Discouraged

Kittenmommy
Kittenmommy Posts: 7 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi all.

Due to a horrible stomach virus, I recently lost 15 lbs. The virus is over, but I'd like to continue to lose. I signed up here at MFP and have been eating 1200 calories a day (which is what it told me to eat for my height, weight, and age if I want to lose a pound a week).

I've since gained 4 lbs.

I just checked out a calorie calculator, and it says that for my height, weight, and age, I should be eating 685 calories a day to lose a pound a week, and 185 calories a day (which seems insane to me) to lose two pounds per week. Well, no wonder I gained four pounds!

685 calories a day seems unachievable. I'm already ravenous all day long at 1200 calories per day. Cutting that nearly in half seems impossible. I did a little over an hour's worth of exercise (stationary bike) last night, which gave me more calories to work with but left me even more ravenously hungry.

So I reset MFP for 685 calories a day as my goal. Any tips for foods that fill you up but have very limited calories? Looks like I'll be eating about two Lean Cuisines a day and nothing else. I'm so depressed and discouraged right now that I feel like just giving up.

Thanks for listening!

Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,313 Member
    edited January 2016
    685 is way too low. Eating that little will result in nutritional deficiencies and in related health issues.

    It is far more likely that you are incorrectly measuring that you are eating so what you are actually eating in calories is more than you have logged. Use a kitchen scale, ideally digital, to measure all solids and anything else that includes a weight measure in its serving size, and measuring cup and spoons for liquids so you know you are actually eating closer to what you think you are eating. Double check the calorie amounts on the things you log as well as there are some errors in the food list and there are also regional differences.

    Also, if you just got over a stomach virus, I'm not clear if that was just now or further back, you will regain water weight since you would likely be dehydrated from that.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    You lost a lot of water when you were ill. You have just gained some water back.

    No idea where you're getting a calorie goal of 185 from, I'd just stick with mfp!
  • SizeTenByTeatime
    SizeTenByTeatime Posts: 34 Member
    I think you may have worked that out wrong....
  • Kittenmommy
    Kittenmommy Posts: 7 Member
    rileysowner wrote: »
    685 is way too low. Eating that little will result in nutritional deficiencies and in related health issues.

    It is far more likely that you are incorrectly measuring that you are eating so what you are actually eating in calories is more than you have logged.

    I use my iPhone to scan barcodes on everything I eat. I also take serving sizes into account, obviously!
    rileysowner wrote: »
    Use a kitchen scale, ideally digital, to measure all solids and anything else that includes a weight measure in its serving size, and measuring cup and spoons for liquids so you know you are actually eating closer to what you think you are eating.

    I'm doing that!
    rileysowner wrote: »
    Double check the calorie amounts on the things you log as well as there are some errors in the food list and there are also regional differences.

    When I'm not 100% sure, I always estimate up rather than down.
    rileysowner wrote: »
    Also, if you just got over a stomach virus, I'm not clear if that was just now or further back, you will regain water weight since you would likely be dehydrated from that.

    Maybe that's what happened. My clothes are definitely still fitting a lot better, so there's that.

    Thanks!
  • Kittenmommy
    Kittenmommy Posts: 7 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    You lost a lot of water when you were ill. You have just gained some water back.

    No idea where you're getting a calorie goal of 185 from, I'd just stick with mfp!

    I got a goal of 685 from here: http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    You lost a lot of water when you were ill. You have just gained some water back.

    No idea where you're getting a calorie goal of 185 from, I'd just stick with mfp!

    This !

    And op, those numbers seem way off !
  • Kittenmommy
    Kittenmommy Posts: 7 Member
    SizeTenByTeatime wrote: »
    I think you may have worked that out wrong....


    I put my stats into this calorie calculator http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html and got "685" as the max I should eat to lose one pound a week.

    That seems really odd to me, but I'm no nutritionist (obviously!). ;)
  • Kittenmommy
    Kittenmommy Posts: 7 Member
    thorsmom01 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    You lost a lot of water when you were ill. You have just gained some water back.

    No idea where you're getting a calorie goal of 185 from, I'd just stick with mfp!

    This !

    And op, those numbers seem way off !

    They came from here: http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
  • akyonder
    akyonder Posts: 11 Member
    edited January 2016
    You don't need to be discouraged. 685 is not practical or healthy. When using MFP, if you enter less than 1000 calories per day, it gives you a health warning and won't give you stats based on that day's entries.
    Strenuous exercise will give you more calories to work with but will also make you really hungry, making it even harder.
    The four pounds is probably just water weight as discussed above. You are still at -11 which is good.
    I would stick with 1100-1200 per day with moderate exercise. Keep up the good work!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Kittenmommy wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    You lost a lot of water when you were ill. You have just gained some water back.

    No idea where you're getting a calorie goal of 185 from, I'd just stick with mfp!

    I got a goal of 685 from here: http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

    What are your stats? Height, weight etc
  • FullLifeNeil
    FullLifeNeil Posts: 50 Member
    wow...685 is way too low. Like starvation low. You need to build you metabolism and get your calories up. You need to stop starving your body....you won't be able to do any exercise at that point. Feel free to add me as a friend (FullLifeNeil) as I'd be happy to help you further. - Neil

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,313 Member
    FullLifeNeil wrote: »
    wow...685 is way too low. Like starvation low. You need to build you metabolism and get your calories up. You need to stop starving your body....you won't be able to do any exercise at that point. Feel free to add me as a friend (FullLifeNeil) as I'd be happy to help you further. - Neil

    Her metabolism is just fine. I would take a long time eating at 685 calories to negatively affect it.
  • sgdehart
    sgdehart Posts: 2 Member
    What is your BMI?
  • ForeverSunshine09
    ForeverSunshine09 Posts: 966 Member
    What is your height, weight, and age?

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