Calories intake..,

Apsalmss27

Ok I have a question, I hope you guys can help. I have been doing MFP for a month and have lost 6 pounds, I feel great and my clothes are looking better. I am eating 1500 calories a day and working out 4-5 times a week. I have noticed that MFP puts everybody at 1200 calories but I was told that, that is not good for everybody. What do you guys think about this. Also do you guys eat your exercise calories and do you guys eat fewer calories on the days you don't work out?

Pebble321

MFP doesn't put everybody at 1200 - what happens very often is that people who don't have much weight to lose setup their goals with an unrealistic goal of "lose 2 pounds a week" so MFP defaults to 1200 as this is a general "safe" minimum calorie intake.
Stick with 1500 for a month and see how thus works for you, we are all different and there is no magic number that suits everyone.

Pebble321

And if you're using MFP to calculate your goals then it is designed for you to eat the extra cals you burn exercising.
The great news is that you don't have to starve yourself to lose weight!

jg627

If you're not morbidly obese you probably shouldn't try for the 2 lbs per week. Aim for 1 lb per week. Eating back exercise calories is the subject of the great debate. You can either set your activity level to sedentary and log every activity you do and eat back the calories, or you can guestimate your activity level and set it accordingly in your settings and MFP will set your daily calories accordingly. I have mine set to 'active' and I exercise 3-4 times per week. I'm aiming for 1 lb per week currently.
The type of exercise you do is entirely up to you. Do what you like. If you want to be a runner, then go running. If you like to lift weights, hit the gym like an animal. You can even do both, but depending on the intensity of one, you may have to drop the intensity of the other depending on your current fitness level. There are plenty of benefits with either one.

Shayztar

MFP doesn't put everybody at 1200 - what happens very often is that people who don't have much weight to lose setup their goals with an unrealistic goal of "lose 2 pounds a week" so MFP defaults to 1200 as this is a general "safe" minimum calorie intake.
Stick with 1500 for a month and see how thus works for you, we are all different and there is no magic number that suits everyone.

^^ This. I eat 1800 because it;s my BMR plus breast feeding cals. Then I usually eat my exercise cals. Yes, I am still losing weight! lol

jenmsu83

I have my calories set to 1600, and that is to lose .5/week (according to MFP). When I exercise I eat ATLEAST half of my calories burned from exercise, and sometimes all. It depends how hungry I am. I also make sure to net atleast 1200 - but about 98% of the time I am at about 1350 or above.

LovingLisa2012

my goals are 1580 - 2080 ( 2 pounds / 1 pound a week loss) per MFP

i eat 2200- 2400 a day and losing nicely ..so far this month alone , i am down 4.4

sthrnchick

I am certainly no expert... but have lost 17 pounds since mid March... I eat give or take 1500-1700 cals a day.. cardio every other day... and heavy weights M, W, and F... i do not eat back my exercise cals.

iwantahealthierme13

MFP put me at 1620 a day, I've been here for a month. I started off at 190. Had about 4 bad calorie days where I went WAY over and I am battling a cold right now that has put me out of exercise for a week and a half but I'm somewhere between 182 and 185 now.

(set at 1 pound a week loss)

melanielupien

I set mine to lose 1 pound a week, but MFP still only gives me 1220 calories to eat. Without exercise I eat at least 1300 calories a day, Ive learned that I lose faster if i eat 1300 vs. the 1220 that MFP says I should eat. If I exercise (most of the time I burn between 300 -500 calories) I try to eat back at least 300 of those.



Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter

Apsalmss27

Thanks you guys. I started off at 1600 and lost 5 pounds, now I went down to 1500 and still losing weight.

temp666777

Don't forget the estimate on MFP is JUST A GUESSTIMATE.

It is incredibly hard to figure out your resting calorie needs .. your BMR, if you will.

If you're way keen, go see your local sports medicine center, and see what they can come up with.

Or, buy one of those fancy "Body Composition Monitor" scales (probably Omron) which has a

"Resting metabolism"

feature. Those machines cost as little as 50 or 60 bucks now. Be aware they are by no means perfect, but they can be pretty damn good.

I wouldn't give much concern to MFP's guesstimate as to BMR.

Do some research online about various calculations for your BMR, and if possible buy one of the composition scales with a "Resting metabolism" feature (an Omron is good) --- they cost as little as 50 bucks.

The machine will print out your actual BMR -- as best it can guess -- every day so you'll know exactly what it is THAT DAY.

(Don't forget! As you lose weight, yo'll have to eat much less!)

(I've noticed many people wildly UNDER estimate their BMR, and hence eat crazily way too little food. Do some research! But a machine, it might help!)

adam1885282

I'm sitting here at 8pm with 400 calories left for the day and not hungry. I'll eat another 200 because I want to respect the counter until I have enough data to know what my weight loss looks like. But, I'm about 200 short almost every day and almost never feel hungry. MFP says my 2040 allowance is 500 short of BMR. And I don't try to replace exercise calories.

Anyway, it's an estimate.