How many calories should I be eating?

mfoster1019
mfoster1019 Posts: 152 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I reached my end goal in September and switched to maintain, but since then have gained 8-10lbs. I think some of the weight is muscle, but not all of it. I'm trying to figure out how I've gained the weight while still continuing to exercise and eat my maintenance calories. So I'm trying to tweak things up to see what might help me lose a few pounds.

Maintenance calories for me was 1640, so that's what I did. About a month ago, I started consistently eating back all of my exercise calories thinking the extra intake would help jumpstart my metabolism again. Didn't work. So this time I'm trying to incorporate some better quality foods but also think my calories might need to be tweaked too. I went on Scooby this morning to get some numbers, but just don't know what to do. Based on those calculations, my BMR is 1341 and my TDEE is 2218 (based on 3-5 hours/week of moderate exercise, which I do even though I have a desk job). In order to do a 20% calorie reduction to lose fat, I should be eating 1774 calories.

So should I eat 1774 calories? Should I also still eat my exercise calories? If so, that would put me at/near 2000 calories a day which seems high to me in order to lose weight. This morning on MFP, I set my goals to lose .5 lbs/week, which took me down to 1430 calories. I am so lost on what to do!! Does anyone have any advice?

Replies

  • mfoster1019
    mfoster1019 Posts: 152 Member
    bump...anyone?
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    Plug your stats into a TDEE calculator. That will give you your maintenance level. To gain, eat more than that; to lose, eat less than that. Following the TDEE-based approach, you do not worry about "eating back exercise calories", as they are factored in.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Desk job. Sedentary. Period. End of story.

    From there, log your daily exercise, this will yield a SIGNIFICANTLY more accurate estimate of your TDEE.

    Using activity level to calculate TDEE only multiplies your BMR by a flat number. It is inadequate to use.

    When eating more, there is also an influx of water that will make you seem to weigh more. Have you been keeping track of your measurements?
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
    Desk job. Sedentary. Period. End of story.

    From there, log your daily exercise, this will yield a SIGNIFICANTLY more accurate estimate of your TDEE.

    Using activity level to calculate TDEE only multiplies your BMR by a flat number. It is inadequate to use.

    When eating more, there is also an influx of water that will make you seem to weigh more. Have you been keeping track of your measurements?

    i tend to disagree with 90-100% of this.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    OP, your numbers make no sense at all.

    Check this thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    Sarauk2sf did an excellent job on it, and you'll see a way to use math to discover your true TDEE based on your food diary rather than online calculators.
  • Jonesie1984
    Jonesie1984 Posts: 612 Member
    Desk job. Sedentary. Period. End of story.

    From there, log your daily exercise, this will yield a SIGNIFICANTLY more accurate estimate of your TDEE.

    Using activity level to calculate TDEE only multiplies your BMR by a flat number. It is inadequate to use.

    When eating more, there is also an influx of water that will make you seem to weigh more. Have you been keeping track of your measurements?

    i tend to disagree with 90-100% of this.


    hahaha me too. But the reality is TDEE is the standard. I would taper up slowly if you've been eating 1600 cals/day then wake up and start eating 2400/daily you may experience some weight gain. I'd go up but 100-200 cals/weekly to allow your body to adjust =)
  • mfoster1019
    mfoster1019 Posts: 152 Member
    OP, your numbers make no sense at all.

    Check this thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    Sarauk2sf did an excellent job on it, and you'll see a way to use math to discover your true TDEE based on your food diary rather than online calculators.

    Thanks for this. The 2 websites Sarauk2sf recommended for TDEE calculations estimated my TDEE between 1976-2126. When I looked over an 8-9 week portion of my diary (and then a separate 5 week period), based on the TDEE calculation she gave, my TDEE is 1700. So based on that, I am manually setting my calorie intake to be 1500 calories, which is about a 11-12% reduction from my TDEE. And with that 1500 calories, I will not be eating my exercise calories back...I guess that is right? I'm going to see how that goes for the next few weeks in addition to switching to some "better for me" foods. Wish me luck as I really hope these tweaks help me out.
  • BrofessorPHD
    BrofessorPHD Posts: 42 Member
    only you can truly figure out what your maintenance is...i know it sucks and takes a while to figure out. but once you know you can easily subtract the correct amount...

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