How many calories do you eat a day?

Miaauw · February 2016

What's your limit you have put on here? I calculated my TDEE/BMR and subtracted 20% as instructed, which left me with about 1200 calories. I do not eat back the calories 'earned' from exercise.

melonaulait · February 2016

TDEE and BMR are not the same thing. If you're only eating 1200, you basically should eat back all exercise calories. Your net calories at the end of the day should always come up to 1200.

ilex70 · February 2016

1200 to 1300 and I don't eat back exercise calories. Thinking of slowly increasing that though.

Mind you I'm quite fat...still on the bottom edge of obese. This calculator says my max fat metabolism (daily calories available from fat stores) is 2394.

1percentedge.com/ifcalc/

nordlead2005 · February 2016

Miaauw wrote: »

What's your limit you have put on here? I calculated my TDEE/BMR and subtracted 20% as instructed, which left me with about 1200 calories. I do not eat back the calories 'earned' from exercise.

well, for starters, TDEE != BMR.

BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is essentially your resting burn rate. If you slept all day you would burn BMR number of calories.

TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is, as the name implies, all of the energy you expend in a day.

If you are using TDEE-20%, then you wouldn't eat back exercise calories, as that would cause you to eat more than TDEE-20%. You eat back exercise calories when you use the MFP method, which separates normal activity calories from exercise calories.

If TDEE-20%=1200, then your TDEE is ~1500, which would mean you are very small and inactive. Since the number is so low and you combined TDEE and BMR above, I wouldn't be shocked if 1500 is your BMR and your TDEE is probably closer to 2000-2100.

leahcollett1 · February 2016

i eat 1600 calories as i too work from tdee -20%, however mine should be 1700 as i workout 3 times a week, ive deducted 100 more due to logging inaccuracies.. this is the first week back doing this, ill let everyone know my outcome on thursday ( weigh in day)

CassidyScaglione · February 2016

1400. Tried 1200 but was always hungry. And I eat back 75% burned cals.

nadler64 · February 2016

I too did 1200/day and was always hungry. So I calculated it both ways (TDEE and MFP). My BMR is just under 1300 and my TDEE is around 2000. So if I eat in the range of 1300 (BMR) to 1600 (TDEE *0.8) I have plenty of energy, and I'm still losing weight slowly.

FWIW:
5'6"
F, age 51
144 lbs.
Moderately active (I work out 6 to 7 days a week but went with the moderate, just to be conservative)

Hornsby · February 2016

3000 on a cut...

Lounmoun · February 2016

5'4" 154 lb 41 year old sedentary female
My goal is 1200 calories. I do eat some exercise calories. I usually eat between 1200-1500 calories.

diannethegeek · February 2016

1700-1800 to lose one pound a week.

jeepinshawn · February 2016

I average about 2900 for my tdee.

harrybananas · February 2016

3500.

JackieMarie1989jgw · February 2016

5'5" and 135 lb. I have it set to 1400 but actually eat 1650 because of breastfeeding. I have been losing weight on that for a couple weeks (stared at 138).
Confession: I know the term BMR but not sure what people mean when they say "TDEE". I followed the guided set up from mfp, calling myself "lightly active" (I'm a nurse) and goal to lose 1lb/week

mkakids · February 2016

Im 5'5", 169#. I eat 1300 on non exercise days to lose 1.5# a week. I generally average 1500 with around half my exercise calories

juggernaut1974 · February 2016

All of them

gramarye · February 2016

Between 1700 - 2000, depending on how active I've been that day, how hungry I am, and how dedicated to my deficit I'm being.

callsitlikeiseeit · February 2016

i follow a modified tdee (i'm 5'1). 1500 and do not eat back gym calories, but my runs are not calculated in that number, so those calories i will eat if i want/need them.