Confused

andrea14d
andrea14d Posts: 22 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a 39 y/o female 5'6" (245 lbs) and trying to lose. My suggested daily calories is 1260 to lose 2 lbs/wk. My confusion is: do i eat the calories i exercise off, since my original daily calorie # is so low? I haven't been eating burned calories for the last 4 months. While I've been losing, i feel dizzy and nauseated mid day most days. I eat high protein, some veg and little carbs. Lots of water. no dairy, eggs, or seafood. 4 small, 300 cal meals/day + snack. I've tried bumping calorie intake up 25-50 calories and it caused me to stop losing so I'm really confused now. (Not to mention looking up my maintenance calories online for my height and weight was around 1400+ calories/day.)

Replies

  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    Yes, eat them back especially if you're feeling so dizzy and yucky!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Eat the exercise calories back. That how MFP set it up.

    What calculator gave you 1400 for maintenance? Your maintenance per MFP would be about 2200.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    25-50 calories shouldn't have stopped you losing altogether and the only way to truly know you've stopped losing is to go a month or more to make sure it's not just natural fluctuations due to changes in water weight, etc.

    Your symptoms argue that you are not eating enough. And, yes, if you set your activity level to sedentary, you are expected to eat back calories for exercise.

    Two pounds a week is a pretty aggressive pace -- especially if you are exercising and not eating to make up for it. Try 1 pound a week and see how that works out for a few weeks. You also may be one of the people for whom extremely low carb makes you feel lousy. Eat more carbs and see if you feel better. Total calorie number is more important than being keto or whatever.

    You want to be doing something that's sustainable and your present pattern doesn't sound like it. Make it so you are comfortable.

  • andrea14d
    andrea14d Posts: 22 Member
    The online calculator to check your bmi and suggested daily calories. It said i needed 1400 if i do absolutely nothing. Just to exist. So 1260 seemed extreme.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    andrea14d wrote: »
    The online calculator to check your bmi and suggested daily calories. It said i needed 1400 if i do absolutely nothing. Just to exist. So 1260 seemed extreme.

    That's BMR, not maintenance. It doesn't account for what you burn from work, running errands, taking care of kids, cooking, etc.
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    1260 and exercising? You might be too aggressive. How much exercise?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    andrea14d wrote: »
    I'm a 39 y/o female 5'6" (245 lbs) and trying to lose.
    Great news, you dont have to try, just do :)
    My suggested daily calories is 1260 to lose 2 lbs/wk. My confusion is: do i eat the calories i exercise off, since my original daily calorie # is so low? I haven't been eating burned calories for the last 4 months. While I've been losing, i feel dizzy and nauseated mid day most days. I eat high protein, some veg and little carbs. Lots of water. no dairy, eggs, or seafood. 4 small, 300 cal meals/day + snack.
    You may be undereating, and that can be the reason you aren't feeling well.
    Also aim to eat a more balanced and varied diet.
    You could even set your activity level to Lightly Active - this gives you 1520 calories.
    It's usually recommended to eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories.
    You can arrange your meals/calories as you see fit.
    A less restrictive plan usually improves compliance.
    Drink enough water, but not too much. 2 litres would normally be enough unless you're in a hot climate or exercising.
    I've tried bumping calorie intake up 25-50 calories and it caused me to stop losing so I'm really confused now.
    It's important that you log your intake correctly and weigh yourself consistently, watching the trend.
    (Not to mention looking up my maintenance calories online for my height and weight was around 1400+ calories/day.)
    That can't be right. I'm shorter, older and lighter than you, don't exercise, and maintain on 1900.
  • andrea14d
    andrea14d Posts: 22 Member
    I do a 30 min brisk walk in morning, then i get a huge workout cooking a cleaning all day, i do a 30 min cardio after walk or in evening too. So at least 1 full hour/day. That's another question i had, do u skip days to recover? I havent been
  • Sunna_W
    Sunna_W Posts: 744 Member
    What happens if you plug 1400 to 1550 calories in your calculator? (Regardless of exercise?)

    The reason that I am asking is that sometimes when people try to lose too aggressively they end up feeling horrible.

    At your current height / weight anything less that 1400 calories is too low, especially if you are exercising.

