Ignoring mfp and listening to your body
Spitspot81
Posts: 208 Member
I am feeling so fatigued! I love working out, and over the past 3 weeks I have been on a fairly aggressive cut (it felt aggressive to me). So I am starting the week by ignoring the mfp calories intake suggestions and listening more to my body.
I just feel that I am drained on the low calories that it is suggesting, and whilst I want to lose a lb or 2 I can’t do it to the detriment of my health.
Has anyone else listened to their own body’s needs rather than what an online calculator has suggested??...I am scared that I will gain
I just feel that I am drained on the low calories that it is suggesting, and whilst I want to lose a lb or 2 I can’t do it to the detriment of my health.
Has anyone else listened to their own body’s needs rather than what an online calculator has suggested??...I am scared that I will gain
8
Replies
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I don't trust that my hunger is a good guide to my needs. I know from experience that my body can feel physical hunger even when I've consumed sufficient calories or even more calories than I need.
This doesn't mean it won't work for other people, I just know that it doesn't work for me.
Eating more after going too low can be a good idea -- either this way or through setting a more reasonable calorie goal and logging to get to that.
Good luck!12 -
Is your weekly weight loss goal too aggressive?
If you are feeling fatigued, you should for sure take a few days to get yourself back to feeling good. But also use this as an opportunity to make sure you set up your plan here correctly. MFP doesn't decide your calories, it spits out a number based on what you set up. Did you choose 2 lbs or 1.5 lbs per week? If you don't have a substantial amount to lose, that is likely too aggressive. Have you been eating back some of your exercise calories? You're supposed to!
Feel better!11 -
I do as well, sometimes I feel I'm constantly counting cal. then living my life so I just stop for a while and be more cautious of my daily intake. You do what ever you have to do to keep going and gets you to your goal.1
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My body would like to eat 3,000-4,000 calories per day. Listening to it rather than an online calculator is a poor choice for me. YMMV.
But I might suggest perhaps lessening your deficiit to something that isn’t aggressive. If you’re only looking to lose a few pounds, trying to do so as quickly as possible is likely to lead to the symptoms you’re having - especially if you’re working out as well.15 -
Spitspot81 wrote: »I am feeling so fatigued! I love working out, and over the past 3 weeks I have been on a fairly aggressive cut (it felt aggressive to me). So I am starting the week by ignoring the mfp calories intake suggestions and listening more to my body.
I just feel that I am drained on the low calories that it is suggesting, and whilst I want to lose a lb or 2 I can’t do it to the detriment of my health.
Has anyone else listened to their own body’s needs rather than what an online calculator has suggested??...I am scared that I will gain
You set MFP to an 'aggressive' cut, not sure why you're then blaming MFP for being fatigued?34 -
When I came here, MFP set my goal at 1200 per week. That was much too aggressive for me and wasn't enough to keep me from being hangry all the time. I used this calculator http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and upped my calories to 1550. That made all the difference in the world. I was able to consistently lose weight but not feel hungry and weak all the time. Good luck to you!13
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TavistockToad wrote: »Spitspot81 wrote: »I am feeling so fatigued! I love working out, and over the past 3 weeks I have been on a fairly aggressive cut (it felt aggressive to me). So I am starting the week by ignoring the mfp calories intake suggestions and listening more to my body.
I just feel that I am drained on the low calories that it is suggesting, and whilst I want to lose a lb or 2 I can’t do it to the detriment of my health.
Has anyone else listened to their own body’s needs rather than what an online calculator has suggested??...I am scared that I will gain
You set MFP to an 'aggressive' cut, not sure why you're then blaming MFP for being fatigued?
