Help with figuring out a good calorie deficient.

FirecrackerJess

Ok so I have been stuck at my current wait for some weeks now. I mentioned in a status on my profile page that MFP LOWERED my calories when updating my weight. But some people said that I may not be eating enough, as mentioned in another thread in a group I am part of. Someone said that MFP maybe is not giving me a accurate number. Some said I try and figure out calorie numbers on another site, so I did a few calculators.

One TDEE at fitnessfrog.com and with light excessive it says 2645,

http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/calorie_calculator.asp says with light activity 2651,

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm says 2684.

Then the one at caloriecount.about.com says "You should consume about 1,449 calories a day to reach your goal weight of 150 lbs . This is at a reasonable weight loss average of 1.5 lbs per week, which should be reached by February 19, 2015" Thats depressing, over a year?? That one says thats a deficiency of losing 1.5lbs a week. I want to do 2 lbs a week.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calorie-calculator says at Somewhat active I need 2100 to maintain. I dont want to maintain..

So with all that being said, what should I aim for then?

Now with all of those except one I did light activity. One I did no activity.

But I do about 65 minutes about 5 times a week at a elliptical, and I've been doing Jillian Michaels 30 day shred for 6 days now. Aside from that, I am usually doing homework sitting down, and not much other activity.

This may pick up middle of the month since I am enrolled for a late start class that requires working out at the gym, meaning I will have to work out a certain number of times to pass the class. But for now, the above is accurate.

So any advice, suggestions on what I should be aiming for, is appreciated.

And I do weight and measure everything I eat.

Thanks.

FirecrackerJess

I am also thinking of taking a week off from the gym, and just do Jillian Michaels, since middle of Oct my class starts and I'll have to pick it up again. But I don't want to try and figure out this calorie number with the extra 500-750 calories I usually lose at the gym.

walleymama

I would start with a TDEE assumption somewhere in the middle of your estimates from the calculators. Let's say about 2150. To lose weight you should take in about TDEE minus 20% which would mean you should aim for a total caloric goal of around 1720. If you want to lose a lot of weight (your ticker says 125 lbs) you can probably go down to TDEE - 25%, or about 1612. This method works well if you do the same amount of exercise regularly.

I myself prefer the MFP method, which is to determine your NEAT (BMR plus calories for everything except exercise) and then eat back most of your exercise calories. This allows you to easily figure out your daily goal based on how much exercise you did that day. And it allows you to "reward" yourself for extra exercise by eating more that day. In your case, you would use MFP to calculate your net goal based on light or sedentary activity level. The net goal means that you get credit for exercise and can eat more total calories that day.

Do this for about 2 or 3 weeks. Track your daily caloric intake, daily exercise burn, and daily weight. When you have enough data, figure out your total caloric deficit over that period of time, divide by 3500, and that will tell you how much weight you SHOULD have lost over that period of time. Compare that to how much weight you have actually lost. If the numbers don't match, and assuming you are accurately tracking food and exercise, you can adjust the TDEE or NEAT to determine what your actual values are.

And yes, it takes time. But if you go too fast you will not make it to the finish line. Better to take it slow and do it for life than go too fast, burn out, and gain it all back.

elyelyse

According to your ticker you are looking to lose about 125 pounds...yes, over a year sounds about right. It took me about a year to lose the first hundred...and I consider that very fast. My Dr was impressed with this rate...she had a huge smile on her face every time i weighed in.

The smaller you get, the fewer calories you burn each day, so I'm eating at a smaller deficit that I did when I was 300 pounds. I actually expect it to take me another year to lose the final 40ish that I want to lose.

Don't let this discourage you!! It took a lot longer for you to gain that weight.

ETA: you don't have to wait a year to see results or feel better though, that will start immediately!

cdahl383

I'd take an average of what the calculators are saying and start from there. You can then adjust from there after a few weeks of weighing yourself. It took me about 2-3 weeks to start losing weight even though I started eating less and exercising more right off the bat. Drinking more water each day also helps to keep water weight off of you.

You'll probably lose more at first but once you get closer to your goal 1 lb per week is probably better since it will be easier to maintain that rate of loss.

FirecrackerJess

I would start with a TDEE assumption somewhere in the middle of your estimates from the calculators. Let's say about 2150. To lose weight you should take in about TDEE minus 20% which would mean you should aim for a total caloric goal of around 1720. If you want to lose a lot of weight (your ticker says 125 lbs) you can probably go down to TDEE - 25%, or about 1612. This method works well if you do the same amount of exercise regularly.

