First time tracking

mgookin1 · April 2016

I have never Calorie counted before. I usually do the south beach diet which is mainly just limits on carbs and sugars with no limit on intake, and weight watchers, but got to expensive to upkeep.

I just started here a few days ago, and I seemed to be doing okay, Or at least I thought, but as I read through some of the forums, I feel lost.

I am suppose to be eating 2200 Calories, But I can only manage to eat 1600-1800 on a good day. With eating less crap, and more healthier foods, I don't seem as hungry anymore. I can't really work out right now, I am the heaviest I have ever been and my mobility is limited, But I do walk a lot or at least have been trying. And I am not sure if my tracker is accurate ( I use the S health to track my steps with Samsung Galaxy s5 ) And I walk 10,000 Steps or more these past few days, and Burn 800-1000 calories from it. (Mostly walking up hill or will attempt jogging for a brief few minutes), I log the information at the end of the day into just one lump sum ( Walking xxx minutes burned xxxx calories)

I guess my questions are:
Am I suppose to eat the full 2200 Calories a day?
Am I suppose to eat back the amount of calories I work off? ( I know the tracker isn't 100% correct and can be off )

Merkavar · April 2016

Yes to eating 2200 if that's you goal and yes to eating exercise calories. Eat 50-75% since you likely over estimate.

If you have met your macros, in particular fat and protein and are still under your calories, I recommend peanut butter, it's ridiculously calorie dense, like a teaspoon is around the 100 calorie mark, it might be enough to up your calories.

Or treat your self to something less healthy.

But before doing any of that I would make sure you are logging correctly, weighing your food. You might be under estimating your food.

Bailey_97 · April 2016

To be honest, if you're extremely heavy you can probably be okay eating 16-1800 calories. Especially if you don't feel hungry or feel the need to eat more. You'll have a bigger deficit than is generally "recommended" but if you're extremely heavy it's actually okay to lose more than 2 pounds per week.

As far as eating your exercise calories back, it's up to you, but if you do choose to eat them back a lot of people eat 50% of them back because the tracker tends to wildly overestimate. If you're hungry definitely don't hesitate to eat them back.

ridge4mfp · April 2016

If you set your goals in MFP, and it said 2200, then yes, you can eat 2200. That being said, by far the most accurate method of measuring your intake is with a food scale. If you are not using one, it would not be a bad idea to eat under your calories a bit until you are sure you are losing at the rate you set in yours goals. For exercise, the common advice is to eat back 50 to 75%. Good luck!

kshama2001 · April 2016

2200 seems high. Are you very tall? Might want to double check your stats here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

Or is that net calories plus calories earned from exercise? In this case you might want to halve your exercise calories as they tend to be inflated.

mgookin1 · April 2016

kshama2001 wrote: »

2200 seems high. Are you very tall? Might want to double check your stats here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

Or is that net calories plus calories earned from exercise? In this case you might want to halve your exercise calories as they tend to be inflated.

I'm average height. I am 5'7 and currently 328 pounds. I am lightly active already, I limit my driving. I walk to and from work, I am a cashier and constantly moving on my feet, I have a toddler, we go to the park daily and I walk 3-4 laps around the lake which may be a mile? Then let him run around and play for an hour and I chase after him, as much as I am able too. I am pretty sure the fitness tracker on my phone isn't very accurate, and plan on getting fitbit to see more accurate calculations hopefully.

I entered my information a couple different times to just double check.

RoxieDawn · April 2016

I ran your stats here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

The results are also similiar to MFP results..

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) 2435
Daily calories to maintain current weight (TDEE) 2922
Daily calories based on goal - I used 20% loss : 2337

Based on the small 130 calorie difference between scooby and MFP, the deficit that MFP gave you to eat to loose X pounds a week is right.

If you have trouble eating that many calories use link below for choosing a little higher calorie foods that may fit in your "healthy" foods.. These are calorie dense foods a bit higher in calories..

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1

RoxieDawn · April 2016

I want to add, that the exerice calories is a bit tricky. You will get estimations in calorie burns for any activity you do using devices such as fitness trackers with or without a heart monitor, web calculators, app calculators, cardio machine computers, etc.. Eating back a portion of them no matter where you get the estimation from is a wise choice, as you can eat back too many of them which dips into the deficit causing slower weight loss. But you are having trouble meeting the calorie budget for MFP thus far, so keep this in mind when you start loosing weight and begin to exercise more if this happens.

Eating back your exercise calories is a personal choice and dependent on if you need them in order to create energy balance (calories in / calories out) so that you can continue to exercise and be totally nourished and to meet your daily activities and body's need to function and recover properly.

OP, read the stickies at the beginning of the forums such as this one. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

First time tracking

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