Calorie help!

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ESM34
ESM34 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I lost fifty pounds previously counting my calories. Sadly, I have gained almost forty of it back. When I hit my goal and slowly added an extra 200 calories to my intake I just started going up and up from there. Well, I have a new resolve to really get back into tracking my calories again but it seems like the calorie count isn't right. I'm 189lbs. , 5' 5" and 38 yrs old. I do workout daily but I like to put those workout calories back into what I eat. It's what I did the first time around. This way if I do overeat I have to workout that much harder to burn more that day. MFP is giving me 1200 calories to eat. Granted, I usually eat more like 1600-1700 in a day after my workout but still, as I loose weight there isn't anywhere else to go from 1200 calories. So, I'll never lose anything??? What gives?

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    How accurate is your calorie counting?
    Do you pick the right entities from the database? Use the recipe builder?
    Use a food scale to weigh everything?
    How do you determine your exercise burns?
  • ESM34
    ESM34 Posts: 4 Member
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    I don't have a good scale. I input the calories manually when I can based on labels and when I can't I aim for the higher amount, usually, in the database. I have a polar watch I use for exercise calories. My question is though is my starting calorie goal for my height and weight accurate?
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited April 2017
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    just means your goal is to aggressive try to lose less per week. That being said iv been on 1200 since the very beggining 100 pounds ago i never plateaud or burned out. It is doable. But were rare from what i hear. No need to think in terms of "nowhere to go" Add more calories if youd like, Lose slower (healthier) but nowhere to go is insignificant at 1200 youd lose. A year in i stilll lose at it (tho i have added alot in lately because im active as *kitten*) but id still lose steadily at 1200


    adding: Get a scale. At 1200 tis just as important to not undereat as it is to not overeat in weight loss.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    ESM34 wrote: »
    So, I lost fifty pounds previously counting my calories. Sadly, I have gained almost forty of it back. When I hit my goal and slowly added an extra 200 calories to my intake I just started going up and up from there. Well, I have a new resolve to really get back into tracking my calories again but it seems like the calorie count isn't right. I'm 189lbs. , 5' 5" and 38 yrs old. I do workout daily but I like to put those workout calories back into what I eat. It's what I did the first time around. This way if I do overeat I have to workout that much harder to burn more that day. MFP is giving me 1200 calories to eat. Granted, I usually eat more like 1600-1700 in a day after my workout but still, as I loose weight there isn't anywhere else to go from 1200 calories. So, I'll never lose anything??? What gives?

    If you're eating 1600 you would cut calories from that point__1500,1400,etc. You end up with a smaller deficit.

    How many lbs per week did you tell MFP you want to lose? For many women, anything over 1 lb will put you at 1200 due to MFP's 1200 minimum.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    You know, you could eat a little more and still lose weight. 1200 is the smallest amount recommended by MFP and if you exercise you should eat back your calories burned.

    The exercise calories in MFP are sometimes a little over inflated. Most people eat back 50% of their calories. If you are losing too fast or not at all, adjust your calorie burns up or down.

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    https://youtu.be/vjKPIcI51lU
  • flaminica
    flaminica Posts: 304 Member
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    At 5'5", age 38 and 189 pounds there is no possible combination of conditions at which 1200 calories a day is healthy or sustainable for you. You're too young, too tall and not heavy enough. You chose 2lbs a week, right? Reduce it to one.

    At your stats and assuming a Lightly Active profile, you should have no trouble losing a pound a week at 1700 calories a day. 1200 is almost four hundred below your BMI.

    Get a good scale. Get a good food scale. Stop guesstimating calories from labels. Do not "put those workout calories back into what (you) eat." Eat back 50% of them tops. Remember that weight loss is 90% food and 10% exercise. Relying on "makeup" exercise to claw back excess calorie intake is the slippery slope to disordered eating. It's also not going to work in the long term because if your activity level decreases or if you're overestimating burn, the weight either comes back or ceases to reduce in the first place, both of which you're already experiencing.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I think that a few people are missing the fact that the OP is not eating 1200 calories. She specifically says she eats 1600-1700 calories.
  • ESM34
    ESM34 Posts: 4 Member
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    Jemhh, yes, with my workouts I typically end up consuming 1600-1700 calories daily. But I'm not losing weight. It makes me never want to skip a workout either since I'll just end up gaining and or eating only 1200 calories. Any insight?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited April 2017
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    ESM34 wrote: »
    I don't have a good scale. I input the calories manually when I can based on labels and when I can't I aim for the higher amount, usually, in the database. I have a polar watch I use for exercise calories. My question is though is my starting calorie goal for my height and weight accurate?