I set it to lose the minimum amount, 0.2 per week which gave me 1400 Cals per day. I am not overweight, I weigh 124lbs at 5ft4. I am just trying to reduce my bf% and I thought the best way of doing that was to follow a lifting programme. The lifting program has left me feeling more fatigued than my previous cardio workouts were. I have not been eating back any exercise calories. This week I am making a big effort to ensure my protein intake is sufficient, and I have set my goals to maintain, which has me at 1700 Cals per day3 -
I spent the last 4 years listening to my body, and gained 50 pounds. So, no, I don't listen to my body anymore. Regarding your fatigue, have your Dr. check your Vitamin D and B12 levels. Both of those will cause fatigue when they are low. I am on the 1200 calories and I am watching my calories and carbs and I make sure that what I eat is providing me sufficient energy. I know about fatigue, because I have fibromyalgia. Are you getting enough sleep? Do you have a routine bed time and get up time? If you are tired because you aren't sleeping well, you may need a sleep study and if you have trouble going to sleep, you might want to try a sleep medication. Make sure that your world is not revolving around food and food related activities And then, don't make any more excuses - just do it.1
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Keep in mind MFP uses NEAT, not TDEE, so it expects you to log your exercise and eat back those calories. So MFP goal + exercise calories will generally = TDEE calc goal. It's also important to set up your activity level correctly - most people set it to sedentary, but aren't really sedentary. Using an incorrect sedentary activity setting and not eating back exercise calories will have you undereating. Not saying you did this OP, just some stuff to consider.12
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Spitspot81 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Spitspot81 wrote: »I am feeling so fatigued! I love working out, and over the past 3 weeks I have been on a fairly aggressive cut (it felt aggressive to me). So I am starting the week by ignoring the mfp calories intake suggestions and listening more to my body.
I just feel that I am drained on the low calories that it is suggesting, and whilst I want to lose a lb or 2 I can’t do it to the detriment of my health.
Has anyone else listened to their own body’s needs rather than what an online calculator has suggested??...I am scared that I will gain
You set MFP to an 'aggressive' cut, not sure why you're then blaming MFP for being fatigued?
I set it to lose the minimum amount, 0.2 per week which gave me 1400 Cals per day. I am not overweight, I weigh 124lbs at 5ft4. I am just trying to reduce my bf% and I thought the best way of doing that was to follow a lifting programme. The lifting program has left me feeling more fatigued than my previous cardio workouts were. I have not been eating back any exercise calories. This week I am making a big effort to ensure my protein intake is sufficient, and I have set my goals to maintain, which has me at 1700 Cals per day
First, if you're using MFPs settings you should be eating back exercise calories.
Second, if maintenance is 1700 then to lose 0.2kg or 0.5lbs per week, that's a reduction of 250 cals which should be net 1450 cals.5 -
Set yourself a less aggressive goal.
Eat back your exercise calories.
Make sure you get at least one rest day a week.
Get enough sleep.
Check your nutrition.
If you are just back to counting calories and working out.
Drop down to your reasonable deficit in stages.
Work up to your exercise goal in stages.
Even if you are going by how you feel, log everything.
Don't abandon MFP, change your relationship with it.
Cheers, h.11 -
So basically you are not fueling your lifting program and wondering why you are fatigued?21
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My body maintains if I eat intuitively.... it took a while to get to that point but now it’s consistent.0
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LondonSummer2018 wrote: »My body maintains if I eat intuitively.... it took a while to get to that point but now it’s consistent.
I'm a greedy kitten, I'd be hugely overweight if I ate intuitively!9 -
I thought I was greedy most of my life... but once I got used to IE I realised I wasn’t, and that if given the option I don’t eat anything beyond normal amounts ... but it took a while to get to that point which was scary.
that’s just my experience though and I very much appreciate every body is different and everybody finds different things that suit them4 -
also if you are looking to lose body fat % you may consider eating at maintenance and recomping (i.e. staying weight stable, building lean muscle and losing body fat)5
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Spitspot81 wrote: »
My first question should have been to ask if you are eating your exercise calories. Start with that for a few weeks and see if that helps.2 -
Spitspot81 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Spitspot81 wrote: »I am feeling so fatigued! I love working out, and over the past 3 weeks I have been on a fairly aggressive cut (it felt aggressive to me). So I am starting the week by ignoring the mfp calories intake suggestions and listening more to my body.
I just feel that I am drained on the low calories that it is suggesting, and whilst I want to lose a lb or 2 I can’t do it to the detriment of my health.
Has anyone else listened to their own body’s needs rather than what an online calculator has suggested??...I am scared that I will gain
You set MFP to an 'aggressive' cut, not sure why you're then blaming MFP for being fatigued?
