Why is my daily calorie intake goal so high?

mizpanthere
mizpanthere Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
I'm just under 300lbs looking to get to 160. Why on earth is it telling me I need to eat 2400 calories a day? That's way more food than I usually eat. I'm trying to lose, not gain!
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Replies

  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    Hi Welcome to MFP! :smiley:
    Did you include your daily exercise when you input your info? If so that would account for it, eating back some workout cals is important to fuel your body. Think of your body like a car, if you workout and run out of fuel your body won't be able to function in a healthy manner. It's part of how MFP is set up.

    How tall are you    , how many lbs did you set up for your deficit? I'll try to help you figure it out but need a bit more info...
  • mizpanthere
    mizpanthere Posts: 2 Member
    I am 5'7 and 296lbs (today, haha). I set it to lose 1lb per week (what my doctor suggested) I selected lightly active, I'm a student so I spend a lot of time sitting down, but I'm a nursing student so I also spend a fair amount of time walking in the hospital.
    I'm lucky if I make it to 1600 calories most days, unless I eat out. I'm pretty sure my doctor told me to shoot for 1300 calories a day. So why does this app tell me so much more??
  • wanderingartistry
    wanderingartistry Posts: 6 Member
    I've heard that you need to apply your weight x10 in order to find the minimal amount of calories that your body needs to maintain. So maybe that's what My Fitness Pal figured.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,092 Member
    edited February 2017
    mizpanthere wrote: »
    I'm just under 300lbs looking to get to 160. Why on earth is it telling me I need to eat 2400 calories a day? That's way more food than I usually eat. I'm trying to lose, not gain!
    mizpanthere wrote: »
    I am 5'7 and 296lbs (today, haha). I set it to lose 1lb per week (what my doctor suggested) I selected lightly active, I'm a student so I spend a lot of time sitting down, but I'm a nursing student so I also spend a fair amount of time walking in the hospital.
    I'm lucky if I make it to 1600 calories most days, unless I eat out. I'm pretty sure my doctor told me to shoot for 1300 calories a day. So why does this app tell me so much more??

    With all due respect, there is no way you have been maintaining 300 lbs on 1600 calories a day, so unless you were already losing weight on what you think was 1600 calories, or you eat out pretty much every day, or eat so much more on the days you eat out that you were averaging closer to 3000 calories a day, your estimate of the calories you eat is way off.

    Get a food scale and track accurately, and, as @bbell1985 says, you'll see.


    ETA: I weigh a bit more than half what you do, have a desk job, and I maintain on just under 2400 calories, even without intentional exercise. So I'm guessing if there were two of me, we'd lose weight on a combined 2400 calories.

  • sbrandt37
    sbrandt37 Posts: 403 Member
    edited February 2017
    This might all sound a little harsh, but like everyone else, I'm sure you have been eating more than you think. The reason is that almost everyone is very poor at estimating how much they are eating (research shows that even dietitians are terrible at it) AND there is no way you could maintain your current weight on 1600 calories/day.

    The trick is to weigh your food, log your meals religiously, and aim for a modest calorie deficit daily. At 300 pounds, you could probably very safely aim to lose 2 pounds/week until you get close to your goal weight. The good news is that MFP makes it all pretty straightforward. If you enter everything correctly and do what it says, you will lose weight. You got this!
  • xlgman
    xlgman Posts: 33 Member
    edited February 2017
    It's very easy to underestimate how much you are actually eating. If you eyeball your serving sizes too much, your logging can be way off. And some of the more calorie-dense foods have little margin for error when counting calories. Get a digital food scale and a few sets of measuring cups and use them consistently. Nothing will work if you are inaccurate with your logging.
  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
    I'm 5'0" and I lose on 1600 calories a day. I bet if you weigh/measure your food and really honestly keep track of your calories, you'll find that you're probably eating about twice the calories you think you are.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    @mizpanthere Not being judgmental at all, but speaking from experience :smile: I'm 16 years older then you, weigh 150lbs, and lose weight eating between 1600-2000 calories. For me to reach 300lbs I would have eat double or more than this, maybe 3500+ calories a day.

