Need advice on calories

MissGamerGirl

MFP has me set at eating 1400 calories a day. I weigh 140 lbs now and I am 5'6. My goal is to be 125 lbs at the lowest. I hear all the time how people ignore MFP's calorie recommendations and either plan to eat under the suggested number or over, depending on different variables - I guess the main one being what kind of exercise you do and to what intensity?

I am doing C210k three times a week, Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones for strength training twice a week, yoga once a week and I take one rest day. My goal is to sculpt long and lean muscles and be reasonably toned/tight all over and have a flat stomach. Basically, to not be squishy!

How do I know if I need to eat more calories? Less? Should I eat back my calories or not? My first official weigh-in since starting MFP a little over a week ago is tomorrow morning.

It's all just very confusing because I hear so many different things. It makes me feel a little overwhelmed. I do not want to waste my time. I want to make sure I'm doing the "right" things. I understand that what is "right" varies from person to person, however.

I will say that I eat gluten free, so normally I have extra carbs leftover but I tend to go over in the fats and proteins. Sometimes I am under my calories, sometimes I am over, though most of what I eat is real food that has nutritional benefit. And I see people eating 1200 calories a day and getting GREAT results, but sometimes I am left feeling hungry even at 1400 and am not sure how I would accomplish 1200 and still feel satiated.

Thoughts? I welcome all points of view!

Monozelle

I'm in the same boat. MFP recommended 1200 calories for me and I know that I do better on 1400 so I have changed my daily calories with the custom settings. Would be good to hear how others derive their daily calorie intake.

Shannonwbu

I eat 1200 a day but if I feel I need more, I have more! Listen to your body

livingleanlivingclean

I would eat back your exercise calories - I'm roughly your stats (a bit shorter, a bit heavier) and I think I'd want to eat my arm off if all I was allowed was 1400 cals.

Losing weight slowly is the best option - you want to retain the muscles you do have. Unless your goal is to run a certain distance in a set time, switching to 3 resistance sessions and 2 cardio. How toned you are is just a matter of how much body fat you have, so when you think you look too lean, you stop losing and maintain what you have.

I rarely eat gluten but have no problem eating a lot of carbs - I eat mountains of vegetables , some fruit, rice once in a while and a little honey/jam. That said, going over on fat and protein isn't a bad thing.

Shazzyb71

You can eat back your calories from exercise. If you set it at 1400 to lose weight, then burn 400 with exercise then you can eat the 400 if you want to. I have always done this and lost weight easily ,it's when I stop counting altogether that I put weight on).

If you exercise a lot but don't eat enough then it won't work so well, you need the calories to have enough energy for the workouts. I think 1400 is a good target for your height and weight

jazzcatastrophe

I think you probably have two main options:
1. Keep at the 1400 and eat back your exercise calories (that's how the MFP system is designed to be used)
or 2. Calculate your TDEE using one of many online calculators, and take your deficit from that number. If you choose to use the TDEE method, you should not eat back exercise calories, as they are already accounted for in your TDEE. I like the one here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

As for whether 1400 calories is right for your body, only you can really know that. Try it for a few weeks, and if you still feel hungry or like you don't have a lot of energy on 1400 calories, you can experiment with increasing them to a level that feels more comfortable. Just be aware that since you have a small amount of weight to lose, it's going to come off slowly pretty much no matter what you do

MissGamerGirl

Thank you all for your responses!

I just read a post about calculating your BMR. For me, it says my BMR is 1466.1. What exactly do I do about this number and what does it tell me?

Oh, and no loss. But it is still the beginning so I'm just going to be patient and persevere!

MissGamerGirl

*bump*

livingleanlivingclean

Thank you all for your responses!

I just read a post about calculating your BMR. For me, it says my BMR is 1466.1. What exactly do I do about this number and what does it tell me?

Oh, and no loss. But it is still the beginning so I'm just going to be patient and persevere!

I think that's what your body needs to function, with no activity. You are likely to be moving around during the day so your body will use more than this to keep up....don't eat less than that!

meshashesha2012

ii got your TDEE numbers from http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

and they will be the same as the scooby calculator since both places use the same harris benedict formula

this is the amount estimated you'd need to eat to maintain your current weight

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1759
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2016
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2272
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2529
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2785


since you're so close to your goal, you'd be better off setting you weight loss goal to .5-1 pound a week, so according to the above, if you're working out 3-5 days a week you should be eating 1772 (for 1 pound loss) or 2022 for half pound loss

MissGamerGirl

ii got your TDEE numbers from http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

and they will be the same as the scooby calculator since both places use the same harris benedict formula

this is the amount estimated you'd need to eat to maintain your current weight

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1759
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2016
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2272
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2529
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2785


since you're so close to your goal, you'd be better off setting you weight loss goal to .5-1 pound a week, so according to the above, if you're working out 3-5 days a week you should be eating 1772 (for 1 pound loss) or 2022 for half pound loss

Thank you for doing that!

I will check my settings, but I think I have myself set to 1 lb a week.

