Maintenance issues

ShinySpork
ShinySpork Posts: 28 Member
edited September 28 in Health and Weight Loss
My office is doing a health challenge and part of that was to sign up for an MFP account. I set my goals for maintenance mode and since I have a desk job, I set my activity level to sedentary. I've been logging my food consistently and I *think* I'm logging my exercise correctly. However, I've been losing weight that I don't think I can afford to lose (please don't make fun of me or say you wished you were in my shoes - this could be a real problem!).

Anyway, so far, I have lost 6 pounds, which probably doesn't seem like much, but I started at 115 and I'm roughly 5'3.5" to 5'3.75" (it's hard for me to measure myself). My net calories are around 1300 to 1700 a day and I've been on MFP for 90 days I think. Am I getting more exercise than I believe? Should I consider visiting a doctor? Or should I just pad my levels with a few more calories and see how that goes before I start to worry too much? And if so, how many calories should I add?

I just wanted to stay at 115! This shouldn't have been so hard considering I managed it perfectly well before I tracked everything...

Replies

  • bms34b
    bms34b Posts: 401 Member
    I'm absolutely not a fitness expert, but I'd say padding with extra calories is the way to go. It seems to me the two ways to keep calories higher in general is to either cut exercise or add food; obviously cutting activity isn't a good idea.

    I'd add some healthy calories, like nuts or whole grain carbs, olive oil in cooking, or other things like that. Unless you're noticing other changes in your body, I wouldn't worry about seeing a doctor. If you still lose weight while adding calories, that's when I'd decide to seek medical advice.
  • Nikstergirl
    Nikstergirl Posts: 1,549 Member
    Yup, up those calories! I am just a bit shorter and my goal is 1300 per day. I don't have an active job, but I do eat back my exercise calories. I'm TRYING to lose weight, so I'm sure your goal should be closer to 1800-2200 per day!

    Good luck!
  • briabner
    briabner Posts: 427 Member
    You also might want to go on here and find out your BMR is. You can find this under the tools tab and then go to BMR. I am pretty sure that you put your height and weight in and then it tells you how many calories that it takes to sustain you daily. Your calorie count might have been too low when you initially signed up for MFP. Definitely look into the BMR tool this should help. Then you may see that you have been eating too few calories for you and thus loosing weight.

    For example my BMR says to stay the same weight that I am now or to sustain my body however you want to look at it I need to consume 1675 calories a day. Me, I want to loose weight, so I know if I stay below 1675 then I will loose weight. But if I eat right at 1675 I am not going to loose weight just stay the same
  • ShinySpork
    ShinySpork Posts: 28 Member
    The BMR tool said I need roughly 1200 calories to stay alive if lied in bed all day. My current goal settings are at 1500...if I've lost weight on these settings then does that mean I'm burning at least 300 calories doing whatever it is I'm doing that day (not counting the exercise I do log)?

    Soooo...maybe I'll add 100 calories to my goal and see where that takes me... I just don't understand why it's so much harder to maintain my weight now that I'm tracking my intake. Before I'd just do what seemed right at the time and voila, steady-ish. Well whatever, dietary and physical awareness is supposed to be a good lifelong habit, right? I guess I'm just worried I had a better grasp of what I needed before the numbers and that I've somehow messed that up now... Well, I'll find out soon enough, I guess. :)

    I'll add the calories to my goal and if that works out, great! If not, maybe I'll visit with a doctor-nutritionist person and get the scoop on me, not the average person.

    Thanks everybody!
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