So confused about caloric needs!! Please help!!

OkRebeccaJay

I am 24, 5ft 10, 245lb and I cannot for the life of me figure out how much I should be eating!!

MFP says 1420
But to loose weight by eating 20% less than my TDEE, I should apparently be eating 2391

....quite a big difference!

I do bootcamp 3 nights a week, and have 2 roller derby practices a week. I need to know how much to be eating so that I am fuelling myself enough but so I will still actually loose weight!!

I really hope someone can help shed some light, as its getting me down not knowing the right amount to eat - feels like im in limbo

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Did you choose 2lb/week when you set your goals in MFP? At that size 1420 is quite low.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Just do your TDEE -20% and see where you are in a month or so.

KReduced

Im in the same boat as you so I'm not much help. 20% below my TDEE is 2000 cals and MFP says 1400. So, I have been eating between 1200-1400 and then if something extra happens (such as out to dinner or birthday) I will let myself go up to the 2000 without being a freak about it. I've only been doing this for about a week but I'm already down 5lbs : )

DanaDark

How did you calculate your TDEE?

1420 does seem low for that size, but that also depends on what you set your goal at.

BiohazrD

If you set your goal to 2lb a week and your daily activity is low it's going to suggest a very low DCI.

Protein: Eat 1g/pound bodyweight at minimum. Women and obese folks: eat 1g/pound of your ultimate goal bodyweight at minimum. 4 calories per gram. It's easier than it sounds—a typical chicken breast has 30-60g.

Dietary fat: Multiply your calorie goal by 0.25. Divide that number by 9. That's your minimum grams of fat per day. 9 calories per gram. Get it from a variety of sources, such as animals, olive oil, avocados, nuts, etc.

Carbohydrate: Eat 100g/day at minimum. You can go lower if you want, but some people don't function well on very low carb diets (and your breath might start to smell like ammonia). People who exercise a lot (or are gaining weight) will generally need more carbs than people who don't. 4 calories per gram.

You can then fill in your remaining calories with whatever macronutrients you want, which allows you to eat a variety of foods. If you want to simplify this further, then just focus on your calorie and minimum protein goals. As long as you hit those numbers, and don't intentionally avoid fats or carbs (i.e. don't buy all "low fat" or "low carb" stuff), then things will work themselves out.

laurynwithawhy

I would definitely go with your TDEE -20% over what MFP says. Also, try lowering your goal on MFP to 1 pound a week and see what it says. Eating 1400 calories will definitely work for a little while, but you will probably be very crabby eating so little and after a few weeks you will hit a wall. Eating your TDEE - 20% will result in slower, steadier, more maintainable weight loss.

BlackTimber

I agree with those suggesting using your TDEE minus some percent. The more guesses and pseudo calculations there are, the more convoluted your progress will become. Pretty early on I just selected 2200 calories a day, rather than going by the "calories used" calculations and it has worked just fine. Anything more than that is playing with minutia.