Arg! So terribly confused...

LeCitron

Bear with me folks:

I know that there are a lot of threads out there about the amount of calories people should be eating versus their amount of exercise and stuff. Trust me, I've been reading them for at least an hour or two. I am so confused with how much I'm supposed to be eating and exercising. So I'm hoping that maybe if I put my stats on here I can get some solid answers.

Please?

The Stats:
I currently weigh 159 pounds.
I am 5`7" and I'm pretty sure my body has been in starvation mode for a while--more about that later.
I'm relatively muscular. I can run a half marathon without much difficulty as well as lift relatively heavy items.
I'm a classic pear shape and carry weight around my hips and caboose. I believe a country music song would label it a "honky tonk badonkadonk."
I would like to lose around 2 pounds per week (that's might be overly optimistic but hey, there's nothing wrong with being optimistic, right?)

The Exercise:
In the mornings I run 5.1 miles at a speed that is between 5.2-6.2 mph on a paved road with several ups and down. Then I walk about 1.5 miles on the same road at about 3.5 mph. According to my iPod Nano that burns about 630-650 calories but according to this site it burns about 720 calories.
I run this way almost every day but sometimes I take Sundays off.
Also please note that this type of exercise is nothing major for me. I used to not leave the gym until I burned 1400 calories--daily! Yes, I know this was wrong, but I'm really working on lessening my exercising. And look at how far I've come since!

The Question:
How many calories should I eat?
1200 calories? 1800 calories calories (1200 + 600)? More? One site I went onto said 1563 calories but that was without added exercise. Another said 2200 with my "Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)" but is my exercise considered to be "very active" or "moderately active"? Please refer to what I said above in regards to the exercise.

And just so everyone knows, I'm still rather new to this whole "eat to lose weight" idea. I was a following of the "eat less, exercise more" ideology to the point where I'd get dizzy and tired very easily. Since joining this site I'm eating probably double of what I was consuming previously. I believe I average around 1500-1800 calories a day (when I don't binge on ice cream, of course.)

So... more? Less? Confused! I could really use some guidance from the more knowledgable MyFitnessPal people.

Thank you in advance to anyone who responds with thoughtful advice and instructions.

Rae6503

2lbs per week IS probably unrealistic. There was a post I read yesterday (I need to start keep track of good posts somehow) that said that when you are close to your goal weight your body will use it's muscle to feed itself instead of it's fat. You don't want to lose muscle to you?

I will tell you what has given me success.

I am 5'9" and weight 153
I was 161 when I started here.
I have my goal set to 0.5lbs per week.
I have my activity level as "lightly-active"
I try to net 1750 but often go over a bit. (Net means I enter and eat all my exercise calories)
I try to do Turbo Fire 6 days a week which burns 200-600 calories a workout.


So my thoughts are for you: enter your goal to 1lbs a week. Enter your activity level based on where you think you fit. Enter and eat ALL your exercise calories. Try this for 4 weeks, the re-evaluate.

SeaChele77

First of all 2lbs per week is not realistic unless you go on a fast, which would then be mostly water weight and you'd gain most back. You are in a healthy BMI therefore you really need to change your settings to .5lbs or maybe 1lb per week. I too would love to lose more and quicker - I am very impatient. But when I changed my settings the weight started to come off. I've been pretty steady now at .5 -1lb per week.

You need to consume *at least* 1200 calories for your height, weight and body type. Under that and being inconsistent with being under will cause you to plateau!! If you are consistently under 1000 you may lose, but you could not have one single day of going over. Not healthy!

On days you exercise you do need to refuel - you don't have to eat *all* your exercise calories back, but it sounds like you burn quite a bit so I would suggest a minimum calorie intake of 1700! Consistency is the key!!

Also, try reducing sodium or removing dairy from your diet or lowering carbs. Its not a text book answer unfortunatly. What works for some may not work for you - its a bit of trial and error!

landorki

IT'S SIMPLE... DON'T OVER THINK IT.

MFP does all the work for you...

Plug your stats in, and it will give you a calorie goal for how much you want to lose.

Try not to eat any of your exercise calories back. (I sometimes do if I need to hit my protein goal)

Make sure you hit your protein goal. Most people miss the importance of Protein intake when losing weight. It is a MUST!

Done and DUN! I hope this helps!

carbonboy

You will most likely get quite a few different responses here as well I'm guessing. That's because everyone metabolises differently, and there is no one size fits all remedy for weight loss. But a good "general" rule of thumb that seems to work for a lot of people is to begin with your base calories (in your case 1200) is probably pretty close, and then eat back roughly half of the calories you burned through exercise. Monitor your weight weekly, and then adjust the base up or down accordingly if you're not seeing the scale move. You might find you need to raise your base calories to 1500 and continue to eat back half your workout calories. Good luck.

Jemmuno

I just met with my personal trainer yesterday for the first time and I workout 5-6 times a week with a lot of running not so much strength and she told me that I need to be at least eating 2000 calories a day. A lot of fruits and veggies, and shes gonna start me on a strength training routine which will increase my lean muscle because lean muscle burns fat. You can do cardio all day long but if your not building that lean muscle the pounds aren't gonna come off. She basicly said eat in moderation lots of fruits and veggies and protein.

