Calories per day - Have I finally cracked it?

alanaosu

I've been doing lot's or research and trying to understand how much I should be eating every day and in order to lose weight but not starve. Age - 32. Height 62.5". Weight - 133lbs. Goal weight - 120-115lbs. Female.

So to start I tested how many calories I burned over a 5 minute period upon waking but not getting out of bed (I used a HRM). This seemed to average 1 calorie per minute. So I figure my BMR is 1 x 1440 (number of minutes in a day). I then took off around 50 calories to account for the fact that I had moved around in order to get the HRM on and was not totally comatose when taking the reading. This figure is also very close to what most BMR calculators estimate so I'm happy to go with it.

As I vary my exercise and take at least one rest day per week I put my activity level in as sedentary so that I can add exercise as and when I do it. This looks like:

1390 (BMR) x 1.2 = 1668 (my burn for the day if I'm being a slob)

There also seems to be a large body of people suggesting that in order to prevent starvation mode kicking in, you should not eat less than your BMR on any day. So on a day when I take no formal exercise I can eat 1390 calories (giving me a deficit of 278. Not as high as I'd like but I can always go for a walk to make it up right?

On the days when I exercise I worked my calorie intake out to be the following:

1390 (BMR) x 1.2 = 1668
1668 + 480 (exercise calories as measured on HRM) - 75 (this is the 75 calories I would have burned during that time if I wasn't exercising - I'm trying not to count extra calories that haven't been earned). = 2148

2148 - 500 (calorie deficit) = 1648

So on my workout days I eat 1648 and on my rest days I eat 1390.

Does this sound right???

asyouseefit

Sound great to me! I would take those numbers with a pinch of salt though. Don't obssess about the numbers! If you eat 1700 cals on your work-out day and 1300 on your non work-out, I think you will be just fine as well!

hstallings13

bump

RebelliousRibbons

Great theory! But for a lot of us.. we find ourselves wanting to eat more on days we DON'T work out... So, just keep that in mind! What works for you might not work for us, too.

TavistockToad

Sounds good to me. you'll just have to try it for a few weeks and see what happens. Dont forget you will need to reduce your deficit as you get closer to your goal.

sexforjaffacakes

My BMR is 1600, and I usually eat a lot less than that a day (unless I have a big work out), and my body doesn't seem to be in starvation mode xD For a lot of obese people they can't do exercise at all, so eating under their BMR is the only way to create a deficit! So I think the eating under your BMR puts you into starvation mode bit isn't right, but yeah the rest sounds good. Though I'm not sure it takes 50 calories to put on a HRM :P

alanaosu

sexforjaffacakes - you're right. If you're obese then eating under your BMR wont hurt as your body actually wants to shift those extra pounds.

However, I'm pretty close to my goal weight and after 3 months of eating 1200 a day and exercising at least 4 times a week I've lost and gained the same 3-4lbs. The formula I worked out is for those of us who don't have much to lose and who are trying to get rid of the last few stubborn pounds. I can only imagine that my body thinks it's starving and is holding onto every calorie I put in.

I'm expecting to gain for the first few weeks eating at the higher calorie level (while my body adjusts it's metabolism) but then I'm hoping to start losing.

The resources I used are

http://caloriecount.about.com/allowance-tool-shot-buried-ft87263
http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8.htm

The bodybuilding one is because many bodybuilders are very good at manipulating their bodies to let go of the fat that it would prefer to hold onto. Vanity pounds!

gwenmf

bump

mphilips

CAN ANYONE HELP ME OUT WITH THIS, ARE WE SUPPOSED TO EAT OUR EXCERCISE CALORIES OR NOT? PLEASE LET ME KNOW

alanaosu

In a word yes. But make sure that you set your daily energy expenditure accurately (so don't put sedentary if you're a waitress with 2 small kids to run around at home).

Work out your BMR. Times this by your Daily energy expenditure rate. Add any calories you burned with exercise (if you want to be really precise work out the calories you would have burned during the same amount of time exercising, if you had just sat on your butt and deduct these).

With this final figure subtract a 500 calories to create your deficit. This is your calorie goal for the day. Please note that if this number is lower than your BMR then you should eat your BMR calories instead to prevent starvation mode kicking in. If you're obese and have lot's to shift don't worry about eating under your BMR. This is only for those with lest that around 20-30 pounds to lose.

If you're still confused give me your stats and I'll try to work it out for you.

joclougherty

In a word yes. But make sure that you set your daily energy expenditure accurately (so don't put sedentary if you're a waitress with 2 small kids to run around at home).

