How many calories should I be eating?

3lilmonkeysxoxo

I'm following the Insanity program. I WANT to lose weight. I'm 153 lbs right now.
how many calories should I be eating?
The Insanity program (for those that don't know) is 6 days of working out. Aprox 30-40 minutes a day or intense workout. That's just for month 1, I'm sure month 2 is harder (but I'm not there yet).
I'm on day 10 and the scale has actually gone up. but I want it to go down!

MoveTheMountain

I'm following the Insanity program. I WANT to lose weight. I'm 153 lbs right now.
how many calories should I be eating?
The Insanity program (for those that don't know) is 6 days of working out. Aprox 30-40 minutes a day or intense workout. That's just for month 1, I'm sure month 2 is harder (but I'm not there yet).
I'm on day 10 and the scale has actually gone up. but I want it to go down!

1. Start here:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and then deduct 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb per week, or 1000 calories a day to lose 2 lb per week.

Ex., if your calculated TDEE is 2600, that's an estimate of how many calories you need to take in to stay at that weight. Reduce it by 500 calories (so now you're at 2100 per day) to lose 1 pound per week. Reduce it by 1000 (so now you're at 1600 calories per day) to lose 2 lbs per week.

2. Since you're exercising, you need to decide what to do about the calories you burn by exercising: do you 'eat them back' or not. That is to say, if my goal is 1600, and I burn 500, does that mean that I 'eat back' my exercise calories by upping my daily intake to 2100, or do I stick to my 1600?

There is no universal agreement on this!! So, I recommend that you start in the middle: eat back half the calories that you burn by working out. The only way to have any clue about how many calories you're burning is by measuring them with a heart rate monitor, so get one if you don't have one.

Also, always convert the gross calories that your HRM (heart rate monitor) gives you to gross calories, so you don't double dip and accidentally think you burned more exercise calories than you did:

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn-conversion-calculator.aspx

3. Be sure to take in some calories immediately after your workout: 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein for resistance days; 4:1 for aerobic/cardio days

4. Monitor yourself daily: how are you feeling? If you're tired, up your calories by 100 and keep monitoring. If you're not losing weight, reduce your calories by 100, etc. Keep tweaking over the weeks - this is a marathon, not a sprint.

5. Never ever give up!

Good luck!!

3lilmonkeysxoxo

Thank you! that's great info!

I'm following the Insanity program. I WANT to lose weight. I'm 153 lbs right now.
how many calories should I be eating?
The Insanity program (for those that don't know) is 6 days of working out. Aprox 30-40 minutes a day or intense workout. That's just for month 1, I'm sure month 2 is harder (but I'm not there yet).
I'm on day 10 and the scale has actually gone up. but I want it to go down!

1. Start here:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and then deduct 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb per week, or 1000 calories a day to lose 2 lb per week.

Ex., if your calculated TDEE is 2600, that's an estimate of how many calories you need to take in to stay at that weight. Reduce it by 500 calories (so now you're at 2100 per day) to lose 1 pound per week. Reduce it by 1000 (so now you're at 1600 calories per day) to lose 2 lbs per week.

2. Since you're exercising, you need to decide what to do about the calories you burn by exercising: do you 'eat them back' or not. That is to say, if my goal is 1600, and I burn 500, does that mean that I 'eat back' my exercise calories by upping my daily intake to 2100, or do I stick to my 1600?

There is no universal agreement on this!! So, I recommend that you start in the middle: eat back half the calories that you burn by working out. The only way to have any clue about how many calories you're burning is by measuring them with a heart rate monitor, so get one if you don't have one.

Also, always convert the gross calories that your HRM (heart rate monitor) gives you to gross calories, so you don't double dip and accidentally think you burned more exercise calories than you did:

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn-conversion-calculator.aspx

3. Be sure to take in some calories immediately after your workout: 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein for resistance days; 4:1 for aerobic/cardio days

4. Monitor yourself daily: how are you feeling? If you're tired, up your calories by 100 and keep monitoring. If you're not losing weight, reduce your calories by 100, etc. Keep tweaking over the weeks - this is a marathon, not a sprint.

5. Never ever give up!

Good luck!!

ladyraven68

I'm following the Insanity program. I WANT to lose weight. I'm 153 lbs right now.
how many calories should I be eating?
The Insanity program (for those that don't know) is 6 days of working out. Aprox 30-40 minutes a day or intense workout. That's just for month 1, I'm sure month 2 is harder (but I'm not there yet).
I'm on day 10 and the scale has actually gone up. but I want it to go down!

1. Start here:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and then deduct 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb per week, or 1000 calories a day to lose 2 lb per week.

Ex., if your calculated TDEE is 2600, that's an estimate of how many calories you need to take in to stay at that weight. Reduce it by 500 calories (so now you're at 2100 per day) to lose 1 pound per week. Reduce it by 1000 (so now you're at 1600 calories per day) to lose 2 lbs per week.

