Eating to few calories that is hurting my weight loss?

Yes agreed, too high. Keep calories low, and output (exercise) high. That's the quickest way to lose weight, be active and limit calorie intake. (years of experience) It's how I dropped.

gbjess204 wrote: »

Thank you guys for your input. I will try to drop to ~1,000 cal a day

NO!!!!! 1200 is a minimum, and it is for super short (like, 4'10"), older ladies. You're 5'6" tall and young. It is very difficult to get all the nutrients your body needs to function on only 1200 calories a day. If you drop to 1,000 several things are likely to happen: The muscle you have will be metabolized first, because it takes more energy to sustain muscle than it does to sustain fat. Therefore, your body will begin to rid itself of the tissue that takes more energy to sustain. Second, you're much more likely to binge because you're not fueling yourself properly. Third, your workouts will suffer, because you're not eating enough to perform at an optimal level.

You say you "haven't really seen much loss," - how much are you talking about? Progress is progress, even if it is slow than you'd like. Slower loss preserves the most muscle. Is it frustrating, yeah. But is it worth it, HELL YEAH. Be patient. Keep doing what you're doing, use the tool as designed (which means be honest and accurate about your activity level, be realistic in setting your pounds-per-week weight loss goal, be deadly accurate with recording your intake, and eat back a portion of your exercise calories).

Firstly, how much do you weigh, what's your height, and how much do you want to lose? Also, do you eat back exercise calories? Everyone is jumping in with the usual before even checking these things. Typical MFP. For all you know she is within a heathy weight range and looking to drop 12lbs for example, so of course loss will be slower, so don't tell her to eat fewer calories without checking.

I'm 5'6 and looking to lose 30lbs to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. I eat 1500-1600 calories a day and I rarely eat back exercise calories. I work out pretty much every day (spinning, PT sessions, kettlebells, HIIT class, circuits...all hardcore stuff) and I walk a lot (10,000 steps on my Fitbit is a lazy day for me). I weigh pretty much everything, and I have a big deficit, yet I lose 0.5-1lb a week. However, I lose inches more quickly than on the scale.

Sometimes weight loss can be slow, but definitely take measurements too. The closer you are to goal weight, loss slows down.

I agree about being accurate with logging, but it sounds like you are (although I haven't looked at your diary).

DawnieB1977 wrote: »

Firstly, how much do you weigh, what's your height, and how much do you want to lose? Also, do you eat back exercise calories? Everyone is jumping in with the usual before even checking these things. Typical MFP. For all you know she is within a heathy weight range and looking to drop 12lbs for example, so of course loss will be slower, so don't tell her to eat fewer calories without checking.

I'm 5'6 and looking to lose 30lbs to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. I eat 1500-1600 calories a day and I rarely eat back exercise calories. I work out pretty much every day (spinning, PT sessions, kettlebells, HIIT class, circuits...all hardcore stuff) and I walk a lot (10,000 steps on my Fitbit is a lazy day for me). I weigh pretty much everything, and I have a big deficit, yet I lose 0.5-1lb a week. However, I lose inches more quickly than on the scale.

Sometimes weight loss can be slow, but definitely take measurements too. The closer you are to goal weight, loss slows down.

I agree about being accurate with logging, but it sounds like you are (although I haven't looked at your diary).

To the bolded, don't lump us all in there. I checked before I replied, she's 28 years old, 5'6" tall and her profile says she's bounced between weights from 160-220 and that she's "at the highest she's ever been" so I did have to guess there at 220. Based on that, 1200 is too little let alone dropping to 1000, which I told her NOT to do.

I was 220 after my 2nd baby and lost 66lbs. I wasn't even strict with measuring and weighing then, and was eating around 1300 at first then gradually increased to 1500.

1200 is plenty for your height and weight. Is 1200 500 to 1000 deficit? Just curious because even with a 500 calorie deficit you should see some changes either in scale weight or change in your body measurements.

I would double check the food logging (you never know where 100 + 200 calories are coming from that are not logged accurately) and this can put a dent in your deficit.

And, I am 5'4" and I work out on the elliptical 4 times a week at 35 minutes and the most I can burn is an estimated 11 calories a minute (vigorous/hard effort) and can just get up to around 400 calories a work out...

MFP drastically overestimates exercise. I had to use a heart monitor to get actual calorie burn... The elliptical trainer computer and the heart monitor were close..

Phrick wrote: »

DawnieB1977 wrote: »

Firstly, how much do you weigh, what's your height, and how much do you want to lose? Also, do you eat back exercise calories? Everyone is jumping in with the usual before even checking these things. Typical MFP. For all you know she is within a heathy weight range and looking to drop 12lbs for example, so of course loss will be slower, so don't tell her to eat fewer calories without checking.