    You said 2400 calories is way more than you usually eat, I cant see how this is possible.. Again, to get to 300lbs would take a whopping amount of calories consumed day in day out.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    mizpanthere wrote: »
    Christine_72 wrote: »

    Are you sure about the 1600 calories? How are you estimating your calories, weighing, measuring cups, guestimating? I can guarantee you were eating a helluva lot more than 1600 calories to get up to 300lbs.

    Trust MFP's numbers, ot really does work :smile:

    "you can guarantee" Sure, if you're a judgmental psychic. Not my first rodeo, thanks. I've tracked plenty, just with a different website - which also didn't tell me to consume a ridiculous amount of calories. I typically consume 1300-1400 calories a day if I'm eating food at/from home. I have been eating that amount, with the exception of occasions like my husband's birthday when we went out to eat, for the last 7 months. For people on a website that is supposed to be for support, you guys are sure a bunch of assumptive judgmental jerks.

    Not that it's particularly any of your business, but I have PCOS, gained weight with pregnancies, and had undiagnosed (and hence untreated) hypothyroidism for two years. Let's not assume that everyone who is overweight got that way by eating mcdoubles and ding dongs. Seriously, how rude. I asked a question to get actually helpful answers, not assumptions about how much I eat or how dumb I must be when it comes to tracking.

    Also pretty sure my doctor knows more than you do. Screw this place, ya'll can keep your *kitten* judgmental attitudes to yourselves!

    Wow, this is a very defensive reaction toward people that are trying to help you. Mathematically, what you are saying just doesn't hold up. With your current stats, you are likely burning close to 3,000 cals/day (I believe someone ran the numbers through a TDEE calculator and got similar results), and so yes, based on that, and selecting 1 lb/week in MFP, you would have a daily deficit of 500 less than that - or around 2,400 calories.

    I'm petite (5'2) and went from ~155-120lbs eating 1600-1900 cals. This is why, with your current weight, people are saying that if you were eating 1600 cals, you would be losing. One of the most common mistakes people make is underestimating their calorie intake by not accurately logging food. That's why people are commenting that you are likely in a similar situation.

    If you have guidance from your doctor as to how many calories to eat, based on your medical conditions and the goals that you've set with him or her - then I'm not sure why you were asking for advice here to begin with.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    mizpanthere wrote: »
    I'm just under 300lbs looking to get to 160. Why on earth is it telling me I need to eat 2400 calories a day? That's way more food than I usually eat. I'm trying to lose, not gain!

    At your size, you will lose on 2400 calories a day. If that were way more food than what you usually you, you would not have gained weight.

    Just ensure that you have accurate entries and are logging all your food, and stay within your calorie goals, and you will lose weight.

    Pay attention to the sage advice given to you by others as well. :)

    You can do this.
  • Bekah7482
    Bekah7482 Posts: 246 Member
    mizpanthere wrote: »
    I'm just under 300lbs looking to get to 160. Why on earth is it telling me I need to eat 2400 calories a day? That's way more food than I usually eat. I'm trying to lose, not gain!

    You can change what your calorie goal is set at. MFP does simple math to estimate what you should be eating based on what you enter (weight, activity level, goals, etc.). If you are on a different calorie or macro goal, change the setting to reflect the goal you want to be at. I am working with a dietitian so I set my goals to be what she has me at and not what MFP suggested I be at.

