How many calories do you eat to maintain your weight

ES110791

I am about 168cm and around 56/57kg though I do not weigh myself anymore. I find that MFP sets me at 1600/1700 calories for sedentary or lightly active and I aim for NET that amount on the days I exercise. But I find that intake is really not adequate in terms of stopping hunger. I still get hungry and I still binge sometimes.

I'm considering upping my net calories to 2000 both to quell hunger and because i'm training for a half marathon. Coming from an eating disorder background I am trying to learn to listen to my hunger, so it's really appealing for that reason but I really don't want to gain any more weight as i'm a healthy weight now. 2000 calories is much more than 1600, and apart from exercise I don't live a particularly active life (keep in mind i'm talking about net calories. I track my exercise calories and some days I eat 2000+ calories if I have exercised for a long time)

ANYWAY, my question is this: are the MFP estimates actually accurate? Obviously the body and calorie needs is more complicated than just a number but i'm curious, what are other peoples experiences with maintaining their weight on these numbers?

Vorenus85

Like you said yourself, they are just estimates. I'm still working on finding out my true maintenance; which in itself isn't easy because your tdee is always changing. MFP says I maintain at 2050 (which I was still losing at), so I've pushed it to 2300 temporarily to see if that will work out. A lot of people will try to tweak their calories a bit to find how much they can maintain at. And for some it may involve going up several hundred calories. I think as long as you are keeping an eye on your weight, pushing your calorie intake up a couple hundred calories would be alright. I mean, you aren't going to suddenly put on 20 pounds overnight. It's all trial and error in the end.

Good luck.

FP4HSharon

Usually they say that if you reach a maintenance level, then you add 300 calories to your daily total. If you do that, it'll stop you from losing & you should just maintain. Might have to tweak it a bit depending on your size & activity level.

bunkahes

The hunger craving could be something missing in your diet, or not enough water, I felt that way when i first started then i started changing food in my life changing eating plan, i didnot think it was a diet, i changed from white starchy to wheat, accept for potato.

twixlepennie

I continued to lose following MFPs guidelines so I went to the TDEE method and that gave me 2,250 calories a day. Ate that way for a few weeks and my weight stabilized so I stopped tracking and just do a bit of calorie counting in my head as I'm eating. I've been able to maintain doing this, until I changed up my workout schedule last week. In spite of all the holiday eating I've been doing, my weight has been creeping to the low end of my maintenance range. Yesterday I ate well over 3,000 calories (Burger King for lunch, pizza place for supper, plus a deep fried, hot fudge donut sundae and a few other things ), and this morning I saw a new low flicker on the scale before it stopped on my lowest maintenance range weight. Soooo, I may have to tweak my numbers and start tracking again for a bit. And eat more choclate lol.

I'm 35 yrs old, female and my weight this morning was 117.5lbs

nxd10

The hunger craving could be something missing in your diet, or not enough water, I felt that way when i first started then i started changing food in my life changing eating plan, i didnot think it was a diet, i changed from white starchy to wheat, accept for potato.

I agree. Before I upped my calories, I'd up my protein and fat and lower my carbs (under 40% lower, not low, lower) and see if you are less hungry. For me, it's what I eat, not how much, that gives me cravings.

einzweidrei

I am about 168cm and around 56/57kg though I do not weigh myself anymore. I find that MFP sets me at 1600/1700 calories for sedentary or lightly active and I aim for NET that amount on the days I exercise. But I find that intake is really not adequate in terms of stopping hunger. I still get hungry and I still binge sometimes.

I'm considering upping my net calories to 2000 both to quell hunger and because i'm training for a half marathon. Coming from an eating disorder background I am trying to learn to listen to my hunger, so it's really appealing for that reason but I really don't want to gain any more weight as i'm a healthy weight now. 2000 calories is much more than 1600, and apart from exercise I don't live a particularly active life (keep in mind i'm talking about net calories. I track my exercise calories and some days I eat 2000+ calories if I have exercised for a long time)

ANYWAY, my question is this: are the MFP estimates actually accurate? Obviously the body and calorie needs is more complicated than just a number but i'm curious, what are other peoples experiences with maintaining their weight on these numbers?

I know the way MFP states the differences between activity levels makes it seem only job-related but if I were training for a half-marathon I would not call myself "sedentary" or "lightly active." I'm "lightly active" and my goal is just to get out of the house and walk 1-2x/week. LOL. (I'm on my feet a lot at work too.)

Francl27

I would never use MFP goal at maintenance, personally. You're still supposed to eat back exercise calories. What a pain in the butt, seriously.

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

robathealthsidekick

I agree with the above post. I used MFP in the beginning of my journey but you have better data than any general calculation can give you. Simply put your data into an excel spreadsheet and if you can get back you exact maintenance.
Remember this though are bodies are always changing so that maintenance will be forever changing. I use healthsidekick because their calculator work differently from others and dynamically updates for me.

addean1

Mfp gives me 1750 per day for maintenance. i add an extra 400 each day for exercise, minus Sundays (60 min spin class, or running 4-5 miles) So I aim for 2100. so for instance yesterday, in training for my half marathon, I had a 8 mile run- so an extra 800 or so calories. Eek, yah, that's a lot of food, and i had an extra 500 calories that i didnt eat, But today is a rest day, so with my base at 1750, I'll probably use yesterdays extra, and still aim for 2,00 or 2100. It's working so far for me! Maintaining since oct!

