Women who eat more than 1800 calories a day !!!!

I am getting confused. MFP has me set at 1450 cals. I'm 5ft 6", 189 pounds, sedentary job and exercise 3-4 times a week. I usually do Jilian Micheals 30 day shred or Chalean Extreme videos. I eat my exercise cals back.

So am I not eating enough?? Why does MFP only give me 1450, if I should be eating more?

If you're eating your exercise calories back, you are eating more. But you might be able to go higher. Very few people are actually sedentary according to this site. I have a desk job too, and I had to put my activity setting at 'active' to maintain.

But a lot of us are talking about gross, not net. Your net is pretty good (I was netting about 1450 when I was losing too). Some people eat 1200 GROSS and then exercise on top of that and don't eat back those calories, so they're really getting a NET of 600-900.

can yall add me so i can view yalls diaries!?! lol thank you

I opened up my diary - if anyone is willing to help me out - I'd appreciate it.

Bump to read later

I'm 41 yrs. old & my daily caloric goal is 1830 a day; I've been on MFP for @ a month & have lost 6 pounds; I have 146 lbs. to lose before I'm down to my ideal weight of 150. I've been told that i carry my weight well; you can add me as a friend & look at both pictures of me posted.

all of these strong women are the reason I join this site. I am 38 years old 5'4" and currently weight 182.

last year I did the 1200 calorie a day --- starving and crabby the whole time but excited because I lost over 20 lbs by summer time....shorts and tanks! then Life happened. I didn't learn anything I quickly gained it all back plus some i went from `180 to 160 then up to where I started over at 190. :devil:

after lots of reading and a consult with a personal trainer and I dropped the $$ to see my actual Metabolic rate based on that I am eating around 1600 on day's I don't exercise and 1800-2100 when I do exercise. lately I have been lacking on the exercise however I have been steadily losing a pound a week. granted I am only 7 weeks into this, however during that period of time I went on a long weekend with friends, ate drank and didn't worry.. and come weigh in day I still lost. so I think I am finally learning how to watch what I eat and still be out in the real world.

yes I loved how fast I lost @1200 a day..... but I really appreciate where I am right now, careful about what I eat--- and still eating!! slow and steady is my motto this time, I do not want to be back here again a year from now

I am losing better eating more. And I have more energy. It's a good thing. My net goal is 1400 calories but I'm often eating 1800 or more with my exercise calories added in. I have only started working on repairing my damaged metabolism since late October (or thereabouts) when I finally got it through my thick skull that 1200 calories total (at the time I wasn't eating exercise calories) wasn't healthy or sustainable. I hope to continue adding in more calories as I get closer to my goal and increase my strength and endurance through heavy lifting, HIIT and cardio workouts. I'm also one who is losing inches far beyond what the scale loss should indicate. I'm loving it.

MFP has me at 1200 and I really am starting to think that is not enough for me, since I lost 4 pounds the first week, and gone up 2 in three weeks! I exercise everyday and have finally learned to eat back my calories from that. I lost .4 pounds since yesterday, so I decided to try an up my goal to 1350 to see if that makes a difference in getting past this stall I've hit.
Any suggestions are welcome!

any words of advice, im a personal trainer yet for me consuming the calories is a big number thing. i always tell my clients do as i say not as i do for i know my eating is not where it should be.
im 5'5 and only 107 i run a lot but know i need a higher food intake.


any words of advice, feel free to add me as well.
realistically i need to at least gain 5 pounds.

:[

Not the most orginal advice but I like to eat nuts or peanut butter when I need to add more calories.

I just eat whatever I was eating when I was eating less, but more of it. Or I check my food diary to see where I need the most help, and add accordingly.

When I have a packaged food (Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, etc.) I tend to add a little something extra to it. Some extra veggies, a sprinkle of cheese, a couple crackers or chips, some rice noodles.

When all else fails, I add protein powder to chocolate milk.

SO HAPPY to find this thread!
MFP put me at 1200 a day to lose, and I have been doing that for over three weeks plus exercising every day (eating back my exercise calories) and have had NO results.
Now I see that I most likely need to eat MORE!
I've figured my BMR to be 1403, and TDEE (sedentary desk job) at 1686, so If I have understood all this correctly, I should be eating at least 1400 a day (plus exercise calories)?
Am I thinking correctly?