I'm very confused as to how many calories I should be eating

BakedBlonde

I don't think MFP gives me the correct number of calories I should be eating per day. My weight is 175lbs at 5'8. I want to lose 20 lbs. I currently work out on my elliptical 4 days per week and burn around 300 calories each time.

Right now I'm eating 1450 calories per day but I'm not seeing much results. I just started working out but I've had my diet in check since January 10th. What is going on with me?! Any advice? Am I burning enough calories and am I eating the correct amount?

My goal is to lose 2 lbs per week.

MyaPapaya75

1. Are you monitoring sodium?
2. Do you wear a HRM for an accurate caloric burn?
1450 seems about right ....if you dont see results try cutting your carbs to 180-210 per day ..its hard to say when your diary is hidden....you need to create a deficit of 3500 to lose 1lb per week either through working out or cutting calories....with the numbers you provided there is no way your deficit is 7000...for the 2 lb loss

stuffinmuffin

Slower can be better so try to lose one pound a week and eat a bit more. It'll set you up for better eating habits when you succeed and make it a bearable (gasp) sometimes even enjoyable process. x

purpleipod

If you input your numbers correctly it did not give you the wrong number. Did you tell it how much you'd be exercising? What your daily activity level is?

If you're only wanting to lose 20 pounds why do you have it set at 2 pounds/week? That's relatively aggressive when you don't have much to lose. I'd change it to 1 or 1.5/week. The smaller you are the slower the weight loss will be.

Are you eating back your exercise calories to make sure you at least net the amount of calories it tells you to?

CMmrsfloyd

If you input your numbers correctly it did not give you the wrong number. Did you tell it how much you'd be exercising? What your daily activity level is?

If you're only wanting to lose 20 pounds why do you have it set at 2 pounds/week? That's relatively aggressive when you don't have much to lose. I'd change it to 1 or 1.5/week. The smaller you are the slower the weight loss will be.

Are you eating back your exercise calories to make sure you at least net the amount of calories it tells you to?

Just as a note, MFP does not take your exercise predictions into account when it sets your calorie goal. It does not add in exercise until after you actually do it that day and log it.

billtonkin

You can figure it out for yourself if you want to. Personally, I don't log exercise on here, because I hate the eating back calories, it just makes it a total mess and can be confusing for some. If you want to do it yourself here's how.


Figure your BMR with either the Mifflin-St Jeor or preferably the Katch-McArdle method.

Mifflin-St Jeor: Developed in the 1990s and more realistic in todays settings. It still doesn't take into consideration the differences as a consequence of high BF%. Thus, once again, it OVERESTIMATES NEEDS, ESPECIALLY IN THE OVERWEIGHT.
MEN: BMR = [9.99 x weight (kg)] + [6.25 x height (cm)] - [4.92 x age (years)] + 5
WOMEN: BMR = [9.99 x weight (kg)] + [6.25 x height (cm)] - [4.92 x age (years)] -161

Katch-McArdle:Considered the most accurate formula for those who are relatively lean. Use ONLY if you have a good estimate of your bodyfat %.
BMR = 370 + (21.6 x LBM)Where LBM = [total weight (kg) x (100 - bodyfat %)]/100

Then multiply that by your activity factor.

1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise + desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)

That should get you very close to your maintenance calories. Meaning you should neither lose nor gain weight. Warning: you may have to adjust 100 up or down, everybody is different. Once you find your maintenance, you can then add or subtract 300-500 cals to either gain or lose weight.

And from there, the disagreements start. Personally, I go with the bodybuilding method as that's worked for me.

1g protein x 1lb of body weight (4 cals per gram)
.4 - .45g fat x 1lb of body weight (9 cals per gram)
Leftover cals is divided by 4 to get grams of carbs (4 cals per gram)

Carbs are important, but unless you are a serious high level athlete, carbs should not account for more than 35-40% of your calories.

JuJu2976

I am in the same shoes. I too have been doing MFP for about 4 weeks now and the scale has not moved. I excercise, drink lots of water and I am a very active person(as far as my job). I am really getting discouraged. I have thought if maybe I was eating to many calories or maybe I am not eating enough for my metabo. to work right. Hang in there. I am not giving up, even though the scale is not moving, i do feel like I have lost inches. So maybe you should measure yourself and go off of how your clothes feel.

rileysowner

With only 20 pounds to lose 2 pounds per week is likely to aggressive of a goal. You would do much better seeking to lose only 1 pound per week. As much as you may want to lose fast, and I understand that completely, losing at a slower rate is better as it will help you to not only preserve your muscle, but also it allows you time to learn how to eat better breaking those habits that put on the weight in the first place. Losing slower also helps reduce the likelihood of putting on the weight when you come out of the calorie deficit.

You have the option of taking the formulas in the above post and using them to calculate the calories you usually burn in a day. Then subtract 250 for .5Lb/week, 500 for 1Lb/week, 750 for 1.5Lb/week and 1000 calories for 2Lb/week. That would be your calorie goal which you could manually enter and seek to eat every day.

Finally, 1450 does not seem that high to me. How carefully are you measuring your food portions? This may not seem like much, but it can make a huge difference if you are estimating a little high for everything. Some people can estimate serving size very well, but not most of us.

sullymanjohn

Im confused also. I've been on MFP for a year. I am active military and was deployed at sea for over 10 months. The whole time I was out there I would exercise 2-4 hours a day 4-6 days a week. Eating 1600-1800 calories a day I should have lost dozens of lbs...but I lost 28. I'm still grossly overwieght (I have 28 on my BMI...I need to be around 23) and I don't like it, but I've completely stalled out.

jennkess

i agree with everyone here, 2lbs is too aggressive, you run the risk of losing fast, being all excited, start eating "normal" and gain it all back and more.

if you are exercising 1400-1500 is a good goal, when exercising you don't want to go to low and put your body into starvation mode, are your clothes starting to fit better? how do you physically feel, do you have more energy now than before.

the only other thing I can think of is to make your diary Public so we can see where you are getting your calories from - and try not to get too frustrated, you didn't gain the weight that fast, it's not going to go away fast either..... it may take awhile for your body to realize it's okay to let some of the weight go. and if you stress too much your body will hold onto it even more. take a day at a time and try to only weigh in once a week- daily you may go crazy- take measurements, the scale may not have changed yet your biceps may be bigger, stomach tighter

good luck and feel free to add me as a friend

iiiiworkout

Cut soda and fried food. Eat fruits and vegies. 1/2 your plate s/b fruit/veggies. This will cut ur calories