Activity level
freck2392
Posts: 7 Member
Hi there! So I am new to MFP. Need some assistance so I can be headed in the right direction. I am 5'4 and 188lbs. I am a nurse so I would think my activity level would be active (which is what I put under my goals, not sure if thats where I put it under?). I just started exercising too which I dont have set days where I go but I would say I do cardio 3-4 days a weekand burn about 400-500 cal. So my total calories for the day is set at 1540. Does that sound correct? Im not sure if I am supposed to put my actvity as sedentary because that would lower my calorie intake and should i log my exercise separately? I read previous posts about this but still confused. So if I am at 1540 calories, I must eat all of those cals? And if I eat under 1540, since my TDEE I believe is 1900 cal, that means I am not eating enough?
Say I have 1540 for the day and then exercise 400 cals burned, but dont eat my exercise cals, does that mean I am 800 cal deficit? So I should really eat 1940 cal or less and still lose weight? Help!! So confuseddd!
Say I have 1540 for the day and then exercise 400 cals burned, but dont eat my exercise cals, does that mean I am 800 cal deficit? So I should really eat 1940 cal or less and still lose weight? Help!! So confuseddd!
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Replies
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Work the calories like this TDEE - 20% (1900 - 380 = 1520).. So you can set it up in MFP as sedentary and eating exercise calories up to around this amount or choose the higher activity level.. Or choose to do TDEE and eat none (exercise is accounted for there).
These calculators are just estimates so try the method for at least 3 - 4 weeks and trend your weight of loss over this period of time.. Tweak it when needed to assure that your weight loss is steady and the rate of loss is in accordance with your goals.
Just remember that your calories burned in exercise tend to be over inflated no matter the method you choose to calculate (fitness tracker with or without HRM, apps, MFP exercise calculations etc)..
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Those calories sound good- I would start there and see how it goes. You should lose about a pound a week with that deficit. You may find you need a little more - if you're really hungry on 1540 you can increase it a bit, just as long as it's less than your TDEE you will be losing weight and how large the deficit is will determine how fast you lose. (A pound of fat is 3500 calories so theoretically if your deficit is around 500 then you lose 1 pound a week since 500 x 7= 3500, and your deficit is your TDEE minus your daily calorie goal).
If your TDEE was calculated using activity AND exercise you should not log and eat back exercise because you've already accounted for it. If your TDEE was calculated using your activity but NOT exercise then you will want to log exercise and eat the calories back (myfitnesspal automatically adds calories from exercise logged to your calorie goal for the day). You should NOT calculate your TDEE as "sedentary" because your job has you on your feet and moving around so that is "lightly active", not sedentary.
You need to try to hit your daily calorie goal- not go over it, and not go under it either. The deficit is already included so if you eat even less then you're making the deficit larger than planned. This might sound good because it means losing weight faster but it also means you will be hungrier the next day and have to fight food cravings and the urge to binge. Also as a nurse you probably already know that if your calorie deficit is too large your body may start to burn muscle instead of body fat for energy. Your goal should be to burn mostly body fat, as little muscle as possible, and make weight loss as easy as possible. A deficit of 500 calories or less per day is best for these goals, as well as getting adequate protein in your diet. Being lightly active, working out, and in a caloric deficit I would try to get at least 100 grams of protein a day.
Hope this cleared things up a bit?0 -
Thank you for the responses! So basically It was okay for me to put lightly active in my activity because it gives me my deficit already (1900-1540= 360) so say I eat the 1540 everyday, I would still lose 2lb/wk because I have the 360 cal deficit? But I thought to lose 2 ounds my deficit would ultimately need to lead up to 3500calx2..
Say I eat 1540 daily, go exercise and burn 400 and log it in MfP then that means I should eat about 200 extra calories which makes me at 1740 for the day and my deficit total would be 360 plus the 200 I didnt eat which is 560 plus my Tdee. Im very confused still, its just not clicking with me which is difficult because then I cant make proper adjustments and goals0 -
Here is a TDEE calculator - you can calculate your TDEE with OR without exercise.
http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
If you set your calorie goal with exercise factored in, do NOT log exercise
If you set your calorie goal without exercise factored in then DO log your exercise and eat back the extra calories myfitnesspal gives you (but maybe a little less because they tend to overestimate calories burned)
If you want to lose 2 pounds a week you need a 1000 calorie deficit every day- that is way too much for most people!!