Laura3BB

Well for me the MFP estimates work fine.
My maintenance is estimated at 1750 net, I'm 1m68 and 67 kg, and I eat 1700 net (around 2100 with light exercise) and maintain that way.

lrmall01

ANYWAY, my question is this: are the MFP estimates actually accurate? Obviously the body and calorie needs is more complicated than just a number but i'm curious, what are other peoples experiences with maintaining their weight on these numbers?

IMHO MFP is accurate and the error introduced is mainly due to the users tracking of food and exercise.

The way I see it, MFP is just doing math. You provide it with details on your weight and activity and it comes up with an estimate of the calories you need. Of course you can debate how accurate this estimate is, but generally it is as good as any estimate you will ever be able to do. To do better, you'd have to have BMR measured in a test facility.

Now, MFP will add or subtract some calories based upon your goal to lose, gain or maintain. This is all just based upon 3500 calories being equal to one pound. Then MFP expects you to input calories eaten and calories burned with exercise. It then simply adds and subtracts all those numbers.

This is why I say MFP is accurate. It is simply a computer doing math.

If you are hungry then my guess is that you are under-estimating what you eat or under-estimating how much you are burning with exercise or perhaps both.

It is difficult to say for certain because your diary is locked. If you have a couple of weeks logged and want me to review and provide an opinion, just PM me.

Best of luck!

EdTheGinge

I'm on 2000 this was a figure I plucked out of the sky and yeah it seems to work for me. I was on this during marathon training which worked well or so my time would suggest.

tigerbunny91

When I started maintainig 52-53 kg (I'm 155 cm tall btw) I didn't use MFP, I just ate what I used to eat when i was losing weight but I was little bit naughtier (I exercised 3 times a week, not 5)

toutmonpossible

It's hard to keep track of your weight and to determine even a rough idea of your calorie requirements if you don't weigh yourself. Maybe you weigh yourself less than when losing, but you still need a record. Actually, my sense is that most people who successfully maintain their weight weigh themselves just as frequently as when they were losing.

mel4bee

I eat 1600 calls plus exercise calories. Pretty sedentary lifestyle minus the workouts.

I'm 5'3'' 103 pounds and 21 yrs old.

cwolfman13

I am about 168cm and around 56/57kg though I do not weigh myself anymore. I find that MFP sets me at 1600/1700 calories for sedentary or lightly active and I aim for NET that amount on the days I exercise. But I find that intake is really not adequate in terms of stopping hunger. I still get hungry and I still binge sometimes.

I'm considering upping my net calories to 2000 both to quell hunger and because i'm training for a half marathon. Coming from an eating disorder background I am trying to learn to listen to my hunger, so it's really appealing for that reason but I really don't want to gain any more weight as i'm a healthy weight now. 2000 calories is much more than 1600, and apart from exercise I don't live a particularly active life (keep in mind i'm talking about net calories. I track my exercise calories and some days I eat 2000+ calories if I have exercised for a long time)

ANYWAY, my question is this: are the MFP estimates actually accurate? Obviously the body and calorie needs is more complicated than just a number but i'm curious, what are other peoples experiences with maintaining their weight on these numbers?

If you're using MFPs numbers you're supposed to eat exercise calories back. My MFP maintenance calories are 2350...with the exercise I do, I'd still lose weight at that number...I would have to eat my exercise calories back. I used a TDEE calculator and trial and error and I maintain on roughly 2700 - 2800 calories per day...that would make MFP's calculations about right since I generally burn 400 - 500 calories per day 6 days per week.

Keep in mind that the more active you are, the greater your calorie requirements will be. If you're training for a marathon your calorie requirements will be substantially more than if you were just generally working out for fitness. My numbers above are for my usual fitness workouts and day to day living...when I'm in a run up to a triathlon or century ride or whatever, my calorie requirements are easily well over 3,000 calories to maintain my weight.

If you aren't weighing yourself, how do you know if you're maintaining, losing, or gaining? I've been maintaining for about 7 months and I weigh myself at least 3 times per week to track trends.

lrmall01

It's hard to keep track of your weight and to determine even a rough idea of your calorie requirements if you don't weigh yourself. Maybe you weigh yourself less than when losing, but you still need a record. Actually, my sense is that most people who successfully maintain their weight weigh themselves just as frequently as when they were losing.

Since the OP has had trouble with eating disorders in the past, staying away from the scale may be a good thing. That being said, I do agree that progress should be measured somehow.

In this instance I'd point more towards bodyfat calipers and a tape measure to help avoid some of the anxiety around scale fluctuations.

erialcelyob

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-and-daily-calorie-calculator.html

Calculate your BMR here then subratct 500cal and that's what you should be eating in order to lose weight

PaytraB

I would never use MFP goal at maintenance, personally. You're still supposed to eat back exercise calories. What a pain in the butt, seriously.

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

This. I found the estimate from the Scooby site to be almost right on. I tweaked it minimally to maintain. MFP had my intake lower and I was still losing weight.
You'll have to experiment a little to find your maintenance level. It's different for everyone and any calculator will only give you an estimate.

WhisperAnne

I'm 5'4'' and weigh 125 pounds. MFP says I need 1650 calories to maintain my weight. I admit I'm secondary so I trust that I shouldn't go over 1650 to much. Sometimes I wish I could eat more though.