Calorie adjustment
Disneyfan05
Posts: 38 Member
My doctor wants me to keep track between 1200-1500 calories preferably 1200. Is there a way for me to adjust my number here? It gives me 1800+daily
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found it1
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Unless there is an important medical reason to drop the weight fast, I'd counsel aiming for the upper end of your doc's recommendation for the first month and see how you do - especially if MFP's # was 1800.2
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are you trying to desperately drop weight in order to get operated on or otherwise control an immediate health risk?
In that case eating as little as you can get away with may make sense for you.
But do consider that:
Many doctors automatically assume that you're going to miscount and therefore if you're eating 1200 you will truly be eating 1800 or more.
Many doctors also assume that you will fail and give up. Therefore for them a valid strategy is to get you to drop as much as possible before you give up hoping that the whole yo-yo will last long enough with you at 10% below your original weight to actually get some health benefits for the longest amount of time during this inevitable failure.
Or you can choose to adopt a strategy of trying to implement sustainable change and to play against the odds.
Here's a funny thing about people.
When they make things not sustainable and too hard for themselves they tend to not last very long.
Just do a search for grumpy_hubby for a recent example of this. Notice the cut off in his posts as of a week ago. To me it looks like he lasted less than a month into what many suggested to him looked like an unsustainable routine.
Was it a failure of his willpower or a character flaw if he didn't make it? NO NO NO and NO.
It is just that stacking the deck against yourself doesn't make it easier to succeed!
Meeting reasonable goals while making it as easy as possible on myself? I like that better!8 -
Lots of people quit when they don't see satisfying results, so for them a stricter diet with clear weekly results will keep them sticking to the plan longer than a higher calorie diet where they feel like they're working hard but not getting paid.
I'd trust my doctor and do what he told me to do.0 -
is that 1800+ daily because you are on the taller end and chose 2 lbs/wk? How much weight do you have to lose? What activity level did you chose? All those things are vitally important in choosing the correct number of calories for a sustainable weight loss strategy.
Also, its not only acceptable but prudent to question your doctor so that you understand why they are recommending the course of treatment they are recommending. Has your doctor studied up on nutrition science and kept up to date, or are they a GP who is just recommending what they've been told to recommend? Is this your GP or is this a bariatric surgeon who is prepping you for surgery, in which case, the low calorie range is in preparation for the new eating style you'll have to sustain afterwards?
Many people tend to fall into the trap of "my doctor is the expert so I'll just do whatever they say" and blindly just take the medication or the course of treatment without understanding the doctor's reasons behind it, or realize that there could be another approach. I've caught myself doing this as well, so I know its just a human response, but it never hurts to ask questions, especially when it concerns your body and your health.
Some doctors are really good, keep up with things, know their limitations, and work with you easily; others don't, and I don't know anything about you or your doctor so you may have already discussed all this, but it can't hurt to just double check with them and let them know that MFP gives you a different calorie range (and you'll probably find that other calculators do as well; I've compared MFP to a couple of different ones and find that MFP is pretty well on average with the rest), and then ask them their strategy; just make sure that the recommended calories are truly in line with your personal physical makeup.
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