An easier way to setup goal calories - eating for who you wi

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  • buckeyerunner
    buckeyerunner Posts: 5
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    thanks
  • monkeymouse74
    monkeymouse74 Posts: 288
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    Bump...:blushing:
  • MelanieAG05
    MelanieAG05 Posts: 359 Member
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    HELP! I am now confused! I have calculated that my BMR + activity at goal weight (140lbs) is 1985 calories!! I am currently set at 1270 net cals and only ever eat about half (of not less) of my exercise cals back and not getting anywhere. MFP says my maintenance at goal weight 140lbs would be 1600 + activity/exercise calories.

    So should I be eating between 1600 and 1985 cals to lose the weight??

    I really need all the help I can get so when I stumbled upon this thread I got excited but now confused.

    Fat to Fit radio shows I should be eating 1893 cals per day (including exercise cals) for my goal weight.

    Does this all sound right? I'm worried I could be setting myself up for a fall and gaining more weight!
  • sparky38351
    sparky38351 Posts: 53
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    My estimated cal intake to maintain at my goal weight is 3,000. This is more than double what I take in now. How can this be right?
  • persian_star
    persian_star Posts: 197 Member
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    Why not? Because I only have a few pounds to go. Do you realize how small that calorie deficit would be? It would take years to lose the last 5 pounds.

    Yup, this is me too. And a slight under or over calculation on exercise makes a huge difference to calories.
  • persian_star
    persian_star Posts: 197 Member
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    Just to confirm though - I do think this is a very good way of going about things. It makes sure your calories intake is always in a healthy range (of which I would like to see much more on MFP!) and helps you plan for the same number each day. Having (finally! ;o) got through all the posts though, I would say there are two sets of people for whom this method wouldn't be so good - 1) those with very unpredictable activity levels like shift workers (or parents of small children!) because it's impossible to estimate a weekly expenditure and 2) those near their calorie goal. I say this because I've spent aaaaaages trying to figure out the 'right' calorie intake:

    I'm female, 32, 5 ft 3 1/2, small build, at 124-6 lbs currently. I only want to be able to fit into my trousers again without a muffin top, so all I want to lose is about 8 lbs. I sleep 8 hours a night, slob on the sofa most evenings and sit at a desk all day - my only real exercise is walking half an hour quite hard each way to work. By this calculation I should be eating 1994 calories a day! That's only 6 calories less than the RDA for an average woman. And that's assuming I'm spot on with my activity levels.

    Whereas the method I've gone down with MFP is - current BMR of 1351 (using the calc on fat2fitradio) which then adds in my sedentary lifestyle to get 1579. Take a number in between those (say 1450) and eat back my exercise calories (about 400 a day). That's 1850, still healthy, but considerably lower than 1994 (which by this method would put me OVER maintanance). And then if I work from home, take a day off or simply feel too tired to walk all the way, it won't bump me over because I won't log it and won't eat it back.

    So I think the OP method can be very helpful in helping people understand, but it's not going to work for everyone. The whole draw of MFP for me was a place where I could log (and then eat back) my exercise cals, unlike every other diet site which just estimates activity.

    It's been interesting reading everyone's comments and there's definitely some food for thought, plus anything that get's people eating over their BMR is good in my book :flowerforyou:
  • Goldenbast
    Goldenbast Posts: 227 Member
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    Bump to check back often :)
  • frosty73
    frosty73 Posts: 424 Member
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    BUMP! Thank you!
  • BeachBoundMommy
    BeachBoundMommy Posts: 8
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    Thanks for posting. I'm going to check into this. MFP says 1200 is my caloric intake to lose the weight I want but I'm fearful I'm eating too little and will lose and then gain back as I have in the past.
  • skward04
    skward04 Posts: 81 Member
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    Bump
  • no_where1976
    no_where1976 Posts: 56 Member
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    bump. thanks for the info!
  • sojojoshua
    sojojoshua Posts: 37
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    Bump////Ive been intending to do this for sometime now...
  • devincl1
    devincl1 Posts: 19 Member
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    I'm really confused reading this. I'm new to this site (about 30 days in) and feel so good about losing 15 lbs already. I feel great because I'm eating really healthy (lots of vegtables and fruit) and working out 5 days a week. I can't Imagine eating 2500 calories a day and still losing weight. I basically feel like I'd be eating exactly like i was eating before, the only difference would be me working out. I was not losing at all before! Weight loss is so confusing with so many different plans. It just seems like the best way would be to eat less, healthy food and excersise. Just wish it could be kept simple!
  • DarkAngellEyes
    DarkAngellEyes Posts: 335 Member
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    Bump - Im intrigued...
  • agibson0430
    agibson0430 Posts: 27 Member
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    bump
  • Blueberry09
    Blueberry09 Posts: 821 Member
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    I need to come back later too!
  • greengirl1978
    greengirl1978 Posts: 13 Member
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    This looks interesting...I am trying the MFP preset plan for a set period of time and then evaluating my progress at that point. I will definitely consider making these changes if I am not happy with my progress or feel as though my current plan is not working the way I want it to. Thanks for sharing!
  • delilah47
    delilah47 Posts: 1,658
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    i have seen in many posts where people have changed their goal calories. i cannot, for the life of me, find where you can do that. if i eat the recommended daily calories plus my exercise calories, i gain weight. can anyone give me step-by-step instructions on how to change your daily calorie goal? MFP has set it at 1580
    thanks!
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
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    If you'd like a whole lot of information on how this works, check out fat2fit radio. They are currently on podcast #138 of using this exact method. Lots of great information, explanations and easy to listen to.
  • bubblesburst80
    bubblesburst80 Posts: 1,152 Member
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    bump to read through and work out later

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