Need Opinions - How many cals to eat????

JolynedD

I just started using my Fitbit Flex and it calculated that I'd burn 1605 cals per day if all I did was sit there and do nothing....

Does that mean that that should be my minimum amount of calories I eat in a day? Should that be all I eat in a day?

It also is suggesting I have 1000 calorie deficit to lose the weight. Lately my trend on my fitbit is that I've been burning about 2800-3000 calories on my active days. Should I be eating about 1800-2000 calories, as long as I'm having an active day?

I just don't want to be under eating or overeating and MFP is telling me 1200 calories but I can barely make it through the day that way. I don't want to be starving every day either. That's when I'll give in to temptations!

I'm also not looking to fill those calories with bad high fat foods either. I just need a little more fuel I think but I want to make sure I'm still seeing the results I'm working soo hard to reach.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Also, feel free to add me

mymodernbabylon

Synch your fitbit to MFP - that will give you the calories you can eat for the day (adding your exercise to the minimum). If you do any activity that doesn't get recorded by the fitbit, manually enter that into MFP.

Also - how many lbs do you need to lose? 1200 is usually given if you want to lose 2lb a week which most people shouldn't be doing unless they have a lot to lose. At 20lb to go, I set mine to 1/2 lb a week (250 calorie deficit a day). If I had between 20-50 lb, I'd go with 1 lb a week (500 calorie deficit a day)

mymodernbabylon

p.s. I'm quite sure there is a fitbit group on here who can support you better.

StaciMarie1974

I assume my Fitbit to have a margin of error. Its just not possible for a fitness tracker to be 100%. If assuming 5-10% error, then your 2800-3000 daily burn (x.9) is probably 2500-2700. A 2 pound loss (1000 calorie deficit) would put you around 1500-1700 per day.

But you didn't indicate your stats or goal - is 2 pounds a week reasonable for you? If so, eat in this range and listen to your body. If you feel like your energy is low, or you otherwise need more sustenance add in 250-500 calories per day. Which would put you more like a 1-1.5 pound loss per week.

This is all trial & error.

PS-MFP is giving you 1200 based on the data you provided. If you told MPF 'sedentary' then that's the problem. You're not, at least not if you're burning an additonal ~1000 over your BMR. But nothing wrong with using the Fitbit and letting it communicate actual activity level to MFP. In the end you have to consider the recommendations and choose what is right for you.

skinnyB4Thirty wrote: »

I just started using my Fitbit Flex and it calculated that I'd burn 1605 cals per day if all I did was sit there and do nothing....

Does that mean that that should be my minimum amount of calories I eat in a day? Should that be all I eat in a day?

It also is suggesting I have 1000 calorie deficit to lose the weight. Lately my trend on my fitbit is that I've been burning about 2800-3000 calories on my active days. Should I be eating about 1800-2000 calories, as long as I'm having an active day?

I just don't want to be under eating or overeating and MFP is telling me 1200 calories but I can barely make it through the day that way. I don't want to be starving every day either. That's when I'll give in to temptations!

I'm also not looking to fill those calories with bad high fat foods either. I just need a little more fuel I think but I want to make sure I'm still seeing the results I'm working soo hard to reach.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Also, feel free to add me

kmblank

1200 is very low, especially if you are exercising. It's better to take the weight loss at a slower pace and eat more calories - it will be easier to maintain once you reach your goal. Also, if you are taking in too few calories for your activity level, your body will start to just "hold on" to every calorie it can and start to tear down the muscles that you have been building with your exercise. You know your body best...if you are feeling really hungry, then that's a sign that you probably aren't eating enough. Good Luck!
-

JolynedD

Thank you for this... I have 75lbs I want to lose this year to get me to my goal.

I think I'll manually change my MFP to about 1500 cals/day and see how that takes me. That's around what I've been eating this week anyways. I feel well nourished in that range and I still feel like I'm losing and working towards my goal.

Thanks everyone!!

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

I assume my Fitbit to have a margin of error. Its just not possible for a fitness tracker to be 100%. If assuming 5-10% error, then your 2800-3000 daily burn (x.9) is probably 2500-2700. A 2 pound loss (1000 calorie deficit) would put you around 1500-1700 per day.

But you didn't indicate your stats or goal - is 2 pounds a week reasonable for you? If so, eat in this range and listen to your body. If you feel like your energy is low, or you otherwise need more sustenance add in 250-500 calories per day. Which would put you more like a 1-1.5 pound loss per week.

This is all trial & error.

PS-MFP is giving you 1200 based on the data you provided. If you told MPF 'sedentary' then that's the problem. You're not, at least not if you're burning an additonal ~1000 over your BMR. But nothing wrong with using the Fitbit and letting it communicate actual activity level to MFP. In the end you have to consider the recommendations and choose what is right for you.

skinnyB4Thirty wrote: »

I just started using my Fitbit Flex and it calculated that I'd burn 1605 cals per day if all I did was sit there and do nothing....

Does that mean that that should be my minimum amount of calories I eat in a day? Should that be all I eat in a day?

It also is suggesting I have 1000 calorie deficit to lose the weight. Lately my trend on my fitbit is that I've been burning about 2800-3000 calories on my active days. Should I be eating about 1800-2000 calories, as long as I'm having an active day?

I just don't want to be under eating or overeating and MFP is telling me 1200 calories but I can barely make it through the day that way. I don't want to be starving every day either. That's when I'll give in to temptations!

I'm also not looking to fill those calories with bad high fat foods either. I just need a little more fuel I think but I want to make sure I'm still seeing the results I'm working soo hard to reach.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Also, feel free to add me

MKEgal

I did a blog post about goal setting, including finding a healthy weight, calories, and macros.

And here's a newbie help post which includes a link to the above, plus sexypants, accurate logging, and motivation.

My doctor & dietician told me to eat 10x my healthy goal weight in calories, and don't eat back exercise calories.
Mostly, I've been doing that, though I occasionally have 1/3 - 1/2 of exercise cals, and as I've hit plateaus I've dropped another 50-100 cal at a time so I'm actually eating under 10x HGW.
And according to the BMR calculator here on MFP, I've consistently been eating 200-300 cal below my BMR all along. My doctors are happy with my health & progress.