Does this sound right?

mfoster1019

I am trying to figure out what the right amount of calories is for me to be consuming. I've gone to about 8 different websites to calculate my TDEE and the average among all of them is about 2200. I am 5'4", 27 years old, 139.6 pounds, BMR around 1420, BMI is 24, and I work out 6 days a week for 30-45 minutes (I run 3x a week for 30 minutes, and do Jillian Michaels circuit training 3x a week, rest 1 day - so that totals about 3.5-4 hours of exercise a week).

Here's a little back ground. I was at 1200 calories when I started in Jan 2012. Hit my goal weight of 130 in Sept. 2012 so I switched to maintain which gave me 1640 calories and I wasn't really eating my exercise calories back. As of the beginning of Jan 2013, I was up 8-9 pounds. So I started thinking I was eating too much so I set my calories to 1500 and not eating my exercise calories. I have not lost any weight in the past 2 weeks...or actually I haven't lost anything since Sept. I've gained almost 10 pounds (as of today) since Sept. I'm sure some if it may be muscle, but not all of it. And yes, I do have some bad days (like this weekend was HORRIBLE!). I have also recently started eating better foods that have more protein, fiber and whole grains.

So based on the TDEE I calculated, my TDEE -20% (to lose weight) would be around 1750-1770. To me, that sounds a bit high to lose weight. Does this sound right to anyone? I know I may never actually get back down to my goal weight, but I do feel I could lose a few of these pounds.

jamaicanlady

I'm 5'1 128lbs and I'm eating around 2000 to maintain, so yours doesn't sound off at all.

JesterMFP

I'm slightly shorter and lighter than you, and I can lose eating 1600-1900 depending how much exercise I do. (I use the MFP method of eating back calories - I can lose on 1600 with no exercise.) I also don't do as much exercise as you, so mathematically speaking, I'm sure you could lose at 1750.

If you've gained (fat or muscle, not water) then something else is going on. Either your metabolism is much slower than calculators would estimate, or you have some other medical issue going on, or you are overestimating what you're burning, or you're underestimating what you're eating. I can't see your diary - are the "bad days" so bad or frequent that they could be undoing the deficit you create on other days? Do you log the bad days? Are you consistent about logging and meticulous about weighing/measuring foods?

mfoster1019

I'm slightly shorter and lighter than you, and I can lose eating 1600-1900 depending how much exercise I do. (I use the MFP method of eating back calories - I can lose on 1600 with no exercise.) I also don't do as much exercise as you, so mathematically speaking, I'm sure you could lose at 1750.

If you've gained (fat or muscle, not water) then something else is going on. Either your metabolism is much slower than calculators would estimate, or you have some other medical issue going on, or you are overestimating what you're burning, or you're underestimating what you're eating. I can't see your diary - are the "bad days" so bad or frequent that they could be undoing the deficit you create on other days? Do you log the bad days? Are you consistent about logging and meticulous about weighing/measuring foods?

I just recently got a HRM to find out the actual calories I am burning. I've only had it 2 weeks, but it is pretty close to what the MFP estimates have been for the exercises so I'm pretty confident that I hadn't been overestimating my exercise. I log and weight just about everything, so yes I do log even the bad days. Outside of this past weekend, I don't feel that my "bad days" are frequent enough or bad enough to really be affecting me so much.

marycmeadows

nope doesn't sound off.

mfoster1019

anyone else have any input?

ValerieMomof2

Are you basing everything on the scale or have you been tracking body fat %/measurements?