Questions from a newbie

andreamugny

I've read the info on these forums, but I still have a few more questions to use MFP correctly for weight loss.
I am a 36 year old female, 5'6", 170lbs and I want to lose 20-25lbs. MFP tells me I should aim to eat 1200 calories per day to lose 2lbs per week. How does it work once I reach my goal weight? Am I to eat 1200 cal per day to keep that weight forever? If I go more than 1200, I presume my weight will go back up? Is 1200 cal per day the "magic number" for 145lbs (my goal weight)? I guess I'm a bit confused by the mathematics of it all.

Also, my regular workouts are HIIT workouts (bodyweight squats/ lunges, Burpees, kettle bells, TRX, box jumps, etc) but when I enter strength training exercises there are no exercise calories listed. Why is that? Also, why aren't burpees an option under strength training??

For cardio exercises where there are exercise calories listed, if I chose not to eat those, does that mean I'll lose weight faster or does my body really need them?

Thanks!

NovusDies

andreamugny wrote: »

I've read the info on these forums, but I still have a few more questions to use MFP correctly for weight loss.
I am a 36 year old female, 5'6", 170lbs and I want to lose 20-25lbs. MFP tells me I should aim to eat 1200 calories per day to lose 2lbs per week. How does it work once I reach my goal weight? Am I to eat 1200 cal per day to keep that weight forever? If I go more than 1200, I presume my weight will go back up? Is 1200 cal per day the "magic number" for 145lbs (my goal weight)? I guess I'm a bit confused by the mathematics of it all.

Also, my regular workouts are HIIT workouts (bodyweight squats/ lunges, Burpees, kettle bells, TRX, box jumps, etc) but when I enter strength training exercises there are no exercise calories listed. Why is that? Also, why aren't burpees an option under strength training??

For cardio exercises where there are exercise calories listed, if I chose not to eat those, does that mean I'll lose weight faster or does my body really need them?

Thanks!

With 20-25 pounds to lose you need to only be trying to lose .5 to 1 pound per week. Your calories when you get to your weight goal if you stay reasonably active should be over 2000 per day.

On exercise you should plan to start by eating 50 percent of your calories. Wait about 6 weeks and see if you are losing faster or slower than you should to determine if you should eat more of them.

corinasue1143

With only 25 pounds to lose, it would be very hard for you to try to lose more than 1 pound per week. You might be very, very hungry.
Because I am a numbers person and curious, I plugged your info into a random tdee calculator on the internet. It showed that if you were sedentary, which roughly equates to sitting on the couch all day, you should eat 1273 calories/day to lose one pound a week. At moderately active, the middle of five choices, you should eat 1791 calories/day for one pound loss per week.
To maintain at 145, you should try 1637 calories/day if sedentary or 2115 calories if moderately active.
Mfp seems to think that lifting weights uses so few calories that they don’t list them.
For burpees, you might look under cardio exercise. I don’t know cause I can’t do one so I’ve never looked it up. Lol.
A lot of people who don’t eat any exercise calories find they lose energy. They really need more energy to do that extra exercise. But some eat only 50 or 75%. Some use those calories for a cushion. In other words, they have a few extra calories to use if they’re hungry or want a treat.

californiagirl2012

These are excellent questions!

At 5' 6 " your TDEE Total Daily Energy Expenditure on averages is 1800 calories. This is what you need approximately to stay exactly the same, not gain, not lose. Since our metabolism ebbs and flows every day and is not EXACT, think of this as the very close average number for you. Some days might be a little under, or a little over (especially with exercise).

ANYTHING UNDER 1800 is a deficit, so think of that 1200 as the bottom of a range.

Every day does not have to be the same.

The most important number to remember is 1800 because that's what your body needs to maintain.

A deficit is a corrective action. Think of like medicine. You don't have to take the same dose every day. You can go for weeks without it and simply stay the same and that's healthy sometimes.

The closer you get to your goal, the fewer deficit days you need, and the harder it will be because your body does not have the extra energy stored in fat cells to make up the difference anymore.

Most of us, if we try to eat extra calories for those workouts, yes, it will slow down the progress and sometimes make you plateau because everything is estimated, sometimes you get lucky with estimates and sometimes not. Calorie counting is an estimate, as is TDEE. Collecting data as accurately over time is the best way to know. The body always tells the truth, but you won't be able to figure it out without good data.

Think of exercise as an extra bonus. It makes you super healthy, the HIIT makes you build more mitochondria cells which makes you have more energy and burn more fat when you are active. It's so cool.

Yes, it will happen faster with exercise.

So as you get closer... know that exercise does burn calories even if the HRM's are highly overrated and know you might need an extra serving here and there, but eating an extra huge meal equivalent might make you plateau or gain. Time and data will prove it.

When you get to your goal, some days and weeks you will eat over 1800, so you just need a few days to eat slightly under, 1500-1600 should be good enough for a deficit here and there to maintain. When your pants get a little tight sometimes, don't panic, a few weeks with a few days of slight deficit gets you back.

Maintaining is hard too because it's always so easy to slip back and rebound. You have to keep up with your new healthy habits of being mindful of eating and keep exercising.

I think you will do great because you ask great questions.

Wishing you the best!

Roberta

AnnPT77

To get a calorie estimate, the type of exercise you're doing would be logged in MFP as calisthenics (if mostly bodyweight exercises) or circuit training (if mostly high rep low resistance weight lifting). If it's a mix, either make a guess at how many minutes of each, or just log it all as the one that gives you a lower calorie estimate.

Under cardio in MFP, there's also a strength training option that will estimate calories, but that's for standard weight training (reps/sets with rests between them), not for HIIT-paced sessions.

Eat back a least a reasonable portion of your exercise calories, if MFP estimated your calorie goal. And target 0.5-1 pound a week, as others suggested. Fast weight loss isn't necessarily the best plan. At a similar starting point to you, I lost close to 2 pounds a week at first (in my case, MFP underestimated my calorie needs). Suddenly, after a short number of weeks, I felt weak and fatigued. Even though I corrected quickly, it took several weeks to regain normal strength and energy level. You don't want that. I was lucky it was nothing worse.

Losing weight too slowly can be frustrating. Losing weight too fast can be a health risk. Choose according to your risk tolerance.

Best wishes!