can't believe the calories!

michellekicks

hi!

I pretty new and I thought that it would be interesting to have a look at how many calories I was eating in an average day. I was maintaing my weight with small fluctuations i would go between 66-69 kg and I was thinking that I was eating ok but with a daily treat muffin etc but often with more than 1 treat in a day. It worked out to be between around 2600-3000 calories!!

Anyone else entered what they used to eat into MFP?

I never did, but I can eat close to that now and maintain my healthy weight. The good news is you only need to cut about 500 calories daily to lose a pound a week. You could just cut out the daily treat... or alternate the daily treat with cutting back portion sizes elsewhere, so you can still have that craving a few times a week. It's not as hard as people make it out to be.

heybales

hi!

I pretty new and I thought that it would be interesting to have a look at how many calories I was eating in an average day. I was maintaing my weight with small fluctuations i would go between 66-69 kg and I was thinking that I was eating ok but with a daily treat muffin etc but often with more than 1 treat in a day. It worked out to be between around 2600-3000 calories!!

Anyone else entered what they used to eat into MFP?

Quick - you have the best possible setup for continued success, possibly. Very rarely does anyone do this. You know what your maintenance is before starting a diet.

So many people see 1200 calories recommended (not realizing that is recommended as minimum for sedentary females), and then think that 1500 sounds oh so high of calories to eat, and surely they will gain weight ....

Have you changed your exercise routine since eating at that level?
Or was that pretty much non-exercise level, and you will start now?

Because take that avg eating level, divided by the BMR that MFP is using for you (Apps - BMR Calc).

That is your activity factor for whatever level of activity you did.

If no exercise at all, you have what MFP calls maintenance, no exercise included.
If that includes exercise you intend to keep doing, that is called TDEE, which includes exercise.

If the former, select the Activity Level that is closest to that multiplier.
1.25 - Sedentary
1.35 - Lightly Active
1.45 - Active
1.55 - Very Active

Select a weight loss goal that is reasonable, usually the 1 lb weekly unless you have more than 60 lbs to lose.

Now you have a goal eating level correct for you, based on actual results. No need for months of testing to discover this after a 6-12 month plateau of no weight loss later.

Now log your workouts and eat back those calories, minus 20%.

If you do intend to keep the exercise routine you were already doing during that discovery, then take that avg eaten with no weight change as your TDEE.
Again find the BMR and activity factor, because as weight drops you'll need that again.

Manually set your goal to that TDEE - 20% deficit, and eat that daily. Do NOT log exercise since you already were doing it and it's included.

First method MFP will adjust goals as weight drops.
Second method you'll need to wait until 5 lbs dropped, look at new BMR, multiply out with your personal activity factor for new TDEE, and take 20% off again, and manually change goal.

Excellent chance to set it all up based on your given results already. You might enter some more sample days to really try to nail an decent estimate.

michellekicks

^ Listen to Heybales. He's smart.

Oishii

hi!

I pretty new and I thought that it would be interesting to have a look at how many calories I was eating in an average day. I was maintaing my weight with small fluctuations i would go between 66-69 kg and I was thinking that I was eating ok but with a daily treat muffin etc but often with more than 1 treat in a day. It worked out to be between around 2600-3000 calories!!

Anyone else entered what they used to eat into MFP?

If you were maintaining at that intake, you probably were 'eating ok'. The problem for me is when the 3000kcal days outnumber the 2600kcal days, I suspect.

I've never worked out a 'before' day because I know what I've changed. I used to eat far too Little at mealtimes and then binge on whole tubs of Ben &Jerry's and not gain! I dropped from 70kg-60kg rapidly by cutting out the snacks, then switched to mfp to try to slow down, which didn't work because I had the wrong data.

You have the data, so as heybales explained, you really are ahead of the game!

Calliope610

I did (see my dairy for Feb 1) and logged a "hypothetical" day >>2900+ calories. And I thought I was fat b/c I have "big bones".

lyoill

Thank you so much Haybales!

I was wondering how I could use that info and it did make me question whether my 1300 calories was infact correct. I wasn't exercising and I'm still not but I'm planning in starting in a few weeks and build up.

Im a bit lost though in working out how many calories I should look at eating and was wondering if you could help.

MFP has my BMR at 1,346
and if my rough daily intake before was say 2600.

I divided them and got 1.93 which didn't fit onto the activity chart.

Bermudabarbie

I did (see my dairy for Feb 1) and logged a "hypothetical" day >>2900+ calories. And I thought I was fat b/c I have "big bones".

Yes, the "big bone" thing. I bought into that for years! I've been on MFP for over 3 years. I still log daily. It's the heart of this program.

I don't log every single calorie as I once did. Will add an occasional cookie or something without logging it. But for the most part, I still log and stay close to my maintenance calories. The program works, but you've got to work it.

cwolfman13

What heybales said...and mrsbigmack

floop1207

yes, i've logged a typical 'before' day and yes it was more than 1200 calories but not above 2000 unless i went out to a restaurant (maybe once every 6 weeks or so). i think my problem is primarily that i used to be pretty active but CFS and fibromyalgia have changed that - and its taken me over 2 years to realise that i needed to cut back my calorie intake accordingly.

lyoill

If you were maintaining at that intake, you probably were 'eating ok'. The problem for me is when the 3000kcal days outnumber the 2600kcal days, I suspect.

