Am I eating enough?

miss_sarcastic · February 2012

I'm 5'5 1/2" (large frame/bone structure), and 205. I currently have MFP set to normal lifestyle, working out 5 days/wk for at least 30min, and -2lb a week loss. MFP suggests my caloric intake to be 1,320. I lost about 13 pounds when I kept up with this Aug-october of '11, then some personal things happened and I took a hiatus. I just started back up again mid January, so I don't expect to see any big results right now or anything, but I don't think I'm eating enough, especially seeing as how I never eat all my cals...sometimes have 150 left over or more for the day. I do eat back some exercise cals, though. I just had MFP re-evaluate my goals and I switched it to -1.5lbs loss a week, and it changed it to 1,570. Does this seem better to you?

For my workouts, I do 20min of HIIT training (it's killer) 3X a week, on the other days I do some form of cardio whether it's walking briskly to class on campus with a brick of a backpack on my back (yay college students) and that equates to about 20-30 minutes a day, depending if I drive and walk from the garage, or if I take a bus straight to mid-campus. If I feel my walking wasn't enough (not long enough, or I walked slow to walk and talk with people, etc), then I'll jog 15-20 minutes and do some strength training.

Actually...on that topic, should I raise my activity level? The descriptions of the activity levels bother me, haha. A nurse walks way more than a "normal" type person (seeing as how that is my major so I know plenty of them).

SteveTries · February 2012

I think you've answered your own question :-) You weren't eating enough, and now you are. Assuming that you feel comfortable with the 1570 target and can sustain it and still have energy enough to function properly that I think you have it right.

I don't believe anyone other than the hugely obese can consistently see 2lb weight loss week on week. For that you'd need a 7000 calorie defecit over the course of a week. Using the often quoted 2000cals a week for a typical female that means a 50% reduction.

Irrespective of your views of the realities of "starvation mode" I think everyone would agree that such a defecit is unhealthy and psychologically challenging and thus impossible to stick with long term.

Personally I think you should target 1lbs a week. Even as a 97kg (210lb???) male who is 6 foot 2 and large build, I only target 0.6kg a week which I think is about 1.25lbs. I achieve that and that makes me feel successful and spurs me on. If I had a target set that I couldn't reach I know I would feel like I was failing and then I'd end up quitting.

Helloitsdan · February 2012

At your height set MFP for 1600-1800 with macro breakdown of 30% protein and fats and 40% carbs.
Youll lose fat and maintain lean mass that way.

miss_sarcastic · February 2012

Thanks, guys!

sjbrain - it's actually easy for me to eat the previous, or less, amount of calories. I rarely ever feel extremely hungry or have a nagging appetite and I've been this way for years. That's part of what led to my gain over the last 4 years or so...I rarely ate, generally just one meal a day. I plan on getting a blood panel done next time I go to the doctor out of curiosity to see if some hormone levels are off.

When I started MFP back in August '11, I actually had to set alarms/reminders on my phone to make me eat every 2.5-3.5 hours so that I was eating small meals 5-6 times a day. I stuck to it for 2 1/2 months and went from 217 to 202ish, but even then 1,320 just seemed low hence my prompting this question. I think I'll give this new set (1,570) a try for two weeks, and depending on the results, I'll take helloitsdan's suggestion and set MFP to those specifications.

swillis21 · February 2012

You may also want to consider eating close to whatever your BMR is, you can calc this under the tools section. Anways - BMR is what your body would burn if you were to not even move/be in a coma all day. Just a thought

Am I eating enough?

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