so be sure to log your exercises and eat those calories back. MFP tends to over estimate calories burned, so that's why people suggest eating 1/2 back so there's room for error. Once you get closer to your goal weight, you can change the settings to lost 1 or 1/2 lb a week and this will allow you to eat more.
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    If you lost 17lbs in one month as you said, thats about 4lbs/week, so yes you should eat more calories. No, you should not see more daily calories available by MFP, because this goes down as you lose weight. But, because your deficit is very high due to not eating any calories back on the MFP method (eating some of your calories back is part of the MFP method), you can eat more than your current intake and still lose weight.

    So, try eating back some of your exercise calories. Your weight loss rate will go down, but since you should try for a -2lb/wk rate anyways, that would be good. If your numbers are correct, and you keep the same level of exercise, you can easily eat 500 more calories/day and see how that goes.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    As you lose weight, the amount of calories needed to run your body drops as well. This is why MFP prompts you to change your calorie settings every so often, so you aren't eating above what your deficit would be.

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