Why is my Calorie intake level so high?

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AshleyKay85Middleton
AshleyKay85Middleton Posts: 11 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I understand that I am supposed to have so many calories per day. But today make my third day on My Fitness Pal, and every night so far when I log in my food intake, it always say's I haven't had enough calories for the day? . . . Well after that I end up eating lots of snacks to add up my calories to have enough so it will be saved . . . I don't like doing that cause then I feel way to full before I go to bed. And plus I feel like I'm eating all day. What can I do to stop or lower my calories level, cause I don't want to eat that much ???? Any advice?
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Replies

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    You're going to need to provide a lot more details in order for anyone to help, ideally opening your diary so that people can see what and how you are logging and make suggestions.

    But let's start with basic stats: height, current weight, age, gender, activity level
    What is your goal weight?
    What did you enter when you set up MFP - lose 1 lb/week? 2 lb/week?
    How many calories did MFP give you?
    Are you logging everything you eat? Weighing your foods with a food scale?
    Are you exercising? How much? When you exercise, MFP adds calories into the total you should be eating, because the system is set up to create a deficit without any exercise, so if you do exercise, you should eat a least a portion of those back.
  • AshleyKay85Middleton
    AshleyKay85Middleton Posts: 11 Member
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    I enter lose a pound a week. They gave me 1,200 to 1,500 calories to eat per day. But to me that's a lot. And with my health issues that I have, I have to be very careful with what I am eating. I have cancer and something's are just not allowed. But I'm getting married in June, and I'd really love to be able to fit back into my wedding dress. I'm exercising like I should. But I don't like eating that many calories per day. Is there anything I can do to change the calorie level that I can have or want to have per day???
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
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    it more than likely says your eating under 1200 calories I would take the advise above and eat more earlier in the day if you can't at night.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,598 Member
    edited January 2016
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    I'll take the calories you don't want to eat.

    But, yeah, you should probably answer WinoGelato's questions and open your diary for actual help. :)

    Also, really sorry to hear about your cancer. You should probably be more worried about eating right for it (even if it means eating more calories) than eating less because you think what mfp gives you is too much.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    edited January 2016
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    AshleyKay85Middleton wrote: »
    I enter lose a pound a week. They gave me 1,200 to 1,500 calories to eat per day. But to me that's a lot. And with my health issues that I have, I have to be very careful with what I am eating. I have cancer and something's are just not allowed. But I'm getting married in June, and I'd really love to be able to fit back into my wedding dress. I'm exercising like I should. But I don't like eating that many calories per day. Is there anything I can do to change the calorie level that I can have or want to have per day???

    You can create a custom calorie goal and set it to the level you desire, or you can change it to 1.5 lb/week, but you haven't said how much you are trying to lose. The lowest MFP will allow you to set up is 1200 calories, so that will likely be the same number you would get if you tried to change your goal. Losing weight too quickly or cutting calories too low can be dangerous and/or not sustainable. You risk loss of lean muscle, hair loss, fatigue, depression, just to name a few.

    Did your oncologist give you a nutrition program, refer you to a dietitian, or make recommendations about how many calories you should be eating? I would think you would also want to maintain your strength - I know you want to fit into your dress but you've got a lot going on.

    Good luck.
  • xxx_Pink_Princess_xxx
    xxx_Pink_Princess_xxx Posts: 876 Member
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    You can add healthy calories without having unhealthy foods ie a handful of nuts, a spoonful of peanut butter, try not to you a deficit as an excuse to eat unhealthy foods xxx
  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
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    You really, really need to ask your doctor.

    As it stands for most people, it's hard to meet macro and micro nutritional needs eating less than 1,200 calories a day. I don't think this site will let you set it lower and even if you could, telling you how will get whomever tells you in trouble with the powers that be.

    Because you have a serious medical condition you are dealing with, you need to ask your doctor and not rely on anything this site tells you.
  • tiptip82
    tiptip82 Posts: 1 Member
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    You can adjust your calories per day by adjusting your goals, but MFP doesn't really like it when you go under 1000 for women or 1200 if you're a man so it will give you the message that you're not eating enough. Most experts consider this to be the minimum that most people can eat without sending their body into starvation mode and doing possible harm. Since you have unique circumstances, your nutritional needs may vary so you should probably check with your doctor.

    To get your calories up, try eating snacks between your meals or having a bigger breakfast or lunch.
  • AshleyKay85Middleton
    AshleyKay85Middleton Posts: 11 Member
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    I'm trying to lose more then 50 lbs by June 4th. But I want to say Thank You all so much your advice has been very helpful to me. I think if it was less it would help, and also eating more of the morning and at lunch might be better too. But I don't get really hungry, plus the stuff I've been eating might not be to much calories??? I'm not sure??? How do I open my book so you all can help me see what I'm doing wrong???
  • AshleyKay85Middleton
    AshleyKay85Middleton Posts: 11 Member
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    I've also talked to my doctors and we all seem to agree on the same thing that I'm not active enough and I'm eating the wrong foods, when I do eat. But after I found out in May that I had Cancer, I went into major depression and I've gained 70 lbs since that time.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    AshleyKay85Middleton wrote: »
    I'm trying to lose more then 50 lbs by June 4th. But I want to say Thank You all so much your advice has been very helpful to me. I think if it was less it would help, and also eating more of the morning and at lunch might be better too. But I don't get really hungry, plus the stuff I've been eating might not be to much calories??? I'm not sure??? How do I open my book so you all can help me see what I'm doing wrong???