A 500 calorie deficit every day will have you lose 1 pound a week, I would not do any more than a deficit of 500, personally I would do less, but it's up to you.
I know that seems slow but you WANT to lose weight slowly so you actually lose fat and you aren't miserable & starving.
Personally I calculated my TDEE with exercise included, implemented a deficit of about 350 calories less than My TDEE, and don't log my exercise into myfitnesspal- this makes it easier because I just need to hit the same calorie goal every day and not bother logging exercise- simple is better in my opinion.
(Also just FYI I eat up to maintenance (TDEE) once a week too if I feel like I need a break from dieting. This means no weight loss for that day but it can have the benefit of keeping the metabolism from slowing quite as much from being in a constant caloric deficit)
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If you give me your age and the amount of time you do cardio for I can do the calculations for you if you want.0
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Also just curious what is your goal weight?0
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My goal weight right now is 145 and possibly more down the line. I typically do about 45 mins to an hr of cardio I would say 3-4 times a week along with some weights. I am 24 yrs old and would like to know what is the total calories my body needs on a daily basis but on my fitness pal it says I should eat 1200 and then I usually burn off 450-500 cals during exercise.1
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My goal weight right now is 145 and possibly more down the line. I typically do about 45 mins to an hr of cardio I would say 3-4 times a week along with some weights. I am 24 yrs old and would like to know what is the total calories my body needs on a daily basis but on my fitness pal it says I should eat 1200 and then I usually burn off 450-500 cals during exercise.
So if I burn off 450 to 500 and eat half the calories I am able to eat around 1500 cal a day and lose 2lb per week approximately.. Am I understanding it correctly?
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My goal weight right now is 145 and possibly more down the line. I typically do about 45 mins to an hr of cardio I would say 3-4 times a week along with some weights. I am 24 yrs old and would like to know what is the total calories my body needs on a daily basis but on my fitness pal it says I should eat 1200 and then I usually burn off 450-500 cals during exercise.
So if I burn off 450 to 500 and eat half the calories I am able to eat around 1500 cal a day and lose 2lb per week approximately.. Am I understanding it correctly?
1200 calories off your approx TDEE is 700 calorie deficit per day.. MFP will not let you go under 1200 therefore you cannot safely lose 2 pounds per week..
So if you go with your numbers:
1500 calories off your approx TDEE is 400 calorie deficit a day which comes out to 2800 deficit a the end of the week.
OP you do not need to lose 2 pounds per week.. 1200 is just too little.. you are going to lose muscle being so aggressive with your deficit, you may acquire certain side effects that come with not eating enough. Be safe in your weight loss.1 -
My goal weight right now is 145 and possibly more down the line. I typically do about 45 mins to an hr of cardio I would say 3-4 times a week along with some weights. I am 24 yrs old and would like to know what is the total calories my body needs on a daily basis but on my fitness pal it says I should eat 1200 and then I usually burn off 450-500 cals during exercise.
So if I burn off 450 to 500 and eat half the calories I am able to eat around 1500 cal a day and lose 2lb per week approximately.. Am I understanding it correctly?
Probably not. 1200 is the minimum goal MFP will give to ensure you're getting proper nutrition, so you cannot meet that 2 pound per week goal without undereating. In fact, with about 40 pounds to lose, a pound a week is better in your case.0 -
Ok according to IIFYM.com your TDEE without counting exercise is 1988. Your TDEE with exercise included is around 2180 (I used 45 minutes of moderate exercise 4 days a week to get that). Your BMR is 1590.
Honestly the lowest I would go for your daily calories is 1590, you don't want to consume less than your BMR. You also shouldn't try to lose weight too fast, or you will have negative side effects and likely not keep it off. Don't they teach you about this in nursing school? Eating too little is basically anorexia and has all the health side effects of that (muscle loss, decreased metabolism, organ damage, hair loss, increased hunger, bad mood, headaches, blood sugar issues, etc).
