Help me figure out how many calories I should eat, PLEASE :)
Options
Mommareed4
Posts: 144
So will give you some back ground on me. My heaviest I was 230lbs. I am now currently 162. I did that basically by eating very little (1200 cals) and exercising alot (anywhere from 600-1000 cals) Well a few months back I was 159 feeling great bc I was finally in the average zone..when a few weeks later when I weighed myself I was 164!! I was upset bc I was eating and exercising the same. Now a couple months later I was able to loose 2 of those pounds but have basically been at a stand still. I decided yesterday I was going to eat 1600-1800 cals for a few day then drop back down to 1200 and be on my merry way. Then I read emswanson post and though I would give eating more a try.
I now need to know how much I should eat. I exercise 6 days a week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday I do JM 30 day shred and 1 hour on the elliptical--these days I burn anywhere from 850-1000 calories. Tuesday and Thursday I go to a kick boxing class and burn anywhere from 600-700 calories all depending on what she does.
Thank you!!
I now need to know how much I should eat. I exercise 6 days a week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday I do JM 30 day shred and 1 hour on the elliptical--these days I burn anywhere from 850-1000 calories. Tuesday and Thursday I go to a kick boxing class and burn anywhere from 600-700 calories all depending on what she does.
Thank you!!
0
Replies
-
Hi!
Congrats on taking a step forward and agreeing to feed your body. Your body will be very grateful
The sticky about TDEE shows how to do the basic calculations for how much you should be eating. It is different for each person and based on your personal stats (height, current weight, age, etc).
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/512956-tdee-what-is-it-and-why-you-should-not-eat-below-your-bmr
Once you have your TDEE figured out, you will be able to figure out how much you need to eat based on a 15% or so deficit from that number.
Kiki 0 -
Thanks is says my TDEE is 2675 so after I minus out 15% it says 2273, thats how much I should be eating?!?!0
-
Thanks is says my TDEE is 2675 so after I minus out 15% it says 2273, thats how much I should be eating?!?!
Yep- you got it
(Don't worry the shock soon goes away lol)0 -
Thanks is says my TDEE is 2675 so after I minus out 15% it says 2273, thats how much I should be eating?!?!
Yep- you got it
(Don't worry the shock soon goes away lol)
Haha yeah it is a shock when you first see the number! So 2273 PLUS your excercise calories.
A few people have dropped the intensity of their cardio after realising how much they would have to eat back. (Thinking about a certain someones 2000 cal Zumba burn *coughLuciacough*) : D0 -
Haha yeah it is a shock when you first see the number! So 2273 PLUS your excercise calories.
A few people have dropped the intensity of their cardio after realising how much they would have to eat back. (Thinking about a certain someones 2000 cal Zumba burn *coughLuciacough*) : D
heehee
0 -
Thanks is says my TDEE is 2675 so after I minus out 15% it says 2273, thats how much I should be eating?!?!
Yep- you got it
(Don't worry the shock soon goes away lol)
Haha yeah it is a shock when you first see the number! So 2273 PLUS your excercise calories.
A few people have dropped the intensity of their cardio after realising how much they would have to eat back. (Thinking about a certain someones 2000 cal Zumba burn *coughLuciacough*) : D
ROFL...umm Jade you know I am at work right...you can't have me laughing at work girl!
But yes I sure did cut back. I will be doing zumba today, but only because I made sure to get in some serious calories so that by then end of workout I will have consumed 2100 or so, so after workout I will eat again and have EATEN BACK MY CALORIES...burp...lol0 -
geeze I dont know how I am going to do it..I have ate my brains out today and I planned out the rest of the day and I am only going to hit net 1417 calories (I have my diary set on 1800 for now) If I go higher though I will go over on carbs.0
-
It gets easier as your metabolism revs up you will start to want to eat more. Check out others food diaries for ideas.0
-
Still not understanding why is we are using TDEE as calories per day, we would eat back exercise calories when an activity factor is already in the equation for TDEE. Can anyone half with this?0
-
Still not understanding why is we are using TDEE as calories per day, we would eat back exercise calories when an activity factor is already in the equation for TDEE. Can anyone half with this?
The main thing that you have to remember is that you always want your NET cals to end up back at that TDEE -15% number. Often people (specifically high cardio cal burners) are burning WAY more cals than are figured into their TDEE. So when they don't eat back those cals it puts them in a negative spot.
for instance, my TDEE is around 2070, which would put my "loss" number around 1759 (BMR 1320)
Imagine that I burn 700 cals spinning.
Even if I eat my TDEE (-15%) number of 1759, that only gives me a NET of 1057 cals, putting me 263 under my BMR.
And you NEVER want to end up under BMR, so I'd have to eat them back to get to a NET number higher than my BMR (but not above the original 1759)
IDK if that made sense? I think I just confused myself... lol0 -
Still not understanding why is we are using TDEE as calories per day, we would eat back exercise calories when an activity factor is already in the equation for TDEE. Can anyone half with this?
