Newish here and have some questions.

ana3067 wrote: »

absolutkristin wrote: »

ana3067 wrote: »

absolutkristin wrote: »

I have 17 pounds to lose not 7. I'm really confused because I feel like no one is answering my questions about food intake vs lots of remaining calories.

Can you shorten your question then? Like, what is your primary question?

17lbs = 1lb/week or 0.5lb/week goal because losing 17lbs in about 2 months is probably not feasible at your weight.

- On the days I workout I have so many extra calories (like 900) and Myfitnesspal keeps getting on to me and telling me I need to eat more. I would think having extra calories remaining would be a good thing? I take an anti depressant that has really lowered my appetite. So with all that being said I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to lose weight if I'm not eating enough or consuming the amount of calories myfitnesspal wants me to?

-Should I force myself to eat extra healthy snacks and maybe smoothies low in sugar...
Any tips, healthy snack ideas, really anything would be appreciated!

I don't see how I could spell it out any clearer. These are my questions/concerns if you will.

MFP uses net method. Meaning that whatever your calorie goal is set at, that is how much you should eat every day to lose weight. If you do added exercise on top of that, you need to log it and eat at least half of those calories back.

You should eat to your calorie goal. "Healthy" and sugar have no bearing in weight loss. Eat food within your calories. I've lost over 30lbs eating jelly beans, chocolate, pizza, etc.

So... eat whatever food you enjoy and that oyu plan to eat once you are in maintenance.

GoPerfectHealth wrote: »

absolutkristin wrote: »

Hey there!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I am 5'2 127 pounds. I would like to be back to 110 because on my frame that's what looks best.

Welcome to MFP. There are a lot of great people on here. A lot of people find it helpful to connect with friends who are in the same boat, as they can offer good advice. If you are interested in healthy eating, there is a "clean eating" group where you can get advice on healthy eating.

absolutkristin wrote: »

My stomach/hips and thighs are thick right now and I am very self conscious especially with my husband touching my stomach.

I also just need to eat better (was eating tons of fast food & honestly don't know a whole lot about good nutrition) and work out in general so this app. is perfect for me.

Now my questions....

My fitness pal currently allows me 1200 calories a day. I set it that I want to lose 2 pounds a week and I have it set on "lightly active" work wise. I've noticed that on days that I do not exercise, I get fairly close to my calorie goal (but rarely go over). When I DO work out I work out for 50 mins on the elliptical or go hiking or walking/jogging and try to burn 500 calories each workout. (Tracking the calories/heartrate with my polarf4) On those days...I have so many extra calories (like 900) and Myfitnesspal keeps getting on to me and telling me I need to eat more. I would think having extra calories remaining would be a good thing? I take an anti depressant that has really lowered my appetite. So with all that being said I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to lose weight if I'm not eating enough or consuming the amount of calories myfitnesspal wants me to? It won't even give me my "if every day were like today...you'd weigh..." thing when I have so many left over calories.

Should I force myself to eat extra healthy snacks and maybe smoothies low in sugar...
Any tips, healthy snack ideas, really anything would be appreciated

Thank you!
Kristin

Since you have less than 20 pounds to lose and you don't weigh a whole lot, the general recommendation is that your weekly weight loss goal be a little less ambitious than someone who weighs more than you -- perhaps .5 to 1 pound per week.

One thing to remember about calorie burns is that they are just estimates. A while back I read about whether you should eat your exercise calories back, and it seems like the general rule is to only eat half of them back because you can't be sure if the calorie burn is accurate.

It sounds like you are wondering if you need to up your calories to preserve your metabolism. As someone else mentioned, in some circles there is a general belief that you should not eat below your BMR. I would do a little reading on this to see if you agree with this principle. I'm sure that a lot of people do eat below their BMR and lose weight.

Since your calories are fairly low, you could try eating back half of your exercise calories for the next month, and see where you end up. Then you can make adjustments. Trial and error and a lot of persistence will get you to your goal!

Good luck!