Women who eat more than 1800 calories a day !!!!

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Replies

  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    My starting cals on MFP is 1700. I'm 6' tall and weigh 189. I work out (bike, Zumba, Leslie Sansone DVDs) 5-6 days a week 30-75 minutes/session. BMR is basic metabolic rate, right? What is TDEE? Someone help a girl out?

    I haven't seen any taller gals stats on this thread, so I'm not sure if I'm way off base on my numbers? I usually eat most of my exercise calories...saving my family from being cannibalized. :)

    Thanks OP for starting the discussion!
    Lori
    yes, bmr is what you would need if you were in a coma.
    tdee is Total Daily Energy Expenditure ... the calories you need based on your daily activities.
  • NeverGivesUp
    NeverGivesUp Posts: 960 Member
    I think MFP sets BMRs very low. Most sites I have visited with BMR calculators puts my BMR over 100+ calories up from MFP. I wonder how MFP comes up with their BMR formulas??
  • Ladyiianae
    Ladyiianae Posts: 271 Member
    bumping this up so I can go back and read ALL responses and check out all the links tonight at home after work and gym. Also will be sending out some friend requests to some of you (hope you don't mind) but I find you all inspiring and want to learn from you!

    See you all soon!

    Jennifer
  • LoriInIowa
    LoriInIowa Posts: 113
    My starting cals on MFP is 1700. I'm 6' tall and weigh 189. I work out (bike, Zumba, Leslie Sansone DVDs) 5-6 days a week 30-75 minutes/session. BMR is basic metabolic rate, right? What is TDEE? Someone help a girl out?

    I haven't seen any taller gals stats on this thread, so I'm not sure if I'm way off base on my numbers? I usually eat most of my exercise calories...saving my family from being cannibalized. :)
    yes, bmr is what you would need if you were in a coma.
    tdee is Total Daily Energy Expenditure ... the calories you need based on your daily activities.

    Thanks, rocker.

    So how do you accurately determine TDEE? So appreciate any/all help. 72 pounds down....you'd think I'd have this figured out. Ha!
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    Thanks, rocker.

    So how do you accurately determine TDEE? So appreciate any/all help. 72 pounds down....you'd think I'd have this figured out. Ha!
    MFP does it for you based on your stats and activity level, so no hard sums required!
  • Songbirdy
    Songbirdy Posts: 41 Member
    I've been loving this thread. I'd lost 60lbs+ on Weight Watchers but had plateaued since about November. (lost only 5 lbs from November through February).

    In January/February I'd been struggling so much with feeling hungry *all the time* on the points system. And then my blood iron levels crashed. I went to the doctor because I'd been getting sick all winter which is so atypical for me. Plus I was gaining and loosing not breaking free really from the 200 lb mark, so frustrating!

    He said to maintain for 3 months and take supplements to get my iron up as I'm drastically low.

    WW's ended up kicking me off program because of the doctor's note. Which peeved me something fierce. I ended up here and for the last bit have been eating enough net calories to maintain my weight (over 2000) and feeling *so full all the time!*

    Ironically I've shed 6 lbs just like that while here. Then I've read this thread and realized... WW's had me on far to few calories (I checked a series of random dates of my food diary there).

    Now I'm pretty pleased to be here!

    Another person for whom eating more has not resulted in weight gain!

    For the record, between 5'11" and 6' tall, 195 lbs; heaviest weight (several years ago) was 287 lbs (nearly 10 yrs ago); started this time around at 256 lbs (May 2011).
  • bushidowoman
    bushidowoman Posts: 1,599 Member
    I normally eat 1700-1800 cals a day. Some days I'm not as hungry and it's closer to 1600, some days I'm ravenous and it's 1900-2000.
    I remember year before last when I went to my doctor about a knee problem, and I asked him about weight loss. He told me that for the activity I do (MMA), I should be taking in at least 1800 cals a day. I thought that was just crazy. I was on the Jillian Michael's diet at the time, taking in 1400 calories a day, and was losing ~very slowly~. Eating *more* did not make sense to me!
    Well, I got pregnant after that, then breastfeeding the baby, and once I got ready to start working out and dieting again, I wanted to make sure I did it safely. I read about how restricting calories can cause the toxins that are stored in your fat to be released into your breastmilk. So I just starting making daily exercise a priority and eating more calories. I also made nutrition more of a priority than weight loss--making sure I get enough protein, fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, plenty of water.
    And I am down 30 pounds in 9 months. :happy: I now weigh the same as I did when hubby and I got married, except that now I'm toned and muscular to boot!