The main thing that you have to remember is that you always want your NET cals to end up back at that TDEE -15% number. Often people (specifically high cardio cal burners) are burning WAY more cals than are figured into their TDEE. So when they don't eat back those cals it puts them in a negative spot.
for instance, my TDEE is around 2070, which would put my "loss" number around 1759 (BMR 1320)
Imagine that I burn 700 cals spinning.
Even if I eat my TDEE (-15%) number of 1759, that only gives me a NET of 1057 cals, putting me 263 under my BMR.
And you NEVER want to end up under BMR, so I'd have to eat them back to get to a NET number higher than my BMR (but not above the original 1759)
IDK if that made sense? I think I just confused myself... lol
LOL...@Kiki, I was just about to ping you on this question for another board.
@Kim_MC this lady right here Kiki is the one that helped kick me into the eating more and helping me to stay focused on the prize. She just gave the same response I just gave you back on the other question you posted in the TDEE topic.
I have been asked this a couple times and what makes sense to me is how many calories would I eat on a nonworkout day...answer is 1950, so when I start burning calories then I am netting less than the 1950 so I need to eat what I burned to provide my body the NET amount of 1950.0 -
The other way to look at it is that TDEE figures in exercise cals, but *MFP* doesn't. So a lot of people will have their MFP cals still set to whatever number (say 1500), and then only pay attention to their total cals eaten (say 1530), but then burn a ridiculous amount of cals (say 1200). This puts them almost back at their starting point, and because so many people are terrified by receiving a large number when doing their TDEE calculations, they under estimate their "activity level" by putting sedentary or moderately active. There's no way that their TDEE would be figuring them to burn 1200 cals on a "moderately active" setting.
That's why MFP "gives" you the cals back. I usually just recommend that people cut back on the crazy high cal burns, or else just eat more, because their TDEE is actually MUCH higher than they're figuring it to be.
To people that aren't ridiculously high cardio cal burners, I usually tell them it's perfectly fine to just eat their TDEE -15% (since their REAL activity level is figured in), but people who aren't willing to forgo the zillion cal burns, need to set their activity level much higher, and be prepared to scarf some food.0 -
Maybe I'm just not getting it here but isn't your TDEE much higher than the MFP site because it already gives you extra calories to eat because you are exercising, say, 5-6 x/week? LOL! I think I'm going to understand. I get that you are telling me to NET my TDEE but it confuses me because it's already higher due to my activity factor....??0
-
Yes, your TDEE is much higher than MFP. I'm only saying that a lot of people are still using their MFP figures (not changing the settings), OR not setting their TDEE accurately, burning cals far beyond what is calculated in their TDEE, so I have to guide them to EAT back the cals.
If you change your settings in MFP, you are basically just making sure that you hit that TDEE (-15%) number.
So say a person figures out their TDEE using "desk job" or other sedentary status and comes up w/a BMR of 1309 and TDEE of 1800. This means that TDEE is assuming that they burn 491 cals (1800-1309 = 491) *ALL DAY*. So, if that person decided that they want to run 5.5 miles on the elliptical every day (burning 550 cals), they are exceeding TDEE's cals each day just in exercise cals, not including their "assumed activity" of being "very lightly active". So their TDEE figures are not correct, thus they need to eat more to reach the desired number..
Remember BMR is the number of cals to lay in bed all day. As soon as you get up, your TDEE numbers start to calculate. Your BMR, *plus* exercise cals should be LOWER than your TDEE, unless you just woke up, worked out, and lay back down for the remainder of the day. There are still other cals involved in moving throughout your day.
So as long as you have your TDEE figured out correctly you do not *HAVE* to eat back cals that are already figured in to your TDEE. 0 -
Ok, thanks for explaining!0
-
Im so confused lol. Numbers are not my thing. Even with the calculators I am very lost. Am I the only one? lol I feel so dumb :sad:0
-
Sorry but what does tdee stand for?0
-
@Crystonia - TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure (aka the total cals that you burn each day)
@Shanna- Awww, don't feel dumb. :frown: The numbers just make it seem more confusing than it is really is. What part is confusing to you?
You just basically
1) go here:
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
2) punch in your stats
3) deduct 15% from the TDEE number that it gives you (multiply the number by .15 to find out what 15% is)
4) that's how much you eat :drinker:0 -
@31prvrbs Thank you. Now once I get that number is that what I eat no matter if I work out or not? Or if I work out do I have to eat those as well or is it already figured out in the TDEE- 15%
I will get the hang of this lol0 -
@31prvrbs Thank you. Now once I get that number is that what I eat no matter if I work out or not? Or if I work out do I have to eat those as well or is it already figured out in the TDEE- 15%
I will get the hang of this lol
As long as your TDEE is figured out correctly (see the *** section of the original TDEE sticky), then your final TDEE -15% calculation will include exercise cals. So you just eat that amount no matter what.
Don't sweat it, it gets easier 0
