Calorie Goal ; Am I choosing the right one?

aquariusvsworld
aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
edited November 25 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! I've been actively using MFP for the last 30 days. When I originally set up my goal/calorie intake I choose the "lightly active" option. Since starting actively tracking I've been doing cardio 4-5 days a week 25+ minutes. (I would do more but I only have an hour a day to work out). My calorie goal was originally set at 1680. That was really pretty manageable for me. Since my first weigh in (February 26th) I have lost 3.8 pounds as of this morning. I'm pretty satisfied with this being that I'm still new into my life style change.

However, I'm meeting with a trainer today and I plan on changing my fitness routine by reducing my cardio to 3 times a week and adding more strength training. I have a desk job and do not get a lot of steps in through out the day outside of my cardio at the gym. Being that I am reducing my cardio
I decided to choose the "stationary" option which reduced my daily calorie goal to 1320.

So to make a long post short, is it appropriate to reduce my calories as planned? Yesterday was pretty rough my first day with a calorie goal of 1320 daily. I still felt hungry after dinner last night and ended up having a snack and going over my calorie goal.

Just looking for a little insight. Not following any type of "diet", trying to follow the set Marcos MFP recommends and stay within my calorie goal by eating more whole foods.

Thanks for reading!
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Replies

  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    it would be appropriate to share this with your trainer and see what they think. there are so many vast opinions on this site...its hard to respond except to say..ask a pro trainer - you have one. its a great resource.
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    urloved33 wrote: »
    it would be appropriate to share this with your trainer and see what they think. there are so many vast opinions on this site...its hard to respond except to say..ask a pro trainer - you have one. its a great resource.

    I planned on bringing this information with me today but it's a free training service provided by my gym so I'm not sure how "in depth" they're going to want to get into this with me aside from helping me "design" my work out plan. Fingers crossed tho!
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    I know I would gnaw my arms off if I tried to do what you're doing.

    If you set yourself as sedentary, make sure to log your cardio and eat back at least some of those calories. Which will probably put you back up to around 1600 on days you work out.

    I tend to eat back a majority of my calories from a work out. Yesterday was a good day 385 burned. But even after those calories being added back I did want to gnaw my arm off by the end of the night LOL.
  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    I know I would gnaw my arms off if I tried to do what you're doing.

    If you set yourself as sedentary, make sure to log your cardio and eat back at least some of those calories. Which will probably put you back up to around 1600 on days you work out.

    I tend to eat back a majority of my calories from a work out. Yesterday was a good day 385 burned. But even after those calories being added back I did want to gnaw my arm off by the end of the night LOL.

    In this case you might want to play around with what you are eating or just accept a slower rate of loss for a while until you adjust to the lowered intake.

    Protein and fibre tend to be filling to a lot of people. Carbs and Fat depends on the individual.

    I try to make sure each of my (main) meals has at least 20g of protein along with 5-10g of fiber as well as a good source of fat (on the lower side) and a good source of carbs (more satiating to me than fat).

  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    I know I would gnaw my arms off if I tried to do what you're doing.

    If you set yourself as sedentary, make sure to log your cardio and eat back at least some of those calories. Which will probably put you back up to around 1600 on days you work out.

    I tend to eat back a majority of my calories from a work out. Yesterday was a good day 385 burned. But even after those calories being added back I did want to gnaw my arm off by the end of the night LOL.

    So you set your activity setting based on how often you work out *and* you eat exercise calories back? It's only intended to be one or the other. However, you've been losing at the perfect rate, so either you underestimate your activity or your logging may be off, or some combination of the two. I probably wouldn't change anything until you see how the new routine affects your rate of loss.
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Why do you feel you now need fewer calories? You're losing at a good rate. The weight training will still burn calories. You're not sedentary.

    Set your goal to "lose one pound per week," and eat back either all or part of your exercise calories with one unchanging activity level - but be consistent for at least 6-8 weeks. Keep good records. If you keep changing your numbers you won't know where to leave it.

