Calories, confused

Lydilod
Lydilod Posts: 135 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What is the best way to set up mfp calories. I'm sedentary during the day but spend about 3hours at the gym 5 days a week, do I use TDEE-20 or sedentary and eat back my exercise calories.
I'm 44 years old
5foot 4inch
female
I weigh 187lb.
Hope I'm making sense.

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Experiment with one or the other.
  • vivelajackie
    vivelajackie Posts: 321 Member
    I have mine set to lightly active. That being said, I work four days a week where I'm walking on average 13+ miles a day. Then I go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week and lift heavy things. I like to underestimate the calories I burn, perhaps, but it's safe. If I was at a place where I was eating my current allotted calories I'd increase them. Before my current job I was at sedentary.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Lydilod wrote: »
    What is the best way to set up mfp calories. I'm sedentary during the day but spend about 3hours at the gym 5 days a week, do I use TDEE-20 or sedentary and eat back my exercise calories.
    I'm 44 years old
    5foot 4inch
    female
    I weigh 187lb.
    Hope I'm making sense.

    2 methods:

    1. Put your stats into MFP and select 1 or 1.5 pounds per week. Eat those calories + 50% of your workout calories. Log workouts under cardio. If you are losing too fast ....eat more. If you are losing to slow...eat less. Calorie burn estimates tend to be generous.

    2. Plug your stats into a TDEE calculator include exercise. Then select a percentage loss (20% is good). Because this includes exercise you don't need to log workouts (or you can override the calorie burn to 1). This averages your calories out for the week.

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