Followed the calorie recommendation, lost 8 times more than I meant to

decorusastra
decorusastra Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm still at a healthy weight so I set my goals at .5 lb/week because I'm only losing for vanity's sake. I had moments where I was weak but I followed the recommended intake pretty well, I actually went 150 calories over for a couple days.

I started at 128 last week. This week, I weighed in at 124!

I'm a little angry because I've been really tired and my brain simply doesn't work anymore (I'm a full time student, I need my brain).

What settings do I need to change? I actually want to set goals for myself rather than trash this silly app because I'm not going to diet myself to the hospital! Recording my weight didn't change the caloric intake, so I really don't know what to do.

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Did you set your activity level too low?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    If this is your first week, you likely lost a lot of water.

    If not...well, weight loss isn't linear. And the app doesn't change your intake as you lose, you have to do it yourself.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    How many calories are you eating, and are you eating the calories you burn doing exercise as you are supposed to?
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Not uncommon to have a big loss in week one. I'd just make sure you are logging accurately and see what happens next week. If you're still losing a lot then up your calories a bit.
  • Cynsonya
    Cynsonya Posts: 668 Member
    Could be you had water weight when you weighed in last time. Unless you knew that to be your true average weight. If it was it looks like you may have set your activity level too low. You were probably tired and "brain challenged" because you weren't eating enough. Do you log all your exercise? Were you eating back exercise calories? Each time I weigh in and lose a few pounds I go to settings and accept the new weight. Only then does it change my calorie goal.
  • Cynsonya
    Cynsonya Posts: 668 Member
    Also did you weigh at the exact same time of day under the exact same circumstances? Your weight fluctuates greatly throughout the day.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    The primary source of fuel for the brain is carbohydrate. (The other one is ketones and using those can lead to ketoacidosis and eventually death, so I don't recommend that.) Check your carbohydrate intake isn't too low first of all--you need a minimum of 120-130 grams of carbohydrate to fuel the brain each day. Second, with your size, even a half pound a week of weight loss will probably set you at 1200 calories per day, which isn't enough for 90% of the population. The easiest way to estimate your calorie needs is to take your weight in pounds and divide by 2.2 (or use your weight in kilograms--this is just the conversion to kilograms) and then multiply that by 24 to get your basal metabolism. Then multiply that by one of these numbers based on your activity not counting exercise:

    Sedentary—1.25
    For those who spend their entire day sitting
    Low Active—1.5
    For those who spend most of their day sitting and only walking to perform tasks of daily living
    Active—1.75
    For those with active vocations equivalent to walking 6-8 miles per day
    Very Active—2.2
    For those who engage in several hours of vigorous physical activity daily

    This gives you a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) on days you aren't exercising. Add in your exercise for the days you do exercise. Then eat 80% of TDEE to lose weight.
  • plantgrrl
    plantgrrl Posts: 436 Member
    edited February 2016
    Try this: http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/
    I upped my cals because I'm a student too and also need my brain. This is a good guide. I got dizzy after exercise with MFP's recommended cals.
  • sault_girl
    sault_girl Posts: 219 Member
    My recommendation to start, is to not change anything other than get into the habit of logging all your food. Then you can step back, take a look at your habits, and "tweak" whatever needs tweaking (especially since you say it's vanity pounds).
  • decorusastra
    decorusastra Posts: 2 Member
    sault_girl wrote: »
    My recommendation to start, is to not change anything other than get into the habit of logging all your food. Then you can step back, take a look at your habits, and "tweak" whatever needs tweaking (especially since you say it's vanity pounds).

    So you're saying give it another week at the same recommendations?
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    decorusastra wrote: »
    sault_girl wrote: »
    My recommendation to start, is to not change anything other than get into the habit of logging all your food. Then you can step back, take a look at your habits, and "tweak" whatever needs tweaking (especially since you say it's vanity pounds).

    So you're saying give it another week at the same recommendations?

    I think their point is keep eating as usual, not at the calories given, to see what you were eating.

