Diet food totals seem off- protein and calories too low

umbs_78
umbs_78 Posts: 2
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
i am a 32 yr old man who loves this app. I just have some questions regarding the goals the app set for me. I weighed 195 lbs @5'8. After working out and following the 1300 a day calorie goal that the app set for me, I lost 20 lbs in 5 weeks!!! Now that I want to start eating again. 1300 is not a lot of food. I started increasing my calories to 1700 a day. I am still working out 5 times a week. However, I gained 6 lbs back in 1 week. I read about this online. I think I was what is called "starvation mode". Now everything I eat, my body is storing as fat. I'd love to hear some suggestions on getting my body stabilized And continue to lose weight.

I read that based on my needs, I should be eating 1700-2000 calories a day to lose fat and build muscle. But more importantly than to just limit my calories like myfitnesspal suggests, I need to be eating the right food. Based off a questionnaire, it was suggested that I eat 27% protein, 52% carbs and 21% fat. The daily food goals are nowhere close to these amounts.

I tried changing the goal settings to mimic this, but the feature is not available.

Anyone with some advice?

Regards,
Gaining it back

Replies

  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Click "Goals," then "change goals" then click to "Manually set my own custom fitness goals" and continue. You'll be able to adjust your percentages and calories there. Not precisely.... they go in 5% increments. But you'll be closer.
  • louloup
    louloup Posts: 87 Member
    I changed my food ratio goals to 40 protein/40/carbs/20 fat.

    to do this : You can go into My Home-->Goals-->change goals-->Custom and change the percentages to what you want.

    I nearly always eat more protein than carbs :)

    hope this helps.
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
    You can go into the "goals" tab and change the calories and nutritional information to whatever you want it to be. Originally they had my calories and protein too low and my carbs to high. Make sure you click on "change goals" again when you are done.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    The minimum a man should eat is 1500 Net calories, MFP will not set you below 1200, but that level is intended for women, try changing your goal, if you are set at 1.5 or 2 lbs/week change to 0.5 or 1.0 lbs/week to get the extra cals you need.

    With less than 15lbs to your goal weight you should not be trying to lose more than 0.5 lbs/week. Having a larger deficit may lead to the loss of a large % of lean muscle instead of fat.
  • umbs_78
    umbs_78 Posts: 2
    You're the best!!! Thanks.

    Is it safe to say that the 1300 calories set were way too low for someone my who is 5'8?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You're the best!!! Thanks.

    Is it safe to say that the 1300 calories set were way too low for someone my who is 5'8?

    Yes, but MFP based it on your goals, the issue was your goal is too aggressive for your stats and ultimate goal.

    Although you are losing weight this thread may still be of assistance to your goal setting. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/283663-not-losing-weight-you-re-asking-the-wrong-questions
  • editara13
    editara13 Posts: 384 Member
    I did follow the same program of eating 1300 calories per day and I never raised the intake more than 1300 until I reached my goal. I know is hard to have just 1300 calories per day, but the pounds will go down fast also with lots of water and everyday workout. Now I'm maintaining my weight and I'm consuming 2000 calories per day for about a month and I didn't gained any pound back which is great and also I keep exercising 30 minutes per day and I feel great. Just have faith in yourself, because you can do it..... :-)



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  • YukonJoy
    YukonJoy Posts: 1,279 Member
    You're the best!!! Thanks.

    Is it safe to say that the 1300 calories set were way too low for someone my who is 5'8?

    1300 calories is way too low for a man regardless of his height.
  • snlpop2
    snlpop2 Posts: 2
    your calorie intake really should never be less than your basal metabolic rate (BMR). MFP has a pretty good BMR calculator under the tools section. keeping your calorie intake above this level will help keep your cortisol levels in check (i.e., keep your body out of stavation mode). in order to force your body to metabolize fat instead of muscle during weight loss, you should eat at least 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight (you should use your goal weight for this). if you're trying to build muscle, you need to increase your protein intake to 1 gram per pound.
    you can lose weight as quickly as you want but you have to create the needed calorie deficit with cardio exercise. note that cardio does not preserve or build muscle, you also have to do some strength training as well, even if all you want to do is maintain muscle. this is because your body will metabolize "unused" muscle first before it metabolizes fat, so you need to make sure you use all your muscles regularly.
    i also suspect that much of your initial weight loss and subsequent gain was just water weight. make sure you always drink enough fluids, your urine should be very pale yellow in color. any darker and you're probably dehydrated. if your urine in clear, you may be taking in too much caffiene.
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