Calories are frustrating me!
Femilaxx1xo
Posts: 66 Member
My goal is to lose weight. I am a girl, 158cm, 58kg and my goal is 53-55kg.
So my daily calories are set to 1530 a day. I workout and I burn about 120-160 calories daily. So in altogther I eat about 1400 calories cause I burn 100 from exercise???? I dnt eat this back but now I want to. My activity goal was set to lightly active. This was supposed to include my exercise cals. I realised I’m not eating 1500cals. Now I changed my activity level to not active( the first option). Which is true. On daily basis I’m not active. I don’t think I even get 500 walking steps. Sometimes I do get close to 1000. That’s about it. Now mfp gave me a daily goal of 1380 cals. So now I am gonna add 120 cals from exercise. Which means altogether I eat 1500 calories daily? Is this correct?!
Thank u! x
So my daily calories are set to 1530 a day. I workout and I burn about 120-160 calories daily. So in altogther I eat about 1400 calories cause I burn 100 from exercise???? I dnt eat this back but now I want to. My activity goal was set to lightly active. This was supposed to include my exercise cals. I realised I’m not eating 1500cals. Now I changed my activity level to not active( the first option). Which is true. On daily basis I’m not active. I don’t think I even get 500 walking steps. Sometimes I do get close to 1000. That’s about it. Now mfp gave me a daily goal of 1380 cals. So now I am gonna add 120 cals from exercise. Which means altogether I eat 1500 calories daily? Is this correct?!
Thank u! x
2
Replies
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I find it hard to believe you don’t achieve 500 steps a day. I live in quite a small house and manage 200 in the morning before leaving the house just doing things like making breakfast, dressing and going to the loo.6
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It sounds like you should list yourself as sedentary, and then add calories for your workouts when you do them. (You can save those calories for later though.)1
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kathrynhoward84 wrote: »I find it hard to believe you don’t achieve 500 steps a day. I live in quite a small house and manage 200 in the morning before leaving the house just doing things like making breakfast, dressing and going to the loo.
Idk tbh.😣1 -
NorthCascades wrote: »It sounds like you should list yourself as sedentary, and then add calories for your workouts when you do them. (You can save those calories for later though.)
Hi, yeah I think so too. That’s what I am gonna do.2 -
Yep, you add your 120 exercise calories to total 1500 calories to eat. Basically the way it is set up is your sedentary (from what you said) + exercise calories.0
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Yep, you add your 120 exercise calories to total 1500 calories to eat. Basically the way it is set up is your sedentary (from what you said) + exercise calories.
Thanks!!!! Now i understand. So the days I don’t workout, I just eat 1380 cals???! I am a small person, so dnt need a lot of cals.
The days I do workout I add my cals and eat about 1500 cals?3 -
Right, days you don't workout you eat 1380. It is your base for when you do nothing. Then add your workout calories to it. You may find you can up your calories to eat more if you're losing too quickly. I'm shortish and am on the lower end of calories as well. Good luck!
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From other threads you're already losing weight at above the expected rate if I remember rightly?
Why change to eat less? Why not stick at what you were doing for 4-6 weeks and review based on your real world results.
I doubt as a student you are sedentary, how do you get to Uni? Do you not walk around campus? Then there all the incidental steps in between. Use your phone to track steps for a day.
I'd be willing to bet even without intentional exercise you get over 3000 steps per day.7 -
Do you have a smartphone? Some have a built in step counting feature (on iPhones it’s part of the “health” built in app) and there are plenty of really cheap pedometer apps available (I’m in the uk and by really cheap I mean about £1 which is less than $1.30).
If you really wanted to track steps you could try that. I think you’d be pleasantly surprised how much you’re doing.
(As a student i walked EVERYWHERE and it was over three miles each way to lectures from my halls!)1 -
Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.2 -
Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
1 -
Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
26 minutes of moderately fast walking is about 2600 steps.
The sedentary level tops out at approximately 3500.
What probably is, and SHOULD, confound you is that your losses should be very slow and your normal water weight variation is quite likely to be larger than your losses on a weekly and even monthly basis.
You're well within the normal weight range and you're trying to move lower. AND, if you're to be believed, your TDEE is quite low. Thus an appropriate deficit for you would be of the order of 250 Cal a day which would result, under ideal conditions, in a loss in the 0.2kg per week range whereas water weight variations could easily be as large as a couple of kilos (i.e. 10x larger)
Get yourself a trending weight app to have SOME chance of being able to gauge your progress.