    My question still stands, how many calories are you eating per day?
  • soulofgrace
    soulofgrace Posts: 175 Member
    TrainingWithTonya wrote: »
    The primary source of fuel for the brain is carbohydrate. (The other one is ketones and using those can lead to ketoacidosis and eventually death, so I don't recommend that.) Check your carbohydrate intake isn't too low first of all--you need a minimum of 120-130 grams of carbohydrate to fuel the brain each day. Second, with your size, even a half pound a week of weight loss will probably set you at 1200 calories per day, which isn't enough for 90% of the population. The easiest way to estimate your calorie needs is to take your weight in pounds and divide by 2.2 (or use your weight in kilograms--this is just the conversion to kilograms) and then multiply that by 24 to get your basal metabolism. Then multiply that by one of these numbers based on your activity not counting exercise:

    Sedentary—1.25
    For those who spend their entire day sitting
    Low Active—1.5
    For those who spend most of their day sitting and only walking to perform tasks of daily living
    Active—1.75
    For those with active vocations equivalent to walking 6-8 miles per day
    Very Active—2.2
    For those who engage in several hours of vigorous physical activity daily

    This gives you a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) on days you aren't exercising. Add in your exercise for the days you do exercise. Then eat 80% of TDEE to lose weight.

    Yeah. Don't follow this calculation. It doesn't factor for age, height or gender. I am 48 F 66" and that math gave me 200 more than I am eating to s.l.o.w.l.y lose the last 10 lbs of my goal. Use one of the many online calculators to get a ballpark figure and adjust up or down to your preference.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    If this is your first week, you likely lost a lot of water.

    If not...well, weight loss isn't linear. And the app doesn't change your intake as you lose, you have to do it yourself.
    rileysowner wrote: »
    How many calories are you eating, and are you eating the calories you burn doing exercise as you are supposed to?

    Agreed and seconded.
  • umayster
    umayster Posts: 651 Member
    TrainingWithTonya wrote: »
    The primary source of fuel for the brain is carbohydrate. (The other one is ketones and using those can lead to ketoacidosis and eventually death, so I don't recommend that.) Check your carbohydrate intake isn't too low first of all--you need a minimum of 120-130 grams of carbohydrate to fuel the brain each day. ...

    This part is completely factually invalid, to be polite. Your body can make all the glucose needed, you do not need to eat carbohydrates for brain fuel.

  • emmycantbemeeko
    emmycantbemeeko Posts: 303 Member
    It's highly unlikely you ate at a 14,000 calorie deficit for the last week to make that 4 lbs of actual fat loss (although if you did, it would certainly explain your fogginess and struggle to stick to the plan). It's very possible to fluctuate several pounds over the course of a day or week without any fat loss at all.

    Agreed with everyone else that it's possible that your calorie goal is set incorrectly, but equally possible that you're not eating enough carbs. Don't trust the scale to tell you whether you're eating too much or too little at the one week mark, but do trust your misery level- if you're feeling cloudy and struggling to stick to the plan, it's likely not one that will work for you long term and you need to adjust it.

    The most likely explanation is some combination of calculator settings being off (did you set your activity level too low? Are you exercising but not eating back those calories?), or your logging being off (most people eat more than they think, but it's not impossible you could be eating less than you think, especially if you're not weighing or you're using inaccurate entries).
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
    It's mainly water
    If you had brain fog it'll prob be carb withdrawal tbh week 2 is always better as long as your eating 1200 cals
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited February 2016
    rileysowner wrote: »
    How many calories are you eating, and are you eating the calories you burn doing exercise as you are supposed to?

    @decorusastra - these are good questions. If you are exercising and not eating enough of those calories back, or otherwise under-eating, that could cause the weakness.

    Also check your settings to make sure all is correct: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    My Fitness Palmis only as good as the information we give it to work with.
  • jonathantrush
    jonathantrush Posts: 12 Member
    If you feel bad try upping your calories. A tiny bit or adjusting your foods. If you need more carbs lower your fats ect. Aim for 40%carbs 40%protein 20% fat

Categories