    Also what are your macros? Are your trying to do low / zero carbs? If yes, then you need to eat more fat. (I eat 2 TBSP of peanut butter a day usually and that helps a lot. You obviously want one that has no sugar added.)

    Also, are you spacing out your meals? Sometimes when your sugar drops, you can feel pretty awful.
  • Sunna_W
    Sunna_W Posts: 744 Member
    P.S. You need MORE protein and fat if you are restricting carbs that severely. Unless you are a vegetarian - eat meat and eggs! If you are a vegetarian please see a nutritionist because you need someone to help you balance your macros.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    I input your stats into https://tdeecalculator.net and set activity level to sedentary, assuming you plan to eat back exercise calories. It came up with a TDEE (total daily energy expenditure, or how many calories you need to maintain where you are now) of 2164 calories/day.

    Since to lose 1 pound per week, one needs a deficit of 3500 calories per week or 500 per day, that gives you 1664 calories/day to lose 1 pound/week.

    Arguably, if you don't want to bother eating back calories for exercise you could try 1664 calories/day and not eat back exercise calories. That might approach your two pounds per week without leaving you miserable. If you do daily, heavy exercise, this won't work but for light, a few times a week exercise, this might serve you well.

    You don't need low carb to lose weight. If it makes you feel lousy, don't do it.
  • andrea14d
    andrea14d Posts: 22 Member
    I have alarms set to space meals out. But thank goodness i posted this because I'm obviously going to have to tweak and up my calories. I am on 40protein 30carbs 30fat. Since it seemed very easy to hit for the moment. Fat i usually am only half most days tho
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    edited August 2017
    HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »
    I input your stats into https://tdeecalculator.net
    Holy cow, finally a calculator that works. Awesome. @andrea - try it.

    Ok, who gave "eat the fat" comment a who? Is it for woo-hoo great answer? Because eating good fat is fantastic for health.
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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    Not sure why you're set to lose 2 lbs per week. That's a 1000 calorie deficit. Set it to 1 lb and you get to eat more, but will still lose. Also, yes, eat back your exercise calories.

    She's 90 pounds away from a normal BMI. Nothing wrong with setting to 2 pounds a week.
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  • andrea14d
    andrea14d Posts: 22 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    Not sure why you're set to lose 2 lbs per week. That's a 1000 calorie deficit. Set it to 1 lb and you get to eat more, but will still lose. Also, yes, eat back your exercise calories.

    She's 90 pounds away from a normal BMI. Nothing wrong with setting to 2 pounds a week.

    When i set it to lose 2 lbs it gave me 1260/day. At 1 lb it gave me 1510/day. I'll try 1 lb just to perk me up for a week and see what happens.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    JerSchmare wrote: »
    Not sure why you're set to lose 2 lbs per week. That's a 1000 calorie deficit. Set it to 1 lb and you get to eat more, but will still lose. Also, yes, eat back your exercise calories.

    She's 90 pounds away from a normal BMI. Nothing wrong with setting to 2 pounds a week.

    But, unnecessary, especially if she's dizzy.

    And she's not eating exercise calories back, so she should start there
  • RamboKitty87
    RamboKitty87 Posts: 272 Member
    Hey what I was told was look at your Maintenance then cut 500 from that, mine at the moment is 2,131 per day so my daily intake would be 1,631 to lose 1lb per week, I'm 236 lbs at the moment, my starting weight was 308 lbs back in January this year, I'm 5"4. On this website it tells me I need to eat 1250 per day to lose 2lbs per week, I was at one point eating just under 2000 calories per day but I was burning just over 1000, that's probably not good if I am honest as I was and probably still am eating less than I should but at the moment It's hard as I am having gallbladder issues so having to lower my fat intake alot, I would personally bunk your calories up to 1500 and do a little exercise and see how you feel, have you been to your doctor and discussed losing weight etc as it's always advised to talk to them before due to health risks like blood sugar levels etc make sure you're getting enough vitamins and minerals, take a multivitamin if you aren't already and make sure your protein levels are good, everyone has different methods that work for them and not for others, it takes time to find the right method that works for you and you may have to keep adjusting as you go along, try not to run risk your health trying to lose weight as its not worth it, I lost weight too quickly and now I am paying for it with my gallbladder.
    I wish you the best of luck on your journey :)
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