I need help understanding Calories

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BushidosQueen
BushidosQueen Posts: 25
in Health and Weight Loss
So I used this Keto Calculator to determine with my body weight, size, and measurements how much I should consume.

Here are your personal macros:

1614 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
10 g Carbohydrates (2%, 40 kcal)
94 g Protein (23%, 376 kcal)
133 g Fat (75%, 1198 kcal)

With that I plugged it into MFP and it is saying that I am not consuming enough calories. I am on a Low Carb High Fat/ Gluten and Sugar free diet because of medical reasons under doctor supervision. Any suggestions? Is the 1614 how many calories I am supposed to be consuming? I am only consuming about 800-900 calories at most because of limitations on what I can eat but the sodium is ridiculously high. 1,138 sodium per day seems bad. Any suggestions? What am I doing wrong?
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Replies

  • healthysmart
    healthysmart Posts: 15 Member
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    Listen to your doctor, not MyFitnessPal.
  • Chrisparadise579
    Chrisparadise579 Posts: 411 Member
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    1600 calories is enough to lose weight on. But 2% carbs is ridiculous. That is way too restrictive. You have to remember this is not a diet, diets dont last. If you want to lose weight and keep it off you have to choose a meal plan you can stick with. Try 30% carbs and 50% fat and that is plenty of carb restriction.
  • morgiee_lynne
    morgiee_lynne Posts: 141 Member
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    You should be consuming the 1614 kcals. Also you may want to decrease fat slightly and up protein. Also that low of carbs is going to be extrememly hard to maintain.
  • trinatrina1984
    trinatrina1984 Posts: 1,018 Member
    edited November 2014
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    Do you know why your Dr has put you on so few carbs? How long do they want you doing this for? It doesn't sound like its going to be very easy to keep up.

    ETA I would generally advise doing what the Dr says but we have seen many many instances where the Dr has advised people to do something a bit odd - after all many of them have very little knowledge of nutrition.
  • BushidosQueen
    BushidosQueen Posts: 25
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    I have had weight issues since I was 12 and they are not sure what came first the weight or my thyroid issues but I am at a losing battle right now and will be getting a partial-thyroidectomy done on the 14th of this month. I am going to be 23 on the 8th and weigh 215lbs standing at 5'2. My doctor is hoping that I can lose some weight before the surgery so that it will be easier on me as I can not breathe very well as it is. The carbs will be upped after the surgery but not very much as he wants to me to stay with this as much as possible and be a life style change. I have been doing well with the carbs as I don't eat anything with gluten so it helps but I also don't want to be malnourished. Most of my carbs come from veggies that I eat with my meals. Not really sure how to up the calorie intake or if I really need to. It is all very confusing to me. Thank you all for replying (=
  • squatmami
    squatmami Posts: 58 Member
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    Good luck with your surgery
  • BushidosQueen
    BushidosQueen Posts: 25
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    Thank you @squatmami
  • daynerz
    daynerz Posts: 227 Member
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    Up your calories mate. Any doctor would agree 800 is too low, because even if so, this will progress your metabolism to hault. Which is unhealthy anyway!
  • 33Freya
    33Freya Posts: 468 Member
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    Your doctor told you 800-900 calories, or is that your choice? If it’s the doctor’s instruction, get a second opinion before you go under the knife. If you decided on the low extreme, talk to your doctor and then take his/her advice. Otherwise you’ll lose weight, but you’ll lose muscle as well as fat, thus reducing your ability to burn calories (reduced metabolism).
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    BushidosQueen wrote: »
    So I used this Keto Calculator to determine with my body weight, size, and measurements how much I should consume.

    Here are your personal macros:

    1614 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
    10 g Carbohydrates (2%, 40 kcal)
    94 g Protein (23%, 376 kcal)
    133 g Fat (75%, 1198 kcal)

    With that I plugged it into MFP and it is saying that I am not consuming enough calories. I am on a Low Carb High Fat/ Gluten and Sugar free diet because of medical reasons under doctor supervision. Any suggestions? Is the 1614 how many calories I am supposed to be consuming? I am only consuming about 800-900 calories at most because of limitations on what I can eat but the sodium is ridiculously high. 1,138 sodium per day seems bad. Any suggestions? What am I doing wrong?
    I don't know about 1600 but you definitely need to be eating more than 800-900. Anything less than 1200 calories is going to trigger the "you should be eating more" message from MFP.

    The American Heart Association's recommendation for sodium is 1500 mg per day (down from 2300 in 2010). That number can be increased for those who exercise regularly as you lose sodium through sweat. There's nothing wrong with 1,138 mg unless you have issues with sodium, too.

