Help! Confused about where to begin

mjj79

So I've done this before without much success. Had a baby 8 months ago and ready to get serious but confused about some things. MFP says my calorie goal should be 1490 based on sedentary lifestyle. (I'm still trying to get into a workout routine.) my BMR , based on diff calculators, is around 1990 (TDEE is around 2300 .) I wear a Fitbit and have been earning several hundred to 1000 calls a day based on everyday activity. Should I eat those back or only eat back actual exercise calories? Should I just stick to the 1490? I have about 100-110 lbs to lose, which seems impossible:/ (I have searched through many threads but still feel a little confused.)

mjj79

Should prob add that according to Fitbit, my daily calorie burn is usually 2700 and above, but I don't know if that matters or is accurate.

tinkerbellang83

What are your stats? Age, height, weight

What weight loss rate are you expecting/wanting to lose at?

Does your Fitbit have an HR monitor?

mjj79

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

What are your stats? Age, height, weight

What weight loss rate are you expecting/wanting to lose at?

Does your Fitbit have an HR monitor?

It does have a HR monitor. (It's the charge HR)
38 , 5'9 1/2 " , 275

Would like to lose 2 lbs per week.

ceiswyn

I suggest going with the 1490 for a few weeks (enough to get past the usual initial water weight loss) and seeing what happens with that. If it seems to be too little, you can start to adjust your calories based on what your Fitbit is telling you.

(I'm suggesting starting with the MFP number purely because it's psychologically easier to allow yourself extra calories later than to restrict them further!)

quiksylver296

mjj79 wrote: »

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

What are your stats? Age, height, weight

What weight loss rate are you expecting/wanting to lose at?

Does your Fitbit have an HR monitor?

It does have a HR monitor. (It's the charge HR)
38 , 5'9 1/2 " , 275

Would like to lose 2 lbs per week.

I'm 5'9, currently 173 lbs, and I'm losing 0.5 lbs a week on 2075 calories per day. Granted I am much more active than you are.

I don't know about you, but I would freak out and binge on 1490 calories per day. If you can make it work, go for it. If you find yourself hungry all the time, maybe change your rate of loss to 1 pound per week so you can have some more calories. Slower loss is better than giving up because you can't sustain 1490 calories per day.

Good luck!

tinkerbellang83

2700 is a perfectly likely number to be honest, I'm 5'8" and 235lb and my daily burn can be around 3000.

Your TDEE at Sedentary is around 2390 per day, so if you're burning 2700 you are not really sedentary, you will be closer to Lightly Active.

The 1490 for Sedentary that you've been given doesn't include calories burned through exercise, so on a day where you've burned 2700 that would assume you've done 300 calories worth of purposeful exercise and can eat those calories back, so you total you can eat for the day would be 1790.

Most people will suggest eating only around 50% of the extra calories gained through exercise initially to account for any discrepancies from the calorie burn or from inaccurate logging so that would give you 1640.

If these numbers still seem quite low, you can drop your weight loss rate down a little or you can manually adjust your calorie goal from the Goals menu also.

rsclause

I eat back most calories from actual workouts like running or weight lifting. I think of fit bit as more of a general activity tracker so I tend not to eat them back.

tinkerbellang83

rsclause wrote: »

I eat back most calories from actual workouts like running or weight lifting. I think of fit bit as more of a general activity tracker so I tend not to eat them back.

If it has an HR monitor it should be fairly accurate. I eat all of my calories burned from steps and workouts and I'm losing exactly as I should be.

mjj79

Ok. Thanks everyone. One more question: in general, do you think it's better to eat the same amount of calories every day, or to fluctuate based on activity? (For example, keep my calories on the lower end and only eat more on really active days, or keep my calories a little higher based on a light active lifestyle and not eat any extras on exercise days?) thanks for taking the time to read and answer!

quiksylver296

mjj79 wrote: »

Ok. Thanks everyone. One more question: in general, do you think it's better to eat the same amount of calories every day, or to fluctuate based on activity? (For example, keep my calories on the lower end and only eat more on really active days, or keep my calories a little higher based on a light active lifestyle and not eat any extras on exercise days?) thanks for taking the time to read and answer!

That's highly personal and you'll have to decide for yourself which one works better for you. I eat the same amount of calories every day. Eating extra on active days was like trying to hit a moving target, and I found it frustrating.

tinkerbellang83

mjj79 wrote: »

Ok. Thanks everyone. One more question: in general, do you think it's better to eat the same amount of calories every day, or to fluctuate based on activity? (For example, keep my calories on the lower end and only eat more on really active days, or keep my calories a little higher based on a light active lifestyle and not eat any extras on exercise days?) thanks for taking the time to read and answer!

Whatever you choose to do, pick an option and stick with it for at least 4 weeks, then review how it's working for you.

mjj79

Ok. Thank you both! I think that's a big problem, I give up and switch things around if I don't see change after a week.

quiksylver296

mjj79 wrote: »

Ok. Thank you both! I think that's a big problem, I give up and switch things around if I don't see change after a week.

Oh yeah! Put your patient pants on! You didn't put the weight on in a week. It will not come off in a week. I've been working at this for two years, and I'm still not to my goal weight.

Off topic, but this is my favorite "weight loss" chart. Check it out, follow the suggestions, and have fun!

mjj79

That's great! Thanks!

Theo166

mjj79 wrote: »

tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

What are your stats? Age, height, weight

What weight loss rate are you expecting/wanting to lose at?

Does your Fitbit have an HR monitor?

It does have a HR monitor. (It's the charge HR)
38 , 5'9 1/2 " , 275

Would like to lose 2 lbs per week.

To use an exercise analogy, I'd start with a warm up pace. Targeting -2lbs per week out of the gate is pretty aggressive. Maybe target -0.5 lbs your first 1-2wks and focus on logging your food and getting into the rythm.

After your tracking is working then you can reset your goal to be more aggressive. I started out at 2100 and then dialed it down twice in my first two months. I know I couldn't have consistently hit my current calorie goals at the start, when I was still figuring out my meal planning. Some experience will also help you set your activity level to the right setting and how much of your exercise you can eat back and still hit the goal for that week.

My strategy is to eat back half my legitimate exercise calories. If fitbit shows you averaging >5k steps without exercise, then sedentary is not the right setting