2. Since you're exercising, you need to decide what to do about the calories you burn by exercising: do you 'eat them back' or not. That is to say, if my goal is 1600, and I burn 500, does that mean that I 'eat back' my exercise calories by upping my daily intake to 2100, or do I stick to my 1600?

There is no universal agreement on this!! So, I recommend that you start in the middle: eat back half the calories that you burn by working out. The only way to have any clue about how many calories you're burning is by measuring them with a heart rate monitor, so get one if you don't have one.

Also, always convert the gross calories that your HRM (heart rate monitor) gives you to gross calories, so you don't double dip and accidentally think you burned more exercise calories than you did:

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn-conversion-calculator.aspx

3. Be sure to take in some calories immediately after your workout: 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein for resistance days; 4:1 for aerobic/cardio days

4. Monitor yourself daily: how are you feeling? If you're tired, up your calories by 100 and keep monitoring. If you're not losing weight, reduce your calories by 100, etc. Keep tweaking over the weeks - this is a marathon, not a sprint.

5. Never ever give up!

Good luck!!

I'm afraid this is wrong, if you are using TDEE to work out your calories, the exercise calories are include, so don't eat them back at all on this method, as you'll be eating them twice..

Eating them back is only applicable if you are following MFP's settings.

MoveTheMountain

I'm following the Insanity program. I WANT to lose weight. I'm 153 lbs right now.
how many calories should I be eating?
The Insanity program (for those that don't know) is 6 days of working out. Aprox 30-40 minutes a day or intense workout. That's just for month 1, I'm sure month 2 is harder (but I'm not there yet).
I'm on day 10 and the scale has actually gone up. but I want it to go down!

1. Start here:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and then deduct 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb per week, or 1000 calories a day to lose 2 lb per week.

Ex., if your calculated TDEE is 2600, that's an estimate of how many calories you need to take in to stay at that weight. Reduce it by 500 calories (so now you're at 2100 per day) to lose 1 pound per week. Reduce it by 1000 (so now you're at 1600 calories per day) to lose 2 lbs per week.

2. Since you're exercising, you need to decide what to do about the calories you burn by exercising: do you 'eat them back' or not. That is to say, if my goal is 1600, and I burn 500, does that mean that I 'eat back' my exercise calories by upping my daily intake to 2100, or do I stick to my 1600?

There is no universal agreement on this!! So, I recommend that you start in the middle: eat back half the calories that you burn by working out. The only way to have any clue about how many calories you're burning is by measuring them with a heart rate monitor, so get one if you don't have one.

Also, always convert the gross calories that your HRM (heart rate monitor) gives you to gross calories, so you don't double dip and accidentally think you burned more exercise calories than you did:

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn-conversion-calculator.aspx

3. Be sure to take in some calories immediately after your workout: 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein for resistance days; 4:1 for aerobic/cardio days

4. Monitor yourself daily: how are you feeling? If you're tired, up your calories by 100 and keep monitoring. If you're not losing weight, reduce your calories by 100, etc. Keep tweaking over the weeks - this is a marathon, not a sprint.

5. Never ever give up!

Good luck!!

I'm afraid this is wrong, if you are using TDEE to work out your calories, the exercise calories are include, so don't eat them back at all on this method, as you'll be eating them twice..

Eating them back is only applicable if you are following MFP's settings.

Like I said, no universal agreement on this... For me, the problem is that TDEE is an estimate of an estimate of an estimate. For different people, eating back your calories will work, for others it won't. Really, your TDEE fluctuates on a daily basis, and you should tailor each day's intake to reflect that level of activity. TDEE isn't granular enough to take all the variables into account. TDEE gives you a starting point, but it's not a hard and fast rule that will fit everyone perectly every day.

ladyraven68

I'm following the Insanity program. I WANT to lose weight. I'm 153 lbs right now.
how many calories should I be eating?
The Insanity program (for those that don't know) is 6 days of working out. Aprox 30-40 minutes a day or intense workout. That's just for month 1, I'm sure month 2 is harder (but I'm not there yet).
I'm on day 10 and the scale has actually gone up. but I want it to go down!

1. Start here:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and then deduct 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb per week, or 1000 calories a day to lose 2 lb per week.

Ex., if your calculated TDEE is 2600, that's an estimate of how many calories you need to take in to stay at that weight. Reduce it by 500 calories (so now you're at 2100 per day) to lose 1 pound per week. Reduce it by 1000 (so now you're at 1600 calories per day) to lose 2 lbs per week.

2. Since you're exercising, you need to decide what to do about the calories you burn by exercising: do you 'eat them back' or not. That is to say, if my goal is 1600, and I burn 500, does that mean that I 'eat back' my exercise calories by upping my daily intake to 2100, or do I stick to my 1600?

