I just want to make sure I am doing this right

MariaMariaM

I have read through a lot of posts on this group and followed the suggestion of some of MFP friends. I upped my calories about a week and half or so ago. My goal is to maintain (i think this will be the more difficult challenge). I looked at various sites, including the one in the sticky and the result is as follows

BMR:1284
TDEE (Moderate levels --> Desk job and workout about 5 / week): 1941
TDEE (Sedentary levels --> Desk job and couch potato): 1541

I have been playing with my calories throughout the almost 2 weeks because I am trying to see what will be the best way to track. I like to track my exercise so please tell me if this makes sense:

MFP Calorie Goal = 1541 - Net (My daily goal assuming I burn 400 calories in a day = 1941).
Here is my confusion. Lets say I burn 500 cals instead of 400. This means that on this day I will need to eat 2041 calories to account for the extra burn, correct? Or should I be OK since I will still be higher than my BRM. I am thinking that having off days like this, will not make me lose weigh (as long as I don't make a habit of it), right?

Finally, on days I don't workout, should I still eat up to the 1941 or should I eat the 1541? My inclination is that I will still aim to hit 1941 since that takes into consideration working out some days of the week but not all.

Sorry for going on and on but I just think that trying to maintain my current weight while working out (I don't want to lose any of my lean mass either) will be a challenge. I am pretty flexible so I know it might take some adjusting but I just want to make sure I have a good starting baseline.

Thanks again

tangiesharp

Congrats on reaching your goal. When you get to maintenance, you want to eat at your TDEE using your activity level. Also most people find it easiest to use a constant calorie level each day. I started out using sedentary activity level and then eating back calories, but it became too confusing. I also think my body did not know what to expect each day, so it held on to calories not knowing when it was going to be fed at the proper levels again.

Anyway...

For you, I would eat 1900-1950 calories per day and use that as your MFP calorie goal. If you burn more than 657 calories during exercise (1941-1284), eat more so that you Net more than your BMR (1284).

Hope that helps.

MariaMariaM

I started out using sedentary activity level and then eating back calories, but it became too confusing. I also think my body did not know what to expect each day, so it held on to calories not knowing when it was going to be fed at the proper levels again.

Anyway...

For you, I would eat 1900-1950 calories per day and use that as your MFP calorie goal. If you burn more than 657 calories during exercise (1941-1284), eat more so that you Net more than your BMR (1284).

Hope that helps.

Thanks! I know, I started getting confused too! I was thinking of doing what you suggested. I will just track my calories and ignore the MFP calories left thing.

tangiesharp

Thanks! I know, I started getting confused too! I was thinking of doing what you suggested. I will just track my calories and ignore the MFP calories left thing.

I'm not sure we are on the same page. In MFP, manually set your daily calorie goal to 1950. And on a daily basis, eat if your net is below 1284. So, please do not ignore the MFP calories left or you may end up below your BMR.

MariaMariaM

Thanks! I know, I started getting confused too! I was thinking of doing what you suggested. I will just track my calories and ignore the MFP calories left thing.

I'm not sure we are on the same page. In MFP, manually set your daily calorie goal to 1950. And on a daily basis, eat if your net is below 1284. So, please do not ignore the MFP calories left or you may end up below your BMR.

Thanks! I actually re-read everything and set my calories to 1900. I will not add my exercise but keep it in my notes. I will make sure that I am not eating below my BMR for sure (in fact a couple hundred over BMR since that will put me close to my sedentary levels). I had to write all of that down on my profile about me so that I can remember. I wrote down current BMR and TDEE at current levels. I will try to hit 1900 every day (whether I workout or not - of course if I completely stop working out or change patter, I will revisit). I want to do this for a week and see where I stand on a weekly basis. I know is crazy but I am keeping calories in/out on my own personal diary so it is easy for me to see. All I know for sure is that I need to hit 1900 if my avg burn is between 350 - 400. I need to eat more if I go over that.