Anybody have advice for difference of 200 cals?

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mbanister1
mbanister1 Posts: 29 Member
in Getting Started
Can somebody shed some light and help me go in the right direction?
I am 25, a nurse and a mom. (I'm 5'5, 218 pounds- have PCOS and insulin resistance, carry most weight in my mid section) I work 3-4 days a week as a floor nurse. I have fitness pal set to lose 2 pounds per week. I have my daily activity set to sedentary because I don't want to overestimate my activity level. Am I busy during the day? Of course! But my body is used to that. According to the scooby calculator my TDEE is 1927, BMR is 1605. My fitness pal has me at 1200 calories. One pound is 3500 calories which means I need a 7000 calorie deficit per week to lose 2 pounds. Initially I had fitness pal at lightly active due to a busy lifestyle and it allowed me 1430 calories. I'm not sure if I have everything figured correctly. Will 200 calories make that big of a difference?

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  • SharonNehring
    SharonNehring Posts: 535 Member
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    I'm a nurse, same height but heavier, have PCOS and now newly type 2 diabetes but I'm 20 yrs older than you. :smile: I work a desk job now but spent many years at the bedside. I would go with the lightly active setting with the 1430 calories. Having a few more calories to work with will be helpful as you get started. Then see how it goes over a couple of weeks. If you aren't losing as you'd like, try going with the 1200 cals for a couple of weeks and reevaluate.

    I will suggest though really watching your carb intake with insulin resistance. You don't have to go to the extreme but spreading out your carbs evenly over the day, having complex carbs as in whole grains, fruits and veggies and always including some kind of protein with your carbs will help keep your blood sugar on a more even keel, possibly avoiding future problems.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Everybody's different, and weight loss takes a whole lot of trial & error to find what works for you. You shouldn't eat 400 calories below your BMR. Set your goal to 1.5 lb. per week & set your activity level to lightly active. Give it a few weeks, then try something else if you're not losing.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • ujeremy
    ujeremy Posts: 2 Member
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    Everybody has a different metabolism. The website just sets a number of calories for you probably based on some average.

    I weigh myself everyday when I get up. I log this number in to the "Check in." I have a body fat scale that I use to measure body fat percentage about every week. I wait until about 2 hours after a meal for the body fat scale. I also do measurements once per week. Remember, the waist measurement should be taken at the bellybutton. I have had a personal trainer do skin caliper tests a couple times over the past 4 months.

    What I have been doing in the past month I have belonged to this site, is analyse the reports. I have my weight report and my calories. You can look at trends in the graph. In this way, you can figure out how many calories you need from your weight change progress. I have been good about logging in cardio. Their estimations are like those on the cardio equipment in the gym.

    I have to admit this still does have some limitations. I do a lot of barbell work most of the time, which effects how many calories I use. Just using some default number from a website for your calories probably is not going to work for most people. It is sort of like "standard" sized golf clubs. or gender specific golf clubs. Everyone is different.

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