Am I eating too little?

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ayazkermalli
ayazkermalli Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all!

It's my first post on here, but I've been lurking the forums for quite some time. It's my third week into MFP, and I'm loving it. I'm totally a numbers guy, so I don't know why I waited so long to calorie count haha.

Here are my current stats:

Age: 23
Weight: 231 lbs
Height: 5'10.5"

In MFP, I put my activity level at sedentary, but I do work out 3 times a week. My workouts mainly consist of weight training, but 10-15 minutes of intense cardio at the end of each workout. I do NOT track these workouts in MFP.

I've set my goal to lose 2lbs per week. Couple of questions on this:

1) is this a realistic goal based on my stats?
2) MFP says my calorie goal is 1,560. I've been able to achieve this on most days, but some of my gym buddies tell me I'm eating too little.

Any and all feedback is welcome. I didn't bother talking about my progress because it has only been 3 weeks; I just want to start my journey on the right foot!

Thanks guys

Replies

  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    sounds about right to me you dont seem to be burning to much off through exercise and 1500 is the minimum for a male so you could get away with slightly more but i see nothing overly alarming

    You should have mentioned your progress, As it would have given us a much beter view on if it to much.
  • Hello_its_Dan
    Hello_its_Dan Posts: 406 Member
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    Looks about right.
  • billglitch
    billglitch Posts: 538 Member
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    2 pounds a week is doable. as for the eating too little...thats hard to answer because we dont know the intensity of your workout and w dont know if you are eating back some of the cals you burn from working out or not
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    billglitch wrote: »
    2 pounds a week is doable. as for the eating too little...thats hard to answer because we dont know the intensity of your workout and w dont know if you are eating back some of the cals you burn from working out or not

    Hes not he said it in his post :P
  • billglitch
    billglitch Posts: 538 Member
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    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    billglitch wrote: »
    2 pounds a week is doable. as for the eating too little...thats hard to answer because we dont know the intensity of your workout and w dont know if you are eating back some of the cals you burn from working out or not

    Hes not he said it in his post :P

    he said he is not tracking on mfp that does not say not eating them back...
  • ayazkermalli
    ayazkermalli Posts: 7 Member
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    billglitch wrote: »
    2 pounds a week is doable. as for the eating too little...thats hard to answer because we dont know the intensity of your workout and w dont know if you are eating back some of the cals you burn from working out or not

    I'm not eating back the calories because I'm not tracking the workouts. I'd also say my workouts are moderately intense. I don't think that helps you much though haha.
    JaydedMiss wrote: »

    You should have mentioned your progress, As it would have given us a much beter view on if it to much.

    My progress has been decent so far! I started working out and watching my diet about 2 weeks before starting MFP and tracking calories. I also did a poor job of tracking my weight, so my progress is a little unclear, but I have lost about an inch off my waist and lost 1lb from 02/17 - 02/24 (I do weight checks once a week)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,051 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I would add...use common sense. If all you can think about is food, or if you are having trouble finishing a workout or if you are really irritable or tired/fatigued or unable to stick to your plan and find yourself over eating more than once a week - EAT!

    I think 1550 is too low for a 23 year old man. Especially if you aren't eating any more on exercise days. I'd say 1800 is better every day and then add couple hundred for exercise days.
  • joemac1988
    joemac1988 Posts: 1,021 Member
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    ayazkermalli wrote: »
    Hi all!

    It's my first post on here, but I've been lurking the forums for quite some time. It's my third week into MFP, and I'm loving it. I'm totally a numbers guy, so I don't know why I waited so long to calorie count haha.

    Here are my current stats:

    Age: 23
    Weight: 231 lbs
    Height: 5'10.5"

    In MFP, I put my activity level at sedentary, but I do work out 3 times a week. My workouts mainly consist of weight training, but 10-15 minutes of intense cardio at the end of each workout. I do NOT track these workouts in MFP.

    I've set my goal to lose 2lbs per week. Couple of questions on this:

    1) is this a realistic goal based on my stats?
    2) MFP says my calorie goal is 1,560. I've been able to achieve this on most days, but some of my gym buddies tell me I'm eating too little.

    Any and all feedback is welcome. I didn't bother talking about my progress because it has only been 3 weeks; I just want to start my journey on the right foot!

    Thanks guys

    That seems really low. I'm 27, 6', 205lbs and my maintenance is about 3500 calories.
  • cchhiipp22
    cchhiipp22 Posts: 37 Member
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    ayazkermalli wrote: »
    2) MFP says my calorie goal is 1,560. I've been able to achieve this on most days, but some of my gym buddies tell me I'm eating too little.

    Don't rely on your gym buddies to know about calorie tracking and how MFP works. Also, gym buddies may be focused more on muscle gains than weight loss, so to them, too little food means loss of muscle mass, which is the opposite of what you want.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,484 Member
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    You don't say your goal weight, but at a guess I would put it at less than a 75lbs drop. If that is so I personally would set a goal of 1-1.5 lbs a week. If under 50 lbs definately 1lbs.

