Do I have this right?? (calorie goal)

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emmylootwo
emmylootwo Posts: 172 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Apologies for another one of these posts. I would follow MFP guidelines but I've messed with my calorie goal so much, I don't recall what MFP had originally suggested.

Long story short just to preface this post: I lost 150 pounds many years ago, gained it all back plus some... developed an eating disorder along the way. But I'm a bit healthier now mentally and ready to do this the right way. I don't ever want to return to my old ways.

I'm female, 24 years old, 5'8'', 351 pounds, and am sedentary. I've tried a few calculators and the consensus is that my BMR is around 2300 and TDEE around 2600.

Because of my really high starting weight, I was hoping to do a 1000 calorie deficit (2 lbs a week). So, I should eat 1600 calories a day plus exercise calories right? And then evaluate after a month to see if the weight loss was as expected?

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,952 Member
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    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?
  • emmylootwo
    emmylootwo Posts: 172 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?

    Thanks for the link! I had been looking for a way to do that.

    MFP suggests 1990. That seems like a lot to me. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out what my best TDEE estimate would be considering I spent a vast majority of the day sitting (or lying down to sleep). MFP's suggestion would have my TDEE at 2990. That also seems like a lot to me. But I guess I could try it!

  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
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    emmylootwo wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?

    Thanks for the link! I had been looking for a way to do that.

    MFP suggests 1990. That seems like a lot to me. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out what my best TDEE estimate would be considering I spent a vast majority of the day sitting (or lying down to sleep). MFP's suggestion would have my TDEE at 2990. That also seems like a lot to me. But I guess I could try it!

    I plugged your stats into a couple calculators and a few were giving me 2,900 for a tdee, so it might not be too far off. It would probably be better for you to err on the side of a narrower deficit starting out, and then see where you're at. Since the deficit is already quite large, you don't want to go too wide and risk worse symptoms of being in a deficit (fatigue, hair loss, poor skin, etc.). These won't show up immediately, but when they do, it can take a long time to feel "back to normal" again.
  • emmylootwo
    emmylootwo Posts: 172 Member
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    RelCanonical wrote: »
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?

    Thanks for the link! I had been looking for a way to do that.

    MFP suggests 1990. That seems like a lot to me. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out what my best TDEE estimate would be considering I spent a vast majority of the day sitting (or lying down to sleep). MFP's suggestion would have my TDEE at 2990. That also seems like a lot to me. But I guess I could try it!

    I plugged your stats into a couple calculators and a few were giving me 2,900 for a tdee, so it might not be too far off. It would probably be better for you to err on the side of a narrower deficit starting out, and then see where you're at. Since the deficit is already quite large, you don't want to go too wide and risk worse symptoms of being in a deficit (fatigue, hair loss, poor skin, etc.). These won't show up immediately, but when they do, it can take a long time to feel "back to normal" again.

    Oh gosh, I do know how that is unfortunately! At the height of my ED, my skin turned grey, my hair fell out, my bones hurt all the time. I even lost my period for over a year. It was horrible being sick like that.

    So you're right, even if it ends up being a smaller deficit than I originally wanted, at least I'm not in danger of having too large of a deficit.

  • emmylootwo
    emmylootwo Posts: 172 Member
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    try2again wrote: »
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?

    Thanks for the link! I had been looking for a way to do that.

    MFP suggests 1990. That seems like a lot to me. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out what my best TDEE estimate would be considering I spent a vast majority of the day sitting (or lying down to sleep). MFP's suggestion would have my TDEE at 2990. That also seems like a lot to me. But I guess I could try it!

    I would encourage you to go ahead and use your MFP recommendation to start. My numbers have always proven to be spot-on, and I know many other long-time users would say the same. You will lose at 1990 and it will give you the chance to get in the swing of things without the pressure to make sweeping changes. Plus you will have plenty of room to adjust downward as you go :)

    Thanks! And just to clarify, I do eat exercise calories back at 1990? (Or a percentage I know, because a lot of these calculators including MFP's are not accurate)
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    edited December 2018
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    emmylootwo wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?