    It makes me sad when I see my friends trying to stay around 1200 calories and beating themselves up when they go over that. I try to tell them to EAT! Take care of yourself!
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    I average between 1800 and 2100 a day, burn through cardio and heavy lifting, 600-800 cals 5-6 days a week. I've lost 70 lbs (90 if you count my pregnancy gain and re-loss :laugh: ) No way I could survive on 1300-1500 and still workout like I do..I'd be ripping people's heads off!

    I re-qouted my original post cuz I wanted to provide an update for those just starting to up their calories and those who are still skeptical. As stated in oringinal post I have lost 70 lbs eating over 1800 cals/day. I have had a pregnancy during this process so if you add the pregnancy gain of 20 and re-loss of 20 lbs then it's 90 lbs lost lol My update to this is recently I have gotten serious about losing these last 50 lbs and in the past 5 weeks I have lost 11 more lbs bringing my total to 101 lbs lost eating MORE than 1800 calories a day. Last week I had a procedure done and had to take it easy a few days, continued eating at least 1800 cals and my workouts since have not been as intense as normal so I'm only doing 400-500 calorie burns and still lost 2 lbs this week. If you're just starting out you will probably see some gains at first as your body adjusts but trust your body and keep with it. I bet you see some amazing resluts!
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    Question to those who are eating 1600+ and losing...what are your macros? Where are most of your calories coming from - protein or carb??

    I eat tons of protein, some fat and carbs. Most of my carbs come from fruit and veggies, not a lot of grains. Not because I'm a low carber or anything just what I prefer. I get about 180 grams of carbs, 50 gr healthy fats and 100 gr or more protein/day. Those are averages as I don't look at my cals/macros on a daily basis, I go by my weekly totals and average it out that way.
  • jenbk2
    jenbk2 Posts: 614 Member
    This is an exciting thread !
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    Question to those who are eating 1600+ and losing...what are your macros? Where are most of your calories coming from - protein or carb??

    I eat tons of protein, some fat and carbs. Most of my carbs come from fruit and veggies, not a lot of grains. Not because I'm a low carber or anything just what I prefer. I get about 180 grams of carbs, 50 gr healthy fats and 100 gr or more protein/day. Those are averages as I don't look at my cals/macros on a daily basis, I go by my weekly totals and average it out that way.
    I eat about 40% carbs / 35% protein / 25% fat on an average day. I'll probably go back to 45/30/25 but while I'm working to build up some muscle I need the added protein.
  • maryrr88
    maryrr88 Posts: 76 Member
    This is a very motivating thread. I've only been on MFP for a month but I haven't lost any weight. In fact, I have gained - but I think part of that is because since joining MFP, I have been pretty consistently getting my 8 glasses of water/day. Prior to MFP, I wasn't drinking enough - probably 5-6 glasses/day. So I'm sure I've gained water weight.

    It's just frustrating though because in college I lost 30 lbs seemingly effortlessly. In January of 2008 I decided I'd had enough of being overweight. I had been the chubby kid since 3rd grade or so. I'm 5'8 and my highest weight ever was 185 in high school. I had lost some weight in high school due to cutting out sweet drinks (never soda, I hate soda) that I used to buy on a daily basis, which put me in the mid/low 170s.. My freshman year of college 06-07 I ballooned back up to 180 because of typical college stuff - too much beer and snacking. I started working out in my sophomore year but it wasn't until the spring semester that I decided to get serious. And then... it was so easy! I worked out 5x/week and watched my portions. I ate a lot of fruit and was walking everywhere because I lived on campus & it was fairly small so I had to walk everywhere. I didn't have a car at school. The weight seemed to melt off. I stalled in the summer of 2008 because I was less active and severely restricted my calories (like 1400-1500 daily probably). Then I went back to school and dropped 10 lbs between August and November 2008. I bought my bridesmaid's dress (I was Maid of honor in my dad's wedding) and had to have it taken in at least a size because of the weight I lost. My low was roughly 145 when I came back from a 3 week trip to China in January 2009. Over the time of my weight loss in 2008, I did not count calories (except occasionally in the summer - eating in a college dining hall, there's no way to track what you're eating).

