Can someone help me set calorie/nutrient goals???

Hello, I am currently 6 months out and have recently started tracking in my fitness pal, along with exercising regularly (22 days to be exact). I currently have my goals set in MFP as 700 calories and I guessed on the carbs at 45 and made protein at least 80 grams. Does anyone have suggestions on what the best totals for all of those would be for me at this point? I would like to continue losing obviously. I am not sure of sugar or sodium either... Any help would be greatly appreciated, my dietition and nutritionist wont even discuss it. They want me to only worry about portion size basically. I feel this would help me more.  :-) Thank you. 

Renea 

At 6 months out 700 calories is a good number. remember it is a range- You won't get the same amount every day. Some days it might be closer to 850 and some days it may be 600....as long as you are getting your protein in, that is #1.  I would consider 80g my minimum when I was losing. I would say most people stay below 1000 calories when losing. The carbs most usually shoot for not over 50, some people like to keep it at 30. I never counted sugar or sodium for the day. Sugar comes in under carbs, I looked at individual items and tried to not have them have more than 5 grams sugar, except like milk or yogurt that have naturally occurring sugar, not added. I don't think most people are concerned with sodium. Mfp automatically sets sodium for whatever the daily standard is considered. 2400mg? maybe?

That being said, I did not do MFP religiously- some do. It made me too obsessive. You have to know yourself. I just counted protein and fluids, and obviously looked at the calories/carbs/protein of individual items. I would do periodic 'spot check' weeks on MFP to see where I was. I also planned my menu for the day, ahead of time. RNY daily menu thread is very helpful for that.

Great! Thank you!! I seem to be on the right track. I got concerned today because I opted for the healthiest snack around which were  soft granola clusters and it sky rocketed my carbs for the day since one of my other meals included egg whites, low fat cheese, and turkey sausage on wheat. (I'm living off the cafeteria food that is at work since I've worked the last 20 days straight, 12 hours, with one day off). I've got the next 2 days off so I wanted to update my goals and plan my meals to accomedate. 

Ugh, pardon my French (German) but egg whites, low fat cheese and turkey sausage are dreck.  Eat whole eggs, regular cheese and real sausage (within reason of course... and not if fat upsets your stomach/gall bladder). 

They add a lot of fillers, chemicals, sugar etc to make those low-fat, "healthy" foods taste better... and the "fear of fat" mentality has been proven over and over to be baseless.  After all, if low fat diets worked, wouldn't we all be thin now given how many we all tried before this point?

Audrey

Good question.  I am 3.5 weeks out and wondering the same things.  My dietitian set my protein goal for 65-80 grams per day. I've seen some posts about staying under a certain calorie goal at different phases, but not sure where this information comes from.  My clinic suggests we should be between 1000-1200 calories (eventually) but hasn't given me a time frame yet. 

Not to jump in on your post, but I would appreciate more info, too.  

No worries, if my post helps others... then ask away!!

1,000 to 1,200 calories eventually. Eventually being when you are finished losing and want to maintain your weight. Right now, 600 calories is good for one month out.

Some programs treat patients like children. They don't think they'll take good quality vitamins, so they recommend Flintstones, or gummies. They don't think they'll stick to calorie counting, so they suggest using children's size plates and  utensils.

You'll be far ahead of the game if you weigh portions and count calories.

I have been weighing and inputting everything into MFP.  I take my multitude of vitamins, as prescribed by my clinic (prenatal, B12, vitamin D3 and Calcium/Magnesium/D3).  

My next question is where do these calorie counts come from?  If your clinic is giving you far off numbers, how do you know how many you should be consuming and when you should have more?  I see my nurse/dietitian and surgeon on the 12th and expect more info then, but think my dietitian doesn't always know what he's talking about.  

Thanks in advance.  :-)

The numbers from doctors and nutritionists are all over the place. It's pretty widely believed that the higher numbers like 1200 calories are ass-covering measures to cut down on complaints. And many nutritionists and doctors have ludicrous notions of false theories like "starvation mode." None of them have walked in our shoes. They have a lot of bad information.

Find some people here who have lost all their weight, and kept it off for a long time. Listen to what they have to say. You'll get better advice than most "professionals."

A few general rules:

1. Keep calories as low as you can until you reach, and pass, goal.
2. Dense protein first. Everything you eat should maximize protein. If it's mostly carbs, don't put it in your mouth.
3. Starvation mode is bullcrap.
4. Do NOT eat back exercise calories, or eat more when you workout. 
5. Never drink calories, except early on when you need to supplement with protein shakes.
6. Do not drink during meals or for 30 minutes after.

Thank you both, Grim & NY!  This is exactly the type of info I was looking for.