    I lost almost all my 70 pounds set at "lose one pound per week" and eating ALL the exercise cals. You'll have to do the work to figure it out, but the more frequently you change things the harder it is to get a good baseline calorie goal.


    I felt the need to change my calorie intake goal because I am reducing my activity level. Concerned that by reducing my calories burned I'd lose a lot slower. I do have my current goal to lose weekly set at 1.5 but I will tweak that back down to 1lb a week which I am OK with. I didn't put all this weigh on over night I don't expect to lose it quickly lol. Thanks for your insight!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited March 2018
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    Hi! I've been actively using MFP for the last 30 days. When I originally set up my goal/calorie intake I choose the "lightly active" option. Since starting actively tracking I've been doing cardio 4-5 days a week 25+ minutes. (I would do more but I only have an hour a day to work out). My calorie goal was originally set at 1680. That was really pretty manageable for me. Since my first weigh in (February 26th) I have lost 3.8 pounds as of this morning. I'm pretty satisfied with this being that I'm still new into my life style change.

    However, I'm meeting with a trainer today and I plan on changing my fitness routine by reducing my cardio to 3 times a week and adding more strength training. I have a desk job and do not get a lot of steps in through out the day outside of my cardio at the gym. Being that I am reducing my cardio
    I decided to choose the "stationary" option which reduced my daily calorie goal to 1320.

    So to make a long post short, is it appropriate to reduce my calories as planned? Yesterday was pretty rough my first day with a calorie goal of 1320 daily. I still felt hungry after dinner last night and ended up having a snack and going over my calorie goal.

    Just looking for a little insight. Not following any type of "diet", trying to follow the set Marcos MFP recommends and stay within my calorie goal by eating more whole foods.

    Thanks for reading!

    I personally wouldn't change anything and just see what happens. You're still working out...just because it isn't cardio doesn't mean it's not a workout, and it's going to burn calories.

    I'm not sure what you're planning to do with your trainer, but when I worked with mine...yes, it was weights...but it was also a ton of Olympic lifting, metabolic conditioning, super setting, etc. He'd only have me do one heavy movement per session (usually squat or deads or Oly lifts) for which I was allowed a good rest period...the rest of the session was pretty fast paced with little rest. I burned a lot of calories.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    Be aware that if you are increasing weight training, you're likely to start retaining some extra water, so your scale readings will be affected in coming weeks, but it won't mean you're not losing fat. Don't feel like you have to make adjustments right away.
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    I know I would gnaw my arms off if I tried to do what you're doing.

    If you set yourself as sedentary, make sure to log your cardio and eat back at least some of those calories. Which will probably put you back up to around 1600 on days you work out.

    I tend to eat back a majority of my calories from a work out. Yesterday was a good day 385 burned. But even after those calories being added back I did want to gnaw my arm off by the end of the night LOL.

    So you set your activity setting based on how often you work out *and* you eat exercise calories back? It's only intended to be one or the other. However, you've been losing at the perfect rate, so either you underestimate your activity or your logging may be off, or some combination of the two. I probably wouldn't change anything until you see how the new routine affects your rate of loss.



    So... my train of thought there was because I originally planned on physical activity 4 to 5 days a week that I would be considered lightly active. It was my understanding for a couple of videos found on MFP that it was OK to eat back your calories burned. But since I am planning on changing my physical activity and considering the time I sit on my fanny at work pecking away at a keyboard I thought the stationary setting would be more appropriate.

    This is the first "real" attempt I've made at losing weight in a LONG time. I just want to make sure I am going to continue losing weight at a steady pace. I agree with you that maybe I should hold off on the change until I see how my new fitness routine affect me.
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    I know I would gnaw my arms off if I tried to do what you're doing.

    If you set yourself as sedentary, make sure to log your cardio and eat back at least some of those calories. Which will probably put you back up to around 1600 on days you work out.

