Calories and activity level questions

PAV8888

Chatting while counting on your toes is not too conducive to avoiding arithmetic errors, just saying!
However the main reason for the bump is to *highly recommend* to the OP @NovusDies 's Larger Losers sub forum.

scarlett_k

Usashimi wrote: »

So I was hoping someone could give me some advice on this because I am having some trouble figuring out what to choose as my level of activity for MyFitnessPal app to suggest
daily calories for me . I am a 27 year old female. I am 5"2 and weigh 258 lbs. I started at 272 pounds about a month and a half ago. I have a goal weight of 215 lbs , which I will change to a lower one once I reach that goal. Originally I put " lightly active " but I walk between 10,000- and 14,000 steps a day because of my job and going to the gym, so I am thinking I need to change to " active" ? is 10000-14000 steps a day considered active according to myfitnesspal or " lightly active " ? Also, in regards to calories , With " lightly active" it wants me to eat 1590 calories per day, and with "active" 1900 calories per day. I am finding myself feeling hungry all the time at 1590 c/day so I am thinking should I really select active , and eat 1900? On average , according to my Fitbit inspire HR I burn about 3500 calories per day, ranging from 3000, to 3900 depending on how much activity I do that day. My intention is to have a 1000 calorie deficit everyday (apparently that's what I need to lose 2 lbs a week) and I find that I sometimes have a deficit up up to 2000 . I have read that this isn't healthy and may deter my weight loss efforts in the future ? Sorry my post is a little convoluted I am just confused about a few things .

I walk about 15000 steps per day, including at least one hour of intentional walking, and lightly active is most accurate for me. I log any extra walking I do, as well as other exercises like swimming.

Nony_Mouse

scarlett_k wrote: »

Usashimi wrote: »

So I was hoping someone could give me some advice on this because I am having some trouble figuring out what to choose as my level of activity for MyFitnessPal app to suggest
daily calories for me . I am a 27 year old female. I am 5"2 and weigh 258 lbs. I started at 272 pounds about a month and a half ago. I have a goal weight of 215 lbs , which I will change to a lower one once I reach that goal. Originally I put " lightly active " but I walk between 10,000- and 14,000 steps a day because of my job and going to the gym, so I am thinking I need to change to " active" ? is 10000-14000 steps a day considered active according to myfitnesspal or " lightly active " ? Also, in regards to calories , With " lightly active" it wants me to eat 1590 calories per day, and with "active" 1900 calories per day. I am finding myself feeling hungry all the time at 1590 c/day so I am thinking should I really select active , and eat 1900? On average , according to my Fitbit inspire HR I burn about 3500 calories per day, ranging from 3000, to 3900 depending on how much activity I do that day. My intention is to have a 1000 calorie deficit everyday (apparently that's what I need to lose 2 lbs a week) and I find that I sometimes have a deficit up up to 2000 . I have read that this isn't healthy and may deter my weight loss efforts in the future ? Sorry my post is a little convoluted I am just confused about a few things .

I walk about 15000 steps per day, including at least one hour of intentional walking, and lightly active is most accurate for me. I log any extra walking I do, as well as other exercises like swimming.

How are you measuring your food intake? 15000 steps is more akin to highly active for most. I'm currently averaging 10k, and comparing my Fitbit TDEE to the Sailrabbit TDEE calculator, I fall exactly on moderately active.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

First of all, congratulations on your start! With your active job, every pound you lose will have a payoff in how you feel, I think!

I think your TDEE estimate is way too low. Try typing your stats into another similar calculator, which uses the same formula as MFP, but is pretty convenient to play with. It also tells you what the formulas are, if you read through the page:

https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

I see a slightly different story for you. Even with "light activity" you should maintain at 2555kcals/day. That means you'll lose a pound a week at 2055kcals/day. Did you specify a 2lbs/week loss? That would explain it.

Note that "moderate activity" and 1lb/week loss puts you at 2223kcals/day.

The fitbit estimates can run a little bit high, but with you putting in all those steps, it may not be too far off. Anyway, it seems to me you can eat at least 2055kcals/day and can likely go higher.

