Too Little Calories? PLEASE HELP!

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  • izzyoramah920
    izzyoramah920 Posts: 16 Member
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    i would... if you cant hit them, whats the point of them? [/quote]

    Yeah you’re right about that. Ill adjust them then haha
  • luciewhitefield25
    luciewhitefield25 Posts: 70 Member
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    I totally get where you are coming from, I never use to track and just ate clean, exercised 5/6 times a week and done 16/8 unintentionally most days just because I'm not a breakfast person. Was really happy with my body last year but gained a few pounds over Winter/Christmas! I've started tracking, I tried keeping my calories to 1400 as my friend had a food plan but it was just too low, especially with the calories I was burning from training! I have worked out my TDEE and what I should be eating and it's coming out as 2100 calories! I just feel like that is SO MUCH food for me. Although I'm assuming once burned on training day's it's only about 1700/1800 net. I almost feel a bit afraid to eat that much in case I gain. I've lost 2kg in 3 weeks (I don't have much to loose, but I want to tone up and change shape a little) but I know I stay that low long term because I have been feeling hungry.

    I upped my calories the other day to 1700 but then I still burn around 400-500 a session so am I eating too low at this? I have no idea!

    A part of me thinks I should stop tracking as it really makes me overthink/obsess & doubt myself over this stuff!
  • izzyoramah920
    izzyoramah920 Posts: 16 Member
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    luciewhitefield25 wrote: »
    I totally get where you are coming from, I never use to track and just ate clean, exercised 5/6 times a week and done 16/8 unintentionally most days just because I'm not a breakfast person. Was really happy with my body last year but gained a few pounds over Winter/Christmas! I've started tracking, I tried keeping my calories to 1400 as my friend had a food plan but it was just too low, especially with the calories I was burning from training! I have worked out my TDEE and what I should be eating and it's coming out as 2100 calories! I just feel like that is SO MUCH food for me. Although I'm assuming once burned on training day's it's only about 1700/1800 net. I almost feel a bit afraid to eat that much in case I gain. I've lost 2kg in 3 weeks (I don't have much to loose, but I want to tone up and change shape a little) but I know I stay that low long term because I have been feeling hungry.

    I upped my calories the other day to 1700 but then I still burn around 400-500 a session so am I eating too low at this? I have no idea!

    A part of me thinks I should stop tracking as it really makes me overthink/obsess & doubt myself over this stuff!

    Wow we really are in the same boat 😫

    I sometimes want to stop tracking because I don’t want to become too fixated, but I know I need to continue if I want to see + monitor my results.

    I’ve upped my calories to approx 1800. Like someone said, it really doesn’t hurt to try and if it’s not working out, things can be adjusted. I think we both have the same fear of gaining all the weight back (which isn’t going to happen!). Like people in the thread said, since you burn a lot of calories, maybe you should be eating a portion of those exercised calories.
  • luciewhitefield25
    luciewhitefield25 Posts: 70 Member
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    you are completely right! I think we all need to try and see what happens, I will send you a friend request and we can update on how we are feeling! I have decided if I still feel like this in two months time then I will go back to what I was like before, listening to my body and eating in moderation.

    I feel like my metabolism has changed lately too, I feel much more hungry in the mornings, not sure if that is because I am doing more weight training than before? Feel like I train smart now rather than just running on the tredmil to try an rack up the calories for ages!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,481 Member
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    izzyoramah920 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    izzyoramah920 wrote: »
    crl0mrrurhno.jpeg
    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    izzyoramah920 wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    Where did you get the 1500?

    If that is what MFP suggested, that is to eat BEFORE (or WITHOUT) purposeful exercise so at minimum you should be eating back the exercise calories for each of those work outs.

    but also, what rate of loss did you select and how much do you plan to lose?

    how long have you been eating 1500 and how much have you lost in that time?

    I’m still relatively new-ish to weight loss. I got the figure from a woman with similar characteristics to me and saw that she saw a lot of results. But now that I’m learning more, that probably wasn’t a good idea.

    I picked to lose 1.5 pounds a week and I have 35 pounds left to lose.

    I started losing weight in September and was eating roughly 1200 calories. I lost quite a bit but decided to increase it to 1500 at the beginning of the year because I started exercising more intensely (+ was getting more hungry). I’ve lost ~4 pounds since the start of the year.

    It’s a bit discouraging because I’m expecting myself to lose 1.5 pounds a week only to see less than that being lost.

    I know that weight loss is slow and I’m at the middle of my journey, but I’m scared that I’m currently under-eating.

