Am I eating too many calories?

iwerkouttttt

I'm 19 years old, female, 5'6" tall, 124 lbs.

MFP gave me a goal/net calorie of 1,440 calories if I want to lose .5 lbs per week.
Initially I wanted to lose 1 lb a week, but someone helping me with a different question said that since I work out 4x a week and I am not overweight for my size, I should eat more and focus on exercising and burning fat.

If the average person's body needs 1,200 just to survive, I feel like 1,440 calories is too much?

Today I ate 1,492 calories, 52 calories over my limit. I plan on burning off those 52 extra calories along with my regular calorie burn at the gym, which is about 300 calories. So I plan on burning a total of 352 calories.

So 1,492 calories consumed - 352 calories burned = 1,140 net calories.
So I have to eat back 300 calories to get my goal/net cal of 1,440.

My question is I feel like 1,440 is alot to eat if I want to lose .5 lbs a week. I read online that the key to losing, for example, 1 lb per week a person needs to eat 500 calories LESS than what they consume. I'm really confused. Will I lose weight eating 1,440 calories a day while working out 4x a week? (Moderately hard)

I want to melt fat away from my body! Uhg.

whierd

Um, we just went over this in another thread. Your TDEE is 2,183 IIRC. I also explained BMR to you and what that means.

itsuki

Based on your pic and the fact that you only have 5lbs to lose, 1440 is probably way too low for you. The less you have to lose, the harder it is.

deksgrl

The average person needs more than 1200 just to survive. And that is the bare minimum for proper nutrition. When you get out of bed every day and just live, you need more than that.

iwerkouttttt

Um, we just went over this in another thread. Your TDEE is 2,183 IIRC. I also explained BMR to you and what that means.

I'm still kind of confused.

Bearbrat

NO, you aren't eating too many calories.........I doubt you're eating enough to be honest and really what Whierd said, I see it's been explained in another thread as well. Good luck :flowerforyou:

dittmarml

I put your stats into fitness frog.com and it gives a BMR of about 1400 and a TDEE close to 2100 - .if MFP is putting you at 1440 that's too low, not high. You should definitely be "netting" more than 1440, meaning you should eat back your exercise calories, and then some. 800...so if you use 1440 as your 'net', exercise off 400 and then eat back 400, you're probably close to where you should be.

Don't know why you "feel" 1440 is too much?

Why do you want to lose a pound a week? Seems like what you really want to do is build muscle/tone/build endurance....?

If it's 5 pounds, you will need to work at it for a while, lift some weight, etc. It might take a while, the last few pounds are always hard.

iwerkouttttt

Based on your pic and the fact that you only have 5lbs to lose, 1440 is probably way too low for you. The less you have to lose, the harder it is.

But MFP gave me a net cal intake of 1,440 per day, so the device is wrong and I should eat more?

whierd

Um, we just went over this in another thread. Your TDEE is 2,183 IIRC. I also explained BMR to you and what that means.

I'm still kind of confused.

Well, it is beyond my ability to dumb it down further without being incredibly condescending, so best of luck to you!

iwerkouttttt

I put your stats into fitness frog.com and it gives a BMR of about 1400...if MFP is putting you at 1440 that's low, not high. You should definitely be "netting" more than 1400, meaning you should eat back your exercise calories, or most of them.

Back to first question - why do you want to lose a pound a week? Seems like what you really want to do is build muscle/tone/build endurance....?

If it's 5 pounds, you will need to work at it for a while, continue to lift weight, etc. It'll take a while, the last few pounds are always hard.

I have fat around my thighs and stomach and I want to lose that. I want to be around 119 lbs.
Can lifting and using machines, dumb bells, etc, help me slim down??

herblackwings39

I put your stats into fitness frog.com and it gives a BMR of about 1400...if MFP is putting you at 1440 that's low, not high. You should definitely be "netting" more than 1400, meaning you should eat back your exercise calories, or most of them.

Back to first question - why do you want to lose a pound a week? Seems like what you really want to do is build muscle/tone/build endurance....?

If it's 5 pounds, you will need to work at it for a while, continue to lift weight, etc. It'll take a while, the last few pounds are always hard.

I have fat around my thighs and stomach and I want to lose that. I want to be around 119 lbs.
Can lifting and using machines, dumb bells, etc, help me slim down??

Muscle takes up less space than fat.

shadow2soul

As long as you don't have any medical conditions that affect your metabolism, then I'm going to say no.

If it makes you feel any better, this is what is happening for me:

5'4.5"
23
CW: 194lbs

Workouts:
anywhere from 20- 90 mins of cardio 4-5x a week (this includes some circuit training)
just recently added Stronglifts 5x5 (3 day a week lifting program)

Average weekly weight loss rate: 2lbs per week

MFP estimated TDEE (total daily expenditure): 2020
Goal: 1560 (plus exercise calories)
Deficit: 460 (0.9lbs per week loss)

I eat anywhere from 1400 - 2500 calories depending on how active I am for the day. I frequently eat over my calorie allowance and still lose weight.