    Thanks for the link! I had been looking for a way to do that.

    MFP suggests 1990. That seems like a lot to me. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out what my best TDEE estimate would be considering I spent a vast majority of the day sitting (or lying down to sleep). MFP's suggestion would have my TDEE at 2990. That also seems like a lot to me. But I guess I could try it!

    I would encourage you to go ahead and use your MFP recommendation to start. My numbers have always proven to be spot-on, and I know many other long-time users would say the same. You will lose at 1990 and it will give you the chance to get in the swing of things without the pressure to make sweeping changes. Plus you will have plenty of room to adjust downward as you go :)

    Thanks! And just to clarify, I do eat exercise calories back at 1990? (Or a percentage I know, because a lot of these calculators including MFP's are not accurate)

    MFP is designed for you to eat back exercise calories. Many start with 50-75% and gauge their progress from there.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Options
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?

    Thanks for the link! I had been looking for a way to do that.

    MFP suggests 1990. That seems like a lot to me. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out what my best TDEE estimate would be considering I spent a vast majority of the day sitting (or lying down to sleep). MFP's suggestion would have my TDEE at 2990. That also seems like a lot to me. But I guess I could try it!

    I would encourage you to go ahead and use your MFP recommendation to start. My numbers have always proven to be spot-on, and I know many other long-time users would say the same. You will lose at 1990 and it will give you the chance to get in the swing of things without the pressure to make sweeping changes. Plus you will have plenty of room to adjust downward as you go :)

    Thanks! And just to clarify, I do eat exercise calories back at 1990? (Or a percentage I know, because a lot of these calculators including MFP's are not accurate)

    Yes. That is how MFP is set up.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,952 Member
    Options
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?

    Thanks for the link! I had been looking for a way to do that.

    MFP suggests 1990. That seems like a lot to me. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out what my best TDEE estimate would be considering I spent a vast majority of the day sitting (or lying down to sleep). MFP's suggestion would have my TDEE at 2990. That also seems like a lot to me. But I guess I could try it!

    I would encourage you to go ahead and use your MFP recommendation to start. My numbers have always proven to be spot-on, and I know many other long-time users would say the same. You will lose at 1990 and it will give you the chance to get in the swing of things without the pressure to make sweeping changes. Plus you will have plenty of room to adjust downward as you go :)

    Thanks! And just to clarify, I do eat exercise calories back at 1990? (Or a percentage I know, because a lot of these calculators including MFP's are not accurate)

    Unlike other sites which use TDEE calculators, MFP uses the NEAT method (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back. Others, however, are able to lose weight while eating 100% of their exercise calories.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,012 Member
    edited December 2018
    Options
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    try2again wrote: »
    emmylootwo wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Plug in your stats here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

    What does MFP give you to lose 2 # per week?

    Thanks for the link! I had been looking for a way to do that.

    MFP suggests 1990. That seems like a lot to me. I guess I'm having trouble figuring out what my best TDEE estimate would be considering I spent a vast majority of the day sitting (or lying down to sleep). MFP's suggestion would have my TDEE at 2990. That also seems like a lot to me. But I guess I could try it!

    I would encourage you to go ahead and use your MFP recommendation to start. My numbers have always proven to be spot-on, and I know many other long-time users would say the same. You will lose at 1990 and it will give you the chance to get in the swing of things without the pressure to make sweeping changes. Plus you will have plenty of room to adjust downward as you go :)

    Thanks! And just to clarify, I do eat exercise calories back at 1990? (Or a percentage I know, because a lot of these calculators including MFP's are not accurate)

    Yes. Log food as accurately as you can. Eat back all the exercise calories to start. I mean, it's a starting point. No one knows how it will go until they run the experiment.

    Just use the numbers the site gives you. I always did and the numbers were (if anything) too low. So do the experiment. Keep it simple. Log everything for a couple months. Adjust *if* needed when your couple months are up. You need good, accurate, long-term consistent trending data.

    No way to know if they are accurate enough if you don't use them for a while. What you don't want to do is jump all over the place. Set it and let the numbers work themselves out. YOUR numbers are your guide.

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