I myself prefer the MFP method, which is to determine your NEAT (BMR plus calories for everything except exercise) and then eat back most of your exercise calories. This allows you to easily figure out your daily goal based on how much exercise you did that day. And it allows you to "reward" yourself for extra exercise by eating more that day. In your case, you would use MFP to calculate your net goal based on light or sedentary activity level. The net goal means that you get credit for exercise and can eat more total calories that day.

Do this for about 2 or 3 weeks. Track your daily caloric intake, daily exercise burn, and daily weight. When you have enough data, figure out your total caloric deficit over that period of time, divide by 3500, and that will tell you how much weight you SHOULD have lost over that period of time. Compare that to how much weight you have actually lost. If the numbers don't match, and assuming you are accurately tracking food and exercise, you can adjust the TDEE or NEAT to determine what your actual values are.

And yes, it takes time. But if you go too fast you will not make it to the finish line. Better to take it slow and do it for life than go too fast, burn out, and gain it all back.

Ok sorry, I'm not totally following here. If I go the TDEE method, and adjust my MFP app to show 1620 calories, being it is the TDEE method, even if you exercise you do NOT eat back the calories? I'm lost on when you would eat the calories back?

And thank you to everyone helping and suggesting things. It is very confusing.

But bottom line either TDEE of MFP I should use about the average? Which according to all the calculators is around 1650 give or take. Am I right?

pbrahan

My opinion won't be a popular one, but I'll let my stats speak for themselves (I'm also a Registered Nurse, for what it's worth).

I'd calculate your BMR and see what your body needs in calories in one day of rest & no exercise. Set your daily calorie goal about 300-400 below this number and accept that your weight loss will be slow, steady, and healthy. Exercise when you want to and enter those calories in manually in your diary. Eat them back if you're hungry. Don't if you're not.

That's my opinion and my personal experience has been a successful one. I exercise regularly and monitor my body fat vs lean mass percentages with occasional dexa scans.

Good luck

Paula

bridgie101

I can't see your diary, but I do know that if you have that much to lose you are able to lose it faster than a pound and a half a week.

The fatter one is, the greater the fat to muscle ratio of loss is - the body doesn't have to worry about losing fat, so it doesn't.

All your tdee's are saying about the same thing, so that's great. If you are not active when you're not at the gym, you probably need to shift that activity level down to 'not very.' that's your job activity level, not including exercise. when you log your exercise it'll give you calories to eat back for that.

So with a tdee of around 2600 and over 100lb to lose, just go for it. a straightforward 1200 cal a day blitz, eating back your exercise calories. That gives you about a 1500 cal a day deficit, which is... oh. sad. It's 1.5lb a week which you thought was too slow.

Hmm. I don't see how you can do it any other way. You're just going to have to deal with the 1.5lb loss a week. I would take heart out of the fact that you'll feel a lot slimmer fairly soon. I've only lost 5kg and I feel slimmer! And you're doing a ton of fitness stuff. Maybe only eat back half your exercise calories and see if you can do it all a little faster.

And take a multivitamin.

gigglesinthesun

My opinion won't be a popular one, but I'll let my stats speak for themselves (I'm also a Registered Nurse, for what it's worth).

I'd calculate your BMR and see what your body needs in calories in one day of rest & no exercise. Set your daily calorie goal about 300-400 below this number and accept that your weight loss will be slow, steady, and healthy. Exercise when you want to and enter those calories in manually in your diary. Eat them back if you're hungry. Don't if you're not.

That's my opinion and my personal experience has been a successful one. I exercise regularly and monitor my body fat vs lean mass percentages with occasional dexa scans.

Good luck

Paula

well, my BMR is around 1241 (yes I am short), so dear registered nurse, you would suggest that in order to lose weight I should go 300 - 400 calories below that??? That would mean I should eat anywhere between 841 and 941 calories ... hmmm ... wouldn't that be against medical recommendations and unadvisable due to the fact that I'd be unlikely to get all the nutrients I need, and also I'd be starving, quite literally actually, probably chewing on my hand kinda starving

OP: eat which ever number you choose for 4-6 weeks. If you lose weight at a steady rate, fine. If you don't, you are eating too much, so try a lower number. Make sure you weigh everything (measure liquids) so your calorie counter is actually accurate. If you choose the TDEE method don't eat your exercise calories. Good luck :-)

cdahl383

Most calculators out there will get you a rough idea of what you need to maintain your current weight. Take an average of a few of them, deduct 20% from that number, eat that many calories per day for a week or two, weigh yourself, see where you stand, and adjust from there.

