Eating entire caloric allowance

lorhe04
lorhe04 Posts: 10 Member
edited December 2024 in Getting Started
Hi! New here as of today. My husband also joined and he is supposed to be 3,000 calories for weight loss. My question is, does one have to eat the entire caloric number each day in order to lose? Or is it ok to come under the recommended calories? Weight watchers used to tell you that you HAD to eat every point you tracked. Is this the same here?

Replies

  • MichelleSilverleaf
    MichelleSilverleaf Posts: 2,027 Member
    Ideally yes. MFP already accounts for a deficit. You also want to eat back a portion of exercise calories.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    edited February 2019
    3000 is a pretty high number, but if he entered his stats right, that should be his goal. What is his age, height, weight, and target to lose per week, as well as his activity level?

    You don't HAVE to eat your entire allowance to lose. Many people come at least moderately under the goal. If you eat less than your goal, you should lose more weight, but losing too much too fast is not recommended for health reasons. However 3000 is a pretty high goal so you probably have some room to safely under eat it to a certain extent, especially if he has a lot of weight to lose.
  • lorhe04
    lorhe04 Posts: 10 Member
    Thanks Mike. 46 yrs, 6 ft, 313 lbs. He chose the 1 lb per week weight loss and does light daily activity at work. He freaked out at the high calorie number. He used to do weight watchers with me years ago and it was the same situation, he had to eat very high “points”. But they said he HAD to eat all those points and he always felt like he was constantly overeating and stuffed so he gave up. He’s not a very big eater, just a big guy. So we’re wondering if he has to absolutely eat all those 3k calories or if he can just stay under and still be good. The WW mentality was that weight lose couldn’t happen unless you met your point value every day. I’m wondering about that

  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    If he feels that is too much food to eat at his weight/height he can probably safely set the rate of loss to 2lb per week.
  • lorhe04
    lorhe04 Posts: 10 Member
    Yes that’s why he gave up real fast, too much eating and he didn’t like it at all. Bumping up the weight loss is a good idea, thank you. Thank you!

  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    edited February 2019
    lorhe04 wrote: »
    Thanks Mike. 46 yrs, 6 ft, 313 lbs. He chose the 1 lb per week weight loss and does light daily activity at work. He freaked out at the high calorie number. He used to do weight watchers with me years ago and it was the same situation, he had to eat very high “points”. But they said he HAD to eat all those points and he always felt like he was constantly overeating and stuffed so he gave up. He’s not a very big eater, just a big guy. So we’re wondering if he has to absolutely eat all those 3k calories or if he can just stay under and still be good. The WW mentality was that weight lose couldn’t happen unless you met your point value every day. I’m wondering about that

    Because WW is a business who makes money by selling you products. By telling you that you need to hit your points target every day you're more likely to buy their overpriced 'snacks' that they have on display at every meeting.

    Also if you create a large (but healthy and sustainable) deficit you'll lose weight too quickly and stop paying them money sooner.
  • lorhe04
    lorhe04 Posts: 10 Member
    True. Thanks Danp
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    edited February 2019
    lorhe04 wrote: »
    Thanks Mike. 46 yrs, 6 ft, 313 lbs. He chose the 1 lb per week weight loss and does light daily activity at work. He freaked out at the high calorie number. He used to do weight watchers with me years ago and it was the same situation, he had to eat very high “points”. But they said he HAD to eat all those points and he always felt like he was constantly overeating and stuffed so he gave up. He’s not a very big eater, just a big guy. So we’re wondering if he has to absolutely eat all those 3k calories or if he can just stay under and still be good. The WW mentality was that weight lose couldn’t happen unless you met your point value every day. I’m wondering about that

    When a new one comes here needing to lose weight and then bemoans how much they are supposed to eat, I suspect that person is trying to only "eat healthy", thinking it is necessary to lose weight, and then realizes that a very high volume of veggies, fruits, and lean protein is necessary to meet their calorie goal. Your husband may not be a "big eater", but he was taking in enough calories to maintain his current weight or to gain weight, so the foods he was eating must have then been somewhat calorie intensive. There's no reason he can't continue to eat those foods in portions that are appropriate for his calorie goal, if this is, in fact, part of the issue.
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