Recommendation for losing weight

I'm losing weight (about .25-.5lb a week) on 1900-2300cal a day - I have a higher activity level (4-6 days a week) - but even last week when I was sick and eating those calories, my weight stayed stable - for reference 5'3" and 151lbs

shellybellyshell wrote: »

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

Eat foods you like at a calorie deficit. 1200 is usually aggressively low unless you are very small or very old.

is it?? Ooh wonder why it's recommended 1200 calories then? I'll look into it a bit more. Thank you

Because that's the minimum suggested intake for a woman to ensure she gets adequate nutrition. As that's the lowest goal MFP will give, it's likely that the deficit you chose is too aggressive for your goals (i.e. if you chose 2 pounds a week, change it to 1 pound a week).

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

Eat foods you like at a calorie deficit. 1200 is usually aggressively low unless you are very small or very old.

This. Op how much do you want to lose/current stats?

To lose weight you can really eat whatever you want though, you just need to hit your calorie targets. Find what foods are the most filling for you and have longer satiety levels, and then build your meals around those things. Also focus on variety and balance, as well as continuing to eat the foods you enjoy. The weight loss phase can be challenging but it doesn't have to be a miserable experience

You don't have to eat "clean" or specific foods to lose weight. You only have to eat at a caloric deficit (IE: eat less than your body needs to maintain its current weight). The trick is calculating your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expendature) so that you know exactly how many calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. That's how MFP, and all other calculators out there, work. They calculate based on your height, weight, age, and activity level throughout a normal day just how many calories your body uses. Then it subtracts approximately 500 calories per day to lose 1 lb per week. If you set MFP at 2 lbs per week loss (almost everyone does, because they shudder at the thought of how long it will take to lose the weight they want to lose) it's going to subtract 1000 calories a day. Problem is, if you are shorter, have a sedentary lifestyle, are older, etc. then your TDEE may even be less than 2000 calories a day. Subtracting 1000 calories a day from that puts you at 1000 calories or less.

There lies the rub.. eating too little is not healthy. So somewhere some group of lawyers has recommended to diet sites to not set people below 1200 calories a day so they don't get sued out of existence for starving their users. So the lowest it'll assign you is 1200/day. I know people who consistently eat less than that and do just fine, but they are not much more than 5' tall, female, and don't do it for very long periods of time.

As far as what foods to eat. Eat what you want, stay within your calorie goal you set on MFP, and you'll be fine. You'll quickly find out though, that foods with less fat, less sugar, raw, or self-prepared instead of pre-packaged are less calorie dense. Therefore you can eat more of them. That's the only reason to adopt a different diet. You can eat 1200 calories a day of twinkies if you want and if that's less calories than your body requires to maintain its current weight, you're going to lose weight (don't do that, it's just an example lol).

Disclaimer: As always, this is my opinion only. Take it or leave it, I'm not going to bother trying to dig up evidence to support my opinion, hell it may not even exist. It's an opinion based on my own experiences and others I know along with information I've gleaned from these forums. Oh.. and a Twinkie only diet is probably a bad idea.

malibu927 wrote: »

shellybellyshell wrote: »

Ready2Rock206 wrote: »

Eat foods you like at a calorie deficit. 1200 is usually aggressively low unless you are very small or very old.

is it?? Ooh wonder why it's recommended 1200 calories then? I'll look into it a bit more. Thank you

Because that's the minimum suggested intake for a woman to ensure she gets adequate nutrition. As that's the lowest goal MFP will give, it's likely that the deficit you chose is too aggressive for your goals (i.e. if you chose 2 pounds a week, change it to 1 pound a week).

Also, there seems to be a tendency for people to select "sedentary" when they are not, which will also give you an unnecessarily low calorie goal. Sedentary means you don't do much more than it takes to fix meals for yourself and attend to basic hygiene, and the rest of the time you're off your feet.