Most people select a goal weight, and that determines their calories. Has anyone tried it the other
CoachJen71
Posts: 1,200 Member
way around? Select a calorie zone and let your weight fall where it may, just to see what happens? (I'm trying that for now. I want to see what happens if I eat 1400-1600 on most days, along with the occasional treat meal, and see what I end up weighing. I'm 5'2.5" and middle-aged, though, so I may find this range to be too high. We shall see.)
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Interesting. I picked my calorie budget based on my current height and weight, the only problem is being 5' 2", I can only eat within a narrow range that will allow me to lose weight, a few hundred calories more and I maintain, above 1800 I gain weight.0
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I can see the logic, and if it works for you, that's fine.
But I have to say it seems to be the equivalent of limiting how far I go on a trip by how much fuel I happen to put in my gas tank. It's one way people can choose to do things, but it also means your trip could end too short of or too far from a useful destination. That would depend on your situation. If you're in a more populated and developed area, you have better odds this approach will see you end up in a viable destination. If you're down here in the middle of nowhere, Texas, you might end up surrounded by miles and miles of nothing but scrub brush.
The same could go to this approach. Our bodies will do whatever they're going to do with what fuel we give them. I can't make my body lose, maintain, or gain. It simply does one of those things in response to the calories I provide and the calories I burn. If we went by determining our daily intake level, first, whatever calorie level we choose to consume could still be too high or it could be too low. That's part of why people tend to maintain weight using some kind of goal weight and then working from there.4 -
I can see the logic, and if it works for you, that's fine.
But I have to say it seems to be the equivalent of limiting how far I go on a trip by how much fuel I happen to put in my gas tank. It's one way people can choose to do things, but it also means your trip could end too short of or too far from a useful destination.
The same could go to this approach. Our bodies will do whatever they're going to do with what fuel we give them. I can't make my body lose, maintain, or gain. It simply does one of those things in response to the calories I provide and the calories I burn. If we went by determining our daily intake level, first, whatever calorie level we choose to consume could still be too high or it could be too low. That's part of why people tend to maintain weight using some kind of goal weight and then working from there.
I like the car analogy!! I was thinking the same concept but couldn't figure out how to word it properly!0 -
That's kind of how I ended up weighing 270. When you're eating around 3000 calories per day and not exercising enough to make up for it, that's where you end up.0
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TimothyFish wrote: »That's kind of how I ended up weighing 270. When you're eating around 3000 calories per day and not exercising enough to make up for it, that's where you end up.
Yep. Been there, done that!
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DeniseB0711 wrote: »Interesting. I picked my calorie budget based on my current height and weight, the only problem is being 5' 2", I can only eat within a narrow range that will allow me to lose weight, a few hundred calories more and I maintain, above 1800 I gain weight.
Being short can suck, at least as far as calorie allowance goes for some of us. Occasionally I see short athletes on here who can eat a lot more, but I already know that's never going to be me, thanks to some weary old knees.
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... The same could go to this approach. Our bodies will do whatever they're going to do with what fuel we give them. I can't make my body lose, maintain, or gain. It simply does one of those things in response to the calories I provide and the calories I burn. If we went by determining our daily intake level, first, whatever calorie level we choose to consume could still be too high or it could be too low. That's part of why people tend to maintain weight using some kind of goal weight and then working from there.
I have considered that. Like I said, we'll see. If I stop losing or start gaining, I'll have to make changes.
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I eat at maintenance of my goal weight based on being lightly active which is about 1650. Some days if I need to I eat back a portion of my exercise calories or save them for the weekend if I am going to be eating out.
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I am a little confused by the assertion 'Most people select a goal weight and that determines their calories'. How does goal weight determine calories (other than an indicator of a reasonable deficit to select). I think I must be missing something.
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I am a little confused by the assertion 'Most people select a goal weight and that determines their calories'. How does goal weight determine calories (other than an indicator of a reasonable deficit to select). I think I must be missing something.
No, that was what I meant. I am still in the process of losing, so am still looking at things from that point of view.
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CoachJen71 wrote: »I am a little confused by the assertion 'Most people select a goal weight and that determines their calories'. How does goal weight determine calories (other than an indicator of a reasonable deficit to select). I think I must be missing something.
No, that was what I meant. I am still in the process of losing, so am still looking at things from that point of view.
