Confused about where to start!

I used MFP in the past and had success in losing weight. Unfortunately, I've gained quite a bit back. I'm not going to list excuses. I just got lazy and have had a poor diet with little fitness; Not to mention I sit at a desk all day. When I came back, I signed in and looked at my goals. I clicked on the "View Guided Setup" and thought I was starting again. I didn't realize it doesn't work! So, the first week I maintained. Then I googled calorie goals to lose weight. I adjusted my calorie goal and tried another week. I GAINED 4 LBS!! This past week, I went back to the 1200 calorie goal, logged my exercise but, didn't eat back many calories. I went back to the weight I started with when I first came back. Any suggestions???

Replies

  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    What do you mean when you say that "View Guided Setup" doesn't work?

    This chart has some good advice:

    edw4kvp2wlnh.jpg
  • sharondjs
    sharondjs Posts: 676 Member
    1200 is the least recommended by any organisation for women and usually is to low unless your really small . Im not sure what you mean by " and thought I was starting again. I didn't realize it doesn't work!"
    MFP works really well once you get all your data correct and are dong the right things for yourself.

    There's not really enough information to say whats going on & also not enough time has gone by .

    Food do you have a food scale and are measuring everything in grams this is the only way to know for sure just what your Calories In are , no free foods lettuce etc log it all , most of the time when people gain it's that they haven't actually measured and weighed accurately every single thing going in ..

    As you have a desk job you would set your activity level as Sedentary & than log exercise on top of that , understanding that mfp gives an estimate on the exercise as it cannot know just how hard you have actually worked , most people don't eat back more than 50 % and i didn't eat back more than 25 % if you gave a heart rate monitor your calories for exercise will be closer to accurate than by just using the ap .

    Im sure lots of other who have way more time and experience on her will chime in soon
    Good luck
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Keep in mind that starting new eating habits, especially if there's exercise involved, can do wacky things on the scale. Don't let it bug you - it takes a few weeks for the body to adjust to new things.

    I wouldn't go 1200 especially if you're not eating back burned cals - recipe for disaster. Definitely not maintainable. I know it's hard, but don't be in a hurry - slow and steady is better if it means losing the weight and keeping it off, and sticking with the healthy lifestyle, right?