I've never worked out a 'before' day because I know what I've changed. I used to eat far too Little at mealtimes and then binge on whole tubs of Ben &Jerry's and not gain! I dropped from 70kg-60kg rapidly by cutting out the snacks, then switched to mfp to try to slow down, which didn't work because I had the wrong data.

You have the data, so as heybales explained, you really are ahead of the game!

I tend to eat the same things so it was quiet easy to enter it into MFP as a days intake to have a look. There were days where I would go to town with stress eating and inhale more like huge bowls of cereal or some extra chocolate (don't really like chocolate that much) As I'm not able to weigh what I ate it is only a rough quess but it is good to know roughly what I was eating calories wise.
I just need to try and work out what I should be eating calorie wise now.

toofatnomore

I'm a pretty big guy with an appetite and manager food service.
I have entered "mock" meals of what I used to eat and 4000 a day happened all the time.
Put 3 eggs covered in cheese, a bagel, 12 oz of home fries, then for lunch, a deep fried chicken sandwich with mayo, cheese and a pile of potato salad, then a couple candy bars mid day, then a 16 oz ribeye, double mashed, no veg and 3 or 4 heinekens in...Sickening...I disgust myself.
No wonder this stuff is dropping off at my current intake. I actually feel cleaner and more energetic at under 2000 cals that I thought possible.

lyoill

Quick - you have the best possible setup for continued success, possibly. Very rarely does anyone do this. You know what your maintenance is before starting a diet.

So many people see 1200 calories recommended (not realizing that is recommended as minimum for sedentary females), and then think that 1500 sounds oh so high of calories to eat, and surely they will gain weight ....

Have you changed your exercise routine since eating at that level?
Or was that pretty much non-exercise level, and you will start now?

Because take that avg eating level, divided by the BMR that MFP is using for you (Apps - BMR Calc).

That is your activity factor for whatever level of activity you did.

If no exercise at all, you have what MFP calls maintenance, no exercise included.
If that includes exercise you intend to keep doing, that is called TDEE, which includes exercise.

If the former, select the Activity Level that is closest to that multiplier.
1.25 - Sedentary
1.35 - Lightly Active
1.45 - Active
1.55 - Very Active

Select a weight loss goal that is reasonable, usually the 1 lb weekly unless you have more than 60 lbs to lose.

Now you have a goal eating level correct for you, based on actual results. No need for months of testing to discover this after a 6-12 month plateau of no weight loss later.

Now log your workouts and eat back those calories, minus 20%.

If you do intend to keep the exercise routine you were already doing during that discovery, then take that avg eaten with no weight change as your TDEE.
Again find the BMR and activity factor, because as weight drops you'll need that again.

Manually set your goal to that TDEE - 20% deficit, and eat that daily. Do NOT log exercise since you already were doing it and it's included.

First method MFP will adjust goals as weight drops.
Second method you'll need to wait until 5 lbs dropped, look at new BMR, multiply out with your personal activity factor for new TDEE, and take 20% off again, and manually change goal.

Excellent chance to set it all up based on your given results already. You might enter some more sample days to really try to nail an decent estimate.

I think that I have worked it out but it doesn't seem right.
is it TDEE (no exercise as I wasn't doing any) 2600 -20%. = 1820

are you thinking that I would need to be eating the 1820 instead of the 1300calories? isn't that a lot for someone who isn't exercising like mad and is 41 and 164 cm tall wanting to go from 68 kg to 58 kg?

I will totally go with what you think and give it a go, but I just wanted to know if this is what you are suggesting would right for me.

cheers

Calliope610

Quick - you have the best possible setup for continued success, possibly. Very rarely does anyone do this. You know what your maintenance is before starting a diet.

So many people see 1200 calories recommended (not realizing that is recommended as minimum for sedentary females), and then think that 1500 sounds oh so high of calories to eat, and surely they will gain weight ....

Have you changed your exercise routine since eating at that level?
Or was that pretty much non-exercise level, and you will start now?

Because take that avg eating level, divided by the BMR that MFP is using for you (Apps - BMR Calc).

That is your activity factor for whatever level of activity you did.

If no exercise at all, you have what MFP calls maintenance, no exercise included.
If that includes exercise you intend to keep doing, that is called TDEE, which includes exercise.

If the former, select the Activity Level that is closest to that multiplier.
1.25 - Sedentary
1.35 - Lightly Active
1.45 - Active
1.55 - Very Active

Select a weight loss goal that is reasonable, usually the 1 lb weekly unless you have more than 60 lbs to lose.

Now you have a goal eating level correct for you, based on actual results. No need for months of testing to discover this after a 6-12 month plateau of no weight loss later.

Now log your workouts and eat back those calories, minus 20%.

If you do intend to keep the exercise routine you were already doing during that discovery, then take that avg eaten with no weight change as your TDEE.
Again find the BMR and activity factor, because as weight drops you'll need that again.

