Advice needed re calorie intake vs expenditure

Asher213

Hi All,

I'm a little unsure if MFP has the right calorie goal set for me. I've always gone by what MFP recommends from the information I entered, and I have been mostly achieving my goal to lose 2lb per week. However, yesterday I calculated my TDEE (maintenance level) using the Harris-Benedict formula and found it to be 2670. So eating 1000 calories below this (1670) each week should result in a 2lb loss unless I'm mistaken?

http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html

MFP currently has my calorie goal set at 1310. After calculating my TDEE I'm concerned this might be a bit low. Would the Harris-Benedict formula be more accurate in determining how many calories I should be consuming? I multiplied my BMR by 1.375 (lightly active) as I am at least lightly active, if not moderately active.

I went back to MFP and noticed a possible error in my settings as I have my activity level set at sedentary. Changing this to lightly active ups the calorie goal to 1500 but still not quite the 1670 I expected due to my TDEE. When originally selecting my activity level on MFP I thought about how active I am generally ASIDE from the times I am exercising specifically to burn off calories (gym, swimming, planned walks etc). So apart from the times where I specifically exercising to burn off calories (3-5 times per week) I would say I am sedentary because of daily activities/having a desk job. I chose my activity level in this way as I always add my cardiovascular activity in my diary daily (recently bought a HRM to be more accurate with calories burned) so I figured this would help balance things out having chosen a sedentary activity level. Is this how others have selected their activity level on MFP or have I gone about things in the wrong way?

Are there other male members here with a goal as low as 1310? I don't think what I have been doing is too wrong as like I said I have mostly lost my 2lb per week, although some weeks 1-1-5lbs. What I would basically like to know is, having calculated my TDEE would it be worth manually raising my calorie goal on MFP to 1600 and see if I can still manage to lose 2lb per week?

psuLemon

As a male you really need to be eating at least 1500 calories based on the national institute for health for properly bodily function. Also, mfp had my calculations low by 200 calories. Also to preserve muscle, i would drop your deficit to 1 lb and make sure you eat enough protein. Muscle = metabolism. I eat 2800 and i still lose weight.

BobbyClerici

Hi All,

I'm a little unsure if MFP has the right calorie goal set for me. I've always gone by what MFP recommends from the information I entered, and I have been mostly achieving my goal to lose 2lb per week. However, yesterday I calculated my TDEE (maintenance level) using the Harris-Benedict formula and found it to be 2670. So eating 1000 calories below this (1670) each week should result in a 2lb loss unless I'm mistaken?

http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html

MFP currently has my calorie goal set at 1310. After calculating my TDEE I'm concerned this might be a bit low. Would the Harris-Benedict formula be more accurate in determining how many calories I should be consuming? I multiplied my BMR by 1.375 (lightly active) as I am at least lightly active, if not moderately active.

I went back to MFP and noticed a possible error in my settings as I have my activity level set at sedentary. Changing this to lightly active ups the calorie goal to 1500 but still not quite the 1670 I expected due to my TDEE. When originally selecting my activity level on MFP I thought about how active I am generally ASIDE from the times I am exercising specifically to burn off calories (gym, swimming, planned walks etc). So apart from the times where I specifically exercising to burn off calories (3-5 times per week) I would say I am sedentary because of daily activities/having a desk job. I chose my activity level in this way as I always add my cardiovascular activity in my diary daily (recently bought a HRM to be more accurate with calories burned) so I figured this would help balance things out having chosen a sedentary activity level. Is this how others have selected their activity level on MFP or have I gone about things in the wrong way?

Are there other male members here with a goal as low as 1310? I don't think what I have been doing is too wrong as like I said I have mostly lost my 2lb per week, although some weeks 1-1-5lbs. What I would basically like to know is, having calculated my TDEE would it be worth manually raising my calorie goal on MFP to 1600 and see if I can still manage to lose 2lb per week?

Here is what I see: your results!

Nothing else much matters - the Harris-Benedict formula or how many angels can dance in the head of a pin.
You are succeeding. Your results speak for itself.

So, what is it you are seeking? You can monkey around with the numbers, but why?
What more do you want - a 2 lb or so weight loss is great.

I lose a pound a week but eat around 3000 calories a day - highly active.
Everybody had opinions, philosophies and ideologies, but only a few have the results to back it all up.

Keep Punching!

Asher213

Hi All,

I'm a little unsure if MFP has the right calorie goal set for me. I've always gone by what MFP recommends from the information I entered, and I have been mostly achieving my goal to lose 2lb per week. However, yesterday I calculated my TDEE (maintenance level) using the Harris-Benedict formula and found it to be 2670. So eating 1000 calories below this (1670) each week should result in a 2lb loss unless I'm mistaken?

http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html

MFP currently has my calorie goal set at 1310. After calculating my TDEE I'm concerned this might be a bit low. Would the Harris-Benedict formula be more accurate in determining how many calories I should be consuming? I multiplied my BMR by 1.375 (lightly active) as I am at least lightly active, if not moderately active.

