Grrrrr! Why is this calorie thing so difficult???

Amajoy

Why cant knowing how many calories you should be eating in a given day based on your activity level be easy? I thought 1200 calories a day was a good number to be eating, but if you check other sites based on how active I am (or how much exercise I am doing) I am getting a number of 2,457 calories a day. Why is there such a huge difference...

fitnesspirateninja

Maybe those other sites are including the calories you burn off? Are you eating your excercise calories? I know that's kind of a touchy subject, but if you're working out a lot and feeling hungry, maybe you should eat back what you're burning off.

This thread might help you out, too:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

Lisa__Michelle

I always eat back HALF to 3/4 my workout calories because it is very easy to over or under estimate your exercise burn (even with an HRM). Nothing is ever 100% correct BUT you do want to eat some of them back because you don't want to be starving yourself in a deficit!

fitnesspirateninja

I agree - I eat back 50-70%.

Mrs_McFadden

I agree with other posters, since very few of us have absolutely accurate readings of either calories or calories burned it's better to be moderate about everything. Meaning- just eat SOME of your earned calories. From all of the threads I've been reading around here that is the magic yellow brick road baby! You have to feed your body when you work it out.

Amajoy

On average I am eating 1/2 the exercise calories back... I am just wondering if I am not eating enough... So I found a site that tells you how to calculate your BMR and based on your activity you can find out how many calories you should be eating to maintain your current weight (ill post the formulas at the end if you want to figure it out). So mine worked out to 2206.82 calories to maintain my weight with my current exercise. So obviously to lose weight you need to eat less, but if I am eating 12-1500 calories a day, thats ALOT less then my maintenance calories. I am just wondering if maybe 1200 calories is just NOT enough... Perhaps I should be in the 15-1700 calorie range, thoughts?

---

Calculate your BMR:

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

*Please note that this formula applies only to adults.


Calculate Activity

Step two: In order to incorporate activity into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation:

If you are sedentary : BMR x 20 percent

If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent

If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 40 percent

If you are very active (You exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 50 percent

If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 60 percent

Add this number to your BMR.

The result of this formula will be the number of calories you can eat every day and maintain your current weight. In order to lose weight, you'll need to take in fewer calories than this result.

As you lose weight, you can re-calculate the formula to assess your new BMR.

ladyhawk00

On average I am eating 1/2 the exercise calories back... I am just wondering if I am not eating enough... So I found a site that tells you how to calculate your BMR and based on your activity you can find out how many calories you should be eating to maintain your current weight (ill post the formulas at the end if you want to figure it out). So mine worked out to 2206.82 calories to maintain my weight with my current exercise. So obviously to lose weight you need to eat less, but if I am eating 12-1500 calories a day, thats ALOT less then my maintenance calories. I am just wondering if maybe 1200 calories is just NOT enough... Perhaps I should be in the 15-1700 calorie range, thoughts?

---

Calculate your BMR:

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

*Please note that this formula applies only to adults.


Calculate Activity

Step two: In order to incorporate activity into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation:

If you are sedentary : BMR x 20 percent

If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent

If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 40 percent

If you are very active (You exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 50 percent

If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 60 percent

Add this number to your BMR.

The result of this formula will be the number of calories you can eat every day and maintain your current weight. In order to lose weight, you'll need to take in fewer calories than this result.

As you lose weight, you can re-calculate the formula to assess your new BMR.

I don't know which formula this is, but MFP also has a BMR calculator that uses a very reliable formula. Go to Tools, BMR Calculator.

fitnesspirateninja

I have have 1480 before factoring in my exercise calories.