Am I eating enough?

SionnachOghma
SionnachOghma Posts: 3 Member
edited November 16 in Food and Nutrition
I'm currently at 89kg (196lb), trying to get down to about 80/176.

By the time I get home from work on an average day, I've walked about 18,000 steps and gone up 50 flights of stairs. Three evenings a week I do kettlebell exercises and weights; about 45 minutes including rests between sets. The other two workdays I'm out with a homeless group on a soup run, which brings my steps to around 30,000.

With my profile set to Active and a goal of 1kg per week, MFO gives me a starting point of 1800 calories, and The 'Fitbit Calorie Adjustment' usually adds on about 1,500+ by the end on the day.

I don't feel like I'm starving myself, eating somewhere around 2500-2750 calories a day, but according the leftovers on my food diary that's exactly what I'm doing - and apparently I could stand to eat more fat, too. Yesterday's entry says I was 25g under.

I eat a big breakfast - about 60g of muesli with a scoop of lean whey protein - and lunch is usually a salad of mixed leaves, a fistful of wholegrain pasta, and either chicken or salmon & tuna. Before the end of the workday I also have a smoothie of milk, a second scoop of protein, banana and a teaspoon of peanut butter. Dinner varies more, but is usually good for about 700-900 calories. If I'm doing weights, I have a protein shake too.

It feels like I'm eating okay. Snack cravings are rare and my stomach doesn't seem to be protesting. But between my Fitbit and MFP, the consensus seems to be that I'm starving myself.

Thoughts? Do I trust my body or the tech? Would it hurt to up my portions a little (or a lot, as my diary suggests), or should I continue as I am?

EDIT: If it makes a difference, I only started working out again and trying to get my weight under control after the Christmas break. After an initial drop of 4kg in just over a month, I hit a plateau and stalled out for about three weeks, but it seems to have picked up again.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    what is the scale doing?

    with 20lbs to lose, you should be running a deficit of 500 cals max, and be losing roughly 1lb per week?

    sounds like you could easily add more cals to your day - full fat dairy, a tablespoon of peanut butter in your shake, larger portions of proteins etc etc
  • SionnachOghma
    SionnachOghma Posts: 3 Member
    Scale started moving in the right direction again recently after a quick drop in the first month then 2-3 weeks on a plateau.
  • kylecpatterson
    kylecpatterson Posts: 38 Member
    Woah. You must increase your fat intake. 25 g is wayyyy too low. Your brain will thank you and your natural hormone regulation will improve. Stick to monounsaturated and saturated fats only.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    kylecpatterson wrote: »
    Woah. You must increase your fat intake. 25 g is wayyyy too low. Your brain will thank you and your natural hormone regulation will improve. Stick to monounsaturated and saturated fats only.

    25 g under goal, not (necessarily) 25 g. Since the exercises undoubtedly added quite a bit of fat to the daily goal, he may very well be OK.
  • sbrandt37
    sbrandt37 Posts: 403 Member
    edited March 2017
    It sounds like you could probably eat a little more, but most people think MFP overestimates the calorie burn from exercise and the real test is how fast you are losing weight. With only 20 pounds to lose, 1/2 kg per week would be a good target. Overall, your weight loss has been close to that, so I wouldn't worry about it. If you lose more than that, I would suggest eating more.
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