    Also, dont let people on here get you too riled up. From my experience, some people think/try to be helpful but tend to attack more then they do help. What calories you were eating last week are irrelevant and no one knows your medical history. Change your settings to your own goals and make sure to track and weigh your food. Keep working with your doctor and find a meal plan that works for you and you are able to stick to. Good Luck.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    I think the op has left the building.
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,669 Member
    Could be, but often when they storm out like that, they still lurk to see what people say about their departure. So, please continue with the good advice, folks! :)
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    I can honestly say I was eating more food than I thought too. I used to be thin up until my late 20s early 30s,then I got less exercise. I even used measuring cups and ate healthier because I thought and read thats what you are supposed to do. I lost some but started gaining it back.I could not understand why. I came here and was told to get a food scale,stop using measuring cups for solids and semi solids and weight in grams,and compare to the packaging. I did that and started losing again.I honestly did not think I was eating too much because I ate the same way I always did when I was thinner.I just wasnt as active for many reasons. I know now that its very easy to gain weight while thinking that you arent eating a lot of food.I couldnt understand it. now I do and see how it happened.for me I was eating the same amount but was moving less so I was eating more than I burned resulting in my weight gain.I know now how to prevent that.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    Well, the only way to really know for sure is to *accurately* log whatever number of calories you choose for your goal and see what happens. If, after several weeks, you are losing more than you expect, adjust upward. If less, adjust downward.

  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    LMC8164 wrote: »
    Several of you were very rude and what you were saying I understand it but it was still rude. I too am overweight, technically speaking obese. I suffer from several conditions that she has as well and then autonomic nervous system dysfunction. I'm on high doses of steroids and several other medications that cause weight gain. I have actually shut down my metabolism due to the fact I am never hungry because I'm in constant pain I joined this to try and end of that. I have also hired a personal trainer. But since September when I started two new drugs and we did start monitoring my food intake of consume less than 1200 calories a day consistently average only 800 and yet I gained 38 pounds. So it is possible to gain weight on a less than required calorie count because when you are obese it just eats up your muscle mass and you can private message me for pictures of the scarring that my body has from consuming muscle mass instead of fat. You don't need to reply to this comment just always remember you're not walking in someone else's shoes peace and love and weight loss

    if your metabolism shuts down you are dead. it may have slowed considerably but it didnt shut down,if it did so would your organs. being obese does not eat your muscle mass.if you dont get enough calories your body will use body fat,muscle and so on for energy. so you cant just lose muscle mass and not fat. unless you have a muscle wasting disease or a disease that causes your body to consume muscle. but if you are in a caloric deficit you will lose fat and muscle,which is why you need to consume enough protein. steroids dont cause weight gain in of themselves,they increase appetite,although they can cause you to retain crazy amounts of water weight. now your BMR most likely has slowed way down(adaptive thermogenesis)to help your body save energy due to eating so little.but you would still not gain weight unless you are eating more than your TDEE.

    If you are indeed eating 800 calories then your TDEE would have to be very very low and I dont think you would be able to function at all to be honest. Im not being rude here either. obese people usually have a higher TDEE.If your body consumes muscle mass there should be no scarring on the outside either,because most people dont know they are losing muscle mass unless they get testing done(dexascan,bod pod,etc).
  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    mom22dogs wrote: »
    I think sometimes people mistake direct, honest answers as being rude. It isn't. It's being honest and just not sugar coating it.

    I often wonder what typical daily interactions are like for those folks. I think having a logical conversation with people about different opinions or different ways of doing things is a normal every day occurrence. I'm challenged (and I challenge others) every day in my work environment and can't imagine being a productive employee if every time someone told me I was mistaken I felt like they were being mean or unsupportive.

    I think some people want sympathy, someone to hold their hand or commiseration, not have it pointed out to them that maybe the way they are doing things isn't entirely accurate and the correct way to do it.
  • subcounter
    subcounter Posts: 2,382 Member
    LMC8164 wrote: »
    Several of you were very rude and what you were saying I understand it but it was still rude. I too am overweight, technically speaking obese. I suffer from several conditions that she has as well and then autonomic nervous system dysfunction. I'm on high doses of steroids and several other medications that cause weight gain. I have actually shut down my metabolism due to the fact I am never hungry because I'm in constant pain I joined this to try and end of that. I have also hired a personal trainer. But since September when I started two new drugs and we did start monitoring my food intake of consume less than 1200 calories a day consistently average only 800 and yet I gained 38 pounds. So it is possible to gain weight on a less than required calorie count because when you are obese it just eats up your muscle mass and you can private message me for pictures of the scarring that my body has from consuming muscle mass instead of fat. You don't need to reply to this comment just always remember you're not walking in someone else's shoes peace and love and weight loss

    800 calories a day and you have gained 38 pounds? That is impossible. There are individuals with hormone problems, etc and thats their daily goal to eat to lose weight, not gain tens of pounds.
    I understand your condition, hormone levels etc but unless you are missing all your liver, kidneys, heart, some type of skeletal muscle, other organs, (brain accounts for 20% of your BMR), its simply not plausible.

