WWYD daily calorie

polvo71

I need to get serious about tracking because what I’m doing at this stage of my life isn’t working. To that end, I just want to gut check my daily calorie goal. Here are stats:
Female 52
RMR 1,556 based on DexaBody scan
Light daily activity (ex. walking 50 min)
Need to lose 60 pounds
Goal -1 to 1.5 per week.
Daily calorie goal?

Lietchi

Myfitnesspal has a perfectly good calculator 😉
Go to the goal setup, enter your personal stats and choose an activity level that only reflects daily life (not exercise) and you'll get a calorie goal. Then enter your exercise on days when you exercise to add calories to your goal.

And then follow that for 6 to 8 weeks (or 2 menstrual cycles if applicable) and adjust if necessary.
This second step is actually universal, because no matter what the source of your calorie goal is, it may or may not be right for you as an individual. So comparing actual weight-loss with predicted weight-loss is always a good idea and the best way to determine the correct calorie goal.
(Use 3500 kcal as the deficit you need to lose a lb of bodyfat for these calculations)

springlering62

Since you asked what would I do….

Started at 56, 5’7”, lost 97, overshot badly, have put 18 back on, but with the caveat that I lift (piddly *kitten* weight but I do lift) so a lot of that is muscle weight.

If it were me, knowing what I know now, I’d shoot for 3/4 to 1 pound a week.

Loose rule of thumb is that a pound is 3500 calories. 3500 divided by seven days in a week is 500 calories a day deficit to lose a pound a week.

There is NO WAY I could survive on your 1556 - 500 deficit. That would leave only 1056 calories. At no time, including staring as a couch potato, did I ever go under 1470, I still lost weight, and that was even increasing to 1700+ three months in.

You’re not going to burn nearly as many calories during your walks as you think. Trust me. I stupidly thought doing similar walks was equal to a family pack of Oreos or half a key lime pie and would blithely come home from my walk and tuck in, thinking that the walk and the sweets would cancel one another out. Nope.

So my next suggestion would be to invest in a fitness tracker. It wasn’t til I got minr that the bulb went off in my head that the walk didn’t even cancel out a 2-cookie serving of Oreos. 🤦🏻‍♀️

So my next suggestion would be, amp up your excercise, wither in frequency or intensity, or cut planned loss down to 3/4 or half a pound a week.

I found I actually lost much faster than that, though, simply by now paying attention to nutrition and calories (both quantity and quality) in.

I’d also suggest doing weight training, whether with a personal trainer (a whole ‘nother discussion), or in a cardio muscle class. Don’t be shy. Mine is populated by older women and most use little hand weights, but I can see the improvement in many of these ladies’ shapes and muscles. My daughter goes to a huge gym, and her classes have young college age through late 70’s sharing classes. There’s no judgement. You do what you can do.

Read these boards religiously and learn. Start with the sticky threads at the top of each board. They’ve been out there because they were particularly helpful.

Ask questions. Find yourself support team. I did not find support IRL. I’m afraid I found jealousy, and the bitter “well it’s easy for you” type comments. How so? Even some family members may resent your changes. Ask your doctor for help. Seek a dietician. Join a gym, or a dance studio
Or a pool or whatever grabs your fancy. Above all? Make it FUN.

And don’t go too fast or you’ll rack it all up again. It’s so much better to spend a year losing 26 pounds and still have it off, than trying to lose it like a jackrabbit and be back in six smooths complaining you already put it back on. IOW, learn new habits you can carry into maintenance.

Lietchi

springlering62 wrote: »

There is NO WAY I could survive on your 1556 - 500 deficit. That would leave only 1056 calories. At no time, including staring as a couch potato, did I ever go under 1470, I still lost weight, and that was even increasing to 1700+ three months in.

Sorry for nitpicking but OP didn't mention 1556 calories as TDEE, she mentioned it as her RMR according to her DEXA scan.

polvo71

Yes, I’m just trying to gut check the daily calories. I’ve been on and off MFP for 10 years or more. I’m a habitual starter. But now postmenopausal and despite all that I do for health and fitness I’m still struggling. I swim 50 laps 3x a week, lift serious weights at least once a week. I broke my finger in a fall last weekend so those activities will be on hold. My diet is very good (whole foods, limit red meat, veg forward, cook most meals, portions totally appropriate). SO, what I have left is to track everything and see what I’m doing wrong or what adjustments I need to make for me. I enjoy wine and vodka club soda on the weekends so I’m cutting that out to see if it makes a difference.
Anyway, back to my original question…I know that MFP sets the calorie goal and I’m following that. I just wanted to know what dedicated trackers would shoot for. And yes, 1556 is my RMR. I’m 5’4 and 200 pounds to add some more data points.

Lietchi

I'm 5ft5 and 41, and lost weight eating 1700kcal + my fitness tracker adjustments (starting at just over 200lbs, down to below 140lbs - my total calorie goal including fitness tracker adjustment didn't change much because I got more active as I lost weight. )

I would still say that your own data is way more relevant than any number any of us can give you, we all have our own metabolism that does or does not conform to the statistical averages MFP uses to calculate the calorie goal.

springlering62

Lietchi wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

There is NO WAY I could survive on your 1556 - 500 deficit. That would leave only 1056 calories. At no time, including staring as a couch potato, did I ever go under 1470, I still lost weight, and that was even increasing to 1700+ three months in.

Sorry for nitpicking but OP didn't mention 1556 calories as TDEE, she mentioned it as her RMR according to her DEXA scan.

Nitpick away! 😚

yirara

springlering62 wrote: »

Lietchi wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

There is NO WAY I could survive on your 1556 - 500 deficit. That would leave only 1056 calories. At no time, including staring as a couch potato, did I ever go under 1470, I still lost weight, and that was even increasing to 1700+ three months in.

Sorry for nitpicking but OP didn't mention 1556 calories as TDEE, she mentioned it as her RMR according to her DEXA scan.

Nitpick away! 😚

Also totally love it when Lietchi nitpicks ❤️❤️

cmriverside

Again, as stated above:

Set your GOALS to "Lose 1 pound per week." I'd start with the "Lightly Active" setting in the activity portion.

Then add in your exercise as you do it, the swimming and the long (hour or more) walks. Eat a bit more to fuel that. Not 1000 calories more, but a reasonable amount like 200-400 calories on exercise days.

Log your food as accurately as you can.

Do that for 4-6 weeks. Good data makes good experiments. We all have to run our own personal data-collection experiment. Any calculator will be ONLY a starting point. We adjust after we collect a good trending data set over a period of time.

mtaratoot

polvo71 wrote: »

I’ve been on and off MFP for 10 years or more. I’m a habitual starter.

Well this could explain a lot. You have to STICK TO IT or it doesn't work.