So in essence, a 1400 calorie goal per day would be too low for me? Say I set a goal for 1700 calories a day (I like even numbers, lol!). If I worked out that day, would I eat 1700 calories plus the calories I earned from exercise? Or do I just eat the 1700 no matter what?

I find myself normally going over my set calories right now no matter how I eat just to not feel hungry, so this makes sense.

Can you manually change your daily calorie goal in your food diary, or are you stuck with what MFP gives you?

MissGamerGirl

I think you probably have two main options:
1. Keep at the 1400 and eat back your exercise calories (that's how the MFP system is designed to be used)
or 2. Calculate your TDEE using one of many online calculators, and take your deficit from that number. If you choose to use the TDEE method, you should not eat back exercise calories, as they are already accounted for in your TDEE. I like the one here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

As for whether 1400 calories is right for your body, only you can really know that. Try it for a few weeks, and if you still feel hungry or like you don't have a lot of energy on 1400 calories, you can experiment with increasing them to a level that feels more comfortable. Just be aware that since you have a small amount of weight to lose, it's going to come off slowly pretty much no matter what you do

How do I know how much to subtract from my TDEE as my deficit? Sorry, I'm such a newb. LOL

livingleanlivingclean

ii got your TDEE numbers from http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

and they will be the same as the scooby calculator since both places use the same harris benedict formula

this is the amount estimated you'd need to eat to maintain your current weight

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1759
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2016
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2272
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2529
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2785


since you're so close to your goal, you'd be better off setting you weight loss goal to .5-1 pound a week, so according to the above, if you're working out 3-5 days a week you should be eating 1772 (for 1 pound loss) or 2022 for half pound loss

Thank you for doing that!

I will check my settings, but I think I have myself set to 1 lb a week.

So in essence, a 1400 calorie goal per day would be too low for me? Say I set a goal for 1700 calories a day (I like even numbers, lol!). If I worked out that day, would I eat 1700 calories plus the calories I earned from exercise? Or do I just eat the 1700 no matter what?

I find myself normally going over my set calories right now no matter how I eat just to not feel hungry, so this makes sense.

Can you manually change your daily calorie goal in your food diary, or are you stuck with what MFP gives you?

That has your exercise calculated in. I'd go 1800 to make it even more even

You can change your calorie goal and percentage breakdown to suit yourself!

MissGamerGirl

That has your exercise calculated in. I'd go 1800 to make it even more even

You can change your calorie goal and percentage breakdown to suit yourself!

Actually, since checking my settings, I noticed some thing were off. I tweaked them and it made a BIG difference!

I changed from Lightly Active to Active, and changed 5 days a week of exercise to 6 at 40 minutes each time.

This bumped my MFP calories from 1400 to 1750 a day.

So essentially, I should change my calories to 1800 a day and not log my exercising? If I logged exercising it would screw up my numbers and kind of make it confusing to keep track of.

Capt_Apollo

That has your exercise calculated in. I'd go 1800 to make it even more even

You can change your calorie goal and percentage breakdown to suit yourself!

changed 5 days a week of exercise to 6 at 40 minutes each time.

changing your exercise will not affect your daily calorie goals at all.

if you want to lose weight and remain active while not entering your exercise calories and eat at about the same amount every day, i recommend you eat at your tdee-20%. that makes it 1818... which is an even number!!

Francl27

With MFP you have to log every exercise that you do and eat those calories back. Putting exercise in your goal doesn't do anything until you log your workouts every day. The activity level you set is your every day activity, excluding exercise.

If you use the TDEE-20% method (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/), you just enter your exercise level and pick the 20% deficit option, and eat that every day. It's much easier. Then you don't have to worry about exercise calories.

MissGamerGirl

changing your exercise will not affect your daily calorie goals at all.

if you want to lose weight and remain active while not entering your exercise calories and eat at about the same amount every day, i recommend you eat at your tdee-20%. that makes it 1818... which is an even number!!

Though it is an even number, it is an AWKWARD even number. Hahaha.

1800 is like, absolute perfection of even.

So on the days (or I guess "day") I don't exercise, I don't eat 1800? How much lower do I eat?

Stay with me guys. I'll eventually get it. There is a light at the end of this tunnel.

Francl27

TDEE-20% is an average of what you should eat. On the days you exercise more, you're probably burning more, on the days you don't, you're probably burning less... so it averages it for you. It's what you eat every day, whether you exercise or not.

The only thing obviously is that you have to maintain the same level of exercise, or you will be eating too much.

MissGamerGirl

TDEE-20% is an average of what you should eat. On the days you exercise more, you're probably burning more, on the days you don't, you're probably burning less... so it averages it for you. It's what you eat every day, whether you exercise or not.

The only thing obviously is that you have to maintain the same level of exercise, or you will be eating too much.

So if I'm using the TDEE-20% system, to lose 1 lb a week, eat 1800 calories? Then on my day off, still eat 1800...? Or eat less?

Capt_Apollo

changing your exercise will not affect your daily calorie goals at all.

if you want to lose weight and remain active while not entering your exercise calories and eat at about the same amount every day, i recommend you eat at your tdee-20%. that makes it 1818... which is an even number!!

