Confused about how many calories I should be eating.

jessicagrieshaber

Okay, let me just start out to say that I'm not really trying to lose any weight. I know that I am at a healthy weight for my body frame and height.

Current stats:
Female, age 23
Current weight ~125lbs
5 feet and 5.5 inches tall
Job: Biologist at Abbott. I work in two different labs on opposite ends of the building and walk back and fourth constantly throughout the day. The majority of my time is spent on my feet - I would say 5-6 hours out of an 8 hour day.
Exercise: 6 days a week. Longer cardio days 3x (5-7 mile runs). Lifting 3 days a week with a 2-3 mile run on lift days.

How many calories should I be eating? When I look at IIFYM or any other site out there, it comes up with >2000 calories and I feel like that's so much.

Thank you in advanced!

fittestpal

Yay science! You can research and apply the Mifflin-St Jeor equation in order to calculate the calories required for maintaining your current body weight.
[ 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) - 5 x age (y) - 161 ]
I science too

SueInAz

I don't think anyone here can give you a better answer than MFP or the IIFYM calculator. Given your age, mass and your activity level ~2000 calories doesn't sound out of line to me. Why over-complicate things? Why not just eat the calories MFP gives you to maintain or the IIFYM calorie suggestion for a couple of weeks and then evaluate the results? If you've gained a little, adjust downward, if you're losing weight add more calories.

slaite1

It's not too much. Lots of ladies think they have to eat super low calorie. You're very active, definitely over 2000

cwolfman13

that calculator is pretty good so long as the info you put in is good. 2K isn't too much given you stats and activity...many women unfortunately think they have to eat like little birdies. 2K actually might be a bit on the low end for you...most women with little in the way of deliberate exercise will maintain on 1800 - 2000 calories while most men without deliberate exercise will maintain somewhere in the neighborhood of 2300 - 2500 calories...

you add extra activity and calorie requirements go up. My wife is 5'2" and 40...she maintains on around 2,300 calories per day and has a desk job...she also trains for marathons and lifts though. I maintain on around 2800 - 3000 depending on the time of year and what's going on.

2,000 calories only seems like a lot because you've never likely looked into the matter...our bodies require a lot of energy...which are what calories are.

Mr_Knight

I'd ignore the calculators. Just start logging what you're eating - after a few weeks, your food diary will tell you how much you're eating, and the scale will tell you how much more/less you need to eat.

Figuring out the "right" values is pointless without accurate logging, so may as well start by doing that. And once you're doing that, you'll see you don't need the calculators at all.

Good luck! :drinker:

barryplumber

And if you need a calorie fix just eat a cinnamon bun baked at Costco oh so good too. I haven't had one since i stayed this diet