    I tend to eat back a majority of my calories from a work out. Yesterday was a good day 385 burned. But even after those calories being added back I did want to gnaw my arm off by the end of the night LOL.

    In this case you might want to play around with what you are eating or just accept a slower rate of loss for a while until you adjust to the lowered intake.

    Protein and fibre tend to be filling to a lot of people. Carbs and Fat depends on the individual.

    I try to make sure each of my (main) meals has at least 20g of protein along with 5-10g of fiber as well as a good source of fat (on the lower side) and a good source of carbs (more satiating to me than fat).

    I drink a protein shake in the morning for my breakfast (15g). I'll need to take a look at my entries and see what the rest of my protein intake is like for the remainder of the day. You've given me a lot to think about thank you!
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    I know I would gnaw my arms off if I tried to do what you're doing.

    If you set yourself as sedentary, make sure to log your cardio and eat back at least some of those calories. Which will probably put you back up to around 1600 on days you work out.

    I tend to eat back a majority of my calories from a work out. Yesterday was a good day 385 burned. But even after those calories being added back I did want to gnaw my arm off by the end of the night LOL.

    So you set your activity setting based on how often you work out *and* you eat exercise calories back? It's only intended to be one or the other. However, you've been losing at the perfect rate, so either you underestimate your activity or your logging may be off, or some combination of the two. I probably wouldn't change anything until you see how the new routine affects your rate of loss.



    So... my train of thought there was because I originally planned on physical activity 4 to 5 days a week that I would be considered lightly active. It was my understanding for a couple of videos found on MFP that it was OK to eat back your calories burned. But since I am planning on changing my physical activity and considering the time I sit on my fanny at work pecking away at a keyboard I thought the stationary setting would be more appropriate.

    This is the first "real" attempt I've made at losing weight in a LONG time. I just want to make sure I am going to continue losing weight at a steady pace. I agree with you that maybe I should hold off on the change until I see how my new fitness routine affect me.

    The way MFP is set up is for you to choose your activity level based on everyday living (in your case probably sedentary) not including purposeful exercise and to log and eat back the calories burned through exercise. But those things are just estimates and whatever you're eating & burning right now seems ideal.
  • JMcGee2018
    JMcGee2018 Posts: 275 Member
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    ladyreva78 wrote: »
    I know I would gnaw my arms off if I tried to do what you're doing.

    If you set yourself as sedentary, make sure to log your cardio and eat back at least some of those calories. Which will probably put you back up to around 1600 on days you work out.

    I tend to eat back a majority of my calories from a work out. Yesterday was a good day 385 burned. But even after those calories being added back I did want to gnaw my arm off by the end of the night LOL.

    So you set your activity setting based on how often you work out *and* you eat exercise calories back? It's only intended to be one or the other. However, you've been losing at the perfect rate, so either you underestimate your activity or your logging may be off, or some combination of the two. I probably wouldn't change anything until you see how the new routine affects your rate of loss.



    So... my train of thought there was because I originally planned on physical activity 4 to 5 days a week that I would be considered lightly active. It was my understanding for a couple of videos found on MFP that it was OK to eat back your calories burned. But since I am planning on changing my physical activity and considering the time I sit on my fanny at work pecking away at a keyboard I thought the stationary setting would be more appropriate.

    This is the first "real" attempt I've made at losing weight in a LONG time. I just want to make sure I am going to continue losing weight at a steady pace. I agree with you that maybe I should hold off on the change until I see how my new fitness routine affect me.

    MFP uses NEAT to determine how many calories you need, and NEAT does not include exercise activities. If you are sedentary during the day (outside of exercise), set your activity level to sedentary, then log and eat back some or all of your exercise calories.
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    Hi! I've been actively using MFP for the last 30 days. When I originally set up my goal/calorie intake I choose the "lightly active" option. Since starting actively tracking I've been doing cardio 4-5 days a week 25+ minutes. (I would do more but I only have an hour a day to work out). My calorie goal was originally set at 1680. That was really pretty manageable for me. Since my first weigh in (February 26th) I have lost 3.8 pounds as of this morning. I'm pretty satisfied with this being that I'm still new into my life style change.