I dont worry about exercise calories burned and all that. I just figure out my maintenance, deduct 20% from that, and eat that along with a higher protein intake and it seems to keep me full every day regardless if I exercise or not and I continue to lose weight at 1-2 lbs per week. If you're eating more foods like fruits and vegetables, they'll keep you full longer with less calories due to all the fiber and water content.

lilacinfinity

I personally prefer this calculator http://calorieline.com/tools/tdee

It doesn't use the "activity factors" (and has a good explanation why) and has a much broader choice of options.
On the days I don't exercise, but go to work and do general household stuff I'm a
Work: Moderate manual labor (sweeping, mopping) 4 hours each day, and on feet for another 4 hrs each day, 5 days weekly.
Exercise: none.
Which falls precisely nowhere in the traditional activity factors

FirecrackerJess

I am really I guess struggling understanding how the TDEE works vs the NEAT.

My stats are as follows:

258 lbs
5' 1" (short I know)
29 years old.

Aside from when I go to the gym for about an hour a day about 4-5 times a week and now the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout, I am not very active.

My average BMR using online calculators is about 1900.
My average TDEE with little or no exercise seems to be about 2100.
My average TDEE with little to more exercise seems to be 2650.

If someone can help break each method down for me, using those, I'd appreciate it.

With keeping in mind a loss of 1.5-2 lbs a week (I'd be happy honestly seeing a loss of 1 lb but pushing for 1.5-2 lbs would be my goal).

IF which I probably do not, understand a bit of what is saying, if I do the TDEE method, with the little or more exercise, I should subtract 1000 if going for the 2 lbs a week? Which would be 1650 and NOT eat any burned calories back? Correct?

IF with little to NO exercise, it would be 1100? BUT that don't seem right.

IF BMR that would be the NEAT method yes? Subtracting 1000 don't seem right.. so yeah I am a bit confused...

FirecrackerJess

If according to the above data, set my MFP goal to 1550-1600 would I eat back exercise calories or not? I'm not sure.

bridgie101

My opinion won't be a popular one, but I'll let my stats speak for themselves (I'm also a Registered Nurse, for what it's worth).

I'd calculate your BMR and see what your body needs in calories in one day of rest & no exercise. Set your daily calorie goal about 300-400 below this number and accept that your weight loss will be slow, steady, and healthy. Exercise when you want to and enter those calories in manually in your diary. Eat them back if you're hungry. Don't if you're not.

That's my opinion and my personal experience has been a successful one. I exercise regularly and monitor my body fat vs lean mass percentages with occasional dexa scans.

Good luck

Paula

well, my BMR is around 1241 (yes I am short), so dear registered nurse, you would suggest that in order to lose weight I should go 300 - 400 calories below that??? That would mean I should eat anywhere between 841 and 941 calories ... hmmm ... wouldn't that be against medical recommendations and unadvisable due to the fact that I'd be unlikely to get all the nutrients I need, and also I'd be starving, quite literally actually, probably chewing on my hand kinda starving

OP: eat which ever number you choose for 4-6 weeks. If you lose weight at a steady rate, fine. If you don't, you are eating too much, so try a lower number. Make sure you weigh everything (measure liquids) so your calorie counter is actually accurate. If you choose the TDEE method don't eat your exercise calories. Good luck :-)

Calm down she wasn't talking to you, was she.

I'm eating less than my BMI. Fat people's bmis are bigger than yours.

SuperCrsa

If according to the above data, set my MFP goal to 1550-1600 would I eat back exercise calories or not? I'm not sure.

If you work out your TDEE with the exercise you are doing you do not eat back those calories because it is already included in your TDEE.

I dont trust MFP calories burned enough to eat them back.
So I do 4 weight training sessions a week, and used that as my exercise when calculating my TDEE.

bridgie101

I am really I guess struggling understanding how the TDEE works vs the NEAT.

My stats are as follows:

258 lbs
5' 1" (short I know)
29 years old.

Aside from when I go to the gym for about an hour a day about 4-5 times a week and now the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout, I am not very active.

My average BMR using online calculators is about 1900.
My average TDEE with little or no exercise seems to be about 2100.
My average TDEE with little to more exercise seems to be 2650.

If someone can help break each method down for me, using those, I'd appreciate it.