I went back to MFP and noticed a possible error in my settings as I have my activity level set at sedentary. Changing this to lightly active ups the calorie goal to 1500 but still not quite the 1670 I expected due to my TDEE. When originally selecting my activity level on MFP I thought about how active I am generally ASIDE from the times I am exercising specifically to burn off calories (gym, swimming, planned walks etc). So apart from the times where I specifically exercising to burn off calories (3-5 times per week) I would say I am sedentary because of daily activities/having a desk job. I chose my activity level in this way as I always add my cardiovascular activity in my diary daily (recently bought a HRM to be more accurate with calories burned) so I figured this would help balance things out having chosen a sedentary activity level. Is this how others have selected their activity level on MFP or have I gone about things in the wrong way?

Are there other male members here with a goal as low as 1310? I don't think what I have been doing is too wrong as like I said I have mostly lost my 2lb per week, although some weeks 1-1-5lbs. What I would basically like to know is, having calculated my TDEE would it be worth manually raising my calorie goal on MFP to 1600 and see if I can still manage to lose 2lb per week?

Here is what I see: your results!

Nothing else much matters - the Harris-Benedict formula or how many angels can dance in the head of a pin.
You are succeeding. Your results speak for itself.

So, what is it you are seeking? You can monkey around with the numbers, but why?
What more do you want - a 2 lb or so weight loss is great.

I lose a pound a week but eat around 3000 calories a day - highly active.
Everybody had opinions, philosophies and ideologies, but only a few have the results to back it all up.

Keep Punching!

I'm just trying to determine if its possible I can eat a bit more but still lose my 2lb per week. On some days I do find it quite difficult to stay within my calorie allowance and as MFP keeps reducing the calorie goal each time you lose 5kg its only going to get harder still! Having calculated my maintenance level I'm just concerned that MFP has me eating a little less than I should.

psuLemon

I'm just trying to determine if its possible I can eat a bit more but still lose my 2lb per week. On some days I do find it quite difficult to stay within my calorie allowance and as MFP keeps reducing the calorie goal each time you lose 5kg its only going to get harder still! Having calculated my maintenance level I'm just concerned that MFP has me eating a little less than I should.

You can definitely eat more. Also, at some point, you will stop losing 2 lbs per week as it is. As you get closer to your goal and more of an acceptable level of weight, you body will slow down. Also, by eating very low calories, your metabolism will adjust and slow down. Also with eating low calories, your body will lose muscle, which is another contributor of the slow down of losing weight. I would highly recommend getting your calories up by another 300, you really shouldn't net less than 1500 for a male.

When I started, I was eating 1800-2000 calories (also doing p90x). I did it for 90 days with no results. What I found out, i wasn't eating enough. I bumped mine to 2600 and doing chalean extreme and lost 3% body fat in 3 months (was 15%, then 12%) and went down to 190 lbs. Since then I gained 10 lbs and working to do some body recomposition instead of weight loss.

Asher213

I'm just trying to determine if its possible I can eat a bit more but still lose my 2lb per week. On some days I do find it quite difficult to stay within my calorie allowance and as MFP keeps reducing the calorie goal each time you lose 5kg its only going to get harder still! Having calculated my maintenance level I'm just concerned that MFP has me eating a little less than I should.

You can definitely eat more. Also, at some point, you will stop losing 2 lbs per week as it is. As you get closer to your goal and more of an acceptable level of weight, you body will slow down. Also, by eating very low calories, your metabolism will adjust and slow down. Also with eating low calories, your body will lose muscle, which is another contributor of the slow down of losing weight. I would highly recommend getting your calories up by another 300, you really shouldn't net less than 1500 for a male.

When I started, I was eating 1800-2000 calories (also doing p90x). I did it for 90 days with no results. What I found out, i wasn't eating enough. I bumped mine to 2600 and doing chalean extreme and lost 3% body fat in 3 months (was 15%, then 12%) and went down to 190 lbs. Since then I gained 10 lbs and working to do some body recomposition instead of weight loss.

Thanks for your reply psulemon.

My goal is currently 75kg. I'm 5'9 and currently weigh 86kg. I figured that when I get to around the 80kg mark I would adjust my weight loss goal down to 1lb per week to lose the last bit of weight a little more steadily. Does that sound like a good plan?

psuLemon

Thanks for your reply psulemon.

My goal is currently 75kg. I'm 5'9 and currently weigh 86kg. I figured that when I get to around the 80kg mark I would adjust my weight loss goal down to 1lb per week to lose the last bit of weight a little more steadily. Does that sound like a good plan?

Yea, sounds good, I would just recommend weight training to minimize muscle loss.

Asher213

Thanks for your reply psulemon.

My goal is currently 75kg. I'm 5'9 and currently weigh 86kg. I figured that when I get to around the 80kg mark I would adjust my weight loss goal down to 1lb per week to lose the last bit of weight a little more steadily. Does that sound like a good plan?

Yea, sounds good, I would just recommend weight training to minimize muscle loss.

Cheers, I have already been weight training also but I'm thinking of changing my routine for that. Recently I have been working each muscle group once per week but don't feel like I am getting any results from that. Obviously whilst eating at a big calorie deficit I'm not going to gain any muscle notice any big changes but in order to preserve muscle whilst losing weight is it better to do high weight low reps or lower weight high reps?

