Am I eating too little?

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KingOfThoseWhoKnow
KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've read the stickies and had advice from fellow MFP members on this, but I want a third opinion as it obviously can't hurt. Down to brass tacks, my current weight is 247ish, I'm 6"1, 22 year old male. Activity level wise, I try to exercise 5 times a week, 6 times if I can push a saturday. My daily workout usually involves About 30-40 minutes of cardio and some circuits/resistance training. I strength train 3 times a week too. So on average an hour a day or so of exercise, 5 times a week. Life style wise, not very active. Student who doesn't walk that much, 5 min walk to bus stop, little walks between classes but overall most of my day outside of exercise is very slow and is spent sitting down.

I set my goal to lose 2lbs a week, MFP gives me 1710 calories, which as far as I know is INSANELY low for someone of my size and for the exercise I'd be doing. I used lots of online calculators for TDEE and BMR, and most give the same results. My BMR is hovering around 2.2kish, and when I set it to 5 times a week exercise, my TDEE is around 3.1k. I try to eat 1900 calories a day, sometimes 2k, and I don't eat back my exercise calories. A friendly user on here gave me some advice last night and said that in no circumstance I should be getting any less than 2.2k a day given my activity.

So my question is, have I been doing this all wrong so far? (I'm only about 3 weeks into my journey) :( As far as I know, if I stick to eating my BMR every day (about 2.2k), I should be fine and burn about 800 calories a day cause the difference between my TDEE and BMR is that? :S Another user told me my BMR is 2400 when she ran my numbers and said I should eat 500 less than that? So I'm kinda confused..I want to eat the right number, not the one that's too low or too high..I'm kinda lost on this, if anyone can chime in it would greatly help...sorry if this sort of thing is asked non stop

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    How much have you lost so far?

    If your TDEE is 3100, then eating 2100 should see a 2lb loss per week if you are weighing and measuring everything accurately.
  • KingOfThoseWhoKnow
    KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
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    I've lost 2.8 lbs so far I think, but I'm not sure if that's correct because my scales is kinda wonky..I might not have lost anything for all I know! I think for safety's sake we will say I haven't lost anything yet
  • PhoenixStrikes
    PhoenixStrikes Posts: 587 Member
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    Another user told me my BMR is 2400 when she ran my numbers and said I should eat 500 less than that? So I'm kinda confused..I want to eat the right number, not the one that's too low or too high..I'm kinda lost on this, if anyone can chime in it would greatly help...sorry if this sort of thing is asked non stop

    The user might be confusing BMR and TDEE. I would not eat below your BMR.
  • marjoleina
    marjoleina Posts: 189 Member
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    There is a spreadsheet on here you can fund if you put TDEE haybales in the search box and then you can plug in your current info and see excactly what you should do. It is great
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    I've lost 2.8 lbs so far I think, but I'm not sure if that's correct because my scales is kinda wonky..I might not have lost anything for all I know! I think for safety's sake we will say I haven't lost anything yet
    That doesn't help. If you've been eating 1700 for weeks and haven't lost anything that would suggest your TDEE is 1700, which it isn't. ;)

    You need to know how much you are losing over time because this tells you how much your TDEE really is. The calculators can get you in the general area for a start, but you'll likely benefit from adjusting it after finding out a more accurate number.
  • Ophidion
    Ophidion Posts: 2,065 Member
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    Dietary advice must be based on the totality of evidence.

    Setting Your Calorie and Macro Targets

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1072049-thoughts-on-tdee-calculators-and-switching-from-mfp-to-tdee

    Concerning too high deficits either through dieting or excessive exercise...

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/what-defines-cardio-in-terms-of-too-much-qa.html

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/too-much-cardio-followup.html

    Exercise calories

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

    Logging accuracy

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • PhoenixStrikes
    PhoenixStrikes Posts: 587 Member
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    Dietary advice must be based on the totality of evidence.

    Setting Your Calorie and Macro Targets

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1058378-oh-noes-i-am-eating-below-my-bmr

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1072049-thoughts-on-tdee-calculators-and-switching-from-mfp-to-tdee

    Concerning too high deficits either through dieting or excessive exercise...

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/what-defines-cardio-in-terms-of-too-much-qa.html

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/too-much-cardio-followup.html

    Exercise calories

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

    Logging accuracy

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    YES! This guy is a saint for helping with all those links. Please read through them and if you have ANY questions PM me. If I don't know the answer some one on my FL does. Just remember every one started some where and a lot of us were pretty clueless. I would be lying if I said I never tried the 1200 calories approach!
  • Ophidion
    Ophidion Posts: 2,065 Member
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    Online Calculators

    Many people use the TDEE less x% method to set their caloric intake. Estimators are available online where you can plug your stats in and your estimated TDEE, and usually BMR will be given. These estimators are exactly that – estimators and will not take into account your specific circumstances.

    The starting point that the TDEE calculators are based off is your estimated BMR. Contrary to what most people seem to think, this is not *your* BMR. It is based off formulas derived from studies that calculated the BMR of a sample of people and applied that to a formula. Those people do not represent you or your individual circumstances.

