So confused!

LabMonkeySteph85

I just started on Monday. I keep moving my calories around because I am not sure where I should be. When I signed up, I put that I wanted to loose 2 pounds per week and MFP set me to 1200 calories a day. Then I am reading message boards that say you should not eat less than your BMR, which for me is 1514. So which should I set my calorie goal to?

Also, am I supposed to be eating my exercise calories so that my net is 1514? I do Zumba for an hour a day and walk for 30 minutes usually, so I am burning around 500 calories per day there. I have my diary public if anyone wants to look at it. And yes, I need to eat more fruits and veggies. I am working on it

Yaya1976

I feel your pain. I'm no expert. I have personally decided to eat the calories allotted to me from when I first started, which is 1210 per day. Now for me, that's more than enough. I don't ever eat back my exercise calories, again, my personal choice. At the end of the day you just have to do what works for you.

wswilliams67

What is your current weight and body fat %? I can run some numbers.

xFitnessFlirt

from what I was told your suppose to eat higher then your BMR but lower then your TDEE. I set mine at 1 pound per week so my calorie deficit has to be at least 500 everyday to lose a pound a week. which ends up 3500 calories total in a week. But for 2 lbs i think u have to have a calorie deficit of 1000 a day and I dont think thats very healthy.

vicktoria339

Hey the way i see it, the less i eat, the more weight i lose. On the other hand, if im hungry, i eat. Regarding my exercise, i have the extra cals there is i feel hungry later in the evening after dinner. I dont really pay too much attention to BMR or similar ...hope this helps! Wouldnt worry too much about what every one else says on the msg boards, just find what works for you :-)

wickedwendy6

Go to 'Help', select Web and then General. Have a read through there and it should all come together for you.

You're not alone, I remember feeling the same way when I first started.

elgray26

It all depends on how you set up MFP...

I put myself at lightly active. I coach tumbling and cheerleading, but I am not always spotting kids or being active at work. I put that I want to lose 1lb a week. MFP has me at 1410. According to websites my BMR is something like 1494.

Now because I have myself set at lightly active I do eat back my exercise calories. I try to NET 1200 at least if not more. I normally end up eating between 1500 and 2200 calories a day depending on the exercise I do. If i burn 900 calories in the day I try to eat at least 700-800 of those back.

If you set your MFP activity level based on the exercise that you plan to do I would not eat back exercise calories, but I would try to eat at least your BMR.

Many people on this site say to figure out your TDEE and your BMR and eat somewhere in between. Some say eat 20% less than your TDEE. Others say different things.

I would recommend you do some research on this and dont believe what everyone on MFP says. What works for them... May not work for you.

Hope this helps.

ceannesjourney

Please rememer that this is just my opinion, but I believe starting at 2lbs a week is too much. If you set it to 1lbs or even less per week, you will have an easier time with the counting of calories. Also, since you do so much exericise, you are already doing great work.

I did my set up/goals with how I'm living my life at the moment. I didn't try to figure out the BMR/TDEE or whatever a lot of people talk about--I just put in the numbers and then followed what was on my food page/tab. I believe you should eat back at least most of your exercise calories, but if you did your set up to include the exercised that you already do (example - active lifestyle), I wouldn't. I just make sure I eat up the calories on my food page (which adds your exerice calories). Try to meet the number there.

I hope this helps in some way.

divincenzo1

In regards to your calories you burn when working out...most people on MFP are split on this. I eat some of them back when and if I'm hungry....if I'm not hungry I won't eat them back. It really depends on you...you have to listen to your body...if you're feeling starved after workint out eat...if you don't you'll eventually crash.

wswilliams67

NEVER eat less than your BMR... EVER!

Think of it this way: If you were in a coma, your BMR is what the hospital would have to give you to keep you alive.

You need to figure out your ACTUAL TDEE not the MFP version. MFP is close, but it's off a couple hundred calories. I suggest http://www.cordianet.com/calculator.htm if you know your body fat %.

Calculate your TDEE at your average exercise level, then eat 500 calories less than your TDEE to lose 1lb/week, 1000 calories less to lose 2lbs/week.

- OR -

Calculate your TDEE as a sedentary person (no exercise) then eat back your exercise calories daily.

Rinse and repeat every 10 pounds of weight loss to stay on target since your BMR/TDEE will change as your body composition changes.

READ THIS: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Hope that helps

Gramps251

I just started on Monday. I keep moving my calories around because I am not sure where I should be. When I signed up, I put that I wanted to loose 2 pounds per week and MFP set me to 1200 calories a day. Then I am reading message boards that say you should not eat less than your BMR, which for me is 1514. So which should I set my calorie goal to?

