To eat excercise calories or NOT to eat...

kmortensen1

I have no clue on how many calories I should be eating daily. MFP says to lose 1.5 lbs a week I should be eating 1250 calories a day. This number doesn't seem sustainable to me. I am looking for a lifestyle change not a salad diet. I decided to lower the amount I want to lose per week to 1 lb because, I was having a hard time staying within 1250 calories unless I had salad or something really small for my meals. I was feeling REALLY deprived and I was finding myself giving in to temptations quicker. When I lowered the amount of lbs I wanted to lose weekly, My calorie intake allowance went to 1500 which felt so much more doable. But, I stopped losing. When I asked my friends what they thought, someone said they have to eat 1900 calories a day or they wont lose and I have read on some forums that you shouldn't be eating only 1200 calories a day, that its not healthy. So, My question is...Should I keep it at the 1250 exercise and eat my exercise calories or raise it back to 1500 and not eat my exercise calories or visa versa or......you get the picture!

anndaman

Have you calculated your BMR? or TDEE? These should give you a better idea of the calories you should be consuming on a daily basis. As for the exercise calories, I always eat mine back unless it just feels like too much. Listen to your body, it knows what's up! Good luck:)

kmortensen1

I haven't calculated my BMR. There are so many calculators out there. Do you know of a good website for that? What is a TDEE? Thanks for your help.

jacksonpt

To lose weight, you have to be in a calorie deficit. It doesn't much matter what that is or how you accomplish it, but it has to happen.

1200 cals per day is probably a big deficit - you'll lose faster, but like you said, it's harder to sustain.
1500 cals is probably a smaller deficit - slower loss, but more sustainable.

If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit. That's either because you are eating more than you think, or because you don't burn as many cals throughout the day as you think. Either way, you need to eat less.

So with all that said, 1500 cals is fairly low, and will be a moderate deficit for MOST people. Are you certain you are eating 1500 cals? Are you measuring/weighing your food? Do you eat out a lot? I'd start there... make sure you are eating what you think you are eating.

MinnieInMaine

You can calculate your BMR right here on MFP. On the website, go to the Apps tab (just the left of Community) and then click on BMR. Your stats should automatically populate but if not you can input them then click calculate.

To get both BMR & TDEE, check out Scooby:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

If you just go with the normal MFP method, you should eat back your exercise calories. The however to that is, many of the MFP calculations are a bit on the high side so maybe only eat back half at first and see how that does. According to your ticker, you only have 6 punds to lose so a good healthy reasonable goal would be 1/2 pound per week, no more than 1 pound per week for sure.

Ultimately, whatever method you decide to go with, make sure to give it at least a month, if not two to make sure it works. Our bodies don't respond to change as quickly as we'd like or as quickly as we'd think they would. You have to give it time to let your body adjust.

jacksonpt

I haven't calculated my BMR. There are so many calculators out there. Do you know of a good website for that? What is a TDEE? Thanks for your help.

Start here:
http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/


BMR is your base metabolic rate - how many cals your body burns simply sustaining itself - breathing, pumping blood, etc (NOT things like going to work, running errands, doing housework, exercising).

TDEE is total daily energy expenditure - how many cals you burn in total for the day doing everything you ask your body to do - breath, digest food, chase around after the kids, workout, etc.

You want to be eating between these 2 numbers. Eating less than your BMR for any extended period of time will likely have negative side effects as you aren't giving your body enough cals to sustain itself. Eating over TDEE will cause you to gain weight because you are giving your body more cals than it can use.

AmyRhubarb

I've had mu best success following the info and using the tools in this topic: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974889-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

If it's only been a week or two since you upped to 1500, it could be that your body is adjusting (and rejoicing) to the new intake. And if you follow the MFP method, you are supposed to eat back those exercise cals.

If you go with one of the calculators posted, and start the TDEE method, then you don't eat back exercise cals, just aim for goal each day. But either way, keep in mind that it takes a good 4-6 weeks for the body to adjust to changes, so you might see a gain before you see a loss. And measuring is as much if nor more important than just weighing yourself for progress - the scale lies, but the measuring tape and progress pics will give you a better info on how you're doing.

bgibson03

When I started around the beginning of February, I struggled big time for the first week maintaining my calorie intake of 1280. It was a huge shock to me, and I did feel starved and grumpy for the first 4-5 days. But after that it was a breeze to me. I started pre-planning my meals if I wanted to go out, or have a glass of wine. I did not stop eating things I loved like pasta and other carbs.. because I knew when I lost what I wanted, I would go back to eating them and gain it all back.

MFP suggest you DO eat your exercise calories. In the beginning, I used my exercise calories to compensate for what I wanted to eat.. or my extra snacks. I learned to snack much less often then I had previously been.

I also suggest you do not weigh yourself every day. I became fixated on the number instead of what I wanted which was to look and feel better. Especially in the beginning because if you're new to working out you will be losing weight but gaining muscle which weighs more then fat. I was so discouraged after the first 3 weeks when I had gained weight.

Start weighing your portions. You will realize what you can eat with what calories, and you will actually be surprised when you weigh out your portions how much you can actually eat.. eat more veggies, drink tea and water (no calories), I stopped wasting mine on things like juice.

SInce Feb 1st I have lost 16 pounds, and 6 weeks of that was trying to 'maintain' weight to be able to fit in my wedding dress. Two weeks after the wedding, I ate whatever the hell I wanted. Now I'm back on the band wagon, still at 16 pounds down and trying to lose another 9 before September!

kmortensen1

Thank you ALL so much!! What great information to start in the right direction. I appreciate it!!