I'm new and confused....

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primrose2572
primrose2572 Posts: 58 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I'm 42, female weigh 154lbs. MFP says my goal is 1,170 I workout 4 x a week typically today I burnt 419 calories. I've logged my food for today which was 1,313 so I have 276 remaining. Should I be eating those calories?. I've worked my TDEE 1953 which is and my BMR is 1377. I'm confused as to how many calories I should stick to to lose weight. :)

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  • JM1481
    JM1481 Posts: 88 Member
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    Did MFP change their settings? I thought their lowest recommendation for calories consumed was 1200? Did you do guided goals or manual?
  • primrose2572
    primrose2572 Posts: 58 Member
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    I guess guided. I input I wanted to lose 1.5lbs per week and this is what it calculated. Have I set it up incorrectly?
  • tpulliam381
    tpulliam381 Posts: 5
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    what i do is only eat the calories that my goal is set for. when i workout... those calories are just extra and will assist in my weight lost. So for instance; my goal is set to 1650 calories a day and on a good cardio day i will burn about 350 calories. So in MFP; it will show that i can eat about 2000 calories. However, i still stick to 1650 or maybe increase my food intake to an additional 100. So i may eat at 1650 or jump to 1750 but defintely not trying to get to 2000.
  • primrose2572
    primrose2572 Posts: 58 Member
    edited February 2015
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    JM1481 wrote: »
    Did MFP change their settings? I thought their lowest recommendation for calories consumed was 1200? Did you do guided goals or manual? [/quot
  • primrose2572
    primrose2572 Posts: 58 Member
    edited February 2015
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    tpulliam381 wrote: »
    what i do is only eat the calories that my goal is set for. when i workout... those calories are just extra and will assist in my weight lost. So for instance; my goal is set to 1650 calories a day and on a good cardio day i will burn about 350 calories. So in MFP; it will show that i can eat about 2000 calories. However, i still stick to 1650 or maybe increase my food intake to an additional 100. So i may eat at 1650 or jump to 1750 but defintely not trying to get to 2000.

    That makes sense, just need to ensure I'm not under eating.
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
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    MFP is designed so your deficit is already built in. You already have a large deficit. You should be eating the calories you burn from exercise. Many people find the burns are overestimated and only eat back 50%, but you should still eat some of them. If you find your rate of weight loss is too fast after a few weeks, eat more of them.

    Your ticker shows you're only trying to lose 8.4 lbs. If that's all you have to lose, setting MFP up for 0.5 lbs a week would be a more appropriate goal. A larger deficit is not always your friend - you can eat into muscle mass, especially if you're getting inadequate protein and not doing resistance training.
  • rayw89
    rayw89 Posts: 564 Member
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    The lowest MFP will allow for me to eat a day is 1,000 calories, otherwise it yells at me. :P But, my daily goal is 1,200 per MFP. When I burn calories through exercise and it tells me I've earned extra calories to eat, I do *not* eat those extra calories. I think that's counter-productive, I stick with no more than 1,200 no matter how many calories I've burned through exercise.
    I think if you stick to no more than the 1,170 calories MFP has recommended for you, you should see results.
  • JM1481
    JM1481 Posts: 88 Member
    edited February 2015
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    primrose2572 wrote: »
    I guess guided. I input I wanted to lose 1.5lbs per week and this is what it calculated. Have I set it up incorrectly?

    Hmm unless they changed things, then yeah, something is off.

    In answer to your question I'm afraid there's not an exact answer, for me it was a bit of trial and error. A lot of people find that their calories burned are overestimated and so eating back all of the cals wasn't working. Others find It's pretty accurate for them and they are able to eat them all back and continue to lose at the rate they want. Then others do 1/2 or 1/3.

    If you have your goals set to sedentary and then you add your exercise from there, the idea is that you eat them back to maintain the right deficit, it's just a baseline though so just maybe try eating some back and see if you are losing at your intended goal. If your start losing to fast, eat more and if you aren't budging, eat a little less. It may take a while to get things right, you'll get there though!

    I suggest doing your goals over again and make sure you do it "guided." Even 1200 is low for a lot of people.
  • primrose2572
    primrose2572 Posts: 58 Member
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    How do I find out if my setting is set on guided or manual please? I'm still trying to navigate myself round this app :)
  • meanie1978
    meanie1978 Posts: 10 Member
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    The more you exercise the faster you burn calories so yes you can eat those calories too. I look at it as a bonus. I eat my extra calories and still loose weight. As long as your training frequently.
  • charmmeth
    charmmeth Posts: 936 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Assuming yu are on the website, go to my home, click on settings, click on update diet/fitness profile and take it from there. You can change your weight loss aim in the lowest drop down menu.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    The other day I saw a post from another new MFPer that said their goal was set up by the site as below 1200 cals a day. Alot of members said that must be wrong. The site has had some problems lately so I wouldn't recomend going below 1200. Look up that thread and see if the tecs gave a solution. Use the search function. Good luck. :)
  • primrose2572
    primrose2572 Posts: 58 Member
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    I'm exercising very frequently so want to make sure I'm taking in enough to fuel my body, but to see results at the same time. I've been on a plateau for monthhence he reason I'm now using MFP to see where I've been going wrong. I might have just been eating/exercising just enough to maintain.
  • primrose2572
    primrose2572 Posts: 58 Member
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    Will do! Thanks
  • JM1481
    JM1481 Posts: 88 Member
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    JM1481 wrote: »
    primrose2572 wrote: »
    I guess guided. I input I wanted to lose 1.5lbs per week and this is what it calculated. Have I set it up incorrectly?

    Hmm unless they changed things, then yeah, something is off.

    In answer to your question I'm afraid there's not an exact answer, for me it was a bit of trial and error. A lot of people find that their calories burned are overestimated and so eating back all of the cals wasn't working. Others find It's pretty accurate form them and they are able to eat them all back and continue to lose at the rate they want. Then others do 1/2 or 1/3.

    If you have your goals set to sedentary and then you add your exercise from there, the idea is that you eat them back to maintain the right deficit,
    it's just a baseline though so just maybe try eating some back and see if you are losing at your intended goal. If your start losing to fast, eat more and if you aren't budging, eat a little less. It may take a while to get things right, you'll get there though!
    primrose2572 wrote: »
    How do I find out if my setting is set on guided or manual please? I'm still trying to navigate myself round this app :)

    Just go to "goals" and there will be an option for "manual" or "guided" fill in all the info and it does the rest :)
  • hezemakiah
    hezemakiah Posts: 157 Member
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    Mine is set up for 1200 cals/day but only working out 30 minutes 3X/wk.
  • primrose2572
    primrose2572 Posts: 58 Member
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    I'm using my iPhone so it doesn't give you that option or at least I can't find it, so will log onto my laptop to see if it makes a difference. Thanks!

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