Macros?!? Calories?!?

Krisydee

I was hoping someone could help me calculate how many calories/macros I should be consuming in a day. I feel like 1200 calories is not a lot and I am not looking into being anorexic LOL I am 30 years old, I weigh 173lbs and am 5"7 (with a natural muscular stature). How many should I consume in a day where I weight train and do cardio? And how many when I don't go to the gym? I also have a very sedentary office job.

Krisydee

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MichelleSilverleaf

Start with what MFP gives you and see how you feel after a month. If MFP is giving you 1200 cal maybe your deficit is too high. If you're at 2lbs/week, try bumping it down to 1lbs. If you have an idea of how many calories you're roughly burning with exercise, eat about 50% of those back to start and see if it affects your weight loss.

ZoneFive

Plug your numbers into MFP's goals calculator. Eat those calories and use the default macro split for four weeks. Weigh, measure and log everything you put in your mouth. Weigh yourself weekly/daily/not at all (I recommend daily, and use a tracker app). Track your exercise and eat back half. Ask questions on these boards. Review results after four weeks. You don't have to get it perfect right away.

Don't worry about sugar or carbs (barring any notable medical conditions). Eat nutrient-dense food 80% of the time. Live your life and be happy.

kimny72

I'm guessing your trying to lose maybe 20 lbs? With less than 50 lbs to lose, you should set your goal to no more than 1 lb per week. I'd bet you chose 2 lbs, so you got an aggressive goal. Also remember that your mfp calorie goal is set assuming you will log exercise and eat back at least some of your calories.

cmriverside

With the amount of weight you need to lose, set your goal at "lose one pound per week." Be honest and realistic on the Activity level. If you have any kind of job at all, or go to school or care for children at home DO NOT choose Sedentary. You're not sedentary.

Then when you exercise, enter it into the Exercise tab. You will get more calories to eat - that's the way this site calculates.

Here, this is from "Help"

How does MyFitnessPal calculate my initial goals?

AnvilHead

Excellent guide to it all here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

Krisydee

My BMR is between 1600-1700 calories no wonder I was starving on 1200... and my TDEE is around 2400 calories. This does mean that I eat the TDEE amount on the days that I weight train and the BMR calories on the days that I don't right????

MichelleSilverleaf

I would go with the number MFP gives you, you can set it to sedentary and 1lb/week. Add the exercise as extra. MFP accounts for a deficit already.

estherdragonbat

No, you need to be striving for something above BMR but below TDEE.

bbell1985

Krisydee wrote: »

My BMR is between 1600-1700 calories no wonder I was starving on 1200... and my TDEE is around 2400 calories. This does mean that I eat the TDEE amount on the days that I weight train and the BMR calories on the days that I don't right????

No. Subtract 500 calories from your TDEE to lose a pound per week and eat that every day to start. Once you're comfortable and understand how a deficit works, you can keep a weekly deficit and calorie cycle if you like it.

Krisydee

bbell1985 wrote: »

Krisydee wrote: »

My BMR is between 1600-1700 calories no wonder I was starving on 1200... and my TDEE is around 2400 calories. This does mean that I eat the TDEE amount on the days that I weight train and the BMR calories on the days that I don't right????

No. Subtract 500 calories from your TDEE to lose a pound per week and eat that every day to start. Once you're comfortable and understand how a deficit works, you can keep a weekly deficit and calorie cycle if you like it.

Than I would be eating around 1900 calories a day. Is that on the days I work out or on the days I don't? This is what confuses me....

Krisydee

And whats "calorie cycle"?

bbell1985

Krisydee wrote: »

bbell1985 wrote: »

Krisydee wrote: »

My BMR is between 1600-1700 calories no wonder I was starving on 1200... and my TDEE is around 2400 calories. This does mean that I eat the TDEE amount on the days that I weight train and the BMR calories on the days that I don't right????

No. Subtract 500 calories from your TDEE to lose a pound per week and eat that every day to start. Once you're comfortable and understand how a deficit works, you can keep a weekly deficit and calorie cycle if you like it.

Than I would be eating around 1900 calories a day. Is that on the days I work or on the days I don't? This is what confuses me....

Like I said. Every day. That's if you follow the TDEE method. Otherwise tell MFP you want to lose 1 pound per week. If you do cardio, add it in an you can eat extra calories it gives you. That's a different method. Just pick one and stay consistent.

Krisydee

AnvilHead wrote: »

Excellent guide to it all here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/819055/setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets/p1

Thank you for this. It was a great read! I still have so much to learn!

bbell1985

Krisydee wrote: »

And whats "calorie cycle"?

You need to be in a deficit on a weekly basis to lose weight. I need to eat 1600 calories to lose a .5 per week. Some days I eat 1400 or 1200 so I can have higher days at 1800 or 2000. At the end of the week I average 1600 per day.

Krisydee

bbell1985 wrote: »

Krisydee wrote: »

And whats "calorie cycle"?

You need to be in a deficit on a weekly basis to lose weight. I need to eat 1600 calories to lose a .5 per week. Some days I eat 1400 or 1200 so I can have higher days at 1800 or 2000. At the end of the week I average 1600 per day.

Oh! I see! Makes sense