With keeping in mind a loss of 1.5-2 lbs a week (I'd be happy honestly seeing a loss of 1 lb but pushing for 1.5-2 lbs would be my goal).

IF which I probably do not, understand a bit of what is saying, if I do the TDEE method, with the little or more exercise, I should subtract 1000 if going for the 2 lbs a week? Which would be 1650 and NOT eat any burned calories back? Correct?

IF with little to NO exercise, it would be 1100? BUT that don't seem right.

IF BMR that would be the NEAT method yes? Subtracting 1000 don't seem right.. so yeah I am a bit confused...

People are coming at you with all different kinds of advice from where they're operating from, and it's confusing you.

1. the tdee method.

this calculates all the calories, including exercise calories (spreading out your exercise over the week) to one number that takes into account that you exercised on thursday but not friday or whatever - sharing them out.

It then has rules like 'reduce this number by 15%' or 'to be extreme reduce this number by 25%'

It's slow. It's also probably very good for people who are already pretty thin, and who therefore can't lose fast.

2. The MFP method.

The mfp method works out how much your daily requirement is, except for exercise. So to live your normal life, go to work, come home, do the dishes... whatever. That's all calculated in except for any extra exercise you do.

You then tell MFP how much weight you want to lose per week.

It will then take away 500cals a day per pound that you say you want to lose per week.

It will not ever give you a number below 1200 because that's considered the minimum necessary to gain good nutrition. IE vitamins, minerals, etc. That's the reason there's a 1200 cal bottom line.

..............................

So where do you fit in all this? Wherever you like. People on here will talk about base metabolic rates and say you shouldn't go below them. They will tell you that you won't lose weight if you go below them - which makes them such an anomaly that they deserve to be dissected for science. That way when they discover what it is they can feed it to the starving ethiopians in Africa who don't appear to be plateauing due to not enough calories.

You will hear sooo much bull**** on here and you will have to make your own decision. You will hear about starvation modes and muscle loss and muscle gain.

You have to wade your way through it. You have to choose your own way and just go with it and ignore the 50% who will holler at you that you're doing it wrong.

I'm on a 1200 cal a day blitz. I've lost 5kg in 3 weeks. Having said that, I'm having the severe munchies this week. I have a cold. Maybe that's why. Or maybe 1200 was too low for me. I'll have to revisit it and maybe up it a couple of hundred cals a day.

Whatever you choose to do is not set in stone, it's just a work in progress, an exploration. A voyage of discovery. yanno!? Just try to ignore all those OCD people who have to have five thousand mathematical equations before they can eat one piece of fruit - and just give it a go.

Your body is very resilient. It is very strong. Even if you do something it doesn't much like, you can always fix it later. The important thing is to just jump in and get your feet wet.

kirkor

"This is at a reasonable weight loss average of 1.5 lbs per week, which should be reached by February 19, 2015" Thats depressing, over a year??

258 lbs
5' 1" (short I know)
29 years old.

You didn't get this way in over a year, so it's going to take more than a year to reverse the damage.

That one says thats a deficiency of losing 1.5lbs a week. I want to do 2 lbs a week.

Understandable that you want to lose weight more quickly, but it's also a lot easier to burn out on a hard cut.
You may be able to achieve 2lbs/wk loss at first, but the rate of your loss will slow down as you continue.

DiKoehler

this site looks really good but a lot more complicated.

DiKoehler

I hope you are measuring yourself weekly. Plateaus are the very hardest. Best is to just cut back about 100 calories a day (weekly) either by cutting what you eat or adding exercise until you start to lose again. Just being a bit more active also helps. There are lots of sitting exercises for desk bound that you can do to wiggle off a few more calories. If you go slowly you will also tone up better and more likely keep the weight off.

FirecrackerJess

I want to thank everyone in here for suggesting and replying. I looked at MFP goal settings again and decided to change the 2 lb a week to 1.5 because I've certainly not been losing 2 lb a week. So I think I'm going to try and stick with what MFP says until I at least understand a bit more.

It's listing me with a 1.5lb a week goal, 1540 calories. (Which exercise calories should be counted here being that its the MFP setup).

I will try this out for a couple of weeks and see if anything changes.

I just started to measure (best as I can since never done it before) a couple days ago.

Again thank you all.

bridgie101

Sorry I forgot to mention: with MFP you eat exercise calories. Just be careful when you get a really big looking number, that seems too good to be true: it might be. I eat as many of my exercise calories back as I feel like on the day. But I don't have a deadline.