Need help with calories!

Evieelena

Hello i'm an 18 year old girl, i'm about 217 pounds and i'm trying to lose 2 pounds a week. I do Insanity 6 times a week. My dad had this calorie intake calculator that said I should be eating about 2,500 calories a day. I feel that's too much though and I would just maintain my weight? I don't do any active activity besides my Insanity workouts in the morning, I'm an online student, so I sit at my desk most of the day. I'm just trying to find out how much calories I should be eating a day, some people said that around 1,200-1,400 helped them lose 2 pounds a week. But then I heard you have to eat your calories back from your exercise. It's all very confusing to me. If somebody with any knowledge or experience on this could help me or give me advice, it would be much appreciated!

sargessexyone

You need to find your BMR and TDEE and eat between those numbers. There are several good websites


http://www.fat2fittools.com/

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

http://iifym.com/

CoderGal

My advice is to get a food scale. And check out some TDEE calculators to get an idea of what you need to maintain weight. 2500 calories isn't a lot. During hiking season I assure you I eat a lot more then that (usually around 2800-3500). If you're exercising regularlly that sounds like a reasonable number to me.

Aaron_K123

You need to find your BMR and TDEE and eat between those numbers. There are several good websites


http://www.fat2fittools.com/

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

http://iifym.com/

This.

Your BMR (or basal metabolic rate) is the amount of calories your body burns just to stay alive (brain function, heart beat and body temp are the prime burners). Unless you workout all the time your BMR will be your primary source of calorie burn.

Your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is the amount of calories your body burns total in a given day, this takes into account both your BMR as well as the amount of calories you burn just walking around or moving in general as well as from exercise.

Chances are trying to lose 2 pounds a week will prove to be to much and would have you taking in less calories than your BMR on a daily basis which you don't really want to do as it will cause you fatigue and lose you muscle in addition to fat which you definitely don't want.


Find some calculators online, calculate your BMR and your TDEE. Try different calculators, get a range of values and pick a calorie number that is above your BMR but below your TDEE and try that for 6 weeks or so. After that you can weigh in and adjust as needed based on your results.

Aaron_K123

I plugged your numbers into the Scooby calculator and got that your BMR was 1800 and your TDEE was 2700. If accurate that would mean that you could safely eat 2100 calories a day and if those numbers are correct expect to lose a little over 1 pounds a week. If your TDEE was 2500 you could aim for 2000 calories a day.

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Aaron_K123

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Aaron_K123

But I heard that you had to eat your calories that you burn from exercise back? Is that true?

If you eat calorically above your BMR that is exactly what you are doing. If you ate back ALL the calories from exercise you would just maintain your current weight because you would be taking in the same amount that your body was burning. What you want to do is eat back some of the calories you burn from exercise but not all and that way you remain above your BMR in terms of intake and still are at a deficit for weightloss.

I would not aim for 2 lb a week, that is pretty fast weight loss and could get you into trouble. I think 1 lb a week is more reasonable. It took you a long time to put that weight on it'll take you a long time to take it off, the sooner you accept that the better off you will be. Should be looking to change your lifestyle in terms of the way you eat and exercise, not crash diet in a way you will never be able to maintain.

Hope that helps

deksgrl

To clear up the confusion a little bit.... MFP calculates the amount of calories you need for daily life, not including exercise, then it takes a flat rate of calories away from it depending on how many pounds per week you say you want to lose. It deducts 1,000 for 2 pounds per week, 500 for 1 pound per week, etc. When you do exercise, you need more fuel for that.

People have recommended that you figure out your TDEE and take a percentage off of that.

A properly set MFP + exercise calories goal should be somewhere in the same vicinity of a properly set TDEE - % goal. The only difference is with TDEE method you eat the same amount of calories every day regardless of how much you exercised any particular day.

Example:

1500 (amount MFP tells you to eat)
-500 (amount of calories you burned exercising)
+500 (amount you ate for exercise)
=1500 NET calories, but 2000 TOTAL calories

2500 (TDEE) x 20% = 500
2500 -500 = 2000 calories

Either way is acceptable, and this explains why some people say eat exercise calories and others say do not, it depends on what method you are using. Some people say they do not eat all of their exercise calories because MFP database estimates high for calorie burns. So, pick one method or the other and use it.

Laughter_Girl

bump

Aaron_K123

I think you'd be pretty safe eating 2000 calories a day and continuing to do regular exercise at your current weight. If you ever get flustered or frustrated doing intense cardio all the time try to put in a little weight lifting in there or if you hate that go for a walk now and again, you'd be surprised how much calories a good walk will burn. If after a while you have lost 10 or so pounds you might need to re-evaluate as your numbers will change over time.

I would NOT eat 1200-1400 calories a day at your current weight and level of exercise, that is not enough.

If you eat a good amount of protein and your vegetables (god I sound like my mom these days) then 2000 calories is going to make you plenty full and never hungry which will be an added bonus as it will make the weight loss that much easier.

MSLUC

I too thought "pounds=progress". I have found weight loss, by itself is not a good success measurement. Try going with weekly inches measurement. Because, yes, you must eat to lose weight while exercising, your body shape will begin to change first before weight loss.