Also, am I supposed to be eating my exercise calories so that my net is 1514? I do Zumba for an hour a day and walk for 30 minutes usually, so I am burning around 500 calories per day there. I have my diary public if anyone wants to look at it. And yes, I need to eat more fruits and veggies. I am working on it

Check out this link for establishing your numbers:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

IronGirlShae

My nutrition teacher once told me to look up the weight we wished to be (either bigger or smaller) and check out how many calories someone that weight should eat. If you eat that number of calories your body will gradually become that weight. SO eating the amount for your current weight won't make the scale budge much at all.

ceannesjourney

My nutrition teacher once told me to look up the weight we wished to be (either bigger or smaller) and check out how many calories someone that weight should eat. If you eat that number of calories your body will gradually become that weight. SO eating the amount for your current weight won't make the scale budge much at all.

OMG! I'm so sorry to say this, but this is such poor advice--what if you currently weighed 300lbs and wanted to weigh 120? That would put the body in such a state! Try not to reduce your calories by more than 500 per day than what you were before--this will make life so much easier.

Please follow what other's have suggested and follow what MFP says about setting up.

LabMonkeySteph85

I weigh 174.2 and my body fat is around 34%. I can't remember exactly from when I had it checked a couple months ago.

wswilliams67

My nutrition teacher once told me to look up the weight we wished to be (either bigger or smaller) and check out how many calories someone that weight should eat. If you eat that number of calories your body will gradually become that weight. SO eating the amount for your current weight won't make the scale budge much at all.

This doesn't take body composition into account at all. Weight is just gravity's pull on your body. You should never want to lose 'weight'. Weight encompasses water, fat, muscle, bone, etc. You should want to lose FAT never muscle. Most dieters, sadly, lose more muscle than fat simply due to how the body consumes resources for energy.

200lbs at 9% body fat versus 200lbs at 30% body fat requires VERY different levels of caloric intake.

You have to do the math if you are serious about losing fat.

For example, Michael Phelps... the Olympic swimming champion? He eats 12,000 calories/day while training! The notion of simply cutting calories to drop weight is old science. It will work for about the first 40-50 pounds then you will hit a serious metabolic wall. It happened to me recently and it is a difficult thing to recover from the longer you let it go.

stephiegirl1215

Definitely read this thread
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

kendallggaylor

OMG, I'm so confused now! MFP set me up to eat 1,200 calories a day as well, and I'm also exercising! So....that's BAD??

wswilliams67

I weigh 174.2 and my body fat is around 34%. I can't remember exactly from when I had it checked a couple months ago.

Calculated at a moderate exercise level of 3-5 days/week to lose 1 pound/week:

Estimated Base BMR: 1495 Calories.
Estimated TDEE: 2317 Calories.
Estimated Daily Caloric Need For Weight Loss: 1817 Calories.

Calculated at NO exercise to lose 1 pound/week:

Estimated Base BMR: 1495 Calories.
Estimated TDEE: 1794 Calories.
Estimated Daily Caloric Need For Weight Loss: 1294 Calories. (too low for your BMR... stay at 1500 and eat back your exercise calories)

Recalculate after 10 pounds of loss.

Your BMR doesn't really support you losing 2 pounds/week so I wouldn't try it right now. If you were heavier or leaner and your BMR was higher then you could try for 1.5 to 2 pounds.

Just my 2¢.

Firefox7275

Eat more real food generally, less processed and ready made stuff, track fibre on your food diary. Ideally nine servings or fruits and vegetables in the full rainbow of colours, oily fish regularly, protein at breakfast, three servings of reduced fat dairy, lose the sugar and white refined carbs, processed meat. Your calories will naturally regulate themselves if you fill up on watery veggies, lean protein and fibre.

LabMonkeySteph85

I weigh 174.2 and my body fat is around 34%. I can't remember exactly from when I had it checked a couple months ago.

Calculated at a moderate exercise level of 3-5 days/week to lose 1 pound/week:

Estimated Base BMR: 1495 Calories.
Estimated TDEE: 2317 Calories.
Estimated Daily Caloric Need For Weight Loss: 1817 Calories.

Calculated at NO exercise to lose 1 pound/week:

Estimated Base BMR: 1495 Calories.
Estimated TDEE: 1794 Calories.
Estimated Daily Caloric Need For Weight Loss: 1294 Calories. (too low for your BMR... stay at 1500 and eat back your exercise calories)

Recalculate after 10 pounds of loss.

Your BMR doesn't really support you losing 2 pounds/week so I wouldn't try it right now. If you were heavier or leaner and your BMR was higher then you could try for 1.5 to 2 pounds.

Just my 2¢.

So just to make sure I have this right, I should be eating 1817 calories per day and disregard my weight loss calories completely in order to loose 1 pound a week? Couldn't I do 1317 a day in order to loose 2 pounds per week? I guess I don't understand why I can't do this since the minimum is 1200?

taso42

Check out this link for establishing your numbers:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

This is a good place to start.

Figure out your TDEE. Understand what it means. Once you've done that, you're more than halfway to success.