Best of luck to you!

PAV8888

Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »

First of all, congratulations on your start! With your active job, every pound you lose will have a payoff in how you feel, I think!

I think your TDEE estimate is way too low. Try typing your stats into another similar calculator, which uses the same formula as MFP, but is pretty convenient to play with. It also tells you what the formulas are, if you read through the page:

https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

I see a slightly different story for you. Even with "light activity" you should maintain at 2555kcals/day. That means you'll lose a pound a week at 2055kcals/day. Did you specify a 2lbs/week loss? That would explain it.

Note that "moderate activity" and 1lb/week loss puts you at 2223kcals/day.

The fitbit estimates can run a little bit high, but with you putting in all those steps, it may not be too far off. Anyway, it seems to me you can eat at least 2055kcals/day and can likely go higher.

Best of luck to you!

@Jthanmyfitnesspal hi!

In the op she says that her Fitbit tdee is ~3500.

She is aiming to eat ~1500 but goes over

She is achieving 3lb a week loss, i.e a 1500 deficit over what she is actually eating.

There is no reason to assume she won't be achieving a more reasonable 2lb a week deficit if she eats 500 more than currently.

500 more than she currently eats puts her between 2 and 2.5k eating AND losing 2lbs a week.

At that point, and based on continuing losses, she can fiddle with whether her actual Fitbit tdee is off by a few hundred or bang on. Her current losses, however, validate her much closer to above very active (and a tdee above 3k, i.e close to her Fitbit average) than anything else

scarlett_k

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

scarlett_k wrote: »

Usashimi wrote: »

So I was hoping someone could give me some advice on this because I am having some trouble figuring out what to choose as my level of activity for MyFitnessPal app to suggest
daily calories for me . I am a 27 year old female. I am 5"2 and weigh 258 lbs. I started at 272 pounds about a month and a half ago. I have a goal weight of 215 lbs , which I will change to a lower one once I reach that goal. Originally I put " lightly active " but I walk between 10,000- and 14,000 steps a day because of my job and going to the gym, so I am thinking I need to change to " active" ? is 10000-14000 steps a day considered active according to myfitnesspal or " lightly active " ? Also, in regards to calories , With " lightly active" it wants me to eat 1590 calories per day, and with "active" 1900 calories per day. I am finding myself feeling hungry all the time at 1590 c/day so I am thinking should I really select active , and eat 1900? On average , according to my Fitbit inspire HR I burn about 3500 calories per day, ranging from 3000, to 3900 depending on how much activity I do that day. My intention is to have a 1000 calorie deficit everyday (apparently that's what I need to lose 2 lbs a week) and I find that I sometimes have a deficit up up to 2000 . I have read that this isn't healthy and may deter my weight loss efforts in the future ? Sorry my post is a little convoluted I am just confused about a few things .

I walk about 15000 steps per day, including at least one hour of intentional walking, and lightly active is most accurate for me. I log any extra walking I do, as well as other exercises like swimming.

How are you measuring your food intake? 15000 steps is more akin to highly active for most. I'm currently averaging 10k, and comparing my Fitbit TDEE to the Sailrabbit TDEE calculator, I fall exactly on moderately active.

I weigh everything meticulously and largely cook from scratch. Eat out/guess a meal maybe once a month, if that. I agree that I appear to be somewhat more active than a lot of people but given the numbers MFP gives me vs the amount I eat and the amount I lose it works out as "lightly active." Been doing this for 3 years now and with a lot of trial and error this seems to be correct for me.

sijomial

You can make this far more simple OP.

Decide on a suitable rate of weight loss (2lbs a week for example when you have a lot to lose).
Adjust your calorie goal manually until, on average, you achieve that rate of loss.
A bump of 500cals would seem to be likely to get you in that ballpark and then you can fine tune if required.

You don't have to consult calculators or wonder if your calorie needs are coming from activity, exercise or whatever unless you really want to.

Congrats on staying so active, that's a huge benefit to your health.