    I fell off the wagon & now I'm getting serious about working out again since I'm getting married in November. I'm at 160 and ideally I'd like to be 140 since I have a small frame. I'm content if I can lose inches rather than pounds as long as I appear slimmer... LOL. Since I've been working out 6x week burning anywhere from 200 to 600 calories/day (depends on whether I do gym in the morning & Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred both in the same day or just 30DS that day), I have decided that I need to eat at least my maintenance calories of close to 1900 calories (based on BMR x 1.2 for my sedentary lifestyle - aside from working out, I don't get much other exercise). I'm encouraged by all you ladies who say that eating 1800+ calories is working. I'm going to give it a try!
  • rmk20togo
    rmk20togo Posts: 353 Member
    Here's another thread that I found very interesting. Great spreadsheet for calculating calories and projecting weight loss.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/491087-my-gift-excel-spreadsheet-for-bmr-tdee-cut-build-and-ma?error_user_id=13698812&error_username=rmk20togo

    I've mustered the courage to up my daily to 1750 based on this spreadsheet. I'm determined to give it one month and see what happens. So far gains have happened. :sad: but I do feel better.

    The spreadsheet includes exercise in the calculation so I suppose I will stay at 1750 every day, including days where I burn 800+ calories.

    I did an interesting experiment (not sure how reliable it is) several months ago. I wore my HRM for 24 hours on various days when I did not exercise in an attempt to estimate TDEE. I came up with 1950 calories burned through my normal activity (no exercise). Online calculators put me between 1760.

    I know many of you prefer no new friends. I, however, am brand new here and welcome friends. I need all the support I can get.
  • Mainey13
    Mainey13 Posts: 54 Member
    Dear Bushidomama,

    Were you eating 1400 cal and then just jumped to 1800? I hear that doing that, not gradually, can cause weight gain. Im a currently eating 1200 cal/day, exercise hard 5-6 x a week. No weight loss. I am going to up my calories to about 1500/day next week but Im nervous. Thoughts? Thanks :)
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
    Dear Bushidomama,

    Were you eating 1400 cal and then just jumped to 1800? I hear that doing that, not gradually, can cause weight gain. Im a currently eating 1200 cal/day, exercise hard 5-6 x a week. No weight loss. I am going to up my calories to about 1500/day next week but Im nervous. Thoughts? Thanks :)

    I just upped mine from 1200-1400 up to 2000 the past 3 days, not gradual at all, and I woke up to half a pound gone this morning.... You can do it slowly or you can do it quickly.... good luck !!
  • Mainey13
    Mainey13 Posts: 54 Member
    Thanks Tabinmaine! You too.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    Question to those who are eating 1600+ and losing...what are your macros? Where are most of your calories coming from - protein or carb??
    i have my macros set for 40P/30C/30F but ive been having issues actually hitting those goals lately. looking at the past week, i average 22P/39C/39F ... ive really been trying to work on it but its working for now
  • lilmisslanna
    lilmisslanna Posts: 104 Member
    bumpity bump... reading later!
  • KatieJane83
    KatieJane83 Posts: 2,002 Member
    During most of my weight loss I was set at the 1200 cal goal, but I generally posted massive burns at least 5 days a week (800+ cal burns) and always ate back most of my exercise cals so I was definitely eating a lot more than 1200! Lol

    Currently, I'm at maintenance, and would say I probably average 2200-2400 cals per day. I'm not really paying attention to the scale because I'm weight-lifting, and also getting into distance running, so I know it'll be all over the place with muscle mass, water loss from long runs, etc, lol!

    Also, I just got a bodymedia fit yesterday and started to wear it last night, so I'm very excited to get a more accurate estimate of my TDEE. I have a HRM but that's generally best for workouts.

