Surely I shouldn't be eating 3200 calories a day...
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QUEENxo1992
Posts: 69 Member
MyFitnessPal says I can eat 3251 cals/day. That makes no sense to me since 3500 is 1 pound. I have it at 1.5 lbs to lose per week. But that many calories is not possible for me on my low carb diet. I eat around 1,500 and I'm trying really hard to eat more. (1.200 is starvation) is it lying to me or should I change my macros so it's easier to eat that much? Advice please ?
EDIT: My weight is 456 lbs. I'm 5'8. And my goal weight is 200 lbs at the highest. I don't measure my food just use the scanner and this app so far to count calories.
EDIT: My weight is 456 lbs. I'm 5'8. And my goal weight is 200 lbs at the highest. I don't measure my food just use the scanner and this app so far to count calories.
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Replies
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What is your weight and height?1
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I was given what seemed like an unrealistically high number of calories as well (I don't remember what it was, but definitely in the 3000's). The more you weigh, the more calories you burn doing regular things like walking, climbing stairs, etc. so it takes this into consideration when calculating what your calories should be.
But to be honest, I started at over 300 lbs and found that keeping my calorie intake closer to 1800 helped me lose the most weight. I would only add calories when any exercise burned 250+ calories on any given day (that's just my rule of thumb, I know a lot of people eat all the calories they burn during exercise!).10 -
QUEENxo1992 wrote: »MyFitnessPal says I can eat 3251 cals/day. That makes no sense to me since 3500 is 1 pound. I have it at 1.5 lbs to lose per week. But that many calories is not possible for me on my low carb diet. I eat around 1,500 and I'm trying really hard to eat more. (1.200 is starvation) is it lying to me or should I change my macros so it's easier to eat that much? Advice please ?
We need your height, weight, and goal weight to figure.
3500 calories is the deficit you need to lose 1 lb. So if you want to lose 1 lb per week, you need to eat 500 calories less per day than your body needs.
Are you using a food scale to determine your portions? 1500 cals is not a lot, if you are struggling to eat anymore than that, you are probably eating more than you think.
Check out the sticky posts at the top of each forum for some great tips on logging and using the app
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What's your height and weight? Did you set your weight loss goal to 1.5 lbs per week? If you get 3251 calories to eat, and you put in your stats correctly, it means that you have enough fat on your body to sustain a loss of 3 or maybe 4 pounds per week, which you will achieve if you consistently eat around 2000 calories per day.QUEENxo1992 wrote: »MyFitnessPal says I can eat 3251 cals/day.
It's just a number, coincidence. At your weight, you need more than a pound of fat worth in calories per day to maintain your weight. At a lower weight, you'll need less energy to maintain weight.That makes no sense to me since 3500 is 1 pound.
Eat however you want. I think you should aim for 2000 calories, but make sure you aren't lying to yourself - log correctly and hit that goal every day.I have it at 1.5 lbs to lose per week. But that many calories is not possible for me on my low carb diet. I eat around 1,500 and I'm trying really hard to eat more. (1.200 is starvation) is it lying to me or should I change my macros so it's easier to eat that much? Advice please?2 -
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kommodevaran wrote: »
What's your height and weight? Did you set your weight loss goal to 1.5 lbs per week? If you get 3251 calories to eat, and you put in your stats correctly, it means that you have enough fat on your body to sustain a loss of 3 or maybe 4 pounds per week, which you will achieve if you consistently eat around 2000 calories per day.QUEENxo1992 wrote: »MyFitnessPal says I can eat 3251 cals/day.
It's just a number, coincidence. At your weight, you need more than a pound of fat worth in calories per day to maintain your weight. At a lower weight, you'll need less energy to maintain weight.That makes no sense to me since 3500 is 1 pound.
Eat however you want. I think you should aim for 2000 calories, but make sure you aren't lying to yourself - log correctly and hit that goal every day.I have it at 1.5 lbs to lose per week. But that many calories is not possible for me on my low carb diet. I eat around 1,500 and I'm trying really hard to eat more. (1.200 is starvation) is it lying to me or should I change my macros so it's easier to eat that much? Advice please?
Good ideas thank you.
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QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.
It is not recommended to eat below that.6 -
With your current weight you will get a higher calorie intake, even with a deficit included. As you get further into the process and begin losing weight your calorie intake will change and decrease to line up with your new weights. Trust the process, it really does work 8
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RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.
It is not recommended to eat below that.
Hmmm okay. I will try my best.OliveGirl128 wrote: »With your current weight you will get a higher calorie intake, even with a deficit included. As you get further into the process and begin losing weight your calorie intake will change and decrease to line up with your new weights. Trust the process, it really does work
Okay thanks for the advice.3 -
That's not important now (I don't get why MFP asks about this. It makes no difference for your calorie goal.)QUEENxo1992 wrote: »And my goal weight is 200 lbs at the highest.
