eating enough?

calliope_music
calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
edited September 25 in Health and Weight Loss
hi MFPers,

i've got a question and i have gotten mixed answers before so i figured i'd ask again. am i eating enough? my weight loss seems to have stalled a bit. currently i'm at about 298 lbs, work out 3-5 times per week for at least an hour (generally 45 minutes of cardio and 20-25 or so of strength training). i have a pretty sedentary job although i do get up and walk around quite a bit.

currently i eat 1600 calories per day, and generally eat most of them back if i exercise. MFP has me set around 1900 calories per day but that seems too high, although i know you need to eat to lose! i also know muscle weighs more than fat, etc etc.

my diary is open for review. i am aware that i do eat a lot of processed foods and need to cut back on the sodium, and i'm working toward these goals! (as a disclaimer, the earlier part of this past week is generally what i eat...don't just look at yesterday, it was a bad day! haha)

any feedback would be appreciated! should i up calories? stay the same? do something completely different?

Replies

  • papastu
    papastu Posts: 737 Member
    surely if your exercising you should leave the extra alone ? just my opinion as it works for me, to lose weight exercise more than you eat .

    good luck
  • Kiwijay
    Kiwijay Posts: 216
    Hi there, I have got lots to lose and MFP has set me over 2000 cals to eat. I try to eat only 1500 {and maybe I should eat more but I am just not hungry and NOT going to eat if I am not hungry}. I never eat my exercise cals because I feelt hat it is pointless to do all the training and just eat all the used cals back! This is just my opinion though and I have to say that so far it is working for me. I have lost 24lbs in just over a month....I started the first week of feb. I hope this helps. I don't know if I am doing the right thing but it is working for me so I am sticking to it. Good luck and maybe someone will be able to help you a lot more than me!

    J :flowerforyou:
  • calliope_music
    calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
    surely if your exercising you should leave the extra alone ? just my opinion as it works for me, to lose weight exercise more than you eat .

    good luck

    thank you :) i do try not to eat them back, but sometimes i'm just hungry after a workout! i will try to make a greater effort to not eat as much back, though.
  • Random1634
    Random1634 Posts: 9 Member
    It's always hard to say what works best for an individual, got to mix it up to see what gets you results again. It does slow for a bit after the first initial deal. I checked your BMR, which is calories needed to maintain if you just laid in bed all day and it said at least 2050, you very well could be undereating. I'd definitely go to 1900 if not the full 2050, but I found not eating back my calories when I worked out to help me tremendously. I lost on average 1.5 lbs/week this way, just let it recalculate your calories for each pound you lose and it will be a gradual drop and not a shock to your body.
  • iowajen
    iowajen Posts: 2
    I have a similar problem. I am really not hungry at ALL mostly due to gastro-intestinal disease. I am forcing myself to eat to try to improve my metabolism and have in the past couple of months started a much more active lifestyle. I have noticed marked changes in my body, stamina and overall well-being but I still cannot make myself eat nearly the calories that I need. Any ideas would be appreciated. Jenny
  • fishndad
    fishndad Posts: 102 Member
    This is a highly debated question & I've seen a lot of different answers. Do a search for eating exercize calories & read the articles & decide for yourself. After reading a lot of answers, it makes more sense to me to eat the calories & you'll see why I say that after reading the articles. Good Luck!!
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