Maintenance Calories Question

angf0679

For those that are maintaining, do you go by what MFP tells you for your maintenance calories? MFP set me at 1490, which is only 90 above what I was at when loosing. (MFP had me at 1200. I changed it to 1400 as 1200 was not enough for me.) I've checked a couple other sites and get between 1800 to 2090 to maintain.

To give you some detail about myself, I currently weight 114.2 (weight as of this morning) and I am 5 2.5" and will be 35 in 3 short weeks. I have an office job so my job is sedentary. I am currently doing the C25K program 3 days a week and another 3 days a week I work with my dumbbells for upper body and have just started the 30 days ab challenge. I also walk about an hour every work day walking part of my distance to and from work.

Now obviously I burn more calories on the days I do C25K then the other days. I find that I am more hungry on running days and the day after then other days. I don't want to eat to much and gain back what I've lost. (I had the problem when I wasn't still counting, which is why I came back here.) Should I stay at what MFP put me at or should I raise my calorie count? Have any of you experimented with what your calorie goal should be, and if so what did you find worked best for your?

sijomial

I custom set my calorie goal to lose weight (based on actual results over time) and found my maintenace calories by trial and error. Simply walked my calories up until I found the sweet spot. To me calculators are just a reasonable start point, your actual results take into account any food and exercise logging inaccuracies plus your true RMR (as opposed to estimated RMR).

Are you following the MFP "eat back exercise calories" method or TDEE method? Those other sites you checked are probably TDEE sites already including your exercise in the number they give so remember when comparing that MFP goal is plus exercise.

It your main exercise is running then you can get pretty accurate calorie estimates so I certainly wouldn't fear the eating back exercise calories method if you want to eat more on a running or exercise day.

KateK8LoseW8

My maintenance is significantly higher than what myfitnesspal calculates. It has me at 1840 to maintain, and I typically consume anywhere from 2200-2400 and have stayed steady at 122-125 lb.

KarenJanine

With the walking you are doing, I would recommend adjusting your settings to 'lightly active' as I would not consider you to be sedentary. Add in your exercise calories for C25K then this should give you a more realistic calorie goal.

Finding true TDEE is mostly trial and error though. Add in an extra 100 calories per day for a week and see how your weight is. Keeping adjusting upwards until your weight is stable.

Ainar

I set my own. My maintenance is around 3300 while MFP calculates it at around 2000 which is huge deficit for me. I was losing on 2700. I guess I have higher metabolism that MFP predicts. So no it's highly inaccurate, I set my own calories. And I don't use any website calculators anymore cos most of them were inaccurate for me. I tested it myself by slowly increasing calories every week until I started to gain at which point I knew I'm over my maintenance.

Anonycatgirl

This is a great thread, since this has been a source of some anxiety as I approach maintenance weight. I've tried 4 different calculators and gotten 4 wildly different estimates for my maintenance and I've been freaking out a little about not knowing what to do. I guess I'll start with the figure MFP gives me, which I suspect is crazy-low, and play until I find the right number. It seems like everyone has to do this.

kdiamond

I'm 37, moderately active (workout with weights 4-5 days a week), 5'3" 115 pounds and my maintenance is 1900-2000 daily. 1400 is ridiculously low!

TiberiusClaudis

Thanks for posting this question.

It's been asked a few times, and it seems the majority of the time, people recommend just sticking with the numbers that are spit out. As it's too much work to figure it out daily or it all "evens out" at the end of the week. As an engineer, I can't accept those "averages" answers.

So for me, I figured out what my TDEE is for my age, weight, height and bodyfat. Send me a message if you want a good site to look it up. I'd add it now as a hotlink, but not working off my own laptop.

That's my baseline. If I simply "live" that day with no exercise, that's what I program into my MACROs. HOWEVER, that seldom if ever happens. I weightlift 3 days on, 1 day off and I do cardio 4 nights a week. So somedays I work out twice a day, sometimes once a day and in a blue moon, I have a total day off...but even then I go for an hr brisk walk. I then take the average expenditure calories (based on my polar watch) to add those back into my TDEE,and adjust my MACROs accordantandly for that day.

It works...sure, if you are busy or don't find this stuff that interesting, then you can simply go with the easy way.

Oh and yes, I realize it is still 'guess work", but its a lot closure to drawing within the lines than going with an average.

