All my calculations are different....

Islander4Life

Hey guys,

Another newbie here. I've done several of the calculators and keep getting difference amounts for my calorie goal per day. I don't want to set myself up for failure nor do I want to gain weight.
Can someone please just give me the answer.... When I plugged the info into MFP it gave me 1200 calories a day. (although I read so many posts that says this is too low.) I'm not a couch potato by any means.

I work at a desk 4 days a week but get up about every 25 minutes or so, I do a 1 hour-hard core bootcamp class 3 days a week, horseback ride 2 days a week. A few short walks here and there with the dog as well.
I'm 5"7 at 150 lbs. Not overweight by any means but wanting to shed 10 lbs of fat I've gained over the winter. As well as be in better control of my weight gain, loss and maintenance.

What should be my calorie goal for the days I don't work out?
What about the days of my bootcamp class?

Many thanks!

J72FIT

Here are the formulas I have been using. They seem fairly accurate. Of course, this is not an exact science so some trial and error will be involved.

To determine your calories, multiply by your total bodyweight...

Sedentary (Minimal Exercise)
Weight loss: 10-12
Weight Maintenance: 12-14
Weight Gain: 16-18

Moderately Active (3-4 times per week)
Weight loss: 12-14
Weight Maintenance: 14-16
Weight Gain: 18-20

Very Active (5-7 times per week)
Weight loss: 14-16
Weight Maintenance: 16-18
Weight Gain: 20-22

Ready2Rock206

MFP gave you 1200 PLUS exercise calories. So the days you don't workout would be 1200 -- the days you do you'd eat more. If you think 1200 is low pick a less aggressive amount per week to lose. Different sites have different ways of calculating so of course they'll be different - most already add in your exercise - that right there makes the majority of the difference but once you add in exercise you'll see they are usually quite similar. It's all a guesstimate. Pick one and try it and after a few weeks adjust if necessary.

annacole94

If MFP gave you 1200, it pretty much means you picked a rate of loss too high. I'm 5'7" and 156. My calories were 1300 for 1 lb a week, or 1550 for half a pound a week.

Dial back your expectations if your goal is fat loss. You need to take it slow and steady to get good results and retain muscle.

kimkimcoleman

I'm within 8 pounds of your size. I finally started using MFP correctly and eating at least what it recommends for .5 pound a week loss and I have been losing slowing while eating at least 1600 a day while exercising. I will have a couple days a week that's a little less calories than that and a few hundred extra on weekends and still losing. The secret is that when you eat enough you can stick to this longer! I am eating plenty and am fully satisfied. It feels so good to finally be losing and not starving.

Rogstar

Agree about having to add on exercise calories for the days that you expend extra energy.

Also, you don't want to be losing too fast. If you got 1200 cal at 5'-7" 150lbs on the MFP signup process, you probably chose 1.5-2lbs a week? You can't go lower than 1200, so it could have been either. 150lbs is actually my current goal at that height (still 50lbs to go!), and I had it roughly figured that at that point I'd be losing 1/2lb a week eating almost 1600cals net.

No reason to lose too fast, especially how much exercise you currently engage in. Good luck!

Islander4Life

Actually I chose 1 pound a week and it gave me 1200 calories. I don't mind sticking to 1200 calories on the days I don't work out, and 1600 for the days I do.....

I just wanted to make sure this was infact correct, and that I wasn't going too low in order to keep muscle and be healthy (as I've seen a few intelligent posts that say 1200 is too low)

ccsernica

1200 calories is the absolute minimum MFP will assign to a woman, since it's difficult to get adequate nutrition consuming any fewer. If that's the number it's giving you, that suggests something is wrong with how you're set up.

If you only have 10 lbs to lose, 1 lb week may be too aggressive.

You should be setting your activity level to "sedentary" because of your desk job, but then you should record your exercise separately. MFP will add calories back in to your daily goal, allowing you to eat more and still lose weight. (Many folks "eat back" only a portion of their exercise calories to allow for possible overestimates of their burn.) This is how MFP is designed to work.