I'm thinking of changing my weight training routine so that I work on each muscle group twice a week but do less sets heavier weights rather than more sets at a more comfortable weight.

havalinaaa

MFP definitely had my # too low, I was getting results but also having terrible headaches nearly every day and I think my immune system was suffering as well (seemed to get a lot of colds). I used about 15 different TDEE calculators and BMR calculators and chose a number somewhere on the higher end of the scale that showed up more frequently than others (and on the calculators that asked for more information than others, some ask you for your height and weight only! not even activity level!) I can't recommend one calculator over another, I just googled for them and used the ones on the first page of results. Since upping my calories my weight loss has remained steady and the headaches have disappeared. I also find that I am less irritable.

psuLemon

Thanks for your reply psulemon.

My goal is currently 75kg. I'm 5'9 and currently weigh 86kg. I figured that when I get to around the 80kg mark I would adjust my weight loss goal down to 1lb per week to lose the last bit of weight a little more steadily. Does that sound like a good plan?

Yea, sounds good, I would just recommend weight training to minimize muscle loss.

What i would recommend is a 1lb per week deficit and heavy weights low reps. Never above 10 unless you misjudge the weight. If you are interested, look in p90x or p90x2. Its helped me a lot, well i am actually just about to start x2.

Cheers, I have already been weight training also but I'm thinking of changing my routine for that. Recently I have been working each muscle group once per week but don't feel like I am getting any results from that. Obviously whilst eating at a big calorie deficit I'm not going to gain any muscle notice any big changes but in order to preserve muscle whilst losing weight is it better to do high weight low reps or lower weight high reps?

I'm thinking of changing my weight training routine so that I work on each muscle group twice a week but do less sets heavier weights rather than more sets at a more comfortable weight.

3dogsrunning

Hi All,

I'm a little unsure if MFP has the right calorie goal set for me. I've always gone by what MFP recommends from the information I entered, and I have been mostly achieving my goal to lose 2lb per week. However, yesterday I calculated my TDEE (maintenance level) using the Harris-Benedict formula and found it to be 2670. So eating 1000 calories below this (1670) each week should result in a 2lb loss unless I'm mistaken?

http://www.shapefit.com/basal-metabolic-rate.html

MFP currently has my calorie goal set at 1310. After calculating my TDEE I'm concerned this might be a bit low. Would the Harris-Benedict formula be more accurate in determining how many calories I should be consuming? I multiplied my BMR by 1.375 (lightly active) as I am at least lightly active, if not moderately active.

I went back to MFP and noticed a possible error in my settings as I have my activity level set at sedentary. Changing this to lightly active ups the calorie goal to 1500 but still not quite the 1670 I expected due to my TDEE. When originally selecting my activity level on MFP I thought about how active I am generally ASIDE from the times I am exercising specifically to burn off calories (gym, swimming, planned walks etc). So apart from the times where I specifically exercising to burn off calories (3-5 times per week) I would say I am sedentary because of daily activities/having a desk job. I chose my activity level in this way as I always add my cardiovascular activity in my diary daily (recently bought a HRM to be more accurate with calories burned) so I figured this would help balance things out having chosen a sedentary activity level. Is this how others have selected their activity level on MFP or have I gone about things in the wrong way?

Are there other male members here with a goal as low as 1310? I don't think what I have been doing is too wrong as like I said I have mostly lost my 2lb per week, although some weeks 1-1-5lbs. What I would basically like to know is, having calculated my TDEE would it be worth manually raising my calorie goal on MFP to 1600 and see if I can still manage to lose 2lb per week?

Here is what I see: your results!

Nothing else much matters - the Harris-Benedict formula or how many angels can dance in the head of a pin.
You are succeeding. Your results speak for itself.

So, what is it you are seeking? You can monkey around with the numbers, but why?
What more do you want - a 2 lb or so weight loss is great.

I lose a pound a week but eat around 3000 calories a day - highly active.
Everybody had opinions, philosophies and ideologies, but only a few have the results to back it all up.

Keep Punching!

I'm just trying to determine if its possible I can eat a bit more but still lose my 2lb per week. On some days I do find it quite difficult to stay within my calorie allowance and as MFP keeps reducing the calorie goal each time you lose 5kg its only going to get harder still! Having calculated my maintenance level I'm just concerned that MFP has me eating a little less than I should.

Are you eating your exercise calories? That may be where the difference lies. MFP does not account for any activity above and beyond daily life (where you chose sedentary, etc). Other formulas will account for how much exercise you anticipate on doing, which is what I believe you did with your formula as well.

For example, MFP recommends I eat about 1450 calories to lose a pound a week. I usually burn 300-400 calories a day, so I was actually eating like 1850 but netting 1450 (total calories - exercise = net).
I recently hired a trainer for a fitness competition. When she figured what I should be eating, and accounted for the exercise program she gave me, she recommended I eat around 1800 calories a day. I still log it here for fun, but when I do log the food and exercise, I am still averaging around 1400 cals.
Two different formulas, same results.