Calorie Goals

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  • julsofdenial
    julsofdenial Posts: 225 Member
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    I try to burn off everything I eat like today for example I ate 1179 and burned off 1458. I don't feel like I am working out enough but once I total it I am in shock I do 50 mins of Tae Bo and 40 minutes of Zumba and I went for a 20 minute bike ride with my husband and kids. I too feel like I eat plenty during the day for example today I ate slimfast shake for breakfast (I have never been a breakfast person) chicken quesidilla for lunch, and 2 sloppy joes for dinner. So I don't feel at all like I don't eat I actually felt like I over ate today. But for some reason I am not losing any weight. Do you know any tricks to jump start my body?: smile:
    I have never told someone on here that they may be doing something wrong or to lecture, but are you saying you have a negative 300 calories for the day? I am not one who thinks everyone should eat all their exercise calories back, but if you are only eating 1179 then burning 1458, you are getting nothing? Maybe I am misunderstanding, but if that is the case I would assume that is why you aren't losing weight, because your body is panicing that is has no food/fuel/nutrition.
  • lisarea425
    lisarea425 Posts: 21 Member
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    Age 47 - Ultimate goal - 130 - 140
    MFP daily calorie goal is 1540 (adjusted down since starting at 1720)
    358 - starting weight on 2/17
    350 - 3/10
    335 - 4/7
    320 - 5/9
    311 - 5/24
    306 - 5/30

    Mini GW 1 - 295 on 7/7 (the day I go back to see my doctor)
    Mini GW 2 - 260 on 9/24
    Mini GW 3 - 230 on 1/1/12

    I did not exercise the first month due to knee problems, but since that time I have exercised daily, and have recently joined a gym to try and step up the pace of my exercise (and avoid the blazing summer heat). I'm currently nursing a bad blister on my foot which is really putting a damper on my exercise. Very frustrated by this!

    I generally do not eat back my exercise calories.

    Have you tried swimming or water aerobics? The low impact would help you work out longer and probably burn more calories. And help with that summer heat!

    I grew up in South Texas and after moving away and seeing how active other states are I realized that the life style down there is typically it is too darn hot. Because it is. I think this contributed to me not being a physically minded person.
  • lisarea425
    lisarea425 Posts: 21 Member
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    I eat breakfast every day! i think that when i start my weight loss, i was used to overeating. eating way more than i should, not just calorie wise, but amount wise. so i switch to eating large amounts of lower calorie foods. then i started to train my body to eat normal amounts of food but still kept it low calorie. i dunno, i guess im kind of phobic of high calorie foods like nuts and shakes and stuff. i changed my habits too far back, so now i gotta retrain myself to eat the right stuff.

    You sound like my wife, lol. Under-eating can help with weight loss but it's not the weight you want to lose. If you under-eat you lose muscle. High calories aren't an issue if you use them wisely. High calorie that is also high in protein is really good and aid's muscle growth. Also, while you under eat your body retains fat. So yes, you will lose weight because of mal nutritiion essentially but you will do so by losing muscle and maintaining or gaining fat. Also, the closer you get to your goal, the harder it will be to lose those last few lbs. Also, it is a lot more sustainable for your body to maintain the weight loss if you are feeding it properly.

    Think of it like this.. Would you drive your car around on "E" if you know you have to drive 200 miles? Food is fuel. The more you feed it and the better "gas" you use, the more effecient your body will be at burning calories. And guess what, the more muscle your body has, the more calories you will burn while at rest and while exercising.


    Sorry to hijack the thread a little. But keep this in mind, I am eating I was eating 2600 calories and lost weight and I bumped it to 2800 this week and lost weight and next week it goes to 3000 calories. Your body loves food and if you feed it properly your body will get rid of the fat, add muscle and tighten up! This is no different for girls.

    How are you creating a deficit to lose weight? Are you running? Gym time?
  • heatherslosingit
    heatherslosingit Posts: 46
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    I have lost almost 30lbs since last August 2010 , 13lb of that since joining MFP it has been slow going and I was stuck for ages, but the trick is not to give up I still have about 28lbs + to lose but I am happy to keep plodding along until I achieve that.
    As I am 60 I am not looking to be a body beautiful just fitter and healthier as I get older...
    Good luck with your goal and get loads of friends to help keep you motivated and on track, it really does help!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I'm 44, 5'4", currently 76.5 kg (about 168 pounds). My goals keep changing but i'm thinking 67 -72 kg (somewhere around 150 pounds i think). I started in January at 92kg (204).
    I eat about 1500 - 1600 net cals a day, which means that I eat 1500ish plus most of my exercise cals.
    I find that I tend to lose weight for a few weeks then stay the same or go up a little bit for a week before dropping down.
    In 4 1/2 months I've averaged 1 kg (2.2 pounds) loss every 10 days.
  • kr3851
    kr3851 Posts: 994 Member
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    I'm 28, 5 foot 10 (or 174cm). Current weight is 125kg, ultimate goal is 75kg, but will re-evaluate when I get to 80kg to see how I feel. MFP gives me 1760 cal a day, and I'm trying to stick to that, including eating exercise calories back. I'm struggling with eating the right foods, however, and feel like if I'm going to eat a chocolate bar or bikkies just cos I've got the cals left for the day, I probably shouldn't. I've only been going seriously for two weeks and haven't lost a great deal - I think because I wasn't eating my exercise cals back and also had set a lower cal goal for myself (1500 daily). I'm hoping bumping up the cals will work for me. I don't want to spend 2 years getting to my goal, although I know it will take about a year....
  • Sarah_uk
    Sarah_uk Posts: 209
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    I'm about 266 pounds (121kg) I eat about 1700/1800 calories per day and I'm losing about 11 pounds/5kg per month on average. Not fantastic,but we'll get there eventually :smile:
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    How are you creating a deficit to lose weight? Are you running? Gym time?

    Below is how I do it. This is a quote I recently type up from another thread regarding if you should eat your workout calories. It provides details based on Basal Metabolic Rate, Lean Body Mass and Total Daily Energy Expedended. I also have made some adjustments to the formula for weeks I can't do all 6 workouts and weeks I play golf.



    Here is my perception on the matter. I actually use this site just to track my calories. I use a different method to determine how many calories I should be eating and suggest it to many. According to this website, if you use their calculations, if you workout and burn 300 calories, than you should eat an extra 300 calories that day because the site has already built in a deficit for you. If you have too large of a deficit (> 500 calories) than you will slow the progress.


    My approach looks at Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); BMR is the amount of calories you would burn if you slept 24 hours, for me, my BMR is 2000 calories. I then mutliply it by my Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE); how many calories I should eat to make up for daily activities (walking, working out, etc) to get a total number of calories. Because I do a program like p90x, I multiply my 2000 calories by 1.725 which equals 3400 calories. This amount of calories is the amount I need to eat to maintain weight. I back off 500 caloires as my deficit and eat 3000 calories in a day. This is the website I use.


    http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm

    I then go into a custom setup under my goals and set my daily intake for 3000 calories (well I will starting sunday, right now it's 2800 because I haven't officially started p90x until sunday). Additionally, to follow the p90x food guide, I set up custom ratio's. I do 45% of carbs, 35% of protein and 20% for fats. As I progress, I will lower protein and increase carbs. This method has worked for me and others I have worked with on the site. MFP just makes it simple for anyone to come on and lose weight. I take more of a scientific approach to weight loss. When I started I was 210 & 18% body fat. Now I am 189 and 12% body fat and hoping to break single digits within 3 months.

    Good luck.

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