    Also if your BMR is so low and you're over weight, you wouldn't burn through your muscle mass either. You simply store more fat in your body.

    On the other hand, I assume they are giving you corticosteroids which cortisone is involved in the body's balance of water, which can cause water retention. You may be experiencing that but thats not really a fat gain. You should talk to your doctor about these.

    I think you should have a proper BMR test done at a medical facility, and start weighing your meals properly. So you don't eat unnecessarily low, or eat more than you think you do.

    Good luck!
  • coachsaralee
    coachsaralee Posts: 29 Member
    If you don't eat enough calories, you'll lose lots of muscle mass and trash your metabolism.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?_r=0

    One of my fellow weight loss coaches ate one meal a day and ended up over 400 lbs. So those of you berating someone who says they aren't eating but are over weight are out of line. It happens. This same coach has lost over 200 lbs by eating 5-6 times a day and eating lots but the right stuff. That's what boosts your metabolism. So it wouldn't surprise me if someone at 300 lbs should eat close to 2000 calories.

    I lost over 80lbs... started at 48.9% body fat and have coached many to success. I more often tell people to eat more than to eat less.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    coachsaralee wrote: »
    If you don't eat enough calories, you'll lose lots of muscle mass and trash your metabolism.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?_r=0

    One of my fellow weight loss coaches ate one meal a day and ended up over 400 lbs. So those of you berating someone who says they aren't eating but are over weight are out of line. It happens. This same coach has lost over 200 lbs by eating 5-6 times a day and eating lots but the right stuff. That's what boosts your metabolism. So it wouldn't surprise me if someone at 300 lbs should eat close to 2000 calories.

    I lost over 80lbs... started at 48.9% body fat and have coached many to success. I more often tell people to eat more than to eat less.

    muscle and exercise among other things is what boosts metabolism. food or eating every so often does not. I have a metabolic disorder and other health issues that make it hard to lose weight,but I still lose weight. I became obese due to moving less and eating more. oh and my hubby eats sometimes once a day and he is NOT obese either. some days he eats all day every day. but he burns more than he eats because he is always on the go.its a scientific fat that its all about calories in vs calories out,for people who take meds or slowed down their metabolism due to always dieting,crash dieting,eating disorders etc have to find what their TDEE,BMR and so on is a recalculate from there.

    It may be lower than what a calculator gives you, but its still going to be CICO. you become overweight or obese due from eating more than you burn. meds can increase appetite making you eat more, meds cant create mass out of thin air. if not eating enough made you overweight then anorexics,people in third world countries and so on would not be sickly underweight and dying of malnutrition,they would be overweight and thats not happening. I have been and I am still on steroid meds for my asthma.I am also on other meds that a side effect is "weight gain". I have a health issue where if I eat too much fat/cholesterol from foods my body will produce more cholesterol and store extra fat,I still lost weight eating less than I burned(CICO).I also lost a lot of fat.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    mizpanthere wrote: »
    I'm just under 300lbs looking to get to 160. Why on earth is it telling me I need to eat 2400 calories a day? That's way more food than I usually eat. I'm trying to lose, not gain!

    Because based on your stats, that's what the math says...these calculators use population averages...on average, someone of your stats should easily be able to lose weight on 2400 calories per day...that said, if I were in your shoes I'd likely take a more aggressive approach.

    Also, there are numerous observation studies out there that indicate that overweight individuals vastly underestimate how much they're eating...and conversely, people of a healthy weight tend to vastly underestimate how much they're eating.

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