A little advice on calorie needs?

Bettyanne77

Hello,

I am new to MFP and hoping to lose 86lbs in weight down to 147lbs from my current 233lbs. I have never really tried calorie counting before as I find it quite complicated but I want to try it now to get a handle on my portion sizes as I think I eat healthy (ish) but far too much.

I am 5 foot 5 inches and 36 years old. I worked out that my BMR is 2165.82 (selecting sedentary as my activity level, which is currently is). I think that this means that if I cut my calories to 1800 a day and then add exercise on top of that aiming to burn around 635 calories a day through my new exercise regime then I should be creating a daily calorie deficit of about 1000 calories (7000 calories a week) which would allow me in theory to be losing 2 lbs of fat a week?

Is this right or if I intend to workout daily should I select a different activity level when working out my BMR? If so could I still count calories burned during workouts in my over all calorie deficit or would that be accounted for in my new BMR with the higher activity level?

I hope this makes sense, if so can you tell me if I have it right? The above example is really just a guide as I do understand weight loss is rarely as straight forward as the above.

Thank you!

Cortelli

Did you calculate your BMR or your TDEE? BMR is basically what your body uses in simply staying alive (i.e., about a comatose state). Even with a sedentary lifestyle, your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) will be several hundred more calories. Other than that, your math is about right on. You can let MFP calculate your appropriate calorie goal for you in line with your weight loss goals (maybe you did that?) and just eat to that (and eat back all or a portion of your extra exercise calories).

Several other thoughts:

(1) eating at a consistent deficit of 1000 cals a day should indeed result in a weight loss of approx. 2 lbs a week. But it won't just be fat you're losing - you'll also lose muscle. Incorporating resistance training (i.e., weight lifting) and ensuring an adequate protein intake will help minimize loss of lean body mass.

(2) tracking all your calories and remaining dedicated when you haven't done it before can be a tough challenge. Adding a new - and intensive - exercise regime makes it all the more challenging to manage the first goal of eating at a calorie deficit. You are stacking another big challenge on top of the first challenge - it might be easy to get discouraged. Only you can determine if you are capable of both at the same time.

(3) going from sedentary and no exercise to burning 635 calories a day is a real challenge.

(4) even once in the swing of exercise, burning 635 calories a day is a tall order for most people - that will be a significant investment of time and energy. Doing so on a 1000 calorie deficit will also be extra challenging.

YMMV. But if I were you, I'd focus on calorie tracking for a few weeks and get into the swing of it. Then I'd check out some of the beginner lifting programs in the Fitness & Exercise forum. And I'd consider getting in some light cardio (at least initially - you can always build up intensity) on non-lifting days, such as walking or jogging or elliptical - whatever you feel up to. Again, only you can determine what you're capable of, but making several big, radical changes to lifestyle all at once can be a real challenge for many. Good luck!

SharonNehring

I agree totally with Cortelli. Start with getting into the habit of logging everyday to get an idea of where you are at calorie-wise then begin making changes in your food selection, portions etc. MFP will calculate your calorie goal for you based upon what you entered as goals.

Weighing and/or measuring your food for a while will help you learn what a portion looks like, and makes logging easier for those times that you can't measure such as eating out.