    However, I'm meeting with a trainer today and I plan on changing my fitness routine by reducing my cardio to 3 times a week and adding more strength training. I have a desk job and do not get a lot of steps in through out the day outside of my cardio at the gym. Being that I am reducing my cardio
    I decided to choose the "stationary" option which reduced my daily calorie goal to 1320.

    So to make a long post short, is it appropriate to reduce my calories as planned? Yesterday was pretty rough my first day with a calorie goal of 1320 daily. I still felt hungry after dinner last night and ended up having a snack and going over my calorie goal.

    Just looking for a little insight. Not following any type of "diet", trying to follow the set Marcos MFP recommends and stay within my calorie goal by eating more whole foods.

    Thanks for reading!

    I personally wouldn't change anything and just see what happens. You're still working out...just because it isn't cardio doesn't mean it's not a workout, and it's going to burn calories.

    I'm not sure what you're planning to do with your trainer, but when I worked with mine...yes, it was weights...but it was also a ton of Olympic lifting, metabolic conditioning, super setting, etc. He'd only have me do one heavy movement per session (usually squat or deads or Oly lifts) for which I was allowed a good rest period...the rest of the session was pretty fast paced with little rest. I burned a lot of calories.

    I'm a total gym newbie, would like to learn some routines. Ideally I'd like to tone my body while I lose weight. I'd like to explore weigh lifting but I understand that is a whole different level.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    What you've been doing has clearly been working for you, I would echo the other posters and suggest you stay the course on your current calories and see how you react to adjusting your exercise; don't try and change too many variables at once so you know a change is actually an improvement or not.

    Adding strength training, especially if it's something you've never delved into before, is definitely going to cause extra glycogen/water retention in your stressed muscles which can mess with your scale weight.

    I think the default MFP macro splits are a little light on protein to begin with, doubly so if you're strength training. Something else you could consider adjusting in the future.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    Congratulations on a good first month! I'm in the slow-and-steady-and-never-eat-under-1600-calories camp, but there are lots of different ways to succeed at this. I think @cmriversidecmriverside and @cwolfman13 hit all the points I was going to hit other than general encouragement, so there you are - good luck!
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    edited March 2018
    @try2again Being that I am sedentary (not stationary LOL just noticed that) I originally should have chosen that level over lightly active and been on the 1320 calorie goal to begin with. However considering I seem to be doing OK now I should probably back and do as suggested see how the new routine affects my numbers.

    My initial concern was by changing my physical activity I'd be eating too many calories compared to my activity level. Being that I'm only a month into this I wasn't sure that the weight lost to date was just my body adapting to my life style change and as it further adapts it'd reduce the rate I am losing weight. So far tho it does seem to be off to a good start.
  • philipmarcuscunningham
    philipmarcuscunningham Posts: 7 Member
    Reduce calorie intake, increase movement. You are there! Good work and keep it up.
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    @steveko89 I think I will go back to the "original" formula as you and others have suggested and tweak from there. Will definitely increase my protein. Thank you!

    @MegaMooseEsq Thank you! It hasn't been a perfect month (a few slip ups here and there) but proud of it either way.
  • LW3380
    LW3380 Posts: 118 Member
    @WinoGelato is great at helping with these type of enquiries, she gave me some great ideas and they have worked.
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    @ladyreva78 Amen to that! I've never done this consistently so to have gone 30 days of actively trying to stay consistent has motivated me so much.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    With MFP you are supposed to choose your activity level without exercise and then log exercise.
    Were you logging exercise in addition to setting your level to lightly active? Were you losing at the rate you wanted to lose at?