So... if I were you I would start with 1680 (which is 2180 - 500) calories per day and not worry about logging exercise or eating back exercise calories- just eat 1680 calories every day wether you exercise or not. But do try to keep up your exercise habit of 3-4 times a week for 45 mins to an hour. This will give you weight loss of 1 pound per week. It will take you around 10 months to lose all the weight and get to your goal weight.
But also remember you will have to recalculate your calories every so often because as you lose weight you will weigh less and a 178 pound person burns fewer calories than a 188 pound person, right? So you'll need to probably decrease your daily calorie goal every so often as you get lighter- that's why you don't want to start off with your calories too low otherwise when your metabolism adjusts and you weigh less you will have less room to drop calories. You can't eat less than 1200 calories, so if you start at 1200 you are basically screwed if you hit a plateau.
If you want to be a little more aggressive you could set your current calories lower for a larger deficit but again I would not cross your BMR so no lower than 1590.
But that's just my recommendation- and I'm not an expert or a medical professional. Feel free to run the numbers yourself, or use the no exercise TDEE to calculate and add back calories when you do exercise if you prefer that- I just find that a bit confusing and it seems like you do too.
Good luck!0 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »Ok according to IIFYM.com your TDEE without counting exercise is 1988. Your TDEE with exercise included is around 2180 (I used 45 minutes of moderate exercise 4 days a week to get that). Your BMR is 1590.
Honestly the lowest I would go for your daily calories is 1590, you don't want to consume less than your BMR. You also shouldn't try to lose weight too fast, or you will have negative side effects and likely not keep it off. Don't they teach you about this in nursing school? Eating too little is basically anorexia and has all the health side effects of that (muscle loss, decreased metabolism, organ damage, hair loss, increased hunger, bad mood, headaches, blood sugar issues, etc).
So... if I were you I would start with 1680 (which is 2180 - 500) calories per day and not worry about logging exercise or eating back exercise calories- just eat 1680 calories every day wether you exercise or not. But do try to keep up your exercise habit of 3-4 times a week for 45 mins to an hour. This will give you weight loss of 1 pound per week. It will take you around 10 months to lose all the weight and get to your goal weight.
But also remember you will have to recalculate your calories every so often because as you lose weight you will weigh less and a 178 pound person burns fewer calories than a 188 pound person, right? So you'll need to probably decrease your daily calorie goal every so often as you get lighter- that's why you don't want to start off with your calories too low otherwise when your metabolism adjusts and you weigh less you will have less room to drop calories. You can't eat less than 1200 calories, so if you start at 1200 you are basically screwed if you hit a plateau.
If you want to be a little more aggressive you could set your current calories lower for a larger deficit but again I would not cross your BMR so no lower than 1590.
But that's just my recommendation- and I'm not an expert or a medical professional. Feel free to run the numbers yourself, or use the no exercise TDEE to calculate and add back calories when you do exercise if you prefer that- I just find that a bit confusing and it seems like you do too.
Good luck!
no to this in bold bold..
OP your best thing would be use TDEE - 20% and trend your loss over 3 -4 weeks and see where you are with exercise and calorie in take.. You really should not be using exercise to create your deficit anyways.. So try this method and tweak based on real world results.. TDEE from a calculator are just estimates and your TDEE may vary with the activities you do or do not do during weight loss (NEAT calories outside of EAT calories)..
eta: recalculate your calories at each 10 pounds loss. your calorie consumption will change a little bit as you lose weight.
there really is no need to complicate this at all.
eta again: this calculator is a good one to use..
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results
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courtneyfabulous wrote: »Ok according to IIFYM.com your TDEE without counting exercise is 1988. Your TDEE with exercise included is around 2180 (I used 45 minutes of moderate exercise 4 days a week to get that). Your BMR is 1590.
Honestly the lowest I would go for your daily calories is 1590, you don't want to consume less than your BMR. You also shouldn't try to lose weight too fast, or you will have negative side effects and likely not keep it off. Don't they teach you about this in nursing school? Eating too little is basically anorexia and has all the health side effects of that (muscle loss, decreased metabolism, organ damage, hair loss, increased hunger, bad mood, headaches, blood sugar issues, etc).
