how many calories should I eat -- confused

Trish1c

Now I'm really confused. I'm 5 ft 6.5 inches. I weigh 157 pounds & am 49. Ideally I'd love to get down to 135, size 6/8. I'm a 10 now. I am sedentary but have been trying to stick to going the gym 3x per week or at least walk a mile a day when I can't go. I weighed between 125 / 130 lbs until I turned 40 then my metabolism seemed to change & my weight shot up even though very little else in my life changed. I'm only 19 days into this journey.

On a GIGO theory, MFP says I should eat 1200 calories but that is the system's default.

Using a BMR calculator here, it said I should eat 1300 calories

Another web site indicates that I can lose 20 pounds in 8 weeks on a 1600 calories diet decreasing to 1500 over the course of the next 2 months

I've been logging although I was "on vacation" over the weekend & ate & drank a lot 2,000+ calories each day with some exercise -- walking, swimming etc.

I'm not going to sweat 100 calories either way but I have been beating myself as having limited willpower because I don't stick to the 1200 calories daily.

What's the answer?

MelaniaTrump

I compared this to many sites and MFP was pretty much right on the money.
(one body building site was way high).
I'm about the same as you. This site gave me 1,380 calories a day.
Losing weight nice and slow, and learning about healthy eating. Open diary if you want to peek.
Opinion: 20 lbs in 2 months is too fast. That kind of fast change is hard to keep.

TeaBea

If you don't have the willpower to stick to 1200.....then don't go there. Find something you can be consistent at. If I had to choose from losing slower, or falling off the wagon....I choose losing slower.

Keep in mind that MFP calories are before exercise, other websites may have included that up front.

kimny72

Trish1c wrote: »

Now I'm really confused. I'm 5 ft 6.5 inches. I weigh 157 pounds & am 49. Ideally I'd love to get down to 135, size 6/8. I'm a 10 now. I am sedentary but have been trying to stick to going the gym 3x per week or at least walk a mile a day when I can't go. I weighed between 125 / 130 lbs until I turned 40 then my metabolism seemed to change & my weight shot up even though very little else in my life changed. I'm only 19 days into this journey.

On a GIGO theory, MFP says I should eat 1200 calories but that is the system's default.

Using a BMR calculator here, it said I should eat 1300 calories

Another web site indicates that I can lose 20 pounds in 8 weeks on a 1600 calories diet decreasing to 1500 over the course of the next 2 months

I've been logging although I was "on vacation" over the weekend & ate & drank a lot 2,000+ calories each day with some exercise -- walking, swimming etc.

I'm not going to sweat 100 calories either way but I have been beating myself as having limited willpower because I don't stick to the 1200 calories daily.

What's the answer?

MFP assumes you will log your exercise and eat back at least some of those calories. So the 1200 would be with no additional exercise than your day-to-day activity level. Since you are looking to lose @ 20 lbs, set your goal to 1 lb per week, log your exercise and eat back at least half of those calories, and see how that works.

Unfortunately, all the calculators and formulas can only estimate. You will learn the real level you need to be at through trial and error. Good luck!

ponycyndi

Your stats are similar to mine, I'm 5'7", (currently 152, started 8 weeks ago at 164).

I'd recommend starting at the higher calorie (1600) until you adjust, and see how much you lose after a month, you will probably find it easier to lower your calories a little at a time, while you get used to logging your meals, and working out again.

I'm losing a pound and a half on average per week on the calories MFP recommended for a half pound per week loss.

stephenalbert123

ponycyndi wrote: »

Your stats are similar to mine, I'm 5'7", (currently 152, started 8 weeks ago at 164).

I'd recommend starting at the higher calorie (1600) until you adjust, and see how much you lose after a month, you will probably find it easier to lower your calories a little at a time, while you get used to logging your meals, and working out again.

I'm losing a pound and a half on average per week on the calories MFP recommended for a half pound per week loss.

Would you please share some evidence based facts that fortifies your daily calorie intake statement because there is lot of information on this topic but all that are assumptions and require evidence based research.

MelaniaTrump

@Stephenalbert123 Go with what this site gave you. Again, it matched many, many other sites.
Give it a try and don't give up just because you are not sure of a number.
MyFitnessPal somehow knew what they were doing. 75 million users.

Nikion901

Have you thought of going at the calorie goal from this perspective ... find out how many calories, on the average, you need to consume to stay exactly where you are, and then take a percentage cut off that to come up with what you should be aiming to eat to lose weight?

1200 is a default for the low end of calories on MFP as below that is considered nutritionly unhealthy by the USDA.
BMR is basal metabolic rate and does not include ANY activity whatsoever ... and many sites will suggest you never drop below that amount in NET calories.
You need to cut about 500 calories a day from your maintenance level to lose 1 pound a week, on average ... and that is an aggressive and hard to maintain cut. However it can be achieved by burning an addiitonal number of calories and cutting some calories from your maint. level to get to that 500 mark ... it depends on the exercise you do, how long you do it, and how intense the workout is as to how many calories your own body will burn (many people use a heart-rate fitness appliance to get the calories burned from activity)

IF you want to find out how much MFP would recommend you eat to stay the same so you will know what your most calories are ... then set your goals to maintain my weight and see what it comes up with.

I suspect you will find your recommeded calorie intake to maintain would be closer to 1700 calories with a no-exercise sedentary lifestyle, and about 300 calories more if yu exercide 1-3 hours lightly per week .... A modest 15% cut in calories would provide about 1600 calories a day and you would still lose weight, and not feel so hungry.

jemhh

You've chosen either 1.5 or 2 lbs per week as your goal. Set it to .5 or 1 lb. Log your exercise calories. Eat your base goal plus 50% of exercise calories. Evaluate your results in 4 weeks and increase or decrease your calories based on redults.

ponycyndi

stephenalbert123 wrote: »

ponycyndi wrote: »

Your stats are similar to mine, I'm 5'7", (currently 152, started 8 weeks ago at 164).

I'd recommend starting at the higher calorie (1600) until you adjust, and see how much you lose after a month, you will probably find it easier to lower your calories a little at a time, while you get used to logging your meals, and working out again.

I'm losing a pound and a half on average per week on the calories MFP recommended for a half pound per week loss.

Would you please share some evidence based facts that fortifies your daily calorie intake statement because there is lot of information on this topic but all that are assumptions and require evidence based research.

The evidence is my accurate food diary over the last 8 weeks, and my accurate log of my weight on the same digital scale over the same time frame. I'm also suggesting that the OP (and anyone else interested) do the same research. Eat. Log. Weigh (or measure with a soft measuring tape)