How to know the right # of Calories

rocky282

How do you really know how many calories to eat??? I went in for a Docs apt 2 weeks ago and they found keytones in my urine which she said means that I am starving myself. We went over my diet and she recomended that I up my calorie intake to 1700-1800. I did that and the next urine test (friday) said everything was ok now. But here is my question... will I still keep loosing weight? I am trying to eat much healthier and even at 1200 found plenty of food throughout the day to make me not hungry. Trying to eat 1700 is killing me. I dropped it down to 1600 so that at least I think I can hit that mark. I do have almost 100.lbs to loose.

Qarol

IMO, you can't. Unless you get a metabolism test, you really don't know how much you burn at BMR. But MFP has good guidelines that work for a lot of people.

But if your doctor wants you at that much, I would try to follow her advice for a few weeks. You could also exercise a bit more if you're worried about not losing. But try to stay at that level your doctor recommended.

rachelhohenbrink

Are you eating all of your exercise calories? That is a MUST. Also slow and steady wins the race. You are doing this hopefully for a lifestyle change and not just short term so it should all work out for you as long as your making healthy choices and exercising. I'm sure you will do great! There are some really great articles on MFP about eating your exercise calories, how MFP works to create a calorie deficit for you and so on. I think they are in the community section. I will go look and try to post.

ejmcam

Does your doctor know you are trying to lose weight? That might be a question to ask them. You might lose at a slower rate, but in the long run that is healthier and easier to maintain anyway.

rachelhohenbrink

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

Here ya go hope this helps

RaeannePemberton

way back when i started at 254 lbs, i was eating 1200 calories and totally slowed down my metabolism. in my experience, you CANNOT starve yourself for many reasons... it's not healthy, it messes with your metabolism, and you will easily gain back anything you lose.

i don't know your weight, but usually you can safely take your weight times 10 to figure an okay amount to eat to maintain, give or take 100-200 and you can subtract 500 from that figure for a good goal. i have also used nutritiondata.com's calorie needs calculator and put myself at sedentary to get an idea of my own BMR though i did actually have my BMR tested and just as i thought it was higher than normal.

whatever changes you make, give it a good 2-4 weeks before you decide that it's not working. the body takes time to catchup and figure out what's going on. ultimately, you need fuel to BURN the fat... otherwise, your body will become weak and you can even feel more tired, fatigued, and/or get sick.... speaking from experience here too... i have maintained for a year and lost my weight over 15 months... i have pretty much experienced the full gamut. good luck!

RaeannePemberton

PS. i recommend MFP to many people but one thing i have noticed is that they calculate our needs a lot different than i think i would like for my calorie needs to be calculated. IMHO MFP recommends that we eat too few cals.... i am coaching 5 different people on their weightloss journey and they started 2 weeks ago at my recommendations and they have lost a grand total of 35 lbs just in 2 weeks so far.... so i would say starvation is NOT the road to go on....

Rae6503

Listen to your doctor and see what happens. So many people are afraid to eat to much while dieting but they don't know what will happen if they do. You probably didn't gain the weight eating 1700 calories a day. When not paying attention I can easily average 2500-3000 calories a day. 1700 really isn't that much. It aim for about that much.

joejccva71

See the link in my sig.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/293340-calculating-calorie-intake-bmr-and-macronutrients

kfitz10103

I understand how you feel. MFP tells me to eat 1,640 for 1/2 lb/wk loss, but Livestrong told me 1,850. Well I stuck to MFP and I am losing 1 lb/wk not 1/2 lb. I think there are several variables. One, I have my activity set to sedentary, but I have 2 children under 2 so I am pretty active at home. I think I burn 2,140 per day and not 1,890 so when eating 1,640 I have a 500 calorie/day deficit - hence the 1 lb/wk loss. I tried upping my activity, but it went up to me burning 2,000 per day and so it lowered my daily calories to 1,500. It is all just estimates so I would try to stick to what the doctor tells you for 4 weeks and see how much you lose. After you stick to your calories for that time you will know about how many calories you burn per day and you can calulate your daily deficit you want for the weight loss you want.

RunHardBeStrong

way back when i started at 254 lbs, i was eating 1200 calories and totally slowed down my metabolism. in my experience, you CANNOT starve yourself for many reasons... it's not healthy, it messes with your metabolism, and you will easily gain back anything you lose.

i don't know your weight, but usually you can safely take your weight times 10 to figure an okay amount to eat to maintain, give or take 100-200 and you can subtract 500 from that figure for a good goal. i have also used nutritiondata.com's calorie needs calculator and put myself at sedentary to get an idea of my own BMR though i did actually have my BMR tested and just as i thought it was higher than normal.

whatever changes you make, give it a good 2-4 weeks before you decide that it's not working. the body takes time to catchup and figure out what's going on. ultimately, you need fuel to BURN the fat... otherwise, your body will become weak and you can even feel more tired, fatigued, and/or get sick.... speaking from experience here too... i have maintained for a year and lost my weight over 15 months... i have pretty much experienced the full gamut. good luck!

I completely agree with this. I've lost 60+ lbs using this formula. 10 times my weight then subtract 500 to get my net. It works better for me than MFP's way. I use MFP to track calories in/out but use my own numbers.

rocky282

Does your doctor know you are trying to lose weight? That might be a question to ask them. You might lose at a slower rate, but in the long run that is healthier and easier to maintain anyway.

Yes, she knows I'm trying to loose weight, she had suggested the original 1200 calorie, that was until my urine came back with keytones (sp?) then she asked to see my list of what I had been eating.

rocky282

Ok so using the estimate 223 X 10 = 2,230 - 500 = 1,800 so if that is right then she was even calculating it a little low. I will take your advice, and shoot for as close to 1700 as I can get. Boy though I'm gonna have to find something to snack on. lol

When I go back and try to calculate what I was eating before it was close to the 2000 calorie range. Until I went on the medicines I am currently on, I was holding steady for almost 3 years at 212-215 then I shot up 15lbs in like 2 weeks with my new medications. You guys and the doctor are probably right I'm just so stinkin stubborn.