So... if I were you I would start with 1680 (which is 2180 - 500) calories per day and not worry about logging exercise or eating back exercise calories- just eat 1680 calories every day wether you exercise or not. But do try to keep up your exercise habit of 3-4 times a week for 45 mins to an hour. This will give you weight loss of 1 pound per week. It will take you around 10 months to lose all the weight and get to your goal weight.
But also remember you will have to recalculate your calories every so often because as you lose weight you will weigh less and a 178 pound person burns fewer calories than a 188 pound person, right? So you'll need to probably decrease your daily calorie goal every so often as you get lighter- that's why you don't want to start off with your calories too low otherwise when your metabolism adjusts and you weigh less you will have less room to drop calories. You can't eat less than 1200 calories, so if you start at 1200 you are basically screwed if you hit a plateau.
If you want to be a little more aggressive you could set your current calories lower for a larger deficit but again I would not cross your BMR so no lower than 1590.
But that's just my recommendation- and I'm not an expert or a medical professional. Feel free to run the numbers yourself, or use the no exercise TDEE to calculate and add back calories when you do exercise if you prefer that- I just find that a bit confusing and it seems like you do too.
Good luck!
no to this in bold bold..
OP your best thing would be use TDEE - 20% and trend your loss over 3 -4 weeks and see where you are with exercise and calorie in take.. You really should not be using exercise to create your deficit anyways.. So try this method and tweak based on real world results.. TDEE from a calculator are just estimates and your TDEE may vary with the activities you do or do not do during weight loss (NEAT calories outside of EAT calories)..
eta: recalculate your calories at each 10 pounds loss. your calorie consumption will change a little bit as you lose weight.
there really is no need to complicate this at all.
eta again: this calculator is a good one to use..
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results
Thanks all for the replies, roxie I think I will stick to your advice. I am just starting out and it is getting to complicated with all these new numbers I never heard of before. My TDEE thanks to courtney is 2180 cal a day with exercise at 3 to 4 times a week. So my TDEE at 2180- (20%) leaves me with 1744 calories per day, correct? So I can eat that amount of calories fully and reevaluate in a few weeks? Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you0 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »Ok according to IIFYM.com your TDEE without counting exercise is 1988. Your TDEE with exercise included is around 2180 (I used 45 minutes of moderate exercise 4 days a week to get that). Your BMR is 1590.
Honestly the lowest I would go for your daily calories is 1590, you don't want to consume less than your BMR. You also shouldn't try to lose weight too fast, or you will have negative side effects and likely not keep it off. Don't they teach you about this in nursing school? Eating too little is basically anorexia and has all the health side effects of that (muscle loss, decreased metabolism, organ damage, hair loss, increased hunger, bad mood, headaches, blood sugar issues, etc).
So... if I were you I would start with 1680 (which is 2180 - 500) calories per day and not worry about logging exercise or eating back exercise calories- just eat 1680 calories every day wether you exercise or not. But do try to keep up your exercise habit of 3-4 times a week for 45 mins to an hour. This will give you weight loss of 1 pound per week. It will take you around 10 months to lose all the weight and get to your goal weight.
But also remember you will have to recalculate your calories every so often because as you lose weight you will weigh less and a 178 pound person burns fewer calories than a 188 pound person, right? So you'll need to probably decrease your daily calorie goal every so often as you get lighter- that's why you don't want to start off with your calories too low otherwise when your metabolism adjusts and you weigh less you will have less room to drop calories. You can't eat less than 1200 calories, so if you start at 1200 you are basically screwed if you hit a plateau.
If you want to be a little more aggressive you could set your current calories lower for a larger deficit but again I would not cross your BMR so no lower than 1590.
But that's just my recommendation- and I'm not an expert or a medical professional. Feel free to run the numbers yourself, or use the no exercise TDEE to calculate and add back calories when you do exercise if you prefer that- I just find that a bit confusing and it seems like you do too.
Good luck!
no to this in bold bold..
OP your best thing would be use TDEE - 20% and trend your loss over 3 -4 weeks and see where you are with exercise and calorie in take.. You really should not be using exercise to create your deficit anyways.. So try this method and tweak based on real world results.. TDEE from a calculator are just estimates and your TDEE may vary with the activities you do or do not do during weight loss (NEAT calories outside of EAT calories)..
eta: recalculate your calories at each 10 pounds loss. your calorie consumption will change a little bit as you lose weight.
there really is no need to complicate this at all.
eta again: this calculator is a good one to use..