Work out your BMR. Times this by your Daily energy expenditure rate. Add any calories you burned with exercise (if you want to be really precise work out the calories you would have burned during the same amount of time exercising, if you had just sat on your butt and deduct these).

With this final figure subtract a 500 calories to create your deficit. This is your calorie goal for the day. Please note that if this number is lower than your BMR then you should eat your BMR calories instead to prevent starvation mode kicking in. If you're obese and have lot's to shift don't worry about eating under your BMR. This is only for those with lest that around 20-30 pounds to lose.

If you're still confused give me your stats and I'll try to work it out for you.

Hi,

Could you work mine out please?
Age - 41. Height 67". Weight - 160lbs. Goal weight - 138lbs. Female

I started at the beginning of May and was 190lbs, have lost 30lbs since then. MFP is working well but I'm unsure about my calories. I started off with 1400 per day and set my activity to sedentary (I work in an office). I also have 3 kids so never really sit down until they've gone to bed.

Recently MFP changed my cals to 1290 because I'd lost weight but this is not enough for me to realistically stick to. I run 4-5 times per week and burn usually 800 cals 3 times per week and 500 once or twice so a total of at least 2800 per week. I have now set my acitivity level to light exercise just because it then gave me 1440 cals per day. I eat most of my exercise cals back and some days I am over (at the weekend I might have wine) and some days I'm under. I try and keep within as much as poss and stick within the calorie limit for the week rather than the day.

Your thoughts and calculations would be appreciated! Thanks.

aj_rock

There are quite a few models out there that base your calorie intake on your goal weight. 12-13 calories per lb or something like that. Just try to loosen your targets a little bit... I doubt you'll be able to eat precisely 1648 calories in a day :P

CharNordie

Bump

ahavoc

Remember age is a factor as well. I'm 53 and if I do 30 minutes on the elliptical I burn more calories than someone younger, 25, 35, or 45, because it takes more effort for me to do the work than the youngsters. VO2 max is also very important and you can learn about that here:

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/vo2max-calculator.aspx

My BMR will also be different based on my age, so make sure to figure everything in.

alanaosu

Jo. Your BMR is estimated at around 1475 (note the estimate bit). Times this by your activity level (not counting exercise).

Either 1475 x 1.2 = 1770 sedentary
Or 1475 x 1.375 = 2028 lightly active

Your call but I'd probably go for a number between the two as you spend most of the day sedentary and then the evenings lightly active. Let's say 1900 as a middle ground estimate.

Subtract 500 from this and you have your daily calorie need without exercise. 1400. As this is lower than your BMR I would still eat 1475 on the days that you don't exercise. On the days that you do simply do the following:

1900 + XXX (calories burned) - 75 (the calories that the equation allows you to have if you were not exercising) - 500.

Depending on the calories burned you may have a higher figure than the standard 1475 you can eat on your non exercise days.

If you are struggling to stay under then I'm afraid that you really need to look at the foods you're eating. If it's mostly 'clean' foods you'll be able to eat quite a lot without going over. Think egg white scramble on wholemeal toast with tomato/mushroom, big salads, lean protein, fruit, you know the drill. Unfortunately dieting isn't easy and if you love your food then you'll need to be prepared to up the exercise in order to be allowed to eat what you want.

Hope this helps.

Rae6503

Except since you only have 10lbs to go a 500 calorie deficit might be too big. I run on about a 300 calorie deficit.

alanaosu

I agree. This is why I don't suggest going under your BMR if you're not obese. It depends on how quickly you are trying to shift the last few pounds. Let's face it, they're always a *kitten*! :-)

ChristyP0303

Bump, must test this out!

Armygirl67

I've been doing lot's or research and trying to understand how much I should be eating every day and in order to lose weight but not starve. Age - 32. Height 62.5". Weight - 133lbs. Goal weight - 120-115lbs. Female.

So to start I tested how many calories I burned over a 5 minute period upon waking but not getting out of bed (I used a HRM). This seemed to average 1 calorie per minute. So I figure my BMR is 1 x 1440 (number of minutes in a day). I then took off around 50 calories to account for the fact that I had moved around in order to get the HRM on and was not totally comatose when taking the reading. This figure is also very close to what most BMR calculators estimate so I'm happy to go with it.

As I vary my exercise and take at least one rest day per week I put my activity level in as sedentary so that I can add exercise as and when I do it. This looks like:

1390 (BMR) x 1.2 = 1668 (my burn for the day if I'm being a slob)

There also seems to be a large body of people suggesting that in order to prevent starvation mode kicking in, you should not eat less than your BMR on any day. So on a day when I take no formal exercise I can eat 1390 calories (giving me a deficit of 278. Not as high as I'd like but I can always go for a walk to make it up right?