Evaluate whether weight loss or some other target such as recomp is a more appropriate goal.8 -
Yep, you add your 120 exercise calories to total 1500 calories to eat. Basically the way it is set up is your sedentary (from what you said) + exercise calories.Right, days you don't workout you eat 1380. It is your base for when you do nothing. Then add your workout calories to it. You may find you can up your calories to eat more if you're losing too quickly. I'm shortish and am on the lower end of calories as well. Good luck!
Oh alright!!! Thank you x now I think I get it.1 -
tinkerbellang83 wrote: »From other threads you're already losing weight at above the expected rate if I remember rightly?
Why change to eat less? Why not stick at what you were doing for 4-6 weeks and review based on your real world results.
I doubt as a student you are sedentary, how do you get to Uni? Do you not walk around campus? Then there all the incidental steps in between. Use your phone to track steps for a day.
I'd be willing to bet even without intentional exercise you get over 3000 steps per day.
Yes but i wasnt eating enough for my workouts. I get the bus to uni, which is like 10 mins. I am in uni for only 2 hrs. I dnt walk a lot around the campus. After I get the bus and go home. Thank u!!! x1 -
kathrynhoward84 wrote: »Do you have a smartphone? Some have a built in step counting feature (on iPhones it’s part of the “health” built in app) and there are plenty of really cheap pedometer apps available (I’m in the uk and by really cheap I mean about £1 which is less than $1.30).
If you really wanted to track steps you could try that. I think you’d be pleasantly surprised how much you’re doing.
(As a student i walked EVERYWHERE and it was over three miles each way to lectures from my halls!)
Yes my phone tracks my calories. I burn about 30 cals from walking1 -
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Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
Omgg same!!!!!!1 -
Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
26 minutes of moderately fast walking is about 2600 steps.
The sedentary level tops out at approximately 3500.
What probably is, and SHOULD, confound you is that your losses should be very slow and your normal water weight variation is quite likely to be larger than your losses on a weekly and even monthly basis.
You're well within the normal weight range and you're trying to move lower. AND, if you're to be believed, your TDEE is quite low. Thus an appropriate deficit for you would be of the order of 250 Cal a day which would result, under ideal conditions, in a loss in the 0.2kg per week range whereas water weight variations could easily be as large as a couple of kilos (i.e. 10x larger)
Get yourself a trending weight app to have SOME chance of being able to gauge your progress.
Evaluate whether weight loss or some other target such as recomp is a more appropriate goal.
Yes, I’ll try that! Thanks1 -
Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
26 minutes of moderately fast walking is about 2600 steps.
The sedentary level tops out at approximately 3500.
What probably is, and SHOULD, confound you is that your losses should be very slow and your normal water weight variation is quite likely to be larger than your losses on a weekly and even monthly basis.
You're well within the normal weight range and you're trying to move lower. AND, if you're to be believed, your TDEE is quite low. Thus an appropriate deficit for you would be of the order of 250 Cal a day which would result, under ideal conditions, in a loss in the 0.2kg per week range whereas water weight variations could easily be as large as a couple of kilos (i.e. 10x larger)
Get yourself a trending weight app to have SOME chance of being able to gauge your progress.
Evaluate whether weight loss or some other target such as recomp is a more appropriate goal.
OP, this is perhaps the best advice in this thread - and all the other stuff is good too (so don't slam me for favoritism guys). I made a couple of parts of @PAV8888's response bold because they are nuggets. You should take a look at what recomposition is and see if might be right for you, since you are already well into a healthy weight range. If you eat at or close to maintenance and do appropriate movements/training, you may find that staying the same weight while changing your shape over time may give you the results you have in mind.
6 -
Sounds like your calorie confusion is clear. Is there any particular reason you’re so Sedentary? You walk to the bus, you have class for two hours, you take the bus home. Presumably there’s some study time in there but is there any way to fit in more activity in your day? A university fitness center? As you get older and life gets busier it’s important to build healthy habits while you’re younger so you have that foundation. Regular activity, doesn’t have to be strenuous exercise, is important.7
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Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
26 minutes of moderately fast walking is about 2600 steps.
The sedentary level tops out at approximately 3500.
What probably is, and SHOULD, confound you is that your losses should be very slow and your normal water weight variation is quite likely to be larger than your losses on a weekly and even monthly basis.
You're well within the normal weight range and you're trying to move lower. AND, if you're to be believed, your TDEE is quite low. Thus an appropriate deficit for you would be of the order of 250 Cal a day which would result, under ideal conditions, in a loss in the 0.2kg per week range whereas water weight variations could easily be as large as a couple of kilos (i.e. 10x larger)
Get yourself a trending weight app to have SOME chance of being able to gauge your progress.