    1200 is a default minimum before exercise. Did you choose 2 pounds a week? Lower your weekly weight loss goal and tighten up on your logging. Double check your entries.....there are a lot of personalized and incorrect entries in the database.

    A HRM is more accurate for steady state cardio, not so much for other types of workouts.

    If you know your exercise will be consistent you might look up your TDEE (maintenance) http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    and just take a cut from there. That number will average the exercise out, so you don't have to up/down of exercise vs. rest days.
  • iconick
    iconick Posts: 2 Member
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    Maybe it's not your calories. What kind of workout do you do? If it's just cardio, you may have lost some muscle mass the last time you lost weight, so now your basal metabolism is lower than before.
  • DietPrada
    DietPrada Posts: 1,171 Member
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    flaminica wrote: »
    At 5'5", age 38 and 189 pounds there is no possible combination of conditions at which 1200 calories a day is healthy or sustainable for you. You're too young, too tall and not heavy enough. You chose 2lbs a week, right? Reduce it to one.

    At your stats and assuming a Lightly Active profile, you should have no trouble losing a pound a week at 1700 calories a day. 1200 is almost four hundred below your BMI.

    Get a good scale. Get a good food scale. Stop guesstimating calories from labels. Do not "put those workout calories back into what (you) eat." Eat back 50% of them tops. Remember that weight loss is 90% food and 10% exercise. Relying on "makeup" exercise to claw back excess calorie intake is the slippery slope to disordered eating. It's also not going to work in the long term because if your activity level decreases or if you're overestimating burn, the weight either comes back or ceases to reduce in the first place, both of which you're already experiencing.

    Be careful making general assumptions about people. I'm 42yo 5'10" and 184lb and I have to eat under 1450 calories to lose. I don't lose weight at 1600 and I gain at 1800. I am also lightly active and don't eat back exercise calories.
  • skellymama1
    skellymama1 Posts: 83 Member
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    http://twistedsifter.com/videos/the-problem-with-counting-calories/

    Watch this video. The difference between what the label said and what the calories actually are is a whopping 500 cals! There goes your deficit.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    ESM34 wrote: »
    So, I lost fifty pounds previously counting my calories. Sadly, I have gained almost forty of it back. When I hit my goal and slowly added an extra 200 calories to my intake I just started going up and up from there. Well, I have a new resolve to really get back into tracking my calories again but it seems like the calorie count isn't right. I'm 189lbs. , 5' 5" and 38 yrs old. I do workout daily but I like to put those workout calories back into what I eat. It's what I did the first time around. This way if I do overeat I have to workout that much harder to burn more that day. MFP is giving me 1200 calories to eat. Granted, I usually eat more like 1600-1700 in a day after my workout but still, as I loose weight there isn't anywhere else to go from 1200 calories. So, I'll never lose anything??? What gives?

    Right now at 189 pounds your daily average burn is higher than if you were 170, 150. etc. pounds doing the same activity. So in time, if you eat the same then your deficit will decrease and your rate of loss will slow down. Assuming your average daily burn at your goal weight is above what you're eating now, you won't actually need to eat less. You'll just need to be patient. Or as you lose weight you can work to increase your daily activity and/or exercise in order to keep your total daily calorie expenditure from dropping.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    ESM34 wrote: »
    Jemhh, yes, with my workouts I typically end up consuming 1600-1700 calories daily. But I'm not losing weight. It makes me never want to skip a workout either since I'll just end up gaining and or eating only 1200 calories. Any insight?

    Then you're not actually eating 1600-1700. You think you are, but logging without a food scale means you really don't know how much you're consuming. I could eat a banana, assume its 'medium' and take a database entry for a medium banana. But maybe my banana is larger/more calories than the entry. How would I know? I might think I'm eating 1/2 of a standard chicken breast. But how can I possibly know by sight how much my chicken breast weighs, or how far off it is compared to what I logged? Errors like that add up.

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