Good Luck,
TC

gothchiq

Wow.... I don't know; I'm 45 years old and I work out hard... and if I eat a bite over 1500 calories, or get sick and can't work out, I gain a pound a week. And that's *with* my thyroid meds, metabolic testing, etc. I still have 20 pounds to lose as it is and have been plateaued for 2 weeks eating 1200 cal (eating clean, mind you) and working out. This is getting really frustrating.

lobster888

I am even more confused....I am having trouble with maintenance...I find if I eat more than 1400 I start to gain... I reached my goal and am maintaining but still on a very low calorie intake. I exercise ( cardio and strength training) and eat clean but still having trouble. I do all the right things, more fiber, more water, fresh fruits and veggies, limited processed foods and dairy, a good nights sleep etc. A trainer friend suggested that I add in more protein so that is what I am doing. If I start to loose again then I will add more calories slowly.

I know I have a slow metabolism and it's related to age, menopause and hypothyroidism but I think I should be able to eat at least 1700 to 1800 calories a day and not gain.

angf0679

Thanks everyone I am going to do some experimenting and see what happens. I did change my status to "light activity" and it now gives me 1660 calories. I do the "eat back what your burn" calories as I can't quite understand who to calculate my TDEE and to me the other way is just a lot easier!

nxd10

I use MFP's calculation for losing 1/2 pound a week and add in my Fitbit exercise calories. I am satisfied and not hungry and my weight has been stable for a year. I think the slop in my measurements is eaten up by 250 calorie deficit.

Like people say, experiment.

SezxyStef

I am even more confused....I am having trouble with maintenance...I find if I eat more than 1400 I start to gain... I reached my goal and am maintaining but still on a very low calorie intake. I exercise ( cardio and strength training) and eat clean but still having trouble. I do all the right things, more fiber, more water, fresh fruits and veggies, limited processed foods and dairy, a good nights sleep etc. A trainer friend suggested that I add in more protein so that is what I am doing. If I start to loose again then I will add more calories slowly.

I know I have a slow metabolism and it's related to age, menopause and hypothyroidism but I think I should be able to eat at least 1700 to 1800 calories a day and not gain.

do you weigh your solids and measure liquids...

1400 seems really low.

I am in my early 40's and maintain (as far as I know atm) with 2100 caloires and I expect that to go up this summer with all my activity.

margannmks

If you know how many calories you were eating to lose,just add that amount back in, this only works if you maintain exact level of exercise your currently doing. Some people get complacent after theyve lost and slack off the exercise.

cwolfman13

MFP set me at 1490, which is only 90 above what I was at when loosing. (MFP had me at 1200. I changed it to 1400 as 1200 was not enough for me.) I've checked a couple other sites and get between 1800 to 2090 to maintain.

this is generally when it dawns on people that they were in fact supposed to be eating their exercise calories all along.

Those other calculators are TDEE calculators and they are including an estimate of your exercise in the calorie goal. MFP is a NEAT method calculator and assumes you are going to enter those burns and eat those calories back. If you're doing it right, it's pretty much 6 of 1.

My MFP maintenance number is 2,350. With exercise that usually puts me around 2800 or so...which happens to be very close to my maintenance calories on most TDEE calculators.

lobster888

I am even more confused....I am having trouble with maintenance...I find if I eat more than 1400 I start to gain... I reached my goal and am maintaining but still on a very low calorie intake. I exercise ( cardio and strength training) and eat clean but still having trouble. I do all the right things, more fiber, more water, fresh fruits and veggies, limited processed foods and dairy, a good nights sleep etc. A trainer friend suggested that I add in more protein so that is what I am doing. If I start to loose again then I will add more calories slowly.

I know I have a slow metabolism and it's related to age, menopause and hypothyroidism but I think I should be able to eat at least 1700 to 1800 calories a day and not gain.

do you weigh your solids and measure liquids...

1400 seems really low.

I am in my early 40's and maintain (as far as I know atm) with 2100 caloires and I expect that to go up this summer with all my activity.

I am very good about weighing and measuring and portion controls.... I have not slacked off exercise either...I am doing the same. Which is an average of over 8 hours a week with some form of exercise and an average calorie burn from my HRM of over 300 a day. Some days I just walk or yoga, some days a Jilliam Michaels DVD with weights, some days jogging on a treadmill, or a step or bootcamp at a gym.

I have never eaten back my exercise calories....