Calorie intake and exercise confusion!

lillisa1718
lillisa1718 Posts: 14 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey

I am so confused about my calorie intake and the exercise tab. According to MFP if i eat 1700 cals a day i should loose a pound a week as im lightly active.

I tend to eat 1400-1500 cals a day which i thought was good for me. But i havent been logging my exercise as i noticed it takes it allows you to eat more. Am i doing this wrong? Im worried that with 1500 cals a day that i eat, and then i exercise on top of that, its obv bringing that total down. To me i should be loosing lots of weight.
I dont seem to be loosing weight the way i want to. ImI 5"2 and currently 189pounds which is way heavier than I want and im starting to get very disheartened at the rate im loosing weight.

Replies

  • madelinecamille
    madelinecamille Posts: 1,131 Member
    When did you start and how much weight have you lost so far?

    If you're truly eating at a deficit, you will lose weight eventually. Are you logging everything accurately and using a digital food scale?
  • lioness803
    lioness803 Posts: 325 Member
    On MFP, you are meant to log your exercise, because the calorie deficit is already built into your calorie goal. You should strive to reach that goal everyday, not eat under, and you should log exercise and eat at least a portion of those calories back.

    How long have you been trying to lose weight? Give it at least a month.

    If you're not losing, you are likely not measuring food accurately, which happens to almost everyone at first. :smile: Use a food scale and measure all solids in grams, measure liquids with measuring cups.
  • lillisa1718
    lillisa1718 Posts: 14 Member
    I started properly doing it in april. I am, i tend to measure in cups or i scan the food in. I even count the liquids (like coffee etc)

    But i am not logging my exercise. So if i exercise 3 times a week say for an hour should i be entering that? I just dont want to eat back those cals ive burned
  • lioness803
    lioness803 Posts: 325 Member
    lillisa1718 wrote: »
    I started properly doing it in april. I am, i tend to measure in cups or i scan the food in. I even count the liquids (like coffee etc)

    But i am not logging my exercise. So if i exercise 3 times a week say for an hour should i be entering that? I just dont want to eat back those cals ive burned

    You're supposed to eat those calories back though. If you eat too little, you could experience fatigue and burn out. You already have a calorie deficit built into you goal. That calorie deficit is enough for you to lose weight, without doing any exercise. Exercising is good for health and fitness and to help you maintain muscle mass while eating at a calorie deficit. Its often recommended to only eat back 50-75% of them, to account for 1.) Exercise calories often being a bit exaggerated for many people and 2.) to help account for small food logging errors, which happen to everyone.
  • bluets2011
    bluets2011 Posts: 241 Member
    It took me a good month to start loosing and even so it was a pound up a pound down. Finally in the two last weeks I've started loosing steadily. Patience and consistence is key. Good luck
  • madelinecamille
    madelinecamille Posts: 1,131 Member
    ^ Yep. Definitely eat back some of those calories you burn. Just be careful not to overestimate how many you burned. The machines at the gym and the exercises in the MFP database are often too generous. You can use a heart rate monitor to get a better idea of what you're burning while exercising.

    As for the logging, only use measuring cups for liquids. Here's a helpful guide on logging accurately.
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
  • lillisa1718
    lillisa1718 Posts: 14 Member
    lioness803 wrote: »

    You're supposed to eat those calories back though. If you eat too little, you could experience fatigue and burn out. You already have a calorie deficit built into you goal. That calorie deficit is enough for you to lose weight, without doing any exercise. Exercising is good for health and fitness and to help you maintain muscle mass while eating at a calorie deficit. Its often recommended to only eat back 50-75% of them, to account for 1.) Exercise calories often being a bit exaggerated for many people and 2.) to help account for small food logging errors, which happen to everyone.

    See im not eating those calories back. Im eating 1400/1500 a day plus exercising (not logging it so not eating any calories burned). Thanks. Im more suprised as i thought eating 1500 cals and exercise would help me loose lots
  • lioness803
    lioness803 Posts: 325 Member
    lillisa1718 wrote: »
    lioness803 wrote: »

    You're supposed to eat those calories back though. If you eat too little, you could experience fatigue and burn out. You already have a calorie deficit built into you goal. That calorie deficit is enough for you to lose weight, without doing any exercise. Exercising is good for health and fitness and to help you maintain muscle mass while eating at a calorie deficit. Its often recommended to only eat back 50-75% of them, to account for 1.) Exercise calories often being a bit exaggerated for many people and 2.) to help account for small food logging errors, which happen to everyone.

    See im not eating those calories back. Im eating 1400/1500 a day plus exercising (not logging it so not eating any calories burned). Thanks. Im more suprised as i thought eating 1500 cals and exercise would help me loose lots

    If you're eating under your calorie goal and not eating back calories (you're still burning them, even if you're not logging the exercise) then you're not coming close to your calorie goal, and as I said before, would lead you to be too tired and too hungry. But since you're not losing weight, you're likely not measuring correctly, and eating more than you think, and have found your maintenance calories.

    Get a food scale, weigh everything, eat to your calorie goal instead of under, log exercise and eat back 50% of those calories, do that consistently for a month, and then see what happens.
  • lillisa1718
    lillisa1718 Posts: 14 Member
    Thanks. All makes sense x
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited June 2017
    lillisa1718 wrote: »
    According to MFP if i eat 1700 cals a day i should loose a pound a week as im lightly active.
    No. MFP is actually saying if you eat 1700cals a day plus exercise calories you should lose a pound a week.
    I tend to eat 1400-1500 cals a day which i thought was good for me.
    The idea of a goal is to hit the goal - not undercut it.
    But i havent been logging my exercise as i noticed it takes it allows you to eat more. Am i doing this wrong?
    Yes - you have selected a tool and aren't using the tool as designed.
    I dont seem to be loosing weight the way i want to.
    What does that mean in numbers and timescales? Could be your expectations are wrong.

    The biggest cause of issues is inaccurate food logging. That's the area to focus your energy on if you aren't getting predicted results over an extended (not short term) period of time.
    Make your food diary public if you want help with that.

  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
    lillisa1718 wrote: »
    I started properly doing it in april. I am, i tend to measure in cups or i scan the food in. I even count the liquids (like coffee etc)

    But i am not logging my exercise. So if i exercise 3 times a week say for an hour should i be entering that? I just dont want to eat back those cals ive burned

    This is your problem. Highly likely your logging is off, eating more than you think. For accuracy you should weigh solids and only use cups/spoons for liquids. Scanning barcodes can also be inaccurate because the actual contents in the package can be off by up to 20%.
  • gearhead426hemi
    gearhead426hemi Posts: 919 Member
    One other factor you have to consider is what types of foods are you consuming. Different sugars, carbs, fats ect... can cause weight fluctuation and water retention. You need to keep changing up your workouts as well. Your body will start to get muscle memory and you will hit plateaus. You will stop losing weight and inches until you change something weather it be changing something in your diet or your workout routine.

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