**READ THIS** Figuring out your calorie goals

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  • tm0623
    tm0623 Posts: 12 Member
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  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    real quick question for you Em. Are these my numbers at maintaince? I want to lose that last stubborn 15lbs..should I knock 200cals off of those weekday and weekend numbers to achieve a .5 a week loss?

    the numbers are based on the TDEE for your goal weight so already include a 20% deficit (for mod active TDEE is 3614) so this is already 1lb deficit.
    info on website (below) says you can reduce further if needed, but with the huge amount of exercise you already have a bigger deficit than you should for the amount you have left to lose. Trying to create too much of a deficit to get the last few lbs off is usually counter-productive and they go nowhere. Try playing with the cals and see what works for you, just be careful you dont go below BMR.

    "Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point"
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    Thanks Em. Some days I don't walk at work. I wear a FT7 so I believe I accurately track what I burn when I do use the treadmill. I don't want to double count it so it seems BMR as base might be the best place to be. Seriously thinking of getting one of those Body Bugg things to see what I really use during the day.

    Appreciate your response and advice to all.

    is your BMR from Harris-benedict or Katch Mcardle?
    Ive not seen many where BMR / sedentary are pretty much the same, there is usually a few hundred difference - standard multiplier for sedentary is 1.2 so for BMR of 1441 sedentary should be 1729.
    Id maybe run the numbers again to double check, and if you havent used KM, find out your body fat% and rerun as that can make a big difference to the numbers.
  • rachmass1
    rachmass1 Posts: 470 Member
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    Thanks Em. Some days I don't walk at work. I wear a FT7 so I believe I accurately track what I burn when I do use the treadmill. I don't want to double count it so it seems BMR as base might be the best place to be. Seriously thinking of getting one of those Body Bugg things to see what I really use during the day.

    Appreciate your response and advice to all.

    is your BMR from Harris-benedict or Katch Mcardle?
    Ive not seen many where BMR / sedentary are pretty much the same, there is usually a few hundred difference - standard multiplier for sedentary is 1.2 so for BMR of 1441 sedentary should be 1729.
    Id maybe run the numbers again to double check, and if you havent used KM, find out your body fat% and rerun as that can make a big difference to the numbers.

    Ran it directly off F2F. I weigh 171 looking for 130 (I vacilate on how low I can realistically go) and am 5'2 and 51 years old.
  • OnlyGrace
    OnlyGrace Posts: 46 Member
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  • suemar74
    suemar74 Posts: 447 Member
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    Okay...I'm going to try this, hope I understand it correctly, and *try* not to be nervous as hell as I'm doing it (eek!).

    ...


    Oh, and start lifting heavier...because I want mad-sexy-hawt arms.
  • IslandJade22
    IslandJade22 Posts: 21
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  • jddykstra
    jddykstra Posts: 19
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    a couple of questions regarding this...

    1. do you think it matters which BF calculator you use? I have done both the military one and the other one (on the F2F link) and there is a 5% swing between the two for me (non-military being lower).

    2. I have been reading these threads for the last week or two and have been increasing my calories kind of gradually. Last night I went to bed hungry. This morning, hunger woke me up. To the point that I felt like I could have eaten my pillow I was so hungry. I have not experienced hunger like this other than when I run more than 7 miles in a day - by dinner time I could eat my shoes. Has anyone else upped your calories and also started feeling hungry - even though you're eating more?

    Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to spell this out on these threads. You are helping many and specifically me - I great appreciate it!
  • clairegogogo
    clairegogogo Posts: 215
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    I do need to eat more cals! LOL. Thanks for the info!
  • lincolnpalmer
    lincolnpalmer Posts: 28 Member
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    Someone please help me with this...

    I went to the site mentioned by the OP and used the calculators to figure out my BMR. Based on age 33, weight 210, height 76 in, and body fat 20.9, it says BMR should be 3086 since I work out 5 days a week. (MFP calculates BMR based on standard daily activity, not workout schedule.)

    The way I understand the post, it says that I should never eat less than 3086 calories a day, no matter what my workout calories are. Is this correct?

