READ THIS Figuring out your calorie goals

mel128 · April 2012

Bump

6566tess · April 2012

bump

em9371 · April 2012

i followed the Fat2Fit.com site instructions & worked out my BMR, plus the site has shown me what amount of calories i should be eating per day based on my activity level (Lightly Active) as 1950 to get to my goal weight.

so if i choose to eat 1900 calories per day and then i burn between 300-500 calories during exercise...do i eat back those calories?

say i ate 1900, then i burned 450 during exercise: 1900-450 = 1450
do i eat back that 450? so then it would be like:

[total calories eaten that day]2350 - [exercise cals]450 = [calories i should be eating per day]1900

is this right? or am i confusing myself all over again! gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh this is difficult to understand. :sad:

you would just eat the 1900/1950, fat2fit calcs include exercise already :-)

susieq101178 · April 2012

bump

em9371 · April 2012

Ok, some very good info here, but, im also a little confused. Fat2fit and mfp both give me my bmr in and around the 1400 mark, which is fine, but f2f tells me i should eat 1900 cals, while mfp set my goal at 1200! I frequently go over the 1200 mark but i exercise regularly to make up for it, also my scales havent budged since the first two weeks i joined when i lost my first five pounds. Is it possible that I am eating too few cals? i still have ten pounds to go to get to my ideal weight but im worried that I may be going into starvation mode. I never go hungry so I think Im eating enough, even though i eat few cals. WTF? I really dunno what to do!

mfp goals are NET and expect you to eat back exercise cals so you should eat more than 1200.
fat 2 fit already includes exercise - i take it if your BMR is 1400 and it gave you 1900 you are at least moderately active?

mariiyah · April 2012

i followed the Fat2Fit.com site instructions & worked out my BMR, plus the site has shown me what amount of calories i should be eating per day based on my activity level (Lightly Active) as 1950 to get to my goal weight.

so if i choose to eat 1900 calories per day and then i burn between 300-500 calories during exercise...do i eat back those calories?

say i ate 1900, then i burned 450 during exercise: 1900-450 = 1450
do i eat back that 450? so then it would be like:

[total calories eaten that day]2350 - [exercise cals]450 = [calories i should be eating per day]1900

is this right? or am i confusing myself all over again! gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh this is difficult to understand. :sad:

you would just eat the 1900/1950, fat2fit calcs include exercise already :-)

oh oops....i didnt know the 1950 includes the exercise already. :embarassed:
i was seriously getting worried. 2350 seems like A LOT.

thank u so much for ur help!

kaytiecakes · April 2012

Bump. Finally, something that actually makes some sense and makes me feel good about my higher calorie limits.

em9371 · April 2012

Hi all, the more I read the more confused I get. Between MFP, MRI, TDEE, etc etc.

Please help.

I am 61 will be 62 in a couple of weeks

At the moment my wt is 204.6

I am 5'6"

I walk or bike or some circuit training in my home gym for about 60-120 min a day. 5-6 days a week

MFP says my calories should be 1200

Is there anything else you have to know to tell me how many calories I should be eating to lose 1 - 1/2 lbs a week.

I have lost 80 lbs with W/W and have been struggling since 2009 to keep it off.

My goal wt is 185 but if I could get to 175 that would be great.

Please help

fat 2 fit gives you the following based on a goal of 175.
BMR 1560
Activity Level Daily Calories
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1722
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1973
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2224

I guess you would be mod active based on the exercise you listed. These cals already include a 20% deficit (about 0.8lb) as they iare based on your goal weight, not current weight.
If you want to lose more, just reduce the number slightly without netting below your bmr - around 1900 should get you 1.5 per week.

scullyuk06 · April 2012

Very interesting.

em9371 · April 2012

i followed the Fat2Fit.com site instructions & worked out my BMR, plus the site has shown me what amount of calories i should be eating per day based on my activity level (Lightly Active) as 1950 to get to my goal weight.

so if i choose to eat 1900 calories per day and then i burn between 300-500 calories during exercise...do i eat back those calories?

say i ate 1900, then i burned 450 during exercise: 1900-450 = 1450
do i eat back that 450? so then it would be like:

[total calories eaten that day]2350 - [exercise cals]450 = [calories i should be eating per day]1900

is this right? or am i confusing myself all over again! gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh this is difficult to understand. :sad:

you would just eat the 1900/1950, fat2fit calcs include exercise already :-)

oh oops....i didnt know the 1950 includes the exercise already. :embarassed:
i was seriously getting worried. 2350 seems like A LOT.

thank u so much for ur help!

no worries! im on 1950 and i have just a little more to lose than you, its working well for me so far :-)

BamaBreezeNSaltAire · April 2012

Bump! Thanks!!!

justkrissy · April 2012

Okay, so my exercise varies, so would it work if I did this. My BMR is 1224, so what if I ate that much a day, and then ate back all the calories I burn during exercise in the day. Would that work? Or am I still eating too less? And how do you make your calorie goal without going over your "Fat" intake?