Maintenance calories question

FitnessFreak1821

Ok so I workout 30-45 minutes 3- 4 times a week. Odd time I go to 5 days.
When figuring out my maintenance cals as I lose weight. I use this calculator:
https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?ctype=standard&cage=33&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=5.5&cpound=145.8&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&cactivity=1.55&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&printit=0&x=99&y=27

I just realized im in-between exercise to intense workout level lately. If i choose just "excercise," the description only matches because i do only hit 30-35 mark minium but other half of the week im 40 + mins of work out a day. So what work out intensity should I choose to calculate a good estimate? Or should I just say screw the calculator and use 2000 cals for my maintenance?

gpanda103

I mean I would just set it to what you think best applies to you, eat at that amount for a few weeks, and adjust from there in +/-100 calorie increments. That is really the only way to figure out what your maintenance is

spiriteagle99

Since my exercise varies over the week, I prefer to log my exercise separately rather than use TDEE. MFP gives me 1400 base calories (though I actually use 1600 since I burn a bit hot) and then I enter the exercise I do on the days I do it. My walks vary from 2.5-5 miles and my runs from 5-10. Rest days may be just walking or I may do an hour on the bike or just yoga. A TDEE calculator wouldn't work for me since some days are easy, some moderate and some very active.

AnnPT77

I see from your profile that you've been on MFP for a while. If you have some recent period of reasonably-accurate logging and the scale results, that's the best and most accurate way to get a starting estimate for maintenance. (It can still be a little off - likely low - if you're one of the folks who sees some adaptive thermogenesis reverse when you increase calories, but that's easy to see and certainly easy to live with. 😉)

FWIW, There's a thread over in the Goal: Maintaining Weight part of the MFP Community that describes that (and other methods of figuring out maintenance calories) in more detail:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10638211/how-to-find-your-maintenance-calorie-level/p1

As an aside, I personally don't like the calculator.net TDEE estimator very much. I think Sailrabbit** is more helpful, because it has more levels, and better descriptions of each, plus lets you compare multiple research-based estimating formulas. (That does make the user interface kind of complicated/scary on first glance, though: Take a deep breath, figure it out, it's worth the effort.)

**https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

Even better is MFP user @heybales "Just TDEE Please" spreadsheet, IMO, if you're willing to trust this type of link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G7FgNzPq3v5WMjDtH0n93LXSMRY_hjmzNTMJb3aZSxM/edit?usp=sharing

sijomial

Use your recent food intake and weight loss data and not what is a pretty basic TDEE calculator for a decent initial stab at maintenance calories.

westrich20940

I'd say do whatever works best for you. When I started in maintenance I zig-zagged. Because I ate my maintenance level (sedentary...bc I have a desk job and when I am at home and largely sedentary - I was continuing to log my intentional workout calorie burn on MFP so then I'd get those calories back) on days I didn't run/hike.

That was manageable for a while. But my workouts progressed past the point where it was manageable to realistically eat back what I burned (my long run is 1.5 hrs right now and I will burn like ~700 calories). That's not a realistic thing for me to do with food. So I just calculated my TDEE with the amount of activity I engage in (pick whichever one sounds like the best fit and adjust from there if needed) and now eat a consistent level of calories per day instead of zig-zagging.

FitnessFreak1821

Thanks everyone for the information 😊