am I eating too little?

kailysimpson
kailysimpson Posts: 56
edited November 8 in Food and Nutrition
I have been MFP since May of last year and I am having the hardest time getting my calorie intake number correct. MFP wants me to have 1750 calories per day right now, and this one calculator I tried before (that someone else had posted here in the forum) gave me a suggested number of 2535 per day in order to lose weight... here's the problem... 2500 calories seems like a lot. In the past I have tried sticking closely to 1900 calories and I was actually gaining weight. I took some time off b/c I was getting frustrated, and when I came back I tried maintaining 1200-1300 calories per day - which is super hard to maintain - and I lost about 11 pounds in one single week. But now I am back to not losing, and being confused b/c it seems that I can gain an entire pound in a week if I go over 1200 calories at all - that doesn't make any sense though. I'm scared to death though to "try" maintaining 2500 calories for any length of time where I might "see results" because I am scared that I will gain weight :frown: Another observation that I made - my aunt does weight watchers and lost a bunch of weight, and through her I got the calculation of how many "points" I could have daily per their new Points Plus guideline, and it was 40 points... I added up my days based on my MFP log for a few days, and I was finishing the day around 20 points, but I thought "wait, so I ate HALF as much as I should have?" doubling my points would mean intaking about 2600 calories... is that right?

I'm sorry because I know I sound like a bloody idiot, and this question comes up 5000 times a day - I get it - but I am still not understanding what I am doing WRONG!!!!!!!!!! I should be losing weight an my body is giving me the finger. (medically, I am perfectly healthy, I already met with my dr. I have PCOS but it's mild enough that my doctor doesn't feel that it will hinder my efforts) HELP a perfectly dense and hugely desperate woman before I fall completely off and rob the Krispy Kreme store up the street!!!!!!!

Replies

  • JulaMonster
    JulaMonster Posts: 51 Member
    Hiya Kaily! Ok- I don't think MFP has you set at too little, but looking back through your diary, you have more days than not where you have a lot of calories left over. I was having the same problem, but I was leaving too many calories left over almost every day. It seems totally counter-intuitive, but not everything with our bodies is so straightforward. Here are two great posts about why you really should eat your exercise calories back- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo (that second one gets into the scientific aspect) (if the links don't show up just copy paste, looks like that second one is cut short but it isn't, that's how the link ends). I know it can be hard to eat all those calories back, but I swear it will make a difference. Two weeks ago I was having the same issue, I gained but I had been SOOO good, but was leaving too many calories left over (usually around 400 extra) and that was enough to make me gain, not lose. On some of your days when you exercised a lot, you had 1000+ calories left over, and that is too much. MFP figures in a deficit to begin with, so you CAN eat your exercise calories back and still lose at a safe and consistent rate. If you don't eat those back, your body will hold on to the precious little fat you are feeding it (since it thinks your body is in too much of a deficit). Now I try not to leave any more than 100-150 left over at the end of the day, and I lost what I had gained and then some. I feel good leaving those 100some left over to compensate for variances in my food measurements, etc. But, though it totally seems so utterly backwards, I wouldn't leave any more than 200 calories left over on a day that you exercise, and no more than 100 on a day you don't exercise. Try it, it might surprise you ;)
  • kailysimpson
    kailysimpson Posts: 56
    Thanks Julia, like I said I am just terrified at the thought that I might gain weight if I start eating closer to 2000 or 2500 calories every day!! That would be awful, especially since you gain weight by eating too MUCH, but like you said it's totally counter intuitive. Oi. I hope I get this right sometime soon.
  • JulaMonster
    JulaMonster Posts: 51 Member
    It does seem totally backwards, but if you burn that much in a day, then by all means eat that much! Also, are you sure you're accurate with your daily activity for your base rate? While I'd love to say I'm more active than I am, on average I am pretty sedentary, so I set my activity level to sedentary. (Better safe than sorry on that count, I figure) I usually set it to lightly active during the spring and summer when I've got the garden and chickens to tend to more actively (and I make sure not to count those as exercise activity, unless I do something unusually active in the garden), but even with doing dishes and laundry and general keeping house and playing with Wyatt during the day, I am on my butt or standing more than I am walking, so I keep it to sedentary. (Also, though it's not exactly light reading, that second article really does do a good job of explaining the counter-intuitive part of it) ;)
  • kailysimpson
    kailysimpson Posts: 56
    LOL I keep mine at sedentary too, even though I am chasing 6 kids around the house all day... my house is small and I definitely do a lot of sitting... despite having to get up every 4 seconds lol
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