    I would probably wait on changing your goal and see what happens after a few weeks of starting a new routine.
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    With MFP you are supposed to choose your activity level without exercise and then log exercise.
    Were you logging exercise in addition to setting your level to lightly active? Were you losing at the rate you wanted to lose at?

    I would probably wait on changing your goal and see what happens after a few weeks of starting a new routine.

    I was actively logging my exercise in addition to the lightly active level, and eating back a majority (sometimes all) of the calories burned back.

    I think the rate I am losing is good. Considering I’ve had a few “cheat” days
  • Chunkahlunkah
    Chunkahlunkah Posts: 373 Member
    So even though MFP's design is not meant to take into account purposeful exercise, I'd suggest going ahead and keeping yourself at the calorie level MFP has been giving you for "lightly active." I say that because (1) dropping from 4-5 cardio sessions to 3 is not that substantial a drop to warrant the decreased calories, (2) you're getting great results at that calorie level, and (3) you were very hungry at the lower calorie level. Feeling very hungry isn't necessary for losing weight. Make it as easy and pleasant on yourself as possible. :)

    I want to reiterate what others have said regarding the gain you'll likely see from strength training. Like clockwork, when I return to strength training, I go up 2/3 pounds and stay up for a few weeks. Then it falls off along with additional weight. So don't be discouraged or think you need to drop your calories if you're not losing within a month. I'd give it about 6 weeks before adjusting your calories (if you haven't had a loss yet).
  • aquariusvsworld
    aquariusvsworld Posts: 55 Member
    edited March 2018
    Chunkahlunkah wrote: »
    So even though MFP's design is not meant to take into account purposeful exercise, I'd suggest going ahead and keeping yourself at the calorie level MFP has been giving you for "lightly active." I say that because (1) dropping from 4-5 cardio sessions to 3 is not that substantial a drop to warrant the decreased calories, (2) you're getting great results at that calorie level, and (3) you were very hungry at the lower calorie level. Feeling very hungry isn't necessary for losing weight. Make it as easy and pleasant on yourself as possible. :)

    I want to reiterate what others have said regarding the gain you'll likely see from strength training. Like clockwork, when I return to strength training, I go up 2/3 pounds and stay up for a few weeks. Then it falls off along with additional weight. So don't be discouraged or think you need to drop your calories if you're not losing within a month. I'd give it about 6 weeks before adjusting your calories (if you haven't had a loss yet).


    I've switched back to my original calorie goal as you all have suggested. I think that works best for me right now. As of this morning I am down a total of 5lb this month. I think that's pretty great and working for me. After meeting with the trainer and running through a routine I think I'd be safe to stay at this calorie goal (for another four to six weeks). He wasn't much help in the nutritional aspect but he sure did give me a good work out LOL. Thanks again everyone!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    aquariusvsworld wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Why do you feel you now need fewer calories? You're losing at a good rate. The weight training will still burn calories. You're not sedentary.

    Set your goal to "lose one pound per week," and eat back either all or part of your exercise calories with one unchanging activity level - but be consistent for at least 6-8 weeks. Keep good records. If you keep changing your numbers you won't know where to leave it.

    I lost almost all my 70 pounds set at "lose one pound per week" and eating ALL the exercise cals. You'll have to do the work to figure it out, but the more frequently you change things the harder it is to get a good baseline calorie goal.


    I felt the need to change my calorie intake goal because I am reducing my activity level. Concerned that by reducing my calories burned I'd lose a lot slower. I do have my current goal to lose weekly set at 1.5 but I will tweak that back down to 1lb a week which I am OK with. I didn't put all this weigh on over night I don't expect to lose it quickly lol. Thanks for your insight!

    According to your OP, you're expecting to move from four or five 25-minute cardio workouts a week to three cardio workouts a week -- that's about a 400-calorie weekly reduction in calories burned (assuming you were doing five workouts before), without considering any calories burned in added weight-lifting sessions. That less than a 60-calorie reduction in daily burns. So that's not a good reason to cut your calorie intake by 360 calories a day.
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