Manually set your goal to that TDEE - 20% deficit, and eat that daily. Do NOT log exercise since you already were doing it and it's included.

First method MFP will adjust goals as weight drops.
Second method you'll need to wait until 5 lbs dropped, look at new BMR, multiply out with your personal activity factor for new TDEE, and take 20% off again, and manually change goal.

Excellent chance to set it all up based on your given results already. You might enter some more sample days to really try to nail an decent estimate.

I think that I have worked it out but it doesn't seem right.
is it TDEE (no exercise as I wasn't doing any) 2600 -20%. = 1820

are you thinking that I would need to be eating the 1820 instead of the 1300calories? isn't that a lot for someone who isn't exercising like mad and is 41 and 164 cm tall wanting to go from 68 kg to 58 kg?

I will totally go with what you think and give it a go, but I just wanted to know if this is what you are suggesting would right for me.

cheers

How do you come about with TDEE of 2600 cals? Try theses TDEE/BMR calculators >>

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

FearlessRobb

hi!

I pretty new and I thought that it would be interesting to have a look at how many calories I was eating in an average day. I was maintaing my weight with small fluctuations i would go between 66-69 kg and I was thinking that I was eating ok but with a daily treat muffin etc but often with more than 1 treat in a day. It worked out to be between around 2600-3000 calories!!

Anyone else entered what they used to eat into MFP?

yes was around 5000-8000 calories a day lmao

lindustum

I didn't really overeat, I was just not eating healthily. Starving myself as some form of reward had become the norm for me, and I joined MFP because I felt that in a few years time I would have developed some kind of eating disorder. I learnt about all the "bad food" myths and have started to enjoy real milk, eggs and bananas again- all things I didn't eat because they "made you fat". Instead, I had a bag of doritos :glasses: To this day I cannot believe that I followed that retarded logic for a good decade.

sharonfoustmills

yep, I did, and I was probably eating 5500-6000 a day, possibly more sometimes! so I was shocked to find that 1500 calories a day can fill me up, but it does, I never feel hungry- it is just the difference good food vs. junk food makes

mrrongilbert

It really is amazing, eyeopening and more than a little sad in my experience. I knew that I was over eating, just really never put the data in front of me. I feel empowered and I am just getting started. One thing that I really like is the ability to make better choices keeping an overall goal in mind.

highervibes

I haven't logged an entire day, but I would guess I could easily put back 3000-4000 on any given day. I remember getting Tim Horton's and eating 3 doughnuts, or sugar cruissants. Nutella and peanut butter, tons of pizza, like easily 6 pieces.... it was actually really scary to think about where I would end up had I not found this place.

lyoill

Quick - you have the best possible setup for continued success, possibly. Very rarely does anyone do this. You know what your maintenance is before starting a diet.

So many people see 1200 calories recommended (not realizing that is recommended as minimum for sedentary females), and then think that 1500 sounds oh so high of calories to eat, and surely they will gain weight ....

Have you changed your exercise routine since eating at that level?
Or was that pretty much non-exercise level, and you will start now?

Because take that avg eating level, divided by the BMR that MFP is using for you (Apps - BMR Calc).

That is your activity factor for whatever level of activity you did.

If no exercise at all, you have what MFP calls maintenance, no exercise included.
If that includes exercise you intend to keep doing, that is called TDEE, which includes exercise.

If the former, select the Activity Level that is closest to that multiplier.
1.25 - Sedentary
1.35 - Lightly Active
1.45 - Active
1.55 - Very Active

Select a weight loss goal that is reasonable, usually the 1 lb weekly unless you have more than 60 lbs to lose.

Now you have a goal eating level correct for you, based on actual results. No need for months of testing to discover this after a 6-12 month plateau of no weight loss later.

Now log your workouts and eat back those calories, minus 20%.

If you do intend to keep the exercise routine you were already doing during that discovery, then take that avg eaten with no weight change as your TDEE.
Again find the BMR and activity factor, because as weight drops you'll need that again.

Manually set your goal to that TDEE - 20% deficit, and eat that daily. Do NOT log exercise since you already were doing it and it's included.

First method MFP will adjust goals as weight drops.
Second method you'll need to wait until 5 lbs dropped, look at new BMR, multiply out with your personal activity factor for new TDEE, and take 20% off again, and manually change goal.

Excellent chance to set it all up based on your given results already. You might enter some more sample days to really try to nail an decent estimate.

I think that I have worked it out but it doesn't seem right.
is it TDEE (no exercise as I wasn't doing any) 2600 -20%. = 1820

are you thinking that I would need to be eating the 1820 instead of the 1300calories? isn't that a lot for someone who isn't exercising like mad and is 41 and 164 cm tall wanting to go from 68 kg to 58 kg?

I will totally go with what you think and give it a go, but I just wanted to know if this is what you are suggesting would right for me.

cheers

How do you come about with TDEE of 2600 cals? Try theses TDEE/BMR calculators >>

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

I was wondering if that's what he meant the calculation to look like based on the fact that I was maintaining my weight at 2600?

BluejayNY

When you eat out 5 times a week and have a home made milk shake after dinner every day its not hard to gain weight. I have no clue what I was eating caloric wise, but it had to be really high.