calorie count is confusing me!

amymaegan

I'm not sure how many calories I'm supposed to be eating in order to lose weight. I don't really have a goal weight, I just want to see any kind of improvement! I've made a complete 180 in my life by eating SIGNIFICANTLY less than I used to and doing 30 day shred, walking anywhere from 1.5 to 3 miles around 2 times a week, and doing an intense bootcamp every Tuesday night. I've only been doing this for about a month (I know, not a long time), but I feel like I haven't seen any change in my body composition.

This brings me to my question -- I've seen people saying they start to lose more weight by eating more than MFP suggest they eat. Currently MFP has me eating around 1300 calories a day. I saw someone mention fat2fitradio.com and checked what they said my calorie intake should be and it said around 1850. that's a huge difference!

I know that my body has to be changing at least a little, considering just last month or so ago I was eating fast food at least once a day and not counting calories whatsoever.I just don't see it and it's really bothering me.

Any advice would be appreciated

jtintx

In all fairness to MFP most people want to see weight loss and see it quickly or else they quit. I think that is one reason MFP calorie goals seem so restrictive. If you know your BMR and you know how many calories you burn ON AVERAGE per week then you should be able to figure out how much to eat ON AVERAGE every day. It's my opinion that MFP low balls it BMR calculations. Find some BMR calculators online and find your average BMR. Let's say your BMR is 1500 and you burn an AVERAGE of 500 calories a day. That means you can eat 2000 calories a day to maintain that weight. If you want to lose 20 pounds in the next year all you have to do is eat 200 calories less a day (1800 calories in this example) and you will weigh 20 pounds less in one year. You just have to realize that if you burn less than you predict then you won't lose as much.

Does that help at all?

Edited to add: Most people try to lose weight too quickly so they set their goal really high...that's why MFP says you can't eat very much. People need to set a more realistic and sustainable goal. ie. 20 lbs a year is only a 200 calorie deficit.