calorie question

zfitgal

I'm looking to maintain...MFP says I should be eating 1840 (that's not including exercise), I'm currently eating 1700 including exercise, my bf% is 16% and I was 3 weeks late with my period this month...i do think it's time I start increasing calories...so i plan to start tomorrow at 1800 and work my way up from there...1840 seems so much plus I'm going to add another 100 for exercise...is MFP usually accurate with maintnance calculations? I'm kinda scared to eat more because I like the way I look and I want to stay the exact same...lookibg forward to everyone's insights...

Seffell

MFP like any other calculator gives only an estimate for an average person of your stats and given static activity. So in that sense it is not accurate. You need to experiment to see what your particular maintanance calories are. (mine vary from day to day since my activity varies. I don't use MFP's estimate, I've found my own)

As for your bf%, from what I've read for women the optimal is 20%. Below that there is insufficient fat for the hormones and your period will likely stop altogether.

zfitgal

I work out pretty intensely...hit cardio 3 days a week and heavy weight training 4x a week with one rest day...im eating 1700 calories, my scale is about the same but body fat has been dropping...im putting ob lean muscle mass...i stopped going by the scale and started measuring my inches with a taper measurer and tracking bodyfat% because the amount of weight I lift makes the scale fluctuate...im definitely in the athlete category as far as bf%, but now i want to maintain...no more losing! I "cheated" today because I had no energy due to my very late period and was very hormonal and I needed more food...