Opinions on daily calorie intake goals and losing belly fat

tinya123

I am a little confused on how my daily calorie intake goal settings on MFP should be listed. My specific target is to lose the belly fat (upper and lower), which is going away slowly, but it is very stubborn!

Right now, I have my settings listed as "sedentary" since I work on a PC all day at my office. I do go out over lunch and do various fitness classes at the University gyms (from TRX, to Les Mills programs, to yoga, to HIIT, etc.) and/or go out fast-paced walking on the outdoor track (or treadmill if the weather is crappy). I will also go to my "home gym" and take other classes there (mostly weekends, but I do overlap a few days during the week with classes the University gym does not offer, like Barre) . Overall, despite my work schedule, I get over 10,000 steps in per day. So, I am not sure if I should really have my settings listed as "sedentary".

I am trying to lose about 10 more pounds (approximately): I am 155 now, would like to be down to 145. However, that goal weight might not be reasonable since I am weightlifting and doing other strength training workouts now. My pants size is down to a size 8, which I have maintained well over the past 10 years (except for a pregnancy with my younger son).

With my weight goal and the "sedentary" lifestyle setting, my goal calorie intake is 1260. But, I read so much about how this is too low - I really should be looking at 1800-2000 calories per day.

My specific goal is to lose the belly fat.

Any ideas on what to do?

I have increased my protein to carb ratio (not specifically avoiding carbs, just cutting it down a bit, and going for more "natural" sources like fruits, vegetable, and whole grains like Oatmeal). So, I am hoping that helps some.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

Tina

janejellyroll

MFP is designed for you to log your exercise and eat those calories back. So you set your activity level to reflect your daily activity -- not including exercise. So you will be eating more than 1,260 on the days when you do fitness classes or walking. What I would do in your situation: choose "Sedentary," log my exercise and eat back those calories, and -- if you find yourself losing faster than expected, change the activity level to "Lightly Active."