Confused about how many calories i should be eating??

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mystikalbeanz
mystikalbeanz Posts: 192 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I startTDed with another food/ calorie tracking app 3 wks ago which had me at 1300 calories a day to lose 1.65pds a wk. However i was constantly starving and i was also doing 20-40 mins of cardio 5 times a wk and didnt lose 1 pound which was very frustrating. So after some research i decided to up my calories to see if maybe i wasnt eating enough but 2 different sites told me i should be around 1890-1899 a day and then i read somewhere else that you should go from your TDEE and minus 20% which i did and am now at 1600 calories a day for the past 3 days and did lose half a pound finally, but im afraid im eating too many calories to lose weight and am so confused by how many i should really be eating and my TDEE etc?? Can anyway clarify this for me? Im new to all this and alos just quit smoking 3 weeks ago so im not sure if i wasnt losing weight because of too few calories or because my body was adjusting to quitting smoking?? I appreciate any advice!

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  • rotcas01
    rotcas01 Posts: 2
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    A lot of your caloric input depends of your weight. I weight 117 so I eat 1200cal/day. When you are dieting, you are going to be hungry a lot, especially if it is a radical change in the amount that you eat. Try to limit yourself to 1500 a day. Drinking a lot of water will help you feel less hungry and it will help you eat less. In addition, what you eat is JUST as important has how much. Make sure you focus on eating high protein meals. Carbohydrates, although important, will make you hungry later in the day, so avoid them after 2 or so. Keep in mind as well that you should weigh yourself in the morning before eating or drinking anything because that will make you appear heavier than you actually are. Keep that in mind for your next weigh-in.
    GOOD LUCK!
  • mystikalbeanz
    mystikalbeanz Posts: 192 Member
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    bump....
  • nbaker1176
    nbaker1176 Posts: 2
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    I have been going good on 1000 calories a day. not feeling too hungry cos i am drrinking alot of water. my problem is that i have hit a plateau. * was 87kg 6 weeks ago now 81kg and cant shift anymore weight. I exercise 3 times a week including karate class twice a week and boot camp once a week. what can i do to get out of this plateau???? grr its been 4 days since i have lost weight.....
  • mystikalbeanz
    mystikalbeanz Posts: 192 Member
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    Theres a thread on one of the message boards about uping your calories a little bit if your at a lower calorie intake and arent losing weight. A few people said that once they uped their intake they started losing weight again. I know i tried it after 3 weeks of eating 1300 calories and exercising 5 days a wk mainly doing 40 mins of cardio. I went up 200 calories and now am finally losing weight! I lost a pound in 2 days so maybe its worth a shot. If you try it and dont lose any weight just go back to what you were doing?
  • mystikalbeanz
    mystikalbeanz Posts: 192 Member
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    Thanks for your replies...
  • nbaker1176
    nbaker1176 Posts: 2
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    wow, thank you so much!!!
  • mrsmegb
    mrsmegb Posts: 18 Member
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    It's hard to swallow when you're trying to lose weight... but often times your metabolism needs more food in order to be able to burn more calories. If it doesn't get the calories it needs, it goes into starvation mode. There's no magic number that works for everyone, you have to figure out what's working for you and what isn't. Some people use the zigzag/wendie plan to give their metabolism a boost when they find it hard to figure out what works for them.
    Also, if you're exercising a lot - your fat can be getting replaced with muscle, causing it to appear like you've gained or plateaued. 1lb of muscle is smaller in volume than 1lb of fat, so start taking your measurements!

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