But if you don't WEIGH your food, you don't know how much you're eating. The scanner is just as good as the entry it points to - aka not necessarily reliable, you have to check if the nutritional values are the same as on the label.I don't measure my food just use the scanner and this app so far to count calories.
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QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
To be honest, at that weight, I would think you would want to get some professional advice on dietary requirements. Good advice above on weighing food.
Best of luck.8 -
RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.
It is not recommended to eat below that.
It's not that she will die from eating at BMR - she has the necessary fat reserves to sustain a pretty big weekly loss, and it's no problem to get in sufficient nutrition an way lower calories than that. 1% of total body weight per week is a better goal, and even that can be stretched when you get into mobidely obese area. At this stage it's important get a lot of weight off, and fast.10 -
Packerjohn wrote: »QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
To be honest, at that weight, I would think you would want to get some professional advice on dietary requirements. Good advice above on weighing food.
Best of luck.
I am seeing a dietician also as well as making sure my heart was okay from my doctor
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kommodevaran wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.
It is not recommended to eat below that.
It's not that she will die from eating at BMR - she has the necessary fat reserves to sustain a pretty big weekly loss, and it's no problem to get in sufficient nutrition an way lower calories than that. 1% of total body weight per week is a better goal, and even that can be stretched when you get into mobidely obese area. At this stage it's important get a lot of weight off, and fast.
It is coming off fast. 25 lbs in one month already20 -
Also note : I want to avoid any surgery if I can so trying to lose it the natural way the best way I know how: exercise and low carb. My blood sugar is okay and gets checked every two weeks. I see a dietician and my doctor regularly. I also see a personal trainer (at no cost at my gym) twice a week. Thank you so far for your help.18
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That is great to hear - and I'd assume it will at 1500; but you don't have to eat that little. In fact, if you eat too little, you'll probably struggle to stick to it - not now, but soon, and then it's not going to be "ok, I'll just eat 3000 calories, then", it's going to be uncontrollable binges. That's why we're recommending finding a middle groud - an amount that leaves you well nourished and pretty satisfied, but also makes you lose weight rapidly.QUEENxo1992 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.
It is not recommended to eat below that.
It's not that she will die from eating at BMR - she has the necessary fat reserves to sustain a pretty big weekly loss, and it's no problem to get in sufficient nutrition an way lower calories than that. 1% of total body weight per week is a better goal, and even that can be stretched when you get into mobidely obese area. At this stage it's important get a lot of weight off, and fast.
It is coming off fast. 25 lbs in one month already17 -
Personally, I'd set my calories at between 1800 to 2000 and not eat the exercise calories. You'll lose at a reasonable rate, and the closer you get to your goal, the slower it will go, so you'll need to re-evaluate and possibly lower to 1600-1800 cals per day and increase your exercise. Eat clean, measure all food at first, record it all honestly, even when you eat more than you would have liked. It doesn't matter, you just need to be accountable to yourself for what you eat and do. Some people like to have "free" days, where they can eat whatever they want without worrying about the calories; I might do that sometimes, but I still like to input it into MFP, regardless. Make sure you don't starve yourself, that only slows down the process. Three meals a day with snacks in between is a healthy way to lose and keep your body moving in the right direction. I still want to stress that you eat CLEAN! It matters WHAT you put in your body; it should be the most nutrient dense food you can get, eat lots of low-cal foods so that you feel satisfied, and don't eat to feel full. Eat to nourish your body so that you can have lotsa energy and do the things you want to do! God bless you on this journey! Susie15
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kommodevaran wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.
It is not recommended to eat below that.
It's not that she will die from eating at BMR - she has the necessary fat reserves to sustain a pretty big weekly loss, and it's no problem to get in sufficient nutrition an way lower calories than that. 1% of total body weight per week is a better goal, and even that can be stretched when you get into mobidely obese area. At this stage it's important get a lot of weight off, and fast.
I wasn't meaning that the OP would die, just explaining bmr in laymans terms3 -
QUEENxo1992 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »QUEENxo1992 wrote: »RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »What is your weight and height?
5'8 456lbs
Then that seems about right you need 2847 just to keep you alive. That is known as you BMR.
It is not recommended to eat below that.
It's not that she will die from eating at BMR - she has the necessary fat reserves to sustain a pretty big weekly loss, and it's no problem to get in sufficient nutrition an way lower calories than that. 1% of total body weight per week is a better goal, and even that can be stretched when you get into mobidely obese area. At this stage it's important get a lot of weight off, and fast.
It is coming off fast. 25 lbs in one month already
That's a great start.
Try to think long term, find an amount of calories and types of foods that you can stick to for life.
I could never eat low carb as an example as I love crisps/chips. I just limit the serving to 30g packets.
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