New to MFP and need some calorie advice!

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jcrann
jcrann Posts: 3
in Introduce Yourself
Hi everyone,

I joined this site a week ago, I stumbled upon it on the app market oddly enough. ;) I've made some major life changes over the last month and half and when I started I weighed in at 275lbs and I'm 5'10. I decided then that my goal weight would be 170-180lbs. When I joined MFP a week ago I was at 248lbs so I've managed to do pretty good on my own up till now but I wanted a tool to figure out what I'm eating in a day and how much I need to eat to continue my progress.

I've been reading all over the forums and found a lot of inspiration but I'm still confused by something. MFP is telling me I need to eat 1610 calories a day and from what I've read I'm also suppose to eat my exercise calories back. I work out for about an hour a day 6 days a week right now and I'm STRUGGLING to eat that many calories (I struggle to even hit 1200 calories, I'm way less normally). I'd say that I'm eating pretty healthy, bought all the right foods etc. and I'm definitely not hungry. I don't want to eat when I'm full just because I need to meet these guidelines, I also don't want to eat fatty foods on purpose either.

I just got some shakes from a friend and they are meal replacements but are only 90 calories each (Body by Vi Nutritional Shakes), I'm afraid I'm going to continue to be way below my calorie goal if I incorporate these into my diet twice a day.

I've opened my diary up to the public, any help or advice would be great. I drink more water then most people (I dont really keep track on here) and I think I need to start drinking more juices (calories) to help me reach my goal.

Any ideas?

Replies

  • smokinjackd
    smokinjackd Posts: 341
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    I never eat my exercise calories back. I eat to my 1570 every day, workout or not.
  • mrsbaker21
    mrsbaker21 Posts: 3
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    I was also confused about eating exercise calories. I thought that you were supposed to burn more calories then you eat to lose weight (or whatever). If anyone would like to add me as a friend, I am willing to accept any advice!
  • CrazyLazyStylist
    CrazyLazyStylist Posts: 65 Member
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    Yeah, I like the "credit" concept. Not eating them back!
  • 0RESET0
    0RESET0 Posts: 128
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    How is it that you managed to get over weight if you have a hard time eating 1200 calories per day?

    Seriously though, the database may be overestimating your caloric burn. Also, not all dietary fat is bad. You actually need some fat to function properly. My advice is to keep doing what is working for you. Once you hit a plateau, then you can look at what you are eating on a daily basis and make changes from there. Don't go changing things around too suddenly, your body takes time to adapt and you may overcompensate. I set my macros to 40, 20, 40 for quite a while and it worked. I have since changed that to something else and that is working too. you need to take time to figure out how your body is going to react to your changes in diet and activity.

    Long story short. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Keep doing what works until it doesn't. If you start getting hungry or weak then you will need to eat more.
  • jcrann
    jcrann Posts: 3
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    How is it that you managed to get over weight if you have a hard time eating 1200 calories per day?

    Oh I'm sure I was eating way over that for years before I switched to healthy foods and started exercising.. lol. I think the problem is most of the food I'm eating are low cal/low fat products so eating that much in a day is tough.

    Thanks for the replies everyone :)
  • chickybuns
    chickybuns Posts: 1,037 Member
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    If it's working for you now, then stick with it, but I would make sure you eat at least 1300-1500 calories to fuel your body. But many people reached plateaus eating that low, so you can address that when it comes about.

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