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results
Thanks all for the replies, roxie I think I will stick to your advice. I am just starting out and it is getting to complicated with all these new numbers I never heard of before. My TDEE thanks to courtney is 2180 cal a day with exercise at 3 to 4 times a week. So my TDEE at 2180- (20%) leaves me with 1744 calories per day, correct? So I can eat that amount of calories fully and reevaluate in a few weeks? Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you
Also As long as I am burning 400 to 500 or more calories possibly, I should not log my exercise? But keep it as a reminder that I need to burn those 400 to 500 in order to lose the weight at 1lb a week per say? Because if I put in the calories I burned my intake goes up a great deal abd makes it difficult to eat all of that0 -
courtneyfabulous wrote: »Ok according to IIFYM.com your TDEE without counting exercise is 1988. Your TDEE with exercise included is around 2180 (I used 45 minutes of moderate exercise 4 days a week to get that). Your BMR is 1590.
Honestly the lowest I would go for your daily calories is 1590, you don't want to consume less than your BMR. You also shouldn't try to lose weight too fast, or you will have negative side effects and likely not keep it off. Don't they teach you about this in nursing school? Eating too little is basically anorexia and has all the health side effects of that (muscle loss, decreased metabolism, organ damage, hair loss, increased hunger, bad mood, headaches, blood sugar issues, etc).
So... if I were you I would start with 1680 (which is 2180 - 500) calories per day and not worry about logging exercise or eating back exercise calories- just eat 1680 calories every day wether you exercise or not. But do try to keep up your exercise habit of 3-4 times a week for 45 mins to an hour. This will give you weight loss of 1 pound per week. It will take you around 10 months to lose all the weight and get to your goal weight.
But also remember you will have to recalculate your calories every so often because as you lose weight you will weigh less and a 178 pound person burns fewer calories than a 188 pound person, right? So you'll need to probably decrease your daily calorie goal every so often as you get lighter- that's why you don't want to start off with your calories too low otherwise when your metabolism adjusts and you weigh less you will have less room to drop calories. You can't eat less than 1200 calories, so if you start at 1200 you are basically screwed if you hit a plateau.
If you want to be a little more aggressive you could set your current calories lower for a larger deficit but again I would not cross your BMR so no lower than 1590.
But that's just my recommendation- and I'm not an expert or a medical professional. Feel free to run the numbers yourself, or use the no exercise TDEE to calculate and add back calories when you do exercise if you prefer that- I just find that a bit confusing and it seems like you do too.
Good luck!
no to this in bold bold..
OP your best thing would be use TDEE - 20% and trend your loss over 3 -4 weeks and see where you are with exercise and calorie in take.. You really should not be using exercise to create your deficit anyways.. So try this method and tweak based on real world results.. TDEE from a calculator are just estimates and your TDEE may vary with the activities you do or do not do during weight loss (NEAT calories outside of EAT calories)..
eta: recalculate your calories at each 10 pounds loss. your calorie consumption will change a little bit as you lose weight.
there really is no need to complicate this at all.
eta again: this calculator is a good one to use..
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results
Thanks all for the replies, roxie I think I will stick to your advice. I am just starting out and it is getting to complicated with all these new numbers I never heard of before. My TDEE thanks to courtney is 2180 cal a day with exercise at 3 to 4 times a week. So my TDEE at 2180- (20%) leaves me with 1744 calories per day, correct? So I can eat that amount of calories fully and reevaluate in a few weeks? Please correct me if I am wrong. Thank you
Also As long as I am burning 400 to 500 or more calories possibly, I should not log my exercise? But keep it as a reminder that I need to burn those 400 to 500 in order to lose the weight at 1lb a week per say? Because if I put in the calories I burned my intake goes up a great deal abd makes it difficult to eat all of that
Correct you do not log or eat back your exercise if you're making your daily calorie goal 1744
But also note this calorie goal will not give you a 1 lb per week loss, it will give you 0.874 lbs per week loss. If you want to lose 1 lb per week you need to set your calories goal at 1680, not 1744.
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Yes just make sure you keep exercising but don't enter it into myfitnesspal0
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Thank you so much for your help!1
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