On the days when I exercise I worked my calorie intake out to be the following:

1390 (BMR) x 1.2 = 1668
1668 + 480 (exercise calories as measured on HRM) - 75 (this is the 75 calories I would have burned during that time if I wasn't exercising - I'm trying not to count extra calories that haven't been earned). = 2148

2148 - 500 (calorie deficit) = 1648

So on my workout days I eat 1648 and on my rest days I eat 1390.

Does this sound right???

Bump.. great info, im saving this one.

joclougherty

Jo. Your BMR is estimated at around 1475 (note the estimate bit). Times this by your activity level (not counting exercise).

Either 1475 x 1.2 = 1770 sedentary
Or 1475 x 1.375 = 2028 lightly active

Your call but I'd probably go for a number between the two as you spend most of the day sedentary and then the evenings lightly active. Let's say 1900 as a middle ground estimate.

Subtract 500 from this and you have your daily calorie need without exercise. 1400. As this is lower than your BMR I would still eat 1475 on the days that you don't exercise. On the days that you do simply do the following:

1900 + XXX (calories burned) - 75 (the calories that the equation allows you to have if you were not exercising) - 500.

Depending on the calories burned you may have a higher figure than the standard 1475 you can eat on your non exercise days.

If you are struggling to stay under then I'm afraid that you really need to look at the foods you're eating. If it's mostly 'clean' foods you'll be able to eat quite a lot without going over. Think egg white scramble on wholemeal toast with tomato/mushroom, big salads, lean protein, fruit, you know the drill. Unfortunately dieting isn't easy and if you love your food then you'll need to be prepared to up the exercise in order to be allowed to eat what you want.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot! I think that just confirms that what I'm doing is about right! My cals are set to 1440 and I eat back most of my exercise cals and the ones I don't eat back cover me for the 75 that you say I would burn anyway and should take off my exercise cals. I think I will keep going like this as I'm not in a great rush and still have 24lbs to go. I have averaged about 1.5 lbs per week as I've been doing this for 19 weeks and lost 28lbs so I think that's pretty good going and the running has definitely helped as I look much thinner than I weigh if you know what I mean! Thanks again.

lennykat

I've been doing lot's or research and trying to understand how much I should be eating every day and in order to lose weight but not starve. Age - 32. Height 62.5". Weight - 133lbs. Goal weight - 120-115lbs. Female.

So to start I tested how many calories I burned over a 5 minute period upon waking but not getting out of bed (I used a HRM). This seemed to average 1 calorie per minute. So I figure my BMR is 1 x 1440 (number of minutes in a day). I then took off around 50 calories to account for the fact that I had moved around in order to get the HRM on and was not totally comatose when taking the reading. This figure is also very close to what most BMR calculators estimate so I'm happy to go with it.

As I vary my exercise and take at least one rest day per week I put my activity level in as sedentary so that I can add exercise as and when I do it. This looks like:

1390 (BMR) x 1.2 = 1668 (my burn for the day if I'm being a slob)

There also seems to be a large body of people suggesting that in order to prevent starvation mode kicking in, you should not eat less than your BMR on any day. So on a day when I take no formal exercise I can eat 1390 calories (giving me a deficit of 278. Not as high as I'd like but I can always go for a walk to make it up right?

On the days when I exercise I worked my calorie intake out to be the following:

1390 (BMR) x 1.2 = 1668
1668 + 480 (exercise calories as measured on HRM) - 75 (this is the 75 calories I would have burned during that time if I wasn't exercising - I'm trying not to count extra calories that haven't been earned). = 2148

2148 - 500 (calorie deficit) = 1648

So on my workout days I eat 1648 and on my rest days I eat 1390.

Does this sound right???

You know this is super interesting. I'm a very visual and comparative person and your math speaks volumes to me mostly because of your stats.

I've been struggling with the same 5lbs since the beginning of April, I'm not obese though the scale says 190-something.

I'm 5'9", 190lbs, female and the fact that you at 5'2".5 and 133 need 1300+ cals on a non exercise day and 1600+ on an exercise day confirms the fact that I'm probably not eating enough when I don't meet my NET cals for the day. Right now I start with 1660 cals a day and after exercise that goes up to around 2100 or so depending on what I do. Simple fact is, I'm pretty much not meeting those numbers on a consistent basis.

Thanks so much to all of you who do the research and math and give others something to compare to. It's a real eye opener.

I hope all of this makes sense...

jadeblue14

Bump. This is a lot of good info.