Difficulty finding optimal calorie intake

lellagella

Hi,
I have been using MFP for 35 days now and I must say I am very confused about how many calories to consume each day.
I am 5'1 and 164 lbs and MFP puts me on 1240 calories a day to loose 1/2 lb a week.

I have been very conscientious about logging everything that enters my mouth and I eat most or all of my exercise calories back. Some days I feel a bit hungry, most days I don't. I can keep doing this 1200 cal a day thing, but the weight is not coming off as fast as I would like and some weeks i haven't lost anything at all.

so... MFP calculates my BMR as 1390... so why does it tell me to net at 1240?

fat2fitradio tells me my BMR is 1571 (quite a big difference to what MFP says)

I calculated my TDEE on some site and got 1793 cals (but I must admit I have no clue what TDEE realy is... I have just seen some of you mention it in your posts )

so... my question is: is there an optimal way of calculating how many calories to consume? or is it just a trial and error thing?

Sabresgal63

Total Daily Energy Expediture. It is the number of calories that your body will burn in one day either set with or without exercise. Mine is 1747 with no exercise. So MFP has set my calorie intake to 1390 which gives me a 367 calorie deficit to lose a bit a weight. MFP had mine calories originally set for 1200 per day to lose 1 lb per week. That is too few cals for me, so I added the rest myself. Hope that helps.

gmeiners2

I found that I cannot take food credit for my exercise. I think that it's because I have been exercising for so long that it's the norm for my body. Honestly, I don't lose at 1300 calories per day...I have to be under 1000 to actively lose. Try not taking calorie credit for your exercise and stick to the 1200 CPD and see what happens. If you still aren't losing, lower the calories to 1000 for a week and see how it goes. Good luck!

NotGoddess

I'm close to you- 5'2". I was 159, now down to 138.

Your BMR from Fat2Fit isn't the 1571 - your BMR is listed in the 2nd/3rd paragraphs. I ran your numbers w/o body fat and it comes up with 1500. At 35% bf it could be around 1421. (I guessed 35% because I was 33% at 159lb. If you know your # re-run it).

I've found the joy of being short is that you need to create a deficit with exercise. You need to eat enough good food to ensure you are getting the nutrients you need - that's why 1200 is a magic number. But if you just diet, the deficit you create is very small. If you exercise you can eat more. If you don't eat back all your exercise calories you create a larger deficit. You just don't want it to get too large.

The Fat2Fit number creates a very small deficit-you'll lose weight much more slowly but the calories you are eating are what you'll still eat when you reach the weight you want to be. If you need more than the 1240 MFP gives you, try the F2F number or use it as your ceiling or max calories.

You might also want to try lots of veggies - lower calories but they can really fill you up so it seems you are eating more.

chevy88grl

Honestly? All the calculators are a guess. The best advice I can give you? Play around with the numbers until you hit on something that works for YOU. What works for one person, may or may not work for you.

It took me a long time to figure out what were good numbers for me. Most sites tell me that I should maintain my weight around 1980 calories a day. Um. For me, that is simply too low for maintenance. I can easily lose weight consuming 2100-2200 NET calories a day, so yeah.. 1980 for maintenance isn't going to work. I've learned recently that I can easily maintain my weight going all the way up to 2700 or 2800 NET calories a day (this tends to be WAY too much food and I keep it around 2500).

My BMR is 1338 and my TDEE averages around 2449.

salsera_barbie

bump

agthorn

I am 5'1 and 164 lbs and MFP puts me on 1240 calories a day to loose 1/2 lb a week.

so... MFP calculates my BMR as 1390... so why does it tell me to net at 1240?

I think you have it set to 1lb a week, not 1/2 lb.

BMR of 1390 x 1.25 for sedentary puts your maintenance at 1738. 1/2 lb a week is a deficit of 250 calories, which would put you at 1488. A FULL pound a week, or a deficit of 500 calories, gets you to the 1240.

nnapieralski

BMR Calculations (Number of calories you need daily just to live)
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

Harris Benedict Equations (Will give you your TDEE, which is the number of calories you need to maintain your current weight)
If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : TDEE = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : TDEE = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : TDEE = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : TDEE = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) :TDEE = BMR x 1.9

So, calculate your BMR than multiply that using the correct Harris Benedict Equation. That will give you your TDEE. To loose a pound a week you need to create a 500 calorie a day deficit. So subtract 500 from your TDEE.

For me: BMR = 1437 and Harris Benedict number of 1.375
(1437 x 1.375) - 500 = 1476 calories

So, to loose 1 lbs a week, I need to limit myself to 1476 calories a day.

If you have trouble calculating by hand, use these sites:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/