I believe my cal count is too high! 1600!

estherdragonbat wrote: »

How much do you need to lose? Two pounds a week is generally too aggressive unless you've got 75 lbs or more to goal.

I'm 310 pounds and 5'4 female. So 1900 calories is correct?

Dear poster
You are probably like me
This program says 1200 for me and it's way too little calories for us
I'm going up to 1500
It's way too little ....and then if of exercise its insanely low no wonder my body is not giving up any fat its starving ...

Annaisready wrote: »

Dear poster
You are probably like me
This program says 1200 for me and it's way too little calories for us
I'm going up to 1500
It's way too little ....and then if of exercise its insanely low no wonder my body is not giving up any fat its starving ...

You are not starving and holding on to fat - your body doesn't do that, otherwise explain how people suffering from anorexia become so thin.

Annaisready wrote: »

Dear poster
You are probably like me
This program says 1200 for me and it's way too little calories for us
I'm going up to 1500
It's way too little ....and then if of exercise its insanely low no wonder my body is not giving up any fat its starving ...

First, the program suggests 1200 based on information you provided during set up and based on the goal rate of loss you indicated. Perhaps you should start by looking at what you input to see if you were too aggressive with your rate of loss goal or if you underestimated your activity level (selecting Sedentary when you are much more active in reality).

Second, the program is designed for you to eat back some exercise calories when you do exercise, so if you aren't doing that, again, that's your misunderstanding and misuse of the tool, not MFPs fault.

Third, your body doesn't hold onto fat when it's starving.

I suggest you spend some time reading the stickied threads before doling out advice.

datbrittish wrote: »

TheCalvinGaba wrote: »

1600 calories is not that much at all dependent on your calorie expenditure. and you said you only have 1hr - 1.5hr to work out. Thats plenty of time to get a good workout especially if you structure them properly. The right balance of macros and the 1hr - 1.5hr x 5 days of traning you currently doing should give you a nice controlled loss overtime.

Okay I might be a little slow but what do you mean by "calorie expenditure"? I guess I need a more efficient workout. We have a 2.5 mile trail in my neighborhood in which I walk and might jog some parts. Then I go to the gym to do some form of weights on certain areas of my body. Then I sit in the sauna. And I am currently 251 I would love to be 150 but realistically 170 is my pre law school/goal weight

Sitting in the sauna doesn't burn calories

Are you following a particular program for strength training?

Be very specific.

Walk/Run is a good way to get and stay active. 2.5-5 miles is a good distance.

datbrittish wrote: »

TheCalvinGaba wrote: »

1600 calories is not that much at all dependent on your calorie expenditure. and you said you only have 1hr - 1.5hr to work out. Thats plenty of time to get a good workout especially if you structure them properly. The right balance of macros and the 1hr - 1.5hr x 5 days of traning you currently doing should give you a nice controlled loss overtime.

Okay I might be a little slow but what do you mean by "calorie expenditure"? I guess I need a more efficient workout. We have a 2.5 mile trail in my neighborhood in which I walk and might jog some parts. Then I go to the gym to do some form of weights on certain areas of my body. Then I sit in the sauna. And I am currently 251 I would love to be 150 but realistically 170 is my pre law school/goal weight

Calorie expenditure is the sum total of three things.
1. The basic amount of calories you need to stay alive, if you were doing noting but laying in bed and breathing all day. This is your BMR.
2. The calories that you burn doing all the of the stuff you do every day, from showering to eating to your job to studying to grocery shopping, whatever. This is your NEAT, and this is what MFP asks you for when it asks for your activity level. The amount of movement you do throughout your day can have a huge impact on how many calories you burn, just by living your life.
3. The deliberate exercise that you do on top of BMR and NEAT. You should be eating at least part of these calories back, if you go by the MFP recommendation for how many calories to eat in order to lose.

So, OP - MFP recommends that you eat 1600 calories based on your settings. They mean that if you do nothing else to increase your calories expenditure (i.e. exercise or become more active that your settings indicate) you could lose weight based on the information and goals you selected when you signed up. When you exercise, you earn MORE calories that you should eat as well, to maintain a healthy weight loss. Most people agree that calories burned estimates are pretty high, so they choose to only eat 50-75% of those exercise calories back.

The best thing to do is to accept that the process will take some time, and to be patient. No two physiologies react exactly the same (although the basic principles of thermodynamics remain unchanged), so the best thing to do is to pick a calories and exercise amount and stick to it for at least a month (since we women have monthly hormonal weight changes to deal with) and then go back and look at the data and see where you need to make adjustments.

Nikki802017 wrote: »

datbrittish wrote: »

I really feel uncomfortable doing 1600 cals a day. I mean I want to lose weight not gain! Has anyone lose weight by sticking to the recommended cal count being over 1200?

Mine was 1450 and its my first week and lost 2lb even though it is stated to lose 1lb per week. Works very well for me x

It's very common to lose a little extra the first couple of weeks - particularly if you're changing the types of food you eat (less salt and sugar, particularly) as well as how much. The "extra" is likely water weight.

If you continue to lose weight at 2 pounds/week for more than a month, you should consider raising your calorie intake a little as that would indicate that MFP is underestimating your calorie burn.

For now, keep up the good work!

I have heard that if you burn 500 calories more then what you eat you will lose around 1 pound a week. So if you eat 1600 and you burn 2100 your good. I don't know if it is true, it is working for me

I agree with the others who have said it's certainly possible to lose at 1600 cals. I've found that a moderate cal intake (i.e. not super low) is more conducive to long-term results anyway. Good luck!