Evaluate whether weight loss or some other target such as recomp is a more appropriate goal.
This. People who start in the overweight or obese category have one small advantage in they have much larger margins to work with. By the time such a person gets into the normal weight category, they might be proficient enough to lose weight via eyeballing.
Someone starting in the normal weight category is going to have a much more sensitive system with an incredibly narrow margin. Even when progress is happening, measuring it is going to be hard to parse out from noise.5 -
Silentpadna wrote: »Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
26 minutes of moderately fast walking is about 2600 steps.
The sedentary level tops out at approximately 3500.
What probably is, and SHOULD, confound you is that your losses should be very slow and your normal water weight variation is quite likely to be larger than your losses on a weekly and even monthly basis.
You're well within the normal weight range and you're trying to move lower. AND, if you're to be believed, your TDEE is quite low. Thus an appropriate deficit for you would be of the order of 250 Cal a day which would result, under ideal conditions, in a loss in the 0.2kg per week range whereas water weight variations could easily be as large as a couple of kilos (i.e. 10x larger)
Get yourself a trending weight app to have SOME chance of being able to gauge your progress.
Evaluate whether weight loss or some other target such as recomp is a more appropriate goal.
OP, this is perhaps the best advice in this thread - and all the other stuff is good too (so don't slam me for favoritism guys). I made a couple of parts of @PAV8888's response bold because they are nuggets. You should take a look at what recomposition is and see if might be right for you, since you are already well into a healthy weight range. If you eat at or close to maintenance and do appropriate movements/training, you may find that staying the same weight while changing your shape over time may give you the results you have in mind.
Thank you!!!! Idk about recomp. I have 26% body fat. My scale estimated that. I want to get toned. I dnt hold a lot of fat in my legs. It’s mainly my upper back and stomach. I want to get rid of them. I feel like doing a recomp will confuse me a lot.2 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Sounds like your calorie confusion is clear. Is there any particular reason you’re so Sedentary? You walk to the bus, you have class for two hours, you take the bus home. Presumably there’s some study time in there but is there any way to fit in more activity in your day? A university fitness center? As you get older and life gets busier it’s important to build healthy habits while you’re younger so you have that foundation. Regular activity, doesn’t have to be strenuous exercise, is important.
Yes Definitely. I’ll see what I can do.1 -
magnusthenerd wrote: »Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
26 minutes of moderately fast walking is about 2600 steps.
The sedentary level tops out at approximately 3500.
What probably is, and SHOULD, confound you is that your losses should be very slow and your normal water weight variation is quite likely to be larger than your losses on a weekly and even monthly basis.
You're well within the normal weight range and you're trying to move lower. AND, if you're to be believed, your TDEE is quite low. Thus an appropriate deficit for you would be of the order of 250 Cal a day which would result, under ideal conditions, in a loss in the 0.2kg per week range whereas water weight variations could easily be as large as a couple of kilos (i.e. 10x larger)
Get yourself a trending weight app to have SOME chance of being able to gauge your progress.
Evaluate whether weight loss or some other target such as recomp is a more appropriate goal.
This. People who start in the overweight or obese category have one small advantage in they have much larger margins to work with. By the time such a person gets into the normal weight category, they might be proficient enough to lose weight via eyeballing.
Someone starting in the normal weight category is going to have a much more sensitive system with an incredibly narrow margin. Even when progress is happening, measuring it is going to be hard to parse out from noise.
Thanks, I heard that. I am gonna wait for while and see1 -
What you all think of recomp??? Someone mentioned it. I kinda wanna do it but I am scared if I mess it up or something. At this point cutting is easier for me.2
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Femilaxx1xo wrote: »Silentpadna wrote: »Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
26 minutes of moderately fast walking is about 2600 steps.
The sedentary level tops out at approximately 3500.
What probably is, and SHOULD, confound you is that your losses should be very slow and your normal water weight variation is quite likely to be larger than your losses on a weekly and even monthly basis.
You're well within the normal weight range and you're trying to move lower. AND, if you're to be believed, your TDEE is quite low. Thus an appropriate deficit for you would be of the order of 250 Cal a day which would result, under ideal conditions, in a loss in the 0.2kg per week range whereas water weight variations could easily be as large as a couple of kilos (i.e. 10x larger)
Get yourself a trending weight app to have SOME chance of being able to gauge your progress.
Evaluate whether weight loss or some other target such as recomp is a more appropriate goal.