Aaron_K123

I too thought "pounds=progress". I have found weight loss, by itself is not a good success measurement. Try going with weekly inches measurement. Because, yes, you must eat to lose weight while exercising, your body shape will begin to change first before weight loss.

Oh most definitely. In an ideal world you'd want to maintain or even put on a bit of muscle while you lost the fat. You also will have random weight fluctuations due to your monthly cycle (as a woman) and due to just changes in sodium and water intake. Those weight fluctuations can mask the progress you are making and fluster or frustrate you. A true measure of your progress is going to be how you feel and also if, over long stretches of time, you are losing inches around your belly and dropping dress sizes.

Aaron_K123

Just to repeat and hopefully make it that much simpler and easier to understand Evie if your TDEE (the amount of calories you spend because you are alive and because you exercise) is 2500 that means if you ate 2500 calories your weight would not change. If you want your weight to decrease you need to eat under that amount but not a lot under that amount or you risk doing yourself more harm than good. If your BMR is 1800 then it is probably safe to eat 2000 calories a day and still see weight come off at a rate of about a pound a week at least at first.

Give it a try but don't expect results immediately, a proper diet that will have you lose weight and keep it off will take months before you see a clear difference on a scale.

Of course that is IF your TDEE is 2500. If it is higher you should eat a bit more to be safe. Check out calculators out there, I'm sure your Dad can help as well.

DoNotSpamMe73

For couch potato you'd possibly burn min of 1650 a day (several hundred more for guys.. Sigh). Add your morning insanity workout you could say.... 1910cal minimum total? Up to 2100?
Do what you feel comfortable but I wouldn't go beyond 1500 calories a day if you can avoid it. When you're starting out 2lbs, about a kilo a week probably will not happen until at least a month in. After that depending on what you are doing you could lose between half a kilo and 2 kilos (The 2 will not be consistent) a week. Balances out but you will get there.
I used to eat like 3500 calories a day by the use of floury (minimize flour and suddenly big meals become small ones) cheese sauce primarily and 500 grams of pasta at once. Now I eat no more that 1200 (most keep that to what you must exceed however) a day and have portioned my meals so I can still have favourite foods. And learned new ones.
It was amazing how easy it became when I could log it.
When you think of your calorie limit in mind you can wither think of it in 2 ways. Something that you want to stay under or something that is ok if you exceed it.

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Aaron_K123

"I wouldn't go beyond 1500 calories a day"

I think when she said "go beyond" she meant lower than although that is a bit counter intuitive as "go beyond" suggests an increasing value.

I think 1500 is to low for you period. She was saying that it was best to avoid that and not go below it (I think) but yeah I wouldn't even go near it.

I think 1800 bare minimum but you'd be safer off with 2000 especially if you are working out 6 days a week.

If your TDEE is 2500 or 2700 you do not want to be eating only 1500, that is far to drastic.

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deksgrl

For couch potato you'd possibly burn min of 1650 a day (several hundred more for guys.. Sigh). Add your morning insanity workout you could say.... 1910cal minimum total? Up to 2100?
Do what you feel comfortable but I wouldn't go beyond 1500 calories a day if you can avoid it.

She needs more than 1500 just to live, because she is a bigger person than you are.

mskraemerspeech

Just stumbled on this thread and calculated my BMR at 1525 and my TDEE at 2100...I have been sticking to a 1200-1300 calorie diet with excercising 3-4 times a week. Am I sabotaging my weightless by eating too little? I do have a cheat day where I do not log at all. Very new to this!

Aaron_K123

Just stumbled on this thread and calculated my BMR at 1525 and my TDEE at 2100...I have been sticking to a 1200-1300 calorie diet with excercising 3-4 times a week. Am I sabotaging my weightless by eating too little? I do have a cheat day where I do not log at all. Very new to this!

Yes, by eating that low your body will lose fat but it will also lose muscle. The effect of this is over time your metabolism will slow down and your BMR will drop which will mean you would have to eat even less to drop the same amount of weight over time which means your body would cannabolize even more muscle and so on and so forth until you make yourself sick. Even if you reach your "goal weight" you will be less healthy than when you started and I'd like to think fitness is a concern for people in addition to weight loss.

So yes, I would say you should be eating at least 1600 calories a day with that workload and really more would probably be better in the 1700-1800 range.

The effects of this will be three fold:

1) You will feel better, have more energy and not be hungry making the experience pleasant rather than grueling an eating at 1700 cal a day you probably won't even feel the need for a "cheat day"
2) You will retain your muscle as you lose fat making you feel lighter instead of run-down
3) You will lose weight slower but you will maintain or even boost your metabolism making the weight loss consistant and maintainable.

deksgrl

Just stumbled on this thread and calculated my BMR at 1525 and my TDEE at 2100...I have been sticking to a 1200-1300 calorie diet with excercising 3-4 times a week. Am I sabotaging my weightless by eating too little? I do have a cheat day where I do not log at all. Very new to this!

MFP assumes you will do no exercise. When you DO exercise you need to eat more for that.

You can set MFP to lose 1 pound per week + eat more for exercise.

OR

Eat 20% less than your TDEE. 2100 x 20% = 420. 2100-420 = 1680

Which sounds better?