Confused with the basics.

iamtanishaahmed

Hello! I'm very confused.:ohwell:

You see, I have been googling and trying to understand how much calories a person should have in a day and how much he/she should burn in order to aim their goal weight.
But different websites say different things :huh:

Some say if you are on a mission to lose weight then your daily calorie intake should be 1200 but I just came to know its the NET CALORIE! :indifferent: (yes..I'm fully aware that it depends on your weight, height, gender, activity level) .

So, I would really appreciate if someone could just pour some light over this topic. Seriously..I'm confused but I did manage to lose 5lbs in 3 weeks!

Ryandecheney314

I personally love using the TDEE method. This way you dont have to worry about eating back all your Exercise calories, the calculator automatically accommodates for it. This is the calculator I use. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Focus on staying with you macro nutrients. A good average basline is setting your macros to 30% protein 50% carbs and 20% fat.

cwolfman13

There are two distinct methods of calorie counting...ultimately, they are 6 of 1, half dozen of the other, but you have to understand the method.

MFP uses the NEAT method (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) for which you get a net calorie goal. This is because exercise activity is not included (or shouldn't be included) in your activity level. You account for exercise activity after the fact when you log it and get those calories to eat back...and thus netting to your calorie goal.

Most other online calculators use the TDEE method for which some estimate of your exercise activity is included in your calorie goal because you include ALL activity when you select your activity level.

You also have to compare apples to apples loss rate goals. Also, 1200 calories is just the lowest most calculators will go...most people can lose weight eating more than that...1200 calories is generally considered a pretty aggressive approach unless you are very short or very old or both.

iamtanishaahmed

Thanks people! :bigsmile:

cebreisch

Your intake needs to be less calories than you burn.

When I started on this path, my nutritionist wanted me on 1200-1500 calories a day. Pft. I was REALLY hungry. I joined Weight Watchers, and got about 500-700 more calories a day, which worked better for me, and I was losing.

Get a fitbit or some sort of activity monitor that syncs with MFP, and then just make sure you're burning at least 300 calories more than your taking in. If you can do more like 500 or 600 calories less than you burn, then even better.

Don't forget to be a "food journal nazi" about what you're eating.

laurie04427

I like this calculator personally:

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

At the bottom it will give you the amount of calories you eat. Your exercise is already figured in based on which activity level you picked so you don't have to adjust in MFP.