    Go under Settings, Diary Settings, Diary Sharing - set your diary to Public and then people can see your log.

    Also, I would spend some time reading the helpful posts at the top of each forum section, especially this one and the links within it:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here/p1


    A lot of people believe that if they lose x amount eating 1200 calories, then eating less will be better, help them get to their goals faster, etc. While mathematically that may be true for weight loss, it has a lot of adverse risks that can be detrimental to your long term success. With a cancer diagnosis and an upcoming wedding - don't you want to be doing things the healthiest, most sustainable way possible? That includes eating adequate calories and getting proper nutrition to fuel your body and give it energy to fight your disease.
  • AshleyKay85Middleton
    AshleyKay85Middleton Posts: 11 Member
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    I sat it public. can you please let me know? No it's not that I'm not logging it correctly or that I'm just now to full to eat anything more calories it's that I went from being a very active nurse working 12 hours a day to finding out I had cancer three weeks until my wedding day. so that took me from everything and just not wanting to do anything at all but stay in bed a cry, not knowing what to do and then instead of eating healthy, I would just say bring me something I don't care what pizza, burgers, anything. And now I have to pay the price for all that. But I am measuring out my food and portions and weighing the food on a food scale. My really bad habit it soda and cakes!
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,598 Member
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    Unless you're a cross dresser, you might want to change the male to female. :)
  • ellieco
    ellieco Posts: 18 Member
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    I'm a cancer survivor myself and gained a lot of weight so I have some idea of what you feel. I think that you are taking good steps to looking after yourself but you need to be mindful that you are getting adequate nutrition so your body can fight this thing off and you can heal. I think you may have set your activity level quite high to be suggesting you eat that many calories, however it might also be accounting for you being male and overweight. Try changing your activity level in your settings. If you've already set the activity at the lowest level and the weight loss at 2lb then I wouldn't go below the amount MFP suggests for you as the weight loss would not be at a healthy rate. Do make sure you are logging everything, and this includes any oils you use for cooking with.

    I know it may be tough to stomach anything during treatment and in this very stressful time but you will do yourself a world of good eating some more vegetables and protein. You need the nutrients and fibre. It's okay to have a small cake or something as a treat, I would try to find mini ones or something. Also if you are hooked on soda, while the diet stuff isn't necessarily good, regular soda is very high in sugar and calories, so maybe lower sugar drinks options would be better :)

    In the end you are going through a really rough time and it is admirable that you are staying on top of things and want to make a change. I hope my advice helps a bit. I also hope you have a beautiful wedding!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    AshleyKay85Middleton wrote: »
    I enter lose a pound a week. They gave me 1,200 to 1,500 calories to eat per day. But to me that's a lot. And with my health issues that I have, I have to be very careful with what I am eating. I have cancer and something's are just not allowed. But I'm getting married in June, and I'd really love to be able to fit back into my wedding dress. I'm exercising like I should. But I don't like eating that many calories per day. Is there anything I can do to change the calorie level that I can have or want to have per day???

    I'm just going to be the jerk and bring this out. I noticed your profile says male. Now, maybe I'm off the mark and you're having a non-traditional wedding (I am 100% pro men in wedding dresses if that's the case) but if you're transitioning and going through any sort of hormone therapy, you may have to play around to figure out how that fits into your calorie goals.

    If, on the other hand, that's a mistake and you're biologically female, you want to change that. MFP uses your gender to set your calorie goals and they'll be higher if it thinks you're a guy.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    glassyo wrote: »
    Unless you're a cross dresser, you might want to change the male to female. :)

    @glassyo beat me too it I guess
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,598 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    glassyo wrote: »
    Unless you're a cross dresser, you might want to change the male to female. :)

    @glassyo beat me too it I guess

    Well, you were saying most everything I was thinking but never made it from the brain to the fingers. :)
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
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    There are a couple of things I noticed from just the last couple of days in your diary.

    Be wary of those calorie burns. 800 calories is a lot of exercise. You're not eating those calories back, but that may be one reason why the system tells you that you are too low on calories. On the other hand, with that much exercise, you are going to burn out with just 1200 calories a day. Something in the middle would be better - you can manually change the calories for your exercise ... give yourself 1/2 the calories it automatically gives you for exercise. But then eat those. (You can fill it with nutrient dense foods!)

    There are a lot of "generic" or "homemade" entries in your diary, too. Those are often incorrect or incomplete. Instead, enter the ingredients separately (if it's something you eat regularly, you can save it under meals and pull it up from there). If you are making home made meals, you can also use the recipe builder.

    Getting both the exercise calories and food intake calories as close as possible to what's actually happening is going to be important for losing weight. You are probably eating more than you think (meaning that there is less of an issue than you think with how many calories the system gives you). But getting a handle on that now will let you know what needs to happen in the next 6 months.

  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
    edited January 2016
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    70lbs x 3500= 245000 extra calories now 245,000 divided by your 6 month time line is 1346 calories per day neg. your maintenance which is insane!!! especially if you can't consume 1200 in a day?? Every last bite needs to be logged for the calculator to work!!

    No one 70lbs over weight can't eat 1200 calories .My 2 cents
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
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    Quit logging exercise

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