    Thanks!
    (Sorry for this long response)

    I'd drop that to 1lb/week, and eat to whatever number MFP gives you for that. 4lbs is quite good for what you have left to lose, that is inevitably going to slow down the closer you get to your goal. You might want to also look at your macros if you're finding you're hungry often, and play around with those. For example when I manage to keep my protein to around 60-80g I have an easier time staying on track, I don't feel hungry all day and I don't 'forage' for snacks or something to eat. It's a little different for everyone but that will help. Also eating back a portion of your exercise calories.

    Okay so I dropped it down to 1lb a week and I selected lightly active. I’m nervous but I’ll try this set up for a week and adjust if I need to.

    Should I also get a fitness watch or something to keep track of my activity level?

    Thanks!

    that's a lot of protein. is there a reason you chose those macros?

    I watched a video and the person said to start with those macros.

    I actually struggle a lot to meet my daily protein goals.

    Should I adjust them?

    Some sources will tell you that you need 1g of protein daily per pound of body weight. If overweight or obese, that can be overkill. IMO, for most people, 0.6-0.8g per pound of healthy goal weight (which reasonably approximates 0.8-1.0g per pound of lean body mass) is sufficient. (To other readers: Yes, I mean pound, not kg.)

    Protein is useful, and there's research suggesting that more than the RDA can be beneficial when active and/or losing weight. (The numbers I recommend above are in the vicinity of 2x RDA.)

    While you can quibble with my views on protein (think the normal RDA levels are fine, for example), I don't think it's a super great idea to lower one's goal to make it match the level that happens to be easy to achieve, if that means getting insufficient protein for best nutritional benefits.

    Calories are what determine weight loss, but nutrition is important for health. :)
  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,028 Member
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    luciewhitefield25 wrote: »
    you are completely right! I think we all need to try and see what happens, I will send you a friend request and we can update on how we are feeling! I have decided if I still feel like this in two months time then I will go back to what I was like before, listening to my body and eating in moderation.

    I feel like my metabolism has changed lately too, I feel much more hungry in the mornings, not sure if that is because I am doing more weight training than before? Feel like I train smart now rather than just running on the tredmil to try an rack up the calories for ages!

    Are you eating back any of your exercise calories?
  • izzyoramah920
    izzyoramah920 Posts: 16 Member
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    luciewhitefield25 wrote: »
    you are completely right! I think we all need to try and see what happens, I will send you a friend request and we can update on how we are feeling! I have decided if I still feel like this in two months time then I will go back to what I was like before, listening to my body and eating in moderation.

    I feel like my metabolism has changed lately too, I feel much more hungry in the mornings, not sure if that is because I am doing more weight training than before? Feel like I train smart now rather than just running on the tredmil to try an rack up the calories for ages!

    Yeah send me a request so we can check up on each other haha

    I really really want to start weight training (with a barbell and all) but I’m quite insecure because the main gym is quite intimidating 😭
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,981 Member
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    izzyoramah920 wrote: »
    luciewhitefield25 wrote: »
    you are completely right! I think we all need to try and see what happens, I will send you a friend request and we can update on how we are feeling! I have decided if I still feel like this in two months time then I will go back to what I was like before, listening to my body and eating in moderation.

    I feel like my metabolism has changed lately too, I feel much more hungry in the mornings, not sure if that is because I am doing more weight training than before? Feel like I train smart now rather than just running on the tredmil to try an rack up the calories for ages!

    Yeah send me a request so we can check up on each other haha

    I really really want to start weight training (with a barbell and all) but I’m quite insecure because the main gym is quite intimidating 😭

    If you take a few sessions with a personal trainer this will help you feel a lot more comfortable at the gym :)

    Worked for me, anyway, and I have social anxiety in new places.
  • luciewhitefield25
    luciewhitefield25 Posts: 70 Member
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    MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »
    luciewhitefield25 wrote: »
    you are completely right! I think we all need to try and see what happens, I will send you a friend request and we can update on how we are feeling! I have decided if I still feel like this in two months time then I will go back to what I was like before, listening to my body and eating in moderation.

    I feel like my metabolism has changed lately too, I feel much more hungry in the mornings, not sure if that is because I am doing more weight training than before? Feel like I train smart now rather than just running on the tredmil to try an rack up the calories for ages!

    Are you eating back any of your exercise calories?

    I wasn't, but I feel like it has caught up with me now so I have upped my calories for my daily intake to cover this...

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