MFP - 1200 calories?

Dear all - MFP 'predicted' way back that I should aim for 1200 daily calories. I am pretty sure I distort my portions etc (or I certainly was) as I haven't always lost weight, though over past year I have. This has been mainly through food control (I still eat well) and a bit of swimming. I am now increasing my exercise a lot; I have seen a lot of traffic about it not being a good idea to be under-eating. I am pretty obsessive now about getting the MFP entries honest. (Good cream tea yesterday! well over!) I just did a BMI calculator and it (again!) said I needed to lose another 2 stone to be in the middle of what they say is a health weight range for me; and to be honest that is probably right. It said I should be eating between 1400-1800 (I think) a day. I am really anxious about this but have increased the calorie intake a little.

Should I vary it on days I do do exercise? If I enter the exercise, it adds on the calories it claims I've burned and won't give me a closing entry, which can be a bit frustrating. I got really stuck late November/December but seem to have made a bit of progress recently, so I don't want to sabotage it by eating too much.

Apologies for ramble - any suggestions welcome.

[Hidden]

Personally I wouldn't add exercise onto mfp. The calories burnt through exercise are estimates so it can be misleading to think you can up your eating after a run/walk etc. Unless you've seriously done something epic that is, like a 30 mile bike ride or a 10k run. I record my exercise on endomondo, so I have a record on there, and use mfp just as a food diary. Or at least I will be from today, when I restart using it after 4 months off! I think 1400 cals should be fine, its worked for me so far, but accuracy is key. Measure things like oil, butter, milk in tea, the little things all add up. Good luck

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thanks!

[kantara71]

I am thinking along similar lines regarding eating up to my allowance of 1900 calories a day. I am very rarely achieving this amount and often only consume 1200. I do not deduct calories for exercise because at this time they would be insignificant. i wonder if I should be regularly eating up to the recommended level but reading articles on the subject it suggests that everyone is different in the way they burn calories etc so, as I am losing at the recommended rate, i will continue doing what I am doing and not worry too much about hitting 1900 a day. John

[Hidden in reply to kantara71]

Thanks! I've kind of been doing that but a little leeway would be helpful occasionally and prevent me beating myself up for eating 1400, which is still working for me. Tks for replying.

[KK679]

I think you should ignore your exercise in terms of your weight loss. There is very evidence that exercise helps weight loss to any degree, though it does help fitness and health obviously. I would stick to a calorie intake which you know helps you lose weight regardless of how active you are. Also here is a top tip: You need to eat good fats to help you lose weight, such as fish, lean meats and small amounts of dairy. It's cutting out all fat from ones diet which makes your body go into starvation mode. It was this advice from my GP who has himself just lost 6 st that made the difference to me and has so far helped me lose weight successfully. xxx Good Luck xxx

[Hidden in reply to KK679]

Thank you; I am kind of naturally committed to this attitude. I love fat(s). I cooked some lovely fish in a PILE of butter earlier on tonight; I feel if I can keep my portions sorted and not let the wine get out of control; I will get there. Exercise is something I know I need to do as I've really let it all go and I just think muscles are fundamentally worth hanging on to.

Thanks for replying.