I hope that helps.

lulutm

Here's what I think you should do.... Why not track everything you are eating now, for a period of about 1 week. Eat normally and take an average of your daily intake. Since you are not losing or gaining at that level of intake, it should be a pretty good average of what your body needs to maintain -- common sense right? So take that number and subtract a couple hundred calories from it and go with that. If the number is dangerously low (below 1200 calories), then you are probably right - your body is in starvation mode and you need to add some calories and protein back in.

Let us know how you do!

Rae6503

IT'S SIMPLE... DON'T OVER THINK IT.

MFP does all the work for you...

Plug your stats in, and it will give you a calorie goal for how much you want to lose.

Try not to eat any of your exercise calories back. (I sometimes do if I need to hit my protein goal)

Make sure you hit your protein goal. Most people miss the importance of Protein intake when losing weight. It is a MUST!

Done and DUN! I hope this helps!

If you are really following MFP, you'd eat your exercise calories. That's what the program tells you to do.

bjalter

Maybe I'm doing the wrong thing, but I don't eat my exercise calories (40 min. of elliptical, 2-3 times a week). I don't even enter exercise states into MFP...


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss

iTim__

IT'S SIMPLE... DON'T OVER THINK IT.

MFP does all the work for you...

Plug your stats in, and it will give you a calorie goal for how much you want to lose.

Smart dude.

kapeluza

"Question #1:

Should I eat all my calories?

Yes. MFP is already figuring a deficit for you to lose weight. This deficit is based on what you need to eat based on your everyday activity, not counting exercise. In the end, it's all about "net calories" (you can view yours under reports)

Example: you need to eat 2,000 calories to maintain your current weight (random number)
MFP will tell you to eat 1,500 to lose one pound per week (500x7=3500=one pound loss).

Let's say you exercise, and burn 500 additional calories.
UH-OH, now you are at a 1,000 calorie a day deficit. You need 2,000 calories to maintian, are already restricted to 1500, so now your net calories are a 1,000 a day. This is starvation central. Your body, which is very good at keeping you alive, will store and save calories. You WILL stop losing weight. You WILL want to throw your scale out the window.

Eat your exercise calories. At least eat most of them.

Question #2:
I'm eating 1200 calories, I feel like crap and I'm not losing weight. What gives?

Answer:
Run, don't walk, to "tools" and use the BMR calculator. Please, please, please, eat at least your BMR calories every day. You might lose weight more slowly, but you will still lose, and you will not longer feel a sudden urge to fall over every time you do, well, anything.

Question #3:
I'm doing "everything right" and the scale won't move.

Answer #1: The scale is the devil. Step away from the scale. Buy a tape measure, notice how your clothes are (probably) fitting better. Muscle is more dense than fat, and takes up less space on your body. More muscle on your body will make the scale freeze or (gasp) move upward.

Answer #2: You're not being honest. In order for this to work, you must record every morsel of food that goes in your body. Also, if you ride a stationary bike for 30 minutes and barely break a sweat and can still chatter on your cell phone (OK, that's my personal gym pet peeve) then you're probably not working "vigorously". Don't overestimate your exercise calories. (this was a big mistake I made in the past.)

Answer #3: Your body might be re-adjusting. How you feel is the most important mark of progress. It's very easy to fixate on numbers, but feeling better really should be its own reward.

Question #4:
So, if I'm eating my exercise calories, what's the point of exercise?

Answer: (warning: extremely opinionated answer ahead)
You don't. You can lose weight through diet alone. But, then you will be skinny and flabby. Is a model skinnier than me? OH, YES! Is she healthier than me? probably NOT. She couldn't survive the hour-long spin class that I take three times a week. Trust me. Her skin is a mess, she smokes, and she looks like crap in person. (this is a generalization. I don't hate models, but this is their lifestyle. . .I used to be a "dresser" at shows, and I saw a lot of "behind the scenes" stuff. "

evesacks

I don't think for you its only about counting calories, more like watching WHAT you eat.
Protein at every meal.
No processed food.
No refined carbs.
Avoid artificial sweeteners and watch out for excessive caffeine.
Eat LOADS of veggies. A couple of pieces of fruit a day.
Drink loads of water.
Am guessing around 1600 a day though.

Also I agree, with other poster, once you are in healthy BMI, only 1lb (or less) a week is realistic.

iTim__

If you are really following MFP, you'd eat your exercise calories. That's what the program tells you to do.

I agree. I don't always eat all of them, but I do eat 'em.

I also see a lot of posts on here about eating healthy. I agree... but, you've got to start somewhere and doing everything at once can be overwhelming. I think it is fine to start with calories and once you've got that mastered, start looking at other stuff like cholesterol or protein, or potassium. You didn't get overweight or obese overnight, don't expect this to happen all at once either.

polkataniec

Bump

LeCitron

First of all, thank you to everyone who has responded. I'm reading it all and believe you me I appreciate it!

There is one thing I should have added in regards to eating. To quote my friend JoAnne: "I honestly don't know anyone who eats healthier than you do." And aside from my affinity for ice cream, I can't remember the last time I ate a chip, a piece of pizza, or--frankly--a refined grain. I also probably eat more than my recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables. I'm trying to become vegetarian friendly but don't skimp on the protein at all. I tend to eat a lot of almonds, oatmeal, and all types of beans.

Does this help?

Once again thank you!