    Right now I'm trying to eat about 2500 because recommended MFP calories is 1500 (-2lbs/wk) and I exercise about 1,000 a day.

    Which do I follow?

    The chart on the site seems to include my exercise at 3,000, but this is contradictory to the post which would call that number TDEE.

    Can anyone clear this up in simple language for me?

    This is how I think the post says to do it:
    BMR = 3000
    Exercise = 1000
    TDEE = 4000
    Lose 2/wk = -1000
    Total Calories to eat/day = 3000

    This still seems really high to me.

    My setting in MFP is sedentary because I sit all day at work, so right now this is how I see MFP calculating:

    BMR = 2500
    Lose 2/wk = -1000
    Daily Allowance = 1500
    Exercise = 1000
    Total Allowance/day = 2500

    Somebody help! I have an open diary if anyone wants to take a look. (Don't judge me for eating Smarties!)

    looks like you got your BMR & TDEE confused so you are allowing for exercise twice!

    The number you should never eat below is your BMR. Eat between BMR & TDEE and you will lose.

    the numbers in the chart are the TDEE for the GOAL weight you entered, not your current weight. You need to muliply the chart number by 1.2 to get your current TDEE.
    The chart numbers are what the site recommended you should actually eat - choose the one that matches your activity level.

    I just ran your numbers with a goal of 190 and got BMR 2115 Harris-Benedict / 2000 Katch Mcardle and the following activity cals:
    Activity Level Daily Calories
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 2389
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2738
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 3086
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 3434
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 3783

    You mentioned 3086, there is no way you are only mod active with 1000 cals/day exercise, Id go with Very active and eat 3434. Dont net below 2000.
    BTW - what exercise do you do?? 1000 a day seems a lot, its not necessary to do so much every day, rest days are important too, maybe scaling down to mod active would be good :-)

    With the amount you have to lose, you shouldn't be aiming for 2lb loss, change to 0.5-1lbs. Thats partly why the MFP numbers are so low, 1500 net is VERY low for a tall male, I net more than that as a 5'5 female!
    Ive got a feeling the rest of the difference between MFP / F2F is becuase you have quite low BF and do huge amounts of exercise, it takes a lot more calories to maintain muscle than it does fat, and MFP doesnt know this as it doesnt ask for BF.
    Maybe someone else or Dan would know if this is correct? I'd be interested to know as usually numbers are pretty similar either way.

    Thank you for the helpful response, Em.

    So for exercise I usually do 45min - 1hr on the elliptical, plus 15-30 min of circuit training that I alternate from day to day. It's about 75 minutes a day. Part of the reason is that MFP only gave me 1500 calories, and I REALLY love food, so the exercise allowed me to eat more throughout the day and still remain below the allotted amount.

    I feel like jumping up to 3000 or 3500 calories a day would be a leap of faith, as I've been seeing decent results from what I've done so far. However, I have been eating about 2500 anyway, and if I changed as you say from -2/wk to -1 or -.5, it would probably put me in the same 3000-3500 range anyway.

    Thanks for the information. Really appreciate you taking the time to help!

    Lincoln
  • mzjstef
    mzjstef Posts: 62 Member
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  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    Thanks Em. Some days I don't walk at work. I wear a FT7 so I believe I accurately track what I burn when I do use the treadmill. I don't want to double count it so it seems BMR as base might be the best place to be. Seriously thinking of getting one of those Body Bugg things to see what I really use during the day.

    Appreciate your response and advice to all.

    is your BMR from Harris-benedict or Katch Mcardle?
    Ive not seen many where BMR / sedentary are pretty much the same, there is usually a few hundred difference - standard multiplier for sedentary is 1.2 so for BMR of 1441 sedentary should be 1729.
    Id maybe run the numbers again to double check, and if you havent used KM, find out your body fat% and rerun as that can make a big difference to the numbers.

    Ran it directly off F2F. I weigh 171 looking for 130 (I vacilate on how low I can realistically go) and am 5'2 and 51 years old.