I'm 5'6 and looking to lose 30lbs to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. I eat 1500-1600 calories a day and I rarely eat back exercise calories. I work out pretty much every day (spinning, PT sessions, kettlebells, HIIT class, circuits...all hardcore stuff) and I walk a lot (10,000 steps on my Fitbit is a lazy day for me). I weigh pretty much everything, and I have a big deficit, yet I lose 0.5-1lb a week. However, I lose inches more quickly than on the scale.

Sometimes weight loss can be slow, but definitely take measurements too. The closer you are to goal weight, loss slows down.

I agree about being accurate with logging, but it sounds like you are (although I haven't looked at your diary).

To the bolded, don't lump us all in there. I checked before I replied, she's 28 years old, 5'6" tall and her profile says she's bounced between weights from 160-220 and that she's "at the highest she's ever been" so I did have to guess there at 220. Based on that, 1200 is too little let alone dropping to 1000, which I told her NOT to do.

I agree with you.

MKEgal wrote: »

Holy cow... so much wrong here.
You're 28 & 5'6".
Going by BMI you should be 115-150.

According to this calculator from the Baylor College of Medicine, at 150 lb your BMI would be 24.3 and you'd need 1540 cal/day to maintain that healthy weight if you were inactive.
(140 lb, 22.6 BMI, 1495 cal/day.)

So no, do NOT drop to 1000 cal/day. That's dangerously low.
That BCM calculator will also tell you how many servings of the various food groups you'll need in order to maintain that healthy weight.
From your comments & diary, it appears you need some help learning about healthy nutrition. Here's a resource which would help you learn: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

This newbie help post has links to sexypants, realistic goal setting, accurate measuring of food, and other helpful things. At least read those first 2.

.

I have been stick very close to my recommended amount that MFP gives me, however I am not really seeing much loss. I have been working out regularly and sticking to a healthier eating lifestyle for 3 months

McD's breakfast burrito, steak fries, Bailey's, & Crown Royal? That's all you had one day recently. Too few calories, and definitely not healthy.

I'm seeing lots of meat, lots of alcohol, lots of processed foods, few fruits & veggies. (They're there, but not much.)
Have one drink of alcohol once a week. (A drink is 1.5 oz of hard liquor, 5 oz of wine, or 12 oz of beer.)
Have at least 5 servings of fruits & veggies every day.
Eat breakfast (and no, oat bran & coffee is not breakfast).

Also, it looks like your MFP calorie goal is 1450, but you're eating all over the place - 627, 1128, 1508, 1910, 1459, 738, 910 ... Find a healthy weight goal, a healthy calorie goal, and stick to it. Ignore net/exercise calories. Eat within 100 either way of your calorie goal.

Also that calculator is for people ages 2 to 20. she is out of the age range for what it is specifying

Accuracy, honesty & consistency are the key. (Going on the assumption medical concerns are ruled out.)

You indicated you use a Fitbit. First off, I'd assume it to be 5-10% off in calories burned, just because no device can be 100% accurate. So if it says you burn 2400 a day, assume its probably 2160-2280.

Second, think of calories in as a budget. First priority is taking care of your bodily needs. Getting plenty of protein, fruits, veggies, whole grains, healthy fats. All else is welcome - depending on how it fits. So nothing wrong with Mcds, alcohol, etc. in moderation.

Aim for a deficit of no less than 500 or no more than 1200 most days. (This incorporates my theory that the tracker cannot be 100% accurate. On a day that Fitbit says you have a 1200 deficit, it may be closer to 900-1000.) By most days, I mean its fine to aim for maintenance occasionally.

For accuracy & honesty: weigh everything, log everything. Even weigh things that come in easy serving sizes like bread. You'll find they often say something like 2 slices = 41g, 1 serving. But then its 45g which is 1.1 serving. Those little details add up. If you're going to estimate, do it only on low calorie items. If you log 28g of spinach and its really 42g, its not going to affect the big picture. But if you're regularly 10-20% off on bananas, peanut butter, bread, etc.: your deficit is going to be much smaller than you think.

For consistency: do this for the next 4-8 weeks. Compare weight to what you weighed 30 days ago, to adjust for TOM/hormonal shifts in water weight.

You CAN do this. You've already started. You're averaging much lower than you'd like, but this likely means you just need to improve on accuracy & honesty & then your results will improve.

I think you are underestimating your calorie intake and overestimating your calories burned during exercise--you probably are not in danger of eating too few calories right now. You need to be brutally honest with what you are putting into your mouth every day, at every single meal. Tighten up your tracking--again, every day, every single meal--and weigh/measure all of your foods. Try to eat fewer processed food, fewer cookies/cupcakes, and drink fewer "adult beverages"--all of that will go a long way at helping you feel more satiety from less food.

gbjess204 wrote: »

Thank you guys for your input. I will try to drop to ~1,000 cal a day

I'm not sure I agree with this. To be frank, your logging is a bit sloppy, so I'm not convinced that the current calorie counts are accurate.

If you want to commit to the calorie-counting path, tet rid of volume-based measurements and start using a scale. Only then will you know with reasonable certainty how much you're actually eating.

I wouldn't bother cutting calories without doing that first.