I'm so totally lost..HELP me...

This post is for those whom seem to misunderstand how mfp works and need a reminder on it and the finer points of making it work for you.

1) When you joined and put in all your info mfp gave you a daily goal for calories. That goal already has the deficit needed to shed that weight built in right off the crack of the bat with no exercise built in, period end of story. For those whom do not know here is the breakdown on daily deficits based on mfp's goals. The daily deficit is what you need to shed the fat.
1/2 lb loss a week = 250 cal deficit/day BUILT IN.
1 lb/wk loss = 500/day
1.5 lb/wk loss =750/day
2 lb/wk loss - 1000/day.

2) Eating back the exercise calories:
Yes you eat them back unless you want to exceed the goal set forth by mfp every day, IF YOU LOG ACCURATELY EVERY DAY! This is the part that sooooo many seem to have trouble wrapping their heads around. If you log every day and log accurately for food intake and what you burn during exercise via a hrm (get a good one) then it will work without fail. It has done so for me and nearly every single person whom has befriended me on mfp.So lets give an example here:
Person X eats 1200 cals a day, works out and burns 300 cals a day leaving them with 900 net cals, refuses to eat back those exercise cals. They are dipping below starvation mode, give them 2 or 3 days like this and fat loss will stop dead in its tracks and the body will start to consume muscle for survival. So when mfp says eat those calories then that means eat them for a reason, you are not working out for nothing. Your working out to raise your BMR not to shed more fat, let the body shed the fat for you while you enjoy your meal and recover from your workout.

3) Having trouble eating what mfp says you should for caloric intake? You are not alone, many of us do or did not eat enough for fat loss, do not be alarmed. Eating right/more does work I am living proof of that and no I am not trying to sell you something or a fat loss program. I am trying to get you to understand that healthy fat loss is totally achievable without starving the body and it can be done in a way that makes you happy and full of energy. So society/tv/commercials and all those other crack heads/snake oil salesman have it wrong, starving yourself to lose fat is not the answer end of story.

4) Get used to the idea that there are going to be the naysayers out there saying that their "diet" is the best. What else is new, any diet that restricts good healthy foods like fruits, good fats, and healthy carbs is just that it is a diet, not a lifestyle change that will serve you better in the long run. We need to find what works for us and if you trust mfp, log accurately and religiously then it will work for you.

5) Why 1200/day as the minimum? Well this part is debated hotly around here, the reasoning behind that is that it is pretty hard to get the proper nutrition into your body on this low of an intake, so that is why they enforce it so strongly on the site. It is not an arbitrary number they pulled out of thin air, it has been proven several times over that 1200 or less a day is not advisable. Yes you can function on less but do you really want to be walking around starving the body and depleting muscle?

6) Starvation mode what is it? Well simply put starvation mode is not starving yourself from a hunger standpoint. The starvation mode they speak of is when the body is not being fed what it needs so in turn it will slow down the metabolic rate and effectively shut down fat loss. It happens daily on here and the number 1 reason for plateaus as ppl call them on here is that they are simply not eating enough. You can not expect to train like an olympian and eat like a mouse and expect fat loss, it is simple physics. The body need X amount of fuel to run, and X+more for effective fat loss, it is figuring out what amounts work for you to make fat loss a real thing.

So I hope this helps to clear up some misconceptions out there and if you have a question feel free to ask, I will do my best to answer it.

I actually never lose if I go under more than a 100 calories in a day. In fact I raised my goal to 1/2 pound and have lost more. Consider your body a car, you are not going to get far on fumes. Your body needs the calories if you are working out.

newfiedan...

You have opened up my eyes. And I understood this stuff already. Everyone on this site should read that post of yours.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Jenn

I respectfully disagree that we should listen to our bodies. If it knew what was best, then we would all be thin. I started running and my coach told me that when your body screams to stop, keep going. Because your body has a sense of homeostatic, it does not like change. You need to be in control. So if you are under eating, your slowing the metabolism and burning muscle. Your body thinks that is okay and it will make you crave it. You got to push your body to do what is best for it.

The last thing you want to do is slow your metabolism. My mom did it and ended up losing her hair from malnutrition and then gained all the weight back.

Change your mindset ...In my opinion this is the point where possibly in the past you have reached and failed because of not changing your mindset and thoughts on weight loss. You know that one day when your new lifestyle goes to heck and then you find yourself two years later back at square one?....its like our inner demons i guess...Eat the peanut butter lol if its on your mind and you have allotted calories I say eat it..for me sticking with a set caloric goal has always worked along with listening to my body if Im hungry I eat but I make better choices ....and in order to do that you have to have them available dont get stuck choosing between oreos and doritos u know.....i dont think your at a plateau i think your possibly just bored with the current routine..so change it up a bit skip the treadmill and take a stroll..dont worry about the burn not being the same etc.....I did get a little confused on your post ....regarding the ammonia question ...if your smelling Ammonia the talk to your doctor to confirm. question number 2 is a tricky one I dont think any one person or sight has the miracle weight loss calculations or advice..from my experience people mix it up they find out what works for them some eat a portion of the calories from exercising and some eat all and some eat none...do whats best for you day by day if your hungry eat them if not dont....if a little snack will do make it a nice one.....I dont personally make it my goal to eat carbs before working out because they raise my bloos sugar which in turn makes me sluggish *diabetic*...so I get tired and the workout becomes hard ....I would suggest protein like that peanut butter your craving or some nuts and cheese..*not those plastic processed slices*.....good luck and whatever you do dont give up and dont let anyone tell you that you "have' to do things a certain way to become a success..listen to your body and talk with a nutritionist/dietician even if you only see the nutritionist once ..if you choose a good one he or she will fill you up with so much knowledge to last you a year. MFP is a site just like most it suggest a way to lose weight and become healthy but we have to add in our own things I believe and make the program work for us as individuals........also if the bread isnt working out for you drop it and try it back in a few months if you just have to have it.

Tiggerrick you obviously totally misunderstood how mfp is setup, according to you I should not have lost a single pound if your answer to number 2 is correct, I have dropped 31 effortlessly, mfp is setup with the deficit needed for weight loss BUILT IN, god I swear that 70% of ppl on here are super dense on this point, read my frigging post earlier it explains it crystal clear. You do not need any exercise to create a deficit with mfp unless you are on maintenance level. So if you set yourself to 0 weight loss (maintenance) then yes do not eat back your workout cals to shed weight, if you are setup to lose weight on your goal the goddamn deficit is BUILT IN with NO EXERCISE REQUIRED!

my net cals almost always = my daily goal of 1940, my net is 1940 almost every day and I consistently lose 1 pound or more a week.

correct, but for those whom misunderstand how things are setup here we need to be crystal clear on it lol, I am glad that you understand it and know what it means.