    To add calories without adding carbs simply add more fats to your diet. Your recommendation above is that 75% of your calories come from fat. Make sure you're using full fat salad dressings. Add olive oil or butter to your vegetables. Use almond or macadamia butter. Macadamia nuts are almost pure fat and oh, so tasty.
  • BushidosQueen
    BushidosQueen Posts: 25
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    Thank you SO much @SueInAz exactly what I needed! Appreciate all your help <3 I will add more fat (which is what my doctor just suggested when I called him) so I can meet the 1,200 req.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited November 2014
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    BushidosQueen wrote: »
    So I used this Keto Calculator to determine with my body weight, size, and measurements how much I should consume.

    Here are your personal macros:

    1614 kcal Daily Calorie Intake
    10 g Carbohydrates (2%, 40 kcal)
    94 g Protein (23%, 376 kcal)
    133 g Fat (75%, 1198 kcal)

    With that I plugged it into MFP and it is saying that I am not consuming enough calories.

    MFP is not saying this diet has too few calories, but what you are actually eating. 1614 is a perfectly acceptable choice for a custom goal.

    Did your doctor actually tell you to eat only 10 g of carbs, or refer you to a nutritionist who did? Or did he/she tell you to do low carb and you got this from a website? 10 grams seems extreme, but of course I don't know your medical issues. You should ask to be referred to a nutritionist who can help you figure out how to eat consistent with your medical issues.
    I am on a Low Carb High Fat/ Gluten and Sugar free diet because of medical reasons under doctor supervision. Any suggestions? Is the 1614 how many calories I am supposed to be consuming? I am only consuming about 800-900 calories at most because of limitations on what I can eat but the sodium is ridiculously high. 1,138 sodium per day seems bad. Any suggestions? What am I doing wrong?

    Where did you get the 1614 calorie recommendation? It sounds reasonable to me as a number of calories for someone trying to lose), but I can't tell from your post whether it's from your doctor/nutritionist or just the website. If just the website, you can check the numbers with MFP, but remember that MFP assumes you will also eat back calories that you burn with exercise (or in other words any goal given assumes that you are not exercising and will change if you do).

    If the limitations in the diet (the carb limit?) makes it hard for you to figure out how to eat, you might (again) want to ask for a referral to a nutritionist. You can also check out the low carb forum here. Often the issue is adding healthy fats to your diet, which may seem counterintuitive to some and thus may be a struggle.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    I'm a little surprised that your doctor put you on a special diet and didn't explain it or refer you to a nutritionist.

    If you have health issues, the LAST place you should get help is online. Seriously. Call the doctor and get a referral to a dietician who can help you.

    You should not be relying on websites or random people to fix your health.

    Good luck.
  • Laoch_Cailin
    Laoch_Cailin Posts: 414 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    I'm a little surprised that your doctor put you on a special diet and didn't explain it or refer you to a nutritionist.

    If you have health issues, the LAST place you should get help is online. Seriously. Call the doctor and get a referral to a dietician who can help you.

    You should not be relying on websites or random people to fix your health.

    Good luck.

    ^^ this. If your doctor put you on such a precise diet why didn't they ensure you knew exactly what to eat? Give him/her a ring and look for a referal or at least a diet sheet.
  • BushidosQueen
    BushidosQueen Posts: 25
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    Okay let me clarify everything really quick because this seems to be getting out of hand. My primary health provider and I came up with a "diet" regimen together, he is well aware that I am on a low carb/high fat diet which has worked for another patient of his. I brought up the diet as when I was pregnant the nutritionist I seen gave me the guidelines for it but within pregnancy terms because I had gestational diabetes (eating 25 carbs per meal/ 15 carbs per snack). So together my primary and I came to the conclusion of eat low carbs preferably under 20, eat more protein and stay gluten and sugar free. It has been easy staying around 10-15 carbs per day BUT I am not coming close to 1600 calories. I am staying around 700-900 calories per day which is prompting MFP to say I am not eating enough. SO that is the reason for this post -how do I get more calories when I am full with out upping carbs. I am seeing an endocrinologist in December (the soonest apt they had) because they are going to be working with my thyroid and my weight all together in one because it is not something my primary specializes in. The numbers in original post came from a website based on my weight/height/measurements/sex/etc. Which they are not exact but close to what I am using. I upped the carbs to 20 per day but still staying around 10-15 just depending on what I consume. I hope that clarifies things more. && Thank you all for your concern and feedback I greatly appreciate it. My doctor said to add in more fats to obtain more calories but I am not sure that is what I should do, as to why I turn to people/internet for a 3rd party opinion and of course will consult with my doctor as I do every week apt with him. As a disclosure statement this life style change is specific to my health entirely it is helping me feel better. Everyone's body is different and I fully understand that.
  • BushidosQueen
    BushidosQueen Posts: 25
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    any suggestions on how to fix that? I am gluten free, a lot of carbs and calories come from gluten based products specifically bread and pasta and trying to be sugar free as possible. I only drink water and occasionally V8 juice but I stopped that as to how much sodium is in it.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    Butter.

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