Though it is an even number, it is an AWKWARD even number. Hahaha.

1800 is like, absolute perfection of even.

So on the days (or I guess "day") I don't exercise, I don't eat 1800? How much lower do I eat?

Stay with me guys. I'll eventually get it. There is a light at the end of this tunnel.

nope, i'd eat 1800 every single day, exercise or not. i mean, as close as you can to it. recognize that some days you might be hungrier then others. i'm always starving the day AFTER a long cardio session. that is of course if you are being honest and plan on working out about 5 days a week.

and by the way, 1800 is arbitrary. you know you're not going to hit that number exactly, every day, right? and i wouldn't sweat your macros too much. calories first, then protein. try to aim for more than what MFP gives you. and watch sodium. if i feel bloated one day, i go to my food diary and usually the day before i've had a lot of salt.

take it easy at first, and get used to eating a little more every week.

QuietBloom

That has your exercise calculated in. I'd go 1800 to make it even more even

You can change your calorie goal and percentage breakdown to suit yourself!

Actually, since checking my settings, I noticed some thing were off. I tweaked them and it made a BIG difference!

I changed from Lightly Active to Active, and changed 5 days a week of exercise to 6 at 40 minutes each time.

This bumped my MFP calories from 1400 to 1750 a day.

So essentially, I should change my calories to 1800 a day and not log my exercising? If I logged exercising it would screw up my numbers and kind of make it confusing to keep track of.

That is correct. If you want to use MFP to track your workouts, you can enter them, as just set the calorie amount to 1, so it doesn't add calories back to be eaten.

ETA: Macros ARE important. MFP sets protein way too low. Double it. Then split the remainder between carbs and fats (if you end up doing a lot of cardio, you can go up on the carbs and lower the fat.)

Eating 1.1 to 1.4 g of protein/lb of lean body mass will benefit you in a whole lot of ways, such as retaining your lean body mass during calorie restriction, and feeling more full. I have found it also helps with cravings. Good luck! :drinker:

MissGamerGirl

nope, i'd eat 1800 every single day, exercise or not. i mean, as close as you can to it. recognize that some days you might be hungrier then others. i'm always starving the day AFTER a long cardio session. that is of course if you are being honest and plan on working out about 5 days a week.

and by the way, 1800 is arbitrary. you know you're not going to hit that number exactly, every day, right? and i wouldn't sweat your macros too much. calories first, then protein. try to aim for more than what MFP gives you. and watch sodium. if i feel bloated one day, i go to my food diary and usually the day before i've had a lot of salt.

take it easy at first, and get used to eating a little more every week.

Oh, I know. I know some days it will be 1821 and others 1796 and whatnot. I'm just weird about numbers. Well, weird in general I guess. :P

THANK YOU. It's so refreshing to not be a slave to low calories. It is strange how 1800 seems so high but works better for your body overall than a lower number.

livingleanlivingclean

nope, i'd eat 1800 every single day, exercise or not. i mean, as close as you can to it. recognize that some days you might be hungrier then others. i'm always starving the day AFTER a long cardio session. that is of course if you are being honest and plan on working out about 5 days a week.

and by the way, 1800 is arbitrary. you know you're not going to hit that number exactly, every day, right? and i wouldn't sweat your macros too much. calories first, then protein. try to aim for more than what MFP gives you. and watch sodium. if i feel bloated one day, i go to my food diary and usually the day before i've had a lot of salt.

take it easy at first, and get used to eating a little more every week.

Oh, I know. I know some days it will be 1821 and others 1796 and whatnot. I'm just weird about numbers. Well, weird in general I guess. :P

THANK YOU. It's so refreshing to not be a slave to low calories. It is strange how 1800 seems so high but works better for your body overall than a lower number.

Why can't you be exact every day? I have macro goals and fiddle with my portions until I have the exact numbers I want...
(Not saying it has to be exact...but if you want it to be, you can)

sabianhunter

Tdee method you have the same calorie goal daily whether it's a workout day or not.....

MissGamerGirl

That is correct. If you want to use MFP to track your workouts, you can enter them, as just set the calorie amount to 1, so it doesn't add calories back to be eaten.

ETA: Macros ARE important. MFP sets protein way too low. Double it. Then split the remainder between carbs and fats (if you end up doing a lot of cardio, you can go up on the carbs and lower the fat.)

Eating 1.1 to 1.4 g of protein/lb of lean body mass will benefit you in a whole lot of ways, such as retaining your lean body mass during calorie restriction, and feeling more full. I have found it also helps with cravings. Good luck! :drinker:

I went into settings and can't figure out how to do this! Ugh.

I sort of thought that eating 1g of protein per pound of your body weight was only really ideal for those who do heavy lifting, but that it would be too much for someone who does more cardio/lighter strength training? What are your thoughts on this?

MissGamerGirl

Also, I just browsed through some other threads, and I might actually drop from moderate exercise to light exercise and recalculate my TDEE-20%. Presently, I don't burn even 300-500 calories per exercise session so maybe I should adjust it?