Need Help! Exercise/Calories!

RDHome224

So Ive been on here not long, and I am in no way expecting to see results yet, but I have questions.

I am 200 pounds and 5'3, I want to get to 160, and then hopefully 140 and see how I feel from there, however I keep seeing different things about calories. MFP says I should eat 1700 calories a day, and I am wondering if I want to lose weight, should I be eating more? Should I eat back my exercise calories to be more effective in my weight loss?

My body fat is in my belly, my arms and my generous behind (lol) and I want to feel like I look nice, I still have a defined waist, and my dietician wouldnt have believed I was 200 pounds if she hadnt weighed me,as I spent 2 years in construction doing physical labor and my body fat heaped on top of my muscle mass (annoying because I dont know where I am for body fat ratio at all)

And suggestions on this? (calorie intake and exercise calories)

mygrl4meee

If you told MFP that you want to lose X amount per week then it set you up on a calorie goal that would support losing weight. I have stuck pretty close to what MFP gives me. I don't starve myself but I do try to avoid eating up all the exersice calories. I do feel that working out gives me some wriggle room in the amount of food I can eat.

RDHome224

so if I change what I want to lose per week, and the amount of exercise per week, it will alter my calories?

ssteinbring677

If you change the amount you want to loser per week it will alter your allotted calories, because considering there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat--MFP calculates a 3,500 calorie deficit weekly for you in order for you to lose 1 pound a week. If you set it to lose 2 pounds a week, then your deficit will increase and you will have less calories to eat each day. Hope that helps!

Keiko385

I would stick with what MFP has given you to eat for a while and see what kind of results you get. If it needs a little fine tuning there are several website that can help you figure out your TDEE

http://calorieline.com/tools/tdee

I like the above link as it breaks down the exercises just a bit more

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/


I dont always eat back my exercise calories but like another poster said it gives you some wiggle room, listen to your body if you are tired and are really lacking energy then eat ! MFP overestimates the calorie burn for many people, so unless you have a heart rate monitor you cant be sure that the database is accurate.

mudya

If you eat around 1500 but burn 400kcals through exercise - you are actually under eating. I didn't know this and after 2 weeks of my net been 1000/1100 I began to feel very dizzy! As soon as I added the extra 100/200 calories everything was cool and I was still losing the same amount of weight.

Just make sure your net doesn't fall below 1200