1200 or 1500??

riley_kinnett
riley_kinnett Posts: 60 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been dieting again for a little over a month. I have not lost ANY weight. Last year I lost 21lb, but quit going to the gym and dieting and ended up gaining back 13 of the 21lb. Before when I was on this diet, I was going to the gym 5-6 days a week and was eating anywhere from 1400-1650 cal each day. Now I only go to the gym 2-3 days a week and eat about 1500 and try not to eat any of the calories back. I use a food scale for EVERYTHING. Should I stay at 1500 or go down to 1200 to lose weight??

Replies

  • mnmamin
    mnmamin Posts: 1 Member
    Have you used the option on this app to tell you the recommended cal intake per day depending on your goals(lose .5, 1, 2lbs/week)?
    There is also a macro calculator online that will break down how much carbs, proteins, and fats for you depending on your goals
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    riley_kinnett wrote: »
    I have been dieting again for a little over a month. I have not lost ANY weight. Last year I lost 21lb, but quit going to the gym and dieting and ended up gaining back 13 of the 21lb. Before when I was on this diet, I was going to the gym 5-6 days a week and was eating anywhere from 1400-1650 cal each day. Now I only go to the gym 2-3 days a week and eat about 1500 and try not to eat any of the calories back. I use a food scale for EVERYTHING. Should I stay at 1500 or go down to 1200 to lose weight??

    It doesn't look like you use a food scale for everything...if you are your entries should reflect it as the entries not in the weight could be wrong.

    esp when pasta is measure in fluid oz...????

    AS for how much you should eat depends on your stats which you didn't give.

    I lose easy on 1500...

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    What does "trying" not to eat calories back look like? Does that mean you're eating some?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    What does "trying" not to eat calories back look like? Does that mean you're eating some?

    that only matters if she is over estimating them and eats them all back.

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    What does "trying" not to eat calories back look like? Does that mean you're eating some?

    that only matters if she is over estimating them and eats them all back.

    And I've seen several posts where that's been an issue, that's why I'm asking. Usually when someone says they're "trying" to do something, that's where I will ask a follow-up question as to what exactly that looks like in practice.
  • riley_kinnett
    riley_kinnett Posts: 60 Member
    When I say "trying" I mean that 99% of the time I do not eat them back, but occasionally I do if I am extra hungry from working out, etc.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited February 2017
    riley_kinnett wrote: »
    When I say "trying" I mean that 99% of the time I do not eat them back, but occasionally I do if I am extra hungry from working out, etc.

    I always eat at least 50% of my exercise calories back and still lose weight but I am very very confident in my food logging. Jane pointed out a number of errors in your logging that could lead to you eating more calories than you think.

    I get the syntax for whole foods from the USDA website and then plug that in to MFP to make it easier to find the system entry rather than an error-prone user-created entry.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Why only 1500 or 1200? Maybe your ideal calorie goal is 1455 or 1376 or something. It's not automatically 1500 or 1200! Try an online TDEE calculator - I prefer the one from IIFYM.com - to find your maintenance calories, then subtract your deficit. Your deficit can be anything between 250 calories (0.5 pounds per week loss rate) up to 500 calories (1 pound per week loss rate) - I wouldn't go any higher than that with only 13 pounds to lose. And don't set your calories any lower than your BMR (the calculator gives you that too). With this method (the TDEE method) you do NOT eat back exercise calories because that is already included in the calculations.
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