Am I doing this right? Should I make any changes to my plan?

snixxit

I'm female, 5'4 & 143 pounds. My goal is to lose about 30-35 pounds. My plan WAS to eat 1,000 calories a day and walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes, twice a day, 5 days a week. After reading more about weight loss today, I decided to find out my BMR and TDEE. My BMR is about 1300 and my TDEE is about 1800 (when I put exercise as 3x a week). I also think I might be working myself too hard right from the beginning since I never exercised regularly before this. So, my plan right now is to eat 1300 calories a day, and start out with 35 minutes on the treadmill, 3 days a week and doing some strength exercises a few times a week. I'd also like to work up to an hour of treadmill, 5 days a week eventually.

If I'm not mistaken, this should mean I lose about a pound a week, right?

_Zardoz_

Losing 30 to 35 pounds will put you to the lower end of your healthy weight range. Why that specific number? I'd suggest just aiming to get into a healthy BMI range then see how it goes from there try not to obsess over a specific number. If you are after a specific type of look you may wish to look at exercise that may help that such as some form of resistance work. Also you have a relatively small amount of weight to lose so it will be a lot slower and it may not even be 1 pound a week. I put your numbers in a calculator and get your TDEE at around 2000 calories (via fitness frog). These obviously are all estimates but most people if you are following the TDEE method would recommend 20% below that so around 1600 calories a day, which to me sounds like a more sensible calorie guide than 1300. Eating a bit more will give you more energy which will help you work out to reach your goals.

Your other option is to put your numbers in MFP with a .5 pound a week loss (which is sensible for the amount you need to lose) then use that calorie goal and eat your exercise calories back.

Good luck and remember however you do it it need to be sustainable so you can keep the weight off and you will be surprised as you can eat more than you think and lose weight as long as you weigh and measure your food accurately and are consistent.

SharonNehring

Ditto fatdoob! I think your goal weight is a bit too low as well, as you want to be able to sustain your loss over the long term. Adding exercises that will tone and build muscle will help give you the tight, toned look most want. Your 1300 cal plan seems sensible enough but why not enter your metrics into MFP and see what amount it gives you?

loulamb7

Ditto +1.

BMR is the number of calories your body needs to survive if you are doing nothing. So you should always be eating above BMR just to keep your body functioning. You're moving and exercising so you will need more calories. You should probably start around 1600 and gauge the results after 2 weeks and adjust according. I suspect you'll be adjusting your calories up to keep up with the added activity and not lose weight to quickly.

TDEE - 10 or 15% should be your initial goal because you don't have a lot to lose. I would agree to build up to more activity and would recommend strength training. You're already at a healthy BMI and weight training would help recomp and tone your body. Best wishes.

knra_grl

use the MFP calculator for your daily intake and enter your exercise make sure you eat at least your initial calorie goal and then eat back maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of your exercise calories - you could eat back more of your exercise calories if you are still hungry.