    130 sounds a good goal for your height!
    ive just had a play with your numbers. without body fat it only gives HB BMR.
    Adding body fat % also brings up KM BMR's
    20% 1725
    30% 1558
    40% 1391
    BF affects BMR quite a lot, so if you can get your BF checked for the most accurate cal level x
  • KenziesMomma11
    KenziesMomma11 Posts: 258 Member
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  • Valkyriewoman
    Valkyriewoman Posts: 120 Member
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  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    a couple of questions regarding this...

    1. do you think it matters which BF calculator you use? I have done both the military one and the other one (on the F2F link) and there is a 5% swing between the two for me (non-military being lower).

    2. I have been reading these threads for the last week or two and have been increasing my calories kind of gradually. Last night I went to bed hungry. This morning, hunger woke me up. To the point that I felt like I could have eaten my pillow I was so hungry. I have not experienced hunger like this other than when I run more than 7 miles in a day - by dinner time I could eat my shoes. Has anyone else upped your calories and also started feeling hungry - even though you're eating more?

    Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to spell this out on these threads. You are helping many and specifically me - I great appreciate it!

    Im not sure which calculator is most accurate. Do you have some physical way of checking your BF, like the electirical scanners they have in gyms or some calipers?
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    Thank you for the helpful response, Em.

    So for exercise I usually do 45min - 1hr on the elliptical, plus 15-30 min of circuit training that I alternate from day to day. It's about 75 minutes a day. Part of the reason is that MFP only gave me 1500 calories, and I REALLY love food, so the exercise allowed me to eat more throughout the day and still remain below the allotted amount.

    I feel like jumping up to 3000 or 3500 calories a day would be a leap of faith, as I've been seeing decent results from what I've done so far. However, I have been eating about 2500 anyway, and if I changed as you say from -2/wk to -1 or -.5, it would probably put me in the same 3000-3500 range anyway.

    Thanks for the information. Really appreciate you taking the time to help!

    Lincoln

    hi lincoln,

    If you are eating around 2500 anyway, try gradually putting cals up, say 100 a week until your loss levels out at 0.5-1.
    When I increased my cals, I went from 1650 total / around 1200 net to 1650 net, so an increase of 450 per day and gained 0.8 the following week. It was only temporary though and Ive lost consistently good numbers since then!

    If you add some heavy weight training on alternate days rather than an hours cardio every day, you will increase muscle mass which burns more cals 24/7 so you get to eat more :-)
  • aqua_marine_light
    aqua_marine_light Posts: 52
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  • Applelina
    Applelina Posts: 12
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  • rachmass1
    rachmass1 Posts: 470 Member
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    Thanks Em. Some days I don't walk at work. I wear a FT7 so I believe I accurately track what I burn when I do use the treadmill. I don't want to double count it so it seems BMR as base might be the best place to be. Seriously thinking of getting one of those Body Bugg things to see what I really use during the day.

    Appreciate your response and advice to all.

    is your BMR from Harris-benedict or Katch Mcardle?
    Ive not seen many where BMR / sedentary are pretty much the same, there is usually a few hundred difference - standard multiplier for sedentary is 1.2 so for BMR of 1441 sedentary should be 1729.
    Id maybe run the numbers again to double check, and if you havent used KM, find out your body fat% and rerun as that can make a big difference to the numbers.

    Ran it directly off F2F. I weigh 171 looking for 130 (I vacilate on how low I can realistically go) and am 5'2 and 51 years old.

    130 sounds a good goal for your height!
    ive just had a play with your numbers. without body fat it only gives HB BMR.
    Adding body fat % also brings up KM BMR's
    20% 1725
    30% 1558
    40% 1391
    BF affects BMR quite a lot, so if you can get your BF checked for the most accurate cal level x

    Sorry to be daft, but is the BF related to BMI? If so, it is 31% right now (dang!!!!). I haven't really looked at BF yet. I am doing a comparison test on my HRM as to how many calories I burn not walking and just working compared to how many I do in the same period walking. Will be interesting to see the difference, because if it isn't much, that pretty much answers some of my questions as to how to count this.
  • JodiHop
    JodiHop Posts: 25
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