    The calculators use a multiplier against your BMR to estimate your TDEE. The general rule of thumb is:

    Little to no exercise = BMR x 1.2
    Light exercise (1–3 days per week) = BMR x 1.375
    Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week) = BMR x 1.55
    Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week) = BMR x 1.725
    Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts) = BMR x 1.9

    So, where do we fall? What about a person with a desk job versus a person who is in construction, or a bike messenger. Add that to how busy, or not, someone is in their life outside work, and the infinite variables with exercise (type, intensity, duration etc), there is no way to get an accurate number for your TDEE. The above is a guideline, not the end result.

    OP set a reasonable calorie goal, stick to it, don't over-complicate things just start simple by staying within your calorie goal range, monitor RL results over time and adjust accordingly...as in losing too quickly add calories, too slowly subtract calories.
    Just be sure to give your body time to adapt and be patient.

    Good luck OP.
  • KingOfThoseWhoKnow
    KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
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    Thanks for all the replies..I used many online calculators and some said my TDEE was 3.7K, some said 3.2.. (but based on the links the TDEE is never really accurate from calculators?)

    Looking back on my diary for the last 3 weeks, my macros seem to be pretty consistent with about 45% carb, 25-30 for protein and about 20-25 for fat, can vary a little but for the most part its about that

    Eating 2.4k cals would give me a 1300 deficit a day (given I exercise 5 times a week), but if my TDEE is 3.7K I'm worried this is too low. Still mulling over some of the links and information, but I for sure know that I've been eating below my BMR these last 3 weeks which can't be good..my BMR is 2.4 K according to calculators, and I've been getting about 1.8k or so a day this last while...yikes

    I think 2.4 sounds like a good amount for me right now, it's about an 800-1300 a day deficit I think. But I wont complicate things like you said, I just felt like I was doing something wrong all this time
  • Ophidion
    Ophidion Posts: 2,065 Member
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    Set what you think is a reasonable amount to eat after going over links provided but do not get to caught up in the numbers on the screen, pay attention to what is happening to your body specifically rate of weight loss. Here are some guidelines...

    General recommendations for weekly weight loss goals should be based on a number of factors, the main one of which is how much weight you have to lose. The more weight that you have to lose the less severe the negative impact of being at a calorie deficit will have generally (see below for examples).

    As a rule of thumb, the following weekly targets would give a balance between minimizing these negative side effects and seeing a reasonable weekly weight loss:
    More than 75 lbs: 2 lbs/week
    40-75 lbs: 1.5 lbs/week
    10-40 lbs: 1 lb/week
    Less than 10 lbs: 0.5 lb/week

    Obviously, the deficit that is right for you will depend on your personal circumstances and how well you deal with the deficit.
  • thesupremeforce
    thesupremeforce Posts: 1,206 Member
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    The system gets weird when you try to lose two pounds per week. The easiest suggestion for me to make would be to try changing it to one pound per week. At that point, you can do what you want with your exercise calories (eat them, don't eat them, eat some of them, whatever) and see what happens. 1800 does seem really low, since that's roughly what MFP still tells me to eat in order to drop a pound per week (though I switched to half a pound a month or so ago) and I'm down to 190-ish and I'm ten years older than you.

    Your other option would be to eat back exercise calories, but either eating at TDEE-some percentage (ie 20%) or aiming for a pound per week via MFP would require less guesswork about caloric burns.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    I set my goal to lose 2lbs a week, MFP gives me 1710 calories, which as far as I know is INSANELY low for someone of my size and for the exercise I'd be doing.

    Not really "insanely low" at all. In MFP land that means 1700 + exercise calories. Call it 2200 calories per day. Definitely in the right ballpark.

    With the amount you have to lose, you could safely get away eating half of that, if you were very good about hitting your macros and ensuring nutrient intake. But that's hard to maintain for most people, so the above numbers are a pretty good compromise.
    My BMR is hovering around 2.2kish,

    You have too much weight to lose for the normal calculators to apply. Your BMR is going to be ~200 calories lower than that, and may well drop another 100-200 as the weight loss progresses.

    You're also likely over-estimating NEAT and exercise burn.

    If it helps, we are the same height, and I was your same weight not all that long ago.
  • SephiraRose
    SephiraRose Posts: 775 Member
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    Bump for links
  • KingOfThoseWhoKnow
    KingOfThoseWhoKnow Posts: 53
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    Thanks for all the great help, there's just a few things I'm still hazy on..sorry for dragging on about it

    Should your NET calories at least match your BMR on MFP? (and not go under?), for example, I'm gonna say my BMR is 2200, cuz most calculators seem to be giving me that. Say I eat 2200 a day, and then I burn say 500 that day (and don't eat em back), is my NET now 1700? :S Or is just what I ate at 2200? Because I never ever ate back my exercise calories and always ate around 1800 a day which is very wrong and way under my BMR. Basically is your BMR just what you eat or does it take into account exercise and cals burned?

    I'm also contemplating why on earth MFP gave me 1710 in the first place? From what I understand even if you ate back your exercise calories your NET would still always have to be on or under the number it gave you because it would subtract the exercise and then expect you to eat it back, thus leaving you at the same number...if that makes sense?

    Right now I have MFP custom set to 2200 a day intake, and just wondering if I should eat back my exercise calories or not..because that's the only part I'm confused about. If I ate 2200 and didn' eat back exercise calories would I be below my BMR?

    Not really "insanely low" at all. In MFP land that means 1700 + exercise calories. Call it 2200 calories per day. Definitely in the right ballpark.


    This has me confused because I thought If I eat 1700 and eat back exercise calories I'm still at 1700? :S

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