    Too aggressive a goal is harder to adhere too long term, and at just over 1500 cals gives you little room to adjust your intake as you get closer to your goal.

    A too aggressive goal will also mean a slightly higher rate of muscle loss, even though you are weight training. Your strength progression may not be optimal either.

    MFP is set up to eat back exercise calories.

    Even if you are going to the gym 3 times a week it is good to start fuelling those workouts at the outset. That way if you are sidelined by injury (or just want to skip working out) you can drop to the base cals MFP gives you and carry on with your weight loss as planned.
    If you are not eating back calories you either stall or have to drop your cals to an unhealthy level

    You can also increase your cals if you up your exercise.

    It gives you more flexibility and a better chance of long term adherence. Fuelling your workouts will help avoid a decline in everyday activity. (This can lower your NEAT and make your base calories too high and slow weight loss.)

    Eat and exercise in a way that is sustainable into the future and will transfer into maintenance.

    Cheers, h.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    I would be on my *kitten* personally...
  • ayazkermalli
    ayazkermalli Posts: 7 Member
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    cmriverside wrote: »
    I would add...use common sense. If all you can think about is food, or if you are having trouble finishing a workout or if you are really irritable or tired/fatigued or unable to stick to your plan and find yourself over eating more than once a week - EAT!

    I think 1550 is too low for a 23 year old man. Especially if you aren't eating any more on exercise days. I'd say 1800 is better every day and then add couple hundred for exercise days.

    Thank you for your feedback! So far I've been okay, I'm just worried about long term sustainability. We'll see how it goes and I'll make any necessary adjustments.
    joemac1988 wrote: »

    That seems really low. I'm 27, 6', 205lbs and my maintenance is about 3500 calories.

    I would imagine your activity level is pretty high?

  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited March 2017
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    This response is for the original poster.

    If you're set to lose 2 pounds/week, you should be eating back the calories you burn when working out. If you don't want to log exercise, that's fine. Either set a more conservative weight loss goal (so that you don't actually lose more than 2 pounds/week or use a TDEE calculator such as http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ to calculate your actual average daily calorie burn and subtract 1000 cals/day from that. I entered your stats, setting you to "light workout 1-3 times/week" and got an average daily calorie burn of 3084 for you. So, yeah, 1560 cals/day is too low given the additional exercise. Either start logging the exercise and eat back the calories or increase your goal to 2000 cals/day.

    For anyone who thinks those numbers are really high, remember that this is a young male who weighs significantly more than 200 pounds. My husband is a 49 year old male of similar weight. He loses weight eating well over 2500 calories/day. Big guys who move their bodies get to eat a lot. Younger ones get to eat even more.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    ayazkermalli wrote: »
    Thank you for your feedback! So far I've been okay, I'm just worried about long term sustainability. We'll see how it goes and I'll make any necessary adjustments.

    That's reasonable. If I were to guess, I would say add about 250 cals to cover off the exercise and the fact you don't have a lot to lose. But what you are doing doesn't seem excessively light.

  • mikebooker1
    mikebooker1 Posts: 148 Member
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    I've been a lurker on MFP for probably 5 years and rarely post but I can say without a doubt for me the biggest difference is when i started tracking my macro nutrients(Carbs, fat, protein) more closely. Overall in the last 18 months I've lost over 60 lbs but I've plateaued since fall of last year. It's been the same 3 or 4 pound swing every week. I've measured my body fat and it's stayed pretty much the same since last fall too.

    I tried different workouts, drinking more water, and even eating even less than I originally was. I've heard people talk about "macros" and never really paid much attention them. I always thought that's for hardcore people. I just want to loose some weight and hopefully gain a little muscle too. I was venting to a friend of mine who is a competitive fitness professional and she asked about my macros. I didn't have an answer but I told her what a typical day of eating was for me. According to her I was starving my body. Yes i was staying near my OVERALL caloric goal but I was eating foods with very little nutritional content. I was getting about 60 grams of protein a day, 60 grams of fat a day, and a huge number of mainly simple carbs a day. Even after hearing her advice I still stayed at about 1800-ish mainly useless calories a day but committed to working out even harder. I guess this is where the hard head in me continues to surface.

    Six workout days a week for month and the same 3-6 pound swing later I finally gave in. I researched what I needed to eat to meet my goals and set a workout that was more sustainable for me and February 1st I started.

    February 1st - 264.9 with 28% body fat
    Today(30 days later) 263.2 with 23% body fat

    True it's only about a pound of weight lost but 5% body fat in 30 days is huge for me. Another bonus is my energy has been awesome. I'm excited to see where I am in another 30 days. I guess it goes to show you literally are what you eat.

    I hope my long winded post helps. Happy travels to you.

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