Calories question for 2

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Jayz395
Jayz395 Posts: 90 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys two part question as in male and female.

How many calories do guys eat? I've lost about 3 stone and I'm at 11 stone 12, still got a bit more to go and my weight hasn't moved in quite a while, I was eating 1600 a day, I changed to 1800 still no difference. Shall I drop back down?

Second one for my wife who has just started her journey, how many calories do lady's eat? She not super active, desk job etc and has about 2 stone at a guess to drop

Any insight would be helpful, thanks

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Typical national guidance maintenance numbers are 2000 for women and 2400 for men. Obviously a 60 yr old 5' sedentary woman uses less than a Jessica Ennis, so these are just vague averages.

    You didn't say how tall, height is a proxy for lean mass which influences calories. Are you under 5'-10" 178cm ?
  • Jayz395
    Jayz395 Posts: 90 Member
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    I'm 5 9 the wife is 5 6 I think
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    you ought to lose around 1600-1800, walking half an hour a day will add a demand of 200 calories which may help. You're a stone lighter than me (well done !) and an inch less tall. My metabolic rate (resting) was measured at 1600.

    Maybe you are underestimating a bit and actually consuming more like 2200. Diary isn't open so can't see.

    Your wife could start at 1400 for a month and see what rate of loss that gives, then adjust accordingly. It isn't a precise science as the calorie demands are estimates.
  • Jayz395
    Jayz395 Posts: 90 Member
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    I'm in my feet all day for work then I'm doing p90x3 in the evening
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    The easy thing to do is tell MFP your age, height, weight and activity level and your goal and it will give you a calorie goal right for each of you. There are other calorie calculators online too.
    If you are not losing weight you need to eat less calories not more. Log what you eat and drink as accurately as you can. Use a food scale and make sure the entries you choose are correct.
    1500 is the minimum for men and 1200 the minimum reccomended calories for women.

    I'm a 5'4", 41 year old sedentary woman. When I started I was 179 lbs and MFP gave me 1340 calories to lose 1 lb a week.
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Since MFP is free, why don't you both put your stats in and see what it tells you?
  • Jayz395
    Jayz395 Posts: 90 Member
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    Lounmoun wrote: »
    The easy thing to do is tell MFP your age, height, weight and activity level and your goal and it will give you a calorie goal right for each of you. There are other calorie calculators online too.
    If you are not losing weight you need to eat less calories not more. Log what you eat and drink as accurately as you can. Use a food scale and make sure the entries you choose are correct.
    1500 is the minimum for men and 1200 the minimum reccomended calories for women.

    I'm a 5'4", 41 year old sedentary woman. When I started I was 179 lbs and MFP gave me 1340 calories to lose 1 lb a week.

    I read about plateaus and about moving calories up to get metabolism working. If any of it is true that is
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
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    I have to admit: this question always confuses me. When I signed up here, before I could do anything (like post on the forums) I had to put in all of my stats and MFP told me how many calories I should consume.

    So it confuses me when I see people posting on the forums (they've clearly set up an account if they're posting) asking this question. What did MFP tell you when you signed up?

    The only thing I can think of is that when people sign up via the mobile app, MFP doesn't make them put in their stats first. Don't know if that's the case or not.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    There's no guidance on activity levels or weight loss rate so even that initial setup has >16 possible outcomes which confuses people expecting one answer.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Jayz395 wrote: »
    I'm in my feet all day for work then I'm doing p90x3 in the evening

    In which case you are likely to be using well over 2000 calories. You lost quite a bit already was that eating 1600, 1800 ?

    Are you accurately weighing foods or winging it a bit ?
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Jayz395 wrote: »
    Hi guys two part question as in male and female.

    How many calories do guys eat? I've lost about 3 stone and I'm at 11 stone 12, still got a bit more to go and my weight hasn't moved in quite a while, I was eating 1600 a day, I changed to 1800 still no difference. Shall I drop back down?

    Second one for my wife who has just started her journey, how many calories do lady's eat? She not super active, desk job etc and has about 2 stone at a guess to drop

    Any insight would be helpful, thanks

    Both males and females should consume less calories than they use to lose weight, the same amount as they use to maintain weight, and more than they use to gain weight.

    Aside from that it's going to be down to the individual in question.

    Best thing to do is use real world data. Spend 4 weeks accurately logging your intake and monitoring trends in weight. Then adjust your calories in line with results.
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
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    yarwell wrote: »
    There's no guidance on activity levels or weight loss rate so even that initial setup has >16 possible outcomes which confuses people expecting one answer.

    When I signed up, I was asked about activity level (sedentary, etc.) and also how many times I workout per week, and the duration of the workouts.

    Not an exact science, but you'd get a good enough answer to give you a starting point. Then make adjustments as necessary based on your progress.

  • Jayz395
    Jayz395 Posts: 90 Member
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    yarwell wrote: »
    Jayz395 wrote: »
    I'm in my feet all day for work then I'm doing p90x3 in the evening

    In which case you are likely to be using well over 2000 calories. You lost quite a bit already was that eating 1600, 1800 ?

    Are you accurately weighing foods or winging it a bit ?

    1600 then the weight loss just stopped. I weigh and measure everything. Mfp says 1500, in lightly active as I don't really know what I'm classes under.

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