Question @ Calories / Activity Level -- been at this for over a year

youdoyou2016

I have a question. Some background: When I lost most of my weight -- from the 230s now to 112 (5', F, 46) -- I did it through a calorie deficit. I only sat all day, and if I ate more than 1100 I would not lose anything. I've been badly injured and have been recuperating. (I was with doctors this whole process.)

Now, I am much better:

• I've gone from about 1000-1700 (painful) steps a day to around 8000 for a low day. During the week I often hit 10K.
• I lift weights -- upper body only -- twice a week (for about 30 minutes).
• I do at least 20 minutes of cardio five times a week (ski machine or elliptical). According to my
  Garmin HR, when I do 20 on the ellipital, I burn about 65-75 calories, which seems right to me.
  
  I want to lose about 10 more pounds. 1100-1200 calories is unsustainable at this point. I get hungry now (and for years I never felt hunger). I now just don't know what my calorie number should be to continue to lose. When I play around entering stats into MFP, it always says to eat 1200.
  
  What would you say my activity level is at this point? I'm not sure if I'm "normal" now or still considered sedentary. I do more than I did a few months ago, but I'm not sure how I compare to the general population. TDEE calculators also have me at a relatively low number for loss.
  
  Maybe I just have to be hungry. But, am wondering what other with experience in this might think.

Rufftimes

Basically, the MFP calculator is pretty simplified. If you say you want to lose 2lb a week, its pretty much going to tell you to eat 1200 cal a day

deannalfisher

if you adjust your weight goal to .5lbs a week loss what does it give you for calories?

at your height/weight - maybe look at something like recomp vs. losing weight - it might be more beneficial

also if you are injured - your body needs more calories for healing

rheddmobile

8000 steps a day is not exactly sedentary!

What are you currently eating to maintain? If you start by dropping 200 cal a day, you should lose a pound in about two weeks. If it doesn't work, cut more until it does work.

If I eat according to MFP recommendations for losing 2 lbs a week, I drop 3.5 lbs a week pretty consistently, which is too fast in my opinion, so I eat a little more than recommended. See what works for you.

sijomial

Why bother with changing the activity setting when you can just manually set your calorie goal based on what you believe is your current maintenance and what calorie level is actually sustainable for you?

cmriverside

Yeah, if you've lost all that weight, you should know from your own records how much to eat to obtain a 1/2 pound per week loss.

It took me almost a year to lose the last 18 pounds - my body wanted more. Hunger is part of the game at that point. Some weeks I won the battle and some weeks my hunger did. Just keep going and be patient.

youdoyou2016

cmriverside wrote: »

Yeah, if you've lost all that weight, you should know from your own records how much to eat to obtain a 1/2 pound per week loss.

It took me almost a year to lose the last 18 pounds - my body wanted more. Hunger is part of the game at that point. Some weeks I won the battle and some weeks my hunger did. Just keep going and be patient.

I know the number from when I was in a hospital bed. It just seems like being a different person / different body all of a sudden.

Zipbsky

Your Garmin should tell you how many calories you burned for the day. It's not on the app, but it's on the Garmin itself. Check that # before you go to sleep. Then average that out after a week and subtract 250 calories from the average. That's should be your calorie goal to lose a half a pound per week.

Luna3386

It may take some tweaking. Add 50-100 calories per day every week until you find the sweet spot between losing weight and being hungry.

You definitely need to up your calories now that you are more active.

cmriverside

youdoyou2016 wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

Yeah, if you've lost all that weight, you should know from your own records how much to eat to obtain a 1/2 pound per week loss.

It took me almost a year to lose the last 18 pounds - my body wanted more. Hunger is part of the game at that point. Some weeks I won the battle and some weeks my hunger did. Just keep going and be patient.

I know the number from when I was in a hospital bed. It just seems like being a different person / different body all of a sudden.

Hospital bed? You didn't mention that in your first post...regardless, your data is your best answer. We can't possibly tell you how much you are burning. I'm sure you will figure this out.