Then I am still confused and I still have the question as to how does goal weight determine calories?0 -
Yup, that's what I did. I am absolutely miserable on anything under 1800 (and still a little cranky with that). I feel ok at 1900, and good at 2000-2200. 2200 fuels exercise activity pretty well. So that's what I've eaten, through my loss and maintenance. It's the amount that's sustainable for me, given my lifestyle and preferences, so I used it as my main constraint. (In fact, I couldn't eat less if I wanted to, I just have never been able to do it for longer than three hours or feel like a human being during those three hours)
It's a bit less than I consumed when I gained/was overweight; the bigger part of the deficit came on the "calories out" side, from more exercise (circuits and cardio).0 -
CoachJen71 wrote: »I am a little confused by the assertion 'Most people select a goal weight and that determines their calories'. How does goal weight determine calories (other than an indicator of a reasonable deficit to select). I think I must be missing something.
No, that was what I meant. I am still in the process of losing, so am still looking at things from that point of view.
Then I am still confused and I still have the question as to how does goal weight determine calories?
If I understand the OP...
She has a bottom line as to how low she will go one her calories...1400-1600. At some point she will stop losing weight and that is the weight she will be satisfied with.
I feel the same way...I won't eat any less than 1600 (preferably 1800) calories again. So if I stop losing before I reach where I would like to be...I will just settle for that weight instead of lowering my calories.
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"Sarauk2sf wrote:Then I am still confused and I still have the question as to how does goal weight determine calories?
I thought people work out what their healthy weight should be for their height/age/frame etc, then either MFP or a TDEE Calc would give them an idea of what their possible calorie intake should be to maintain that weight?
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CoachJen71 wrote: »"Sarauk2sf wrote:Then I am still confused and I still have the question as to how does goal weight determine calories?
I thought people work out what their healthy weight should be for their height/age/frame etc, then either MFP or a TDEE Calc would give them an idea of what their possible calorie intake should be to maintain that weight?
This site...
http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/
uses the approach of what you are describing. I have used it to figure out my TDEE at what I think will be my goal. I compared it to what scooby and several other sites gave me.
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CoachJen71 wrote: »"Sarauk2sf wrote:Then I am still confused and I still have the question as to how does goal weight determine calories?
I thought people work out what their healthy weight should be for their height/age/frame etc, then either MFP or a TDEE Calc would give them an idea of what their possible calorie intake should be to maintain that weight?
No, to lose weight it looks at what you weigh NOW and what your goal is (.5 to 2 lbs a week loss) Then they calculate a deficit based on what you weigh now, not what you eventually will be.1 -
CoachJen71 wrote: »way around? Select a calorie zone and let your weight fall where it may, just to see what happens?
Sure. If you set that number to your intake at your desired maintenance weight, you start eating at your proper intak from the start and there is no transition to maintenance.
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CoachJen71 wrote: »"Sarauk2sf wrote:Then I am still confused and I still have the question as to how does goal weight determine calories?
I thought people work out what their healthy weight should be for their height/age/frame etc, then either MFP or a TDEE Calc would give them an idea of what their possible calorie intake should be to maintain that weight?
No, to lose weight it looks at what you weigh NOW and what your goal is (.5 to 2 lbs a week loss) Then they calculate a deficit based on what you weigh now, not what you eventually will be.
That's what a lot of people do, which is why a lot of people get in trouble. They use the wrong calculator, they don't account for BF%, and they end up over-eating.
A better way is to figure out your calories based on your end goal, and start eating like that.
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CoachJen71 wrote: »"Sarauk2sf wrote:Then I am still confused and I still have the question as to how does goal weight determine calories?
I thought people work out what their healthy weight should be for their height/age/frame etc, then either MFP or a TDEE Calc would give them an idea of what their possible calorie intake should be to maintain that weight?
No, to lose weight it looks at what you weigh NOW and what your goal is (.5 to 2 lbs a week loss) Then they calculate a deficit based on what you weigh now, not what you eventually will be.
That's what a lot of people do, which is why a lot of people get in trouble. They use the wrong calculator, they don't account for BF%, and they end up over-eating.
A better way is to figure out your calories based on your end goal, and start eating like that.
BF%? I don't know what you mean by that.
MFP for a weight loss of 2lbs a week gives me 1530 calories per day. My TDEE for my goal weight is 1733.
If I ate at 1733 I'd still lose weight, but at a slightly slower pace. I'm not over eating though.
I'm just asking for clarification, trying to learn, not argue.0 -
CoachJen71 wrote: »way around? Select a calorie zone and let your weight fall where it may, just to see what happens?
Sure. If you set that number to your intake at your desired maintenance weight, you start eating at your proper intak from the start and there is no transition to maintenance.
That is what I started doing. I couldn't take the changing of the calories...it just ended up frustrating me. It will take longer to lose but I am eating at the level that I will be when I lose all of the weight (or where ever I end up) that I want.
I am okay with it taking longer. I am trying to change my focus from weight loss to creating a more active life.
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