OP, this is perhaps the best advice in this thread - and all the other stuff is good too (so don't slam me for favoritism guys). I made a couple of parts of @PAV8888's response bold because they are nuggets. You should take a look at what recomposition is and see if might be right for you, since you are already well into a healthy weight range. If you eat at or close to maintenance and do appropriate movements/training, you may find that staying the same weight while changing your shape over time may give you the results you have in mind.
Thank you!!!! Idk about recomp. I have 26% body fat. My scale estimated that. I want to get toned. I dnt hold a lot of fat in my legs. It’s mainly my upper back and stomach. I want to get rid of them. I feel like doing a recomp will confuse me a lot.
Body fat scales aren't an accurate way to read your body fat.
3 -
Femilaxx1xo wrote: »Silentpadna wrote: »Most university students are active. from walking from class to class. and to school. and the library.
I suppose a small city college campus may reduce this to lightly active. Maybe.
I'm a student who has classes in the same room all day, no campus walking for me. My uni is also 5 mins from train station and my house 8 mins away the other end.
26 minutes of moderately fast walking is about 2600 steps.
The sedentary level tops out at approximately 3500.
What probably is, and SHOULD, confound you is that your losses should be very slow and your normal water weight variation is quite likely to be larger than your losses on a weekly and even monthly basis.
You're well within the normal weight range and you're trying to move lower. AND, if you're to be believed, your TDEE is quite low. Thus an appropriate deficit for you would be of the order of 250 Cal a day which would result, under ideal conditions, in a loss in the 0.2kg per week range whereas water weight variations could easily be as large as a couple of kilos (i.e. 10x larger)
Get yourself a trending weight app to have SOME chance of being able to gauge your progress.
Evaluate whether weight loss or some other target such as recomp is a more appropriate goal.
OP, this is perhaps the best advice in this thread - and all the other stuff is good too (so don't slam me for favoritism guys). I made a couple of parts of @PAV8888's response bold because they are nuggets. You should take a look at what recomposition is and see if might be right for you, since you are already well into a healthy weight range. If you eat at or close to maintenance and do appropriate movements/training, you may find that staying the same weight while changing your shape over time may give you the results you have in mind.
Thank you!!!! Idk about recomp. I have 26% body fat. My scale estimated that. I want to get toned. I dnt hold a lot of fat in my legs. It’s mainly my upper back and stomach. I want to get rid of them. I feel like doing a recomp will confuse me a lot.
Generally, it doesn't seem possible to pick where fat comes off the body.
You can control where you gain muscle.
Recomposition will depend on how you feel about resistance training.4 -
Femilaxx1xo wrote: »What you all think of recomp??? Someone mentioned it. I kinda wanna do it but I am scared if I mess it up or something. At this point cutting is easier for me.
you mentioned wanting to be more "toned" which is just a roundabout way of saying less fat and more muscle.... which is what recomp is designed for. You eat at maintenance and follow a progressive overload weightlifting program and ** over time ** lose fat and gain muscle. So you'll appear smaller and more "toned" as a result.
It's really not that complicated BUT consistency is key. I've had a lot of good results over the last 4 months BUT I had to consistently show up to the gym and follow my routine...5 -
Femilaxx1xo wrote: »What you all think of recomp??? Someone mentioned it. I kinda wanna do it but I am scared if I mess it up or something. At this point cutting is easier for me.
Just to be a bit of a devil's advocate here: What do you fear would happen if you mess up?
* You'd be eating at maintenance (by definition, your weight would be stable).
* If your weight started to increase (beyond a bit of expected water weight from maintenance calories and new exerise), you can simply adjust calories downward a bit.
* You'd be gaining some strength for sure from increasing the strength training, and probably gaining some muscle as well (even if everything wasn't done perfectly).
* You could get hurt weight training, but any of us can get hurt crossing the street or even lying in bed, and you'd mitigate that risk by learning proper weight-lifting form and progressing steadily but carefully in what you attempt, right?
* Maybe you'd feel some initial DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), but that's temporary and manageable.
* You might feel some newbie blues ("will I ever get good at this??!?"), gym anxiety, or other psychological complexities, but those are things that are most under our control, since it's our own internal dialog, and we can reprogram it.
* If you found you were not liking the look you were getting, the whole process is one of gradual change, so you can stop, back off, change programs, switch to bulk/cut cycles, or whatever's required at the time to make you happier: There are not irreversible overnight changes, and you're not committed to the process forever.
So: Mess up what? Scared of what?
What's the worst that could happen? (Nothing really bad, I'm betting. It's just eating at maintenance, and doing strength exercise.
).
Risk management and mitigation is important, but not much useful change happens in our comfort zone.
You'll do great! 6
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