There is no universal agreement on this!! So, I recommend that you start in the middle: eat back half the calories that you burn by working out. The only way to have any clue about how many calories you're burning is by measuring them with a heart rate monitor, so get one if you don't have one.

Also, always convert the gross calories that your HRM (heart rate monitor) gives you to gross calories, so you don't double dip and accidentally think you burned more exercise calories than you did:

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn-conversion-calculator.aspx

3. Be sure to take in some calories immediately after your workout: 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein for resistance days; 4:1 for aerobic/cardio days

4. Monitor yourself daily: how are you feeling? If you're tired, up your calories by 100 and keep monitoring. If you're not losing weight, reduce your calories by 100, etc. Keep tweaking over the weeks - this is a marathon, not a sprint.

5. Never ever give up!

Good luck!!

I'm afraid this is wrong, if you are using TDEE to work out your calories, the exercise calories are include, so don't eat them back at all on this method, as you'll be eating them twice..

Eating them back is only applicable if you are following MFP's settings.

Like I said, no universal agreement on this... For me, the problem is that TDEE is an estimate of an estimate of an estimate. For different people, eating back your calories will work, for others it won't. Really, your TDEE fluctuates on a daily basis, and you should tailor each day's intake to reflect that level of activity. TDEE isn't granular enough to take all the variables into account.

When it comes to calories based on TDEE, the T stands for Total, and it includes exercise.
I have never heard anyone say you should eat back exercise when basing bedficit on TDEE.

you may be confusing it with the people who eat BMR+exercise?

MoveTheMountain

I'm following the Insanity program. I WANT to lose weight. I'm 153 lbs right now.
how many calories should I be eating?
The Insanity program (for those that don't know) is 6 days of working out. Aprox 30-40 minutes a day or intense workout. That's just for month 1, I'm sure month 2 is harder (but I'm not there yet).
I'm on day 10 and the scale has actually gone up. but I want it to go down!

1. Start here:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Figure out your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and then deduct 500 calories a day to lose 1 lb per week, or 1000 calories a day to lose 2 lb per week.

Ex., if your calculated TDEE is 2600, that's an estimate of how many calories you need to take in to stay at that weight. Reduce it by 500 calories (so now you're at 2100 per day) to lose 1 pound per week. Reduce it by 1000 (so now you're at 1600 calories per day) to lose 2 lbs per week.

2. Since you're exercising, you need to decide what to do about the calories you burn by exercising: do you 'eat them back' or not. That is to say, if my goal is 1600, and I burn 500, does that mean that I 'eat back' my exercise calories by upping my daily intake to 2100, or do I stick to my 1600?

There is no universal agreement on this!! So, I recommend that you start in the middle: eat back half the calories that you burn by working out. The only way to have any clue about how many calories you're burning is by measuring them with a heart rate monitor, so get one if you don't have one.

Also, always convert the gross calories that your HRM (heart rate monitor) gives you to gross calories, so you don't double dip and accidentally think you burned more exercise calories than you did:

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn-conversion-calculator.aspx

3. Be sure to take in some calories immediately after your workout: 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein for resistance days; 4:1 for aerobic/cardio days

4. Monitor yourself daily: how are you feeling? If you're tired, up your calories by 100 and keep monitoring. If you're not losing weight, reduce your calories by 100, etc. Keep tweaking over the weeks - this is a marathon, not a sprint.

5. Never ever give up!

Good luck!!

I'm afraid this is wrong, if you are using TDEE to work out your calories, the exercise calories are include, so don't eat them back at all on this method, as you'll be eating them twice..

Eating them back is only applicable if you are following MFP's settings.

Like I said, no universal agreement on this... For me, the problem is that TDEE is an estimate of an estimate of an estimate. For different people, eating back your calories will work, for others it won't. Really, your TDEE fluctuates on a daily basis, and you should tailor each day's intake to reflect that level of activity. TDEE isn't granular enough to take all the variables into account.

When it comes to calories based on TDEE, the T stands for Total, and it includes exercise.
I have never heard anyone say you should eat back exercise when basing bedficit on TDEE.

you may be confusing it with the people who eat BMR+exercise?

Nope, I'm confusing it with trying to generate a real number from an estimate based on an estimate of an estimate. The T does stand for "total," yes; but you can't possibly think that what your body actually does on a daily basis, every day, is going to correspond to that number. If your estimate about how active you are on a day doesn't line up with what the TDEE calculator thinks it should be, you'll be off, either high or low. And from what I have seen, many people undersestimate their activity level, so adding in a few extra calories wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea. But notice what else I said: if you are eating back calories, and you're not making progress, start cutting them back. TDEE gives you a finger in the air, not a hard truth. You need to tailor your actual calories based on your metabolism and real - and that means measured - activity level.