I set it to lose the minimum amount, 0.2 per week which gave me 1400 Cals per day. I am not overweight, I weigh 124lbs at 5ft4. I am just trying to reduce my bf% and I thought the best way of doing that was to follow a lifting programme. The lifting program has left me feeling more fatigued than my previous cardio workouts were. I have not been eating back any exercise calories. This week I am making a big effort to ensure my protein intake is sufficient, and I have set my goals to maintain, which has me at 1700 Cals per day
You might find this thread interesting and useful:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat
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Spitspot81 wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Spitspot81 wrote: »I am feeling so fatigued! I love working out, and over the past 3 weeks I have been on a fairly aggressive cut (it felt aggressive to me). So I am starting the week by ignoring the mfp calories intake suggestions and listening more to my body.
I just feel that I am drained on the low calories that it is suggesting, and whilst I want to lose a lb or 2 I can’t do it to the detriment of my health.
Has anyone else listened to their own body’s needs rather than what an online calculator has suggested??...I am scared that I will gain
You set MFP to an 'aggressive' cut, not sure why you're then blaming MFP for being fatigued?
I set it to lose the minimum amount, 0.2 per week which gave me 1400 Cals per day. I am not overweight, I weigh 124lbs at 5ft4. I am just trying to reduce my bf% and I thought the best way of doing that was to follow a lifting programme. The lifting program has left me feeling more fatigued than my previous cardio workouts were. I have not been eating back any exercise calories. This week I am making a big effort to ensure my protein intake is sufficient, and I have set my goals to maintain, which has me at 1700 Cals per day
If you use MFP to set your calorie goal and don't add in any exercise calories, you are not using MFP the way it was designed.
MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p15 -
TavistockToad wrote: »LondonSummer2018 wrote: »My body maintains if I eat intuitively.... it took a while to get to that point but now it’s consistent.
I'm a greedy kitten, I'd be hugely overweight if I ate intuitively!
Yep! My body is a damned lying kitten head! .... what's that body??? Eat that box of a dozen donuts? I need it??? Lol8 -
As other peeps have said, you need to eat your exercise calories back, and if you’re lifting, make sure you get enough protein. I had to completely overhaul my diet when I went from cardio to strength training. I just didn’t have the energy to lift without really increasing protein. For reference, I’m 5’3”, 118 pounds and I maintain on about 2,100 when I’m lifting three to four times a week.4
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Depends on your past history with your hunger cues. Have they been accurate in the past and allowed you to maintain?2
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You might do better to tweak your #s a bit before you jump off the MFP wagon, even for a short time. You could be setting yourself up for a roller coaster of going back and forth and not really getting anywhere.0
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Listening to my body is what made me 50lbs overweight - my vegas nerve lies!!
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my body lies and tells me to eat more than i need. it doesn't understand cico
make sure you eat your calories back from exercise. some calorie burn is over estimated so start with 1/2 of them back and see how you feel. adjust from there3 -
motivatedmartha wrote: »Listening to my body is what made me 50lbs overweight - my vegas nerve lies!!
My vagus (i assume that's what you mean) nerve lies and messes up my stomach and has made me 14 lbs underweight (darn gastroparesis). I will never be able to eat intuitively again6 -
Everyone is different. Personally, my body wants to eat all the time, so it wouldn't work for me.
Why not try it out and track your weight closely. If you start gaining more pounds than you like, you can always cut back. Worth a try.1 -
Most people who are able to maintain a healthy weight just by eating whatever they want are probably not here on MFP.
“Listening to your body’s needs” is really a fancy way of saying “eating whatever you want.” Our brains are often very bad at telling us what our bodies “need” unless we’re using a tool (like MFP) to figure it out. But brains are really, really good at telling us what they want, and convincing us they “need” it. I can’t tell you how many times my brain has told me that my body needs a brownie. If your brain tells you that you need carrots and tofu, then you’re probably better suited to eat this way than I am.
What you’re describing, however, is a different thing than this idea of intuitive eating. You need to eat your exercise calories back, or else you aren’t following the plan MFP gave you, and are likely creating a deficit that’s too large for you to sustain.4 -
singingflutelady wrote: »motivatedmartha wrote: »Listening to my body is what made me 50lbs overweight - my vegas nerve lies!!
My vagus (i assume that's what you mean) nerve lies and messes up my stomach and has made me 14 lbs underweight (darn gastroparesis). I will never be able to eat intuitively again
Ooops - I will blame autocorrect - I don't think my nerves like to gamble (or even gambol
) They may enjoy the odd cabaret though.
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