    Gotta say, I love to eat!
  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
    Add me to the crowd of women who love to eat.

    5'5", I've been maintaining at 129-130 for the past 7 months, my net is 1900 so typically about 2100-2600 once exercise is thrown in. I lift heavy 2x a week, run, and do a bunch of yoga. When I was actively losing I never aimed to net less than 1400 (so usually eating 1600-2000). I lost about 12 pounds and about 5% body fat, and dropped from a size 8 to a size 6.

    I eat a bunch of carbs and eat out plenty (I dislike cooking). I aim to get 100g or more of protein a day and then let everything else fall where it falls. Officially I'm set to 45%C/25%P/30%F.

    Progress pics for my first 6 months here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/agthorn/view/6-months-on-mfp-169606
    And I'll plug the most awesome group on MFP again: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/17-women-eating-2-000-calories-per-day
  • tangiesharp
    tangiesharp Posts: 315 Member
    bump
  • sammielealea
    sammielealea Posts: 245 Member
    Great thread, bump to read more later
  • Nnekaschild
    Nnekaschild Posts: 26 Member
    I love this thread.

    Well, I am Age 30, 5"4 and weigh 172lbs. Goal weight of 133lbs.

    I started my wieght loss journey in January using the rapid fat loss diet by lyle mcdonald. Averaging about 800 cals per day and net calories of much less than that on exercise days. I did this for 6 weeks and then started regular dieting 2 weeks ago.

    I have upped my calories to 1500-1700 per day and plan to do cardio 5-6 days a week with burns of betweeb 600-800 and two sessions of strength training. Am I eating enough?

    I remember two years ago when I was eating 1800 calories a day and jogging 4 times per week for 75 minutes. I was losing 2lbs per week without fail. It was awesome.
  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/500390-160-to-126-w-pics
    ^I normally eat anywhere from 1600-2000 a day, depending on how much I burn. I'm 5'6, 19, and have gone from 160-125...150-125 with MFP :)
  • KaraGrr
    KaraGrr Posts: 75 Member
    bump! very interesting topic :)
  • mckant
    mckant Posts: 217 Member
    I love this thread! This is my way of bumping :smile:
  • Osu2k1
    Osu2k1 Posts: 116 Member
    I am eating around 1800 (goal) but have my MFP goal of 1900 net. I do tend to eat more when I work out. I have lost 55 in the last year, doing it slowly. I don't want to drop a ton and have serious skin issues. Plus I don't feel deprived! I will eat b-day cake at parties and not feel guilty at all. I've gone from a 24 pant to 18. I think I got the the photo in. :smile: Feel free to friend me!
    5288045_4574.jpg

    I guess I should add, I am 33 (almost 34) 5'6" and my starting weight was 331.2. I go to Weight Watchers meetings, but count calories. It's my way of having accountability. I am currently at 276. My first real big goal is 60 lb (4.8 lb away), which is what I weighed when I was a freshman in HS doing track.
  • superstarcassie
    superstarcassie Posts: 296 Member
    GREAT thread- I eat above 1800 almost every day. Still trying to find balance on weekends where I eat way above that....:ohwell: But I don't think I could train as hard as I do eating so few calories. I like to feel satisfied and not starving and lethargic! Woot....love this! :smile:
  • thatsnumberwang
    thatsnumberwang Posts: 398 Member
    I wonder if anyone else is noticing that most of the women on this thread are toned and either a healthy weight or really close to it. It makes me wonder whether 1200 calorie folks are sabotaging themselves more than they think.

    And to share mine: my daily goal is 2200, plus exercise cals - and I'm 5'4" and 122.
  • LoveLiveLift
    LoveLiveLift Posts: 459 Member
    I try to eat around 1800-2000 most days and 2500+ on my long run days. I went up from eating around 1200 NET to at least over my BMR or 1480 NET each day. I've been at it since the end of December. I will confess that I haven't been exactly consistent. Some days I don't do as well and have a lower net, but overall I've been doing much better. Agree with the extra energy...your body needs the fuel.

    OP...thanks for the topic!! Great responses!

    ETA: I'm 5'7" and currently around 145. My goal range is between 140-145, but I only hop on the scale every month or so.