Im confused... daily calories to lose weight...

lilmisslanna

Ok.. so here on MFP, it tells me in order to lose 2 pounds a week, that my daily intake needs to be 1230 calories, this is before working out. It suggested this with working out 3 times a week. So for the first two weeks I was losing weight, and then I stopped... I checked a few other sites for calories and what I should be eating and they all varied.???

Then I looked up zig zagging and the site below suggested my calorie intake be like this
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm


Maintenance: 2248 Calories/day
Fat Loss: 1798 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss: 1736 Calories/day

7 day calorie cycle (zig-zag)


Ex Fat Loss Fat Loss Maintain
Monday 1736 1799 2248
Tuesday 1736 1736 1799
Wed 2084 2158 2698
Thurs 1736 1799 2248
Friday 1736 1736 2023
Sat 1910 1978 2473
Sun 1736 1799 2248

This seems like a HUGE amount of calories... so im just wondering... which do I believe... im soooooo confused HELP!!

healthydoseofglitter

Try eatting back some of your exercise calories. Do you know how much you burn when you work out? ... Also make sure you get enough water. I have read a lot of posts on this exact issue and most people solve it by adding more protein on the days that they workout and upping water. Hope that helps!

healthydoseofglitter

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

check that out as well

princesslmc2

Bump

ratkaj

you might also be eating too few calories. When I stopped losing weight I added 200-300 extra calories for a week or two then went back to what MFP tells me to eat. Good luck

lilmisslanna

I have been eating back some of my exercise calories.. but im wondering why does the amount of calories I should be eating vary from site to site... the last site said 1736 to lose 2 pounds a week... and that is also with working out 3 times a week.

healthydoseofglitter

I checked the site. Mine is really high, I don't think that is a good resource to use.

mtwd65

MFP doesn't include the exercise calories in the food page until you record the exercise, it bumps it up when you enter each exercise session.

The site you mentioned includes the exercise calories up front.

Both sites gave the same value for metabolic rate, for an office worker MFP gives me a larger calorie allowance than the other site but then the exercise program bumps it way up. Here those exercise calories are only added IF I do the exercise so if I don't do it my proposed calorie intake for the day is a good estimate.

These calorie counts are based on a number of assumptions and the assumptions vary from site to site. eg. How much walking does an office worker do? Do you drive to work and park next to the door or take public transport and walk from the station? How much walking around the office is required? These are all things that the sites make assumptions about and build into their calorie counts based on how many calories they believe you use in your day to day life.

BTW that site suggested for extreme weight loss I only eat 969 cal for 5 days a week, that is unhealthy and shouldn't even be suggested! It has the information to know that extreme weight loss is totally inappropriate for me.

lilmisslanna

Thanks for the info... so much to think about.