That being said, I'm not you and your results could be different. Since your wanting fat loss, a small deficit is the way to go. Weight lifting will help. Oh and take measurements. The scale isn't always a good judge of progress. Lets see, what else. Umm...oh ya, give anything you try at least 4-6 weeks before deciding it doesn't work.

Good luck. :flowerforyou:

dittmarml

You can't "spot reduce".

You can spot tone.

Build some muscle. Work on abs, do squats, do some lifting. The rest will take care of itself.

deksgrl

BMR means basal metabolic rate. This is the number of calories they would feed you if you were in a coma, just to fuel your organs, heart, breathing, etc.

Once you get out of bed and do ANYTHING, you need more than that. Walking around, going to school, going to work, taking care of children, typing, fidgeting, driving...... all these things need energy. You get that energy from calories.
NEAT means Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), it is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise.

TDEE means total daily energy expenditure. This is all of the above plus exercise and eating. This is the balance of the amount of calories where you would not lose weight or gain weight, it is also called "maintenance" calories.

To lose weight, you need to eat less than TDEE. But not too much less. If you don't have a lot of pounds to lose, you should aim for half a pound a week loss. People who have more weight to lose can lose more.

When you enter your info into MyFitnessPal, it is going to figure out your BMR + NEAT. (make sure to not choose sedentary unless you really just lay in bed all day, most people don't) Set it for .5 a week loss. What does it tell you to eat?

xprplstardust

hi! we have almost the exact same stats, just an age difference - i am 5'6", 126 lbs, 28 yo, & am looking to decrease my body fat percentage & not really lose scale weight. i workout 5-6 days a week for a minimum of 45 min a day & up to 90 on some days when i add my walks in on top of my exercise videos or weight lifting. I eat 1800 calories a day. I eat at my TDEE level minus 250-350 calories for a small deficit since I don't need to lose scale weight, i just want to slim my hips down because i have a chunk of fat around on the sides of my hips, aka, love handles that i am desparately trying to shrink. i also want that flat stomach with a nice set of abs which are really hard to acquire, i've been at it for months! feel free to add me & we can help each other. You def can eat way more than 1440 calories, you can slowly up your calories by 100 a week until you reach what you want to eat at if you decide to go by your TDEE. Also, do not eat your exercise calories back if you choose to go by your TDEE level.

iwerkouttttt

BMR means basal metabolic rate. This is the number of calories they would feed you if you were in a coma, just to fuel your organs, heart, breathing, etc.

Once you get out of bed and do ANYTHING, you need more than that. Walking around, going to school, going to work, taking care of children, typing, fidgeting, driving...... all these things need energy. You get that energy from calories.
NEAT means Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), it is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise.

TDEE means total daily energy expenditure. This is all of the above plus exercise and eating. This is the balance of the amount of calories where you would not lose weight or gain weight, it is also called "maintenance" calories.

To lose weight, you need to eat less than TDEE. But not too much less. If you don't have a lot of pounds to lose, you should aim for half a pound a week loss. People who have more weight to lose can lose more.

When you enter your info into MyFitnessPal, it is going to figure out your BMR + NEAT. (make sure to not choose sedentary unless you really just lay in bed all day, most people don't) Set it for .5 a week loss. What does it tell you to eat?

Okay, so if I want to lose weight I should eat less than my TDEE, about 10% less right?

When I chose Sedentary and set it to lose .5 lbs a week it told me to eat 1,440 calories a day.

supermodelchic

First of all you look great and 124 is a healthy weight at 5'6" , I am the same height and weigh128 , but that being said I have muscle, maybe you should focus on doing some weightlifting, that will add shape and sexy muscles, if you want you can add me as a friend and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have:flowerforyou:

hiyomi

Based on your pic and the fact that you only have 5lbs to lose, 1440 is probably way too low for you. The less you have to lose, the harder it is.

But MFP gave me a net cal intake of 1,440 per day, so the device is wrong and I should eat more?

MFP also told me I should eat 1600 calories when I am 5'8 and started at 280 pounds lol I know that was too little so I'm eating 1600-1900, which some might even say is still too little. lol

TigressPat

Um, we just went over this in another thread. Your TDEE is 2,183 IIRC. I also explained BMR to you and what that means.

I'm still kind of confused.

Well, it is beyond my ability to dumb it down further without being incredibly condescending, so best of luck to you!

:laugh: :drinker:

deksgrl

Okay, so if I want to lose weight I should eat less than my TDEE, about 10% less right?

When I chose Sedentary and set it to lose .5 lbs a week it told me to eat 1,440 calories a day.

You don't want to choose sedentary unless you really just lay on the couch and watch t.v. all day and barely move. Do you get up, move around, go to work or school, shopping, take care of kids......? Then you are NOT sedentary. Choose lightly active even if you sit all day at your job. Or something more active than that if you have an active job.

Then, you need to eat that calorie goal PLUS your exercise calories. MFP does not include exercise calories in its calculation for what you need, that is why it adds more calories for you when you do.

OR

You figure out your TDEE and eat 10% less than that, and do not eat exercise calories. TDEE includes what is needed for exercise.

Do one or the other.

Francl27

MFP goal doesn't count exercise calories. You're supposed to add them.