Is it recommended to eat your MFP calorie goals or ok to go lower daily?

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carley1971
carley1971 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I will say, MFP says my target is 2700 calories a day,, I just cant see that at all.. with my meal plan I have written i'm lucky to hit above 1800 calories on a day I allow myself to have ice cream and an oz of roasted peanuts. My biggest question was when I read that on MFP goals, am I going to confuse my body and just store fat cause of not eating that many calories? I've had days after exercise calories I've only eaten 110 calories for the whole day!

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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    You want to hit your minimum. There are hidden consequences if you don’t. You don’t want your hair falling out six weeks from now from underfeeding yourself.

    Your portions might be bigger than you think. Make sure to use a food scale.

    Exercise calories can be overestimated so lowball that by about a third.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    You won't store fat from eating too few calories. However, you can lose a lot of muscle mass and cause serious health issues from eating too little. Add in more nuts, cooking oil, and even more ice cream to reach your goals.
  • carley1971
    carley1971 Posts: 7 Member
    edited June 2018
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    I was hoping to avoid the "loosing muscle mass" issue cause i'm weight training, doing my best to at least hit protein goals. Introducing Quinoa for the complex acids and avoiding sugars and sodiums except natural (i.e fruits and light snacks) or through the ice cream I have.. Far as health issues, I cant see getting slimmed down being a bigger issue than keeping 350 pounds on.. (down to 320) I was on the military diet, I was seeing results but i'm not so sure I wasnt killing off muscle mass in the process of losing, Thus I wrote a new diet plan.

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    For that much to lose - did you select what would be reasonable weight loss amount for now - 2 lb weekly?

    Did you understand the questions about daily activity levels to NOT include exercise (which is different than every other site out there)?

    On MFP it makes no assumption of workouts until you actually do them. And log them then.
    Then when you do more, you eat more - which is correct.
    And when you do less, you eat less - which is correct.

    2700 just sounds high if there is a deficit for weight loss in there that isn't minor 250.
    That 1/2 lb weekly would be reasonable when you have 10-15 lbs left to healthy weight.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    The “military diet” (not even what actual military do) is a terrible plan in the first place and it’s a good thing you got off of it.

    You don’t need a specific diet plan to lose weight. Just eat the foods you enjoy in appropriate quantities, focusing primarily on nutrient dense items. At your size you can afford to lose a bit quicker than most (1% of total weight per week max), but that would still put you at 2200 net (after exercise) calories. You have to fuel your body, especially if you’re working out.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    To get to your current weight, you ate more that 2700 cals.

    I would question how you're measuring calories burnt when you're working out?
  • carley1971
    carley1971 Posts: 7 Member
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    Well MFP said to reach my goal for my size I could (my goal is excluding working out) 2700 calories... the reason I put on the weight I had (which I carry it decent because my jobs is active and I've always had a muscular build) it was from quick energy boosts through soda. 1300 calories a day of them to be exact (a 44oz pepsi is 550 calories depending on amount of ice used) … In February I switched from regular to diet soda... then in March from diet sodas to water and sugarless tea (with occasional diet sodas once in a while during the week) so from day one of starting my lifestyle change I dropped as I said 1300 calories a day off the bat. I used to eat out which was a guaranteed 1300 calories a meal, then to eating right and cooking at home to equal 300 to 600 per meal. So as I said I dropped 1300 in liquid calories and dropped 2000 in daily meals for a total of 3300 a day less than I was. Anywho thanks for the input
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    OP, when you get a chance, I'd strongly suggest picking up a food scale and weighing out your portions for a little while. Also double check the entries you are using in the database - many were entered by other users and are incomplete or flat out wrong.

    At this point you still probably have plenty of wiggle room if you're eating more than you think you are, but as you get closer to goal, being inaccurate can be the difference between losing and not losing. And accurate data is just a whole lot more useful - if you're going to log, might as well do it right and have all the data you need to make decisions, like whether you are eating enough :smiley:

    Congrats on getting all those beverage calories out of your diet, and good luck!

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