Consistent calorie goal despite activity

slbbw
slbbw Posts: 329 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am finding myself losing weight a bit faster than I would like. I have honed in on an eating pattern that seems to keep hunger at bay and I have no trouble staying low in calories. I do find I like to be consistent, so the idea of eating back exercise calories is not working well with my mental game right now and thus I am losing too fast. I assume it would be reasonable to set a consistent calorie goal that includes how much I generally workout and divide that throughout the week. ie my calorie goal is currently set to 1310 for 1lb per week and I burn 400-500 calories 5 days a week, so if I wanted a consistent calorie consumption, around 1600 calories would be good. Is there a major downside to doing this? I realize if I change my exercise plan substantially I will need to adjust this.

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    slbbw wrote: »
    I am finding myself losing weight a bit faster than I would like. I have honed in on an eating pattern that seems to keep hunger at bay and I have no trouble staying low in calories. I do find I like to be consistent, so the idea of eating back exercise calories is not working well with my mental game right now and thus I am losing too fast. I assume it would be reasonable to set a consistent calorie goal that includes how much I generally workout and divide that throughout the week. ie my calorie goal is currently set to 1310 for 1lb per week and I burn 400-500 calories 5 days a week, so if I wanted a consistent calorie consumption, around 1600 calories would be good. Is there a major downside to doing this? I realize if I change my exercise plan substantially I will need to adjust this.

    No, that makes perfect sense. If you were to use a TDEE calculator on another site that is exactly what it would do.

    The only potential drawback is struggling with increased hunger on your workout days, but that is highly personal. So as long as you feel well fueled for your activity throughout your day, you can spread your calories out however works best for your lifestyle, attitude, and psychology. :drinker:
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I think for what you are looking for is to use the TDEE method of calorie counting. TDEE takes into consideration your exercise level and creates one calorie goal for you based off of that where you don't have to eat your exercise calories back. Use a calculator like the one at Scooby or Tdeecalculator.net and enter your stats and activity level and it will give you a consistent calorie goal.

    I switched to TDEE a few months ago and have found it to be beneficial for me. I lose weight pretty much right on target.

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