1700 calories a day!

sarahmonsta
sarahmonsta Posts: 185 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 5'10 and weigh 185. Today, I decided to do a switch up because what I was doing is not working anymore. I was eating 1300 calories practically everyday since August 6th plus working out. I lost 40lbs, but recently I stopped, so I decided to change it up. I have around 25-30lbs left to lose so I decided eating 1700 calories then burning around 400-500 a day just sounds a lot more practical. Does this sound like a decent plan??

Thanks!! :D

Replies

  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    i don't think it is a decent plan.

    first, if you are upping your calories, you need to do it little by little (about a hundred extra a day for a week).

    aiming to burn 400-500 a day shouldn't really be a goal, imo. go out and exercise because you enjoy it. alternate strength training days with cardio days and give yourself time to rest.
  • sarahmonsta
    sarahmonsta Posts: 185 Member
    I didn't really figure in my rest days and what not. The way I personally like to do it has been me burning around 400-500 a day. I get what you are saying though! Thanks for the advice. =]
  • Rynatat
    Rynatat Posts: 807 Member
    Funny thing happened to me when I stopped focusing on losing weight and calories burned & focused on muscle... While I no longer really am losing weight per the scale, I'm watching my body change for the better. Clothes are loose, body is firmer, I look & feel better.

    Once I got within 20lbs of my original "goal" I realized that muscle was what I needed more than weight loss. PS - I'm just under 5'6" and around 146-149lbs: my current avatar pic is 3 weeks old.

    And to the Captain's point, ENJOY your exercise - it really makes that much of a difference in how you view & set your goals! I workout because I LOVE it! I've been know to frequently put my workouts ahead of house cleaning & laundry!
  • drusilla126
    drusilla126 Posts: 478 Member
    On an average day when I workout I eat 2300 calories. Figure out what your BMR and TDEE are to have a better idea how much you should eat.
  • itsjustdawn
    itsjustdawn Posts: 1,073 Member
    On an average day when I workout I eat 2300 calories. Figure out what your BMR and TDEE are to have a better idea how much you should eat.

    ^^ best response
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    I am 5'10 and weigh 185. Today, I decided to do a switch up because what I was doing is not working anymore. I was eating 1300 calories practically everyday since August 6th plus working out. I lost 40lbs, but recently I stopped, so I decided to change it up. I have around 25-30lbs left to lose so I decided eating 1700 calories then burning around 400-500 a day just sounds a lot more practical. Does this sound like a decent plan??

    Thanks!! :D
    So you're a 5'10 female, relatively tall compared to most women in the world, and you're going from eating less then what a 4 foot something skinny person maintains on to netting that number instead. From what is given, this still sounds pretty terrible to me. I easily eat that without exercise.

    I'd suggest looking up math for energy expenditure to get an idea of how many calories a girl your age and height maintains on to give you an idea of what a large deficit you have (the goal on mfp is not the same as your deficit).
  • sarahmonsta
    sarahmonsta Posts: 185 Member
    Lol, I will check out the BMR and TDEE thing. Losing inches is important that is for sure!! Though I would love to not care about the number on the scale, at one point I weighed 250lbs and idk its just super important for me to see how much progress I have made in both areas of inches and the scale haha. Thanks everyone for the advice. :D
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Lol, I will check out the BMR and TDEE thing. Losing inches is important that is for sure!! Though I would love to not care about the number on the scale, at one point I weighed 250lbs and idk its just super important for me to see how much progress I have made in both areas of inches and the scale haha. Thanks everyone for the advice. :D

    water weight lost =/= progress
    You get rid of a lot of 'the good' kind of weight when your on a large deficit if you ask me. The kind that fuels your body for the better, I wouldn't call that hindering progress. Especially since it helps prevent injuries! You should do some research on glycogen and how your body can gain/lose weight due to it and how that can be a great thing for your health.
  • sarahmonsta
    sarahmonsta Posts: 185 Member
    Lol, I will check out the BMR and TDEE thing. Losing inches is important that is for sure!! Though I would love to not care about the number on the scale, at one point I weighed 250lbs and idk its just super important for me to see how much progress I have made in both areas of inches and the scale haha. Thanks everyone for the advice. :D

    water weight lost =/= progress
    You get rid of a lot of 'the good' kind of weight when your on a large deficit if you ask me. The kind that fuels your body for the better, I wouldn't call that hindering progress. Especially since it helps prevent injuries! You should do some research on glycogen and how your body can gain/lose weight due to it and how that can be a great thing for your health.

    Okay! I will Google this right now. =]
  • spamantha57
    spamantha57 Posts: 674 Member
    I can understand where you're coming from. I'm looking forward to exercising more & eating more cheese than I have the past 2 weeks haha :)
    (My thing says I joined in 2010 but I didn't start MFP til a couple weeks ago.)
  • embracingmycurves
    embracingmycurves Posts: 59 Member
    I am 5'10 and weigh 185. Today, I decided to do a switch up because what I was doing is not working anymore. I was eating 1300 calories practically everyday since August 6th plus working out. I lost 40lbs, but recently I stopped, so I decided to change it up. I have around 25-30lbs left to lose so I decided eating 1700 calories then burning around 400-500 a day just sounds a lot more practical. Does this sound like a decent plan?? Thanks!! :D
    So you're a 5'10 female, relatively tall compared to most women in the world, and you're going from eating less then what a 4 foot something skinny person maintains on to netting that number instead. From what is given, this still sounds pretty terrible to me. I easily eat that without exercise. I'd suggest looking up math for energy expenditure to get an idea of how many calories a girl your age and height maintains on to give you an idea of what a large deficit you have (the goal on mfp is not the same as your deficit).
    Very good advice
  • sarahmonsta
    sarahmonsta Posts: 185 Member
    I can understand where you're coming from. I'm looking forward to exercising more & eating more cheese than I have the past 2 weeks haha :)
    (My thing says I joined in 2010 but I didn't start MFP til a couple weeks ago.)

    Oh my goodness how I miss indulging in lots of cheese!!! haha. Good luck chicka. :D
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Lol, I will check out the BMR and TDEE thing. Losing inches is important that is for sure!! Though I would love to not care about the number on the scale, at one point I weighed 250lbs and idk its just super important for me to see how much progress I have made in both areas of inches and the scale haha. Thanks everyone for the advice. :D

    water weight lost =/= progress
    You get rid of a lot of 'the good' kind of weight when your on a large deficit if you ask me. The kind that fuels your body for the better, I wouldn't call that hindering progress. Especially since it helps prevent injuries! You should do some research on glycogen and how your body can gain/lose weight due to it and how that can be a great thing for your health.

    Okay! I will Google this right now. =]
    Did a little bit of Google myself.
    http://www.justinowings.com/understanding-bodyweight-and-glycogen-de/ <-That's probably worth reading. I also wrote about it a little here: (use your browsers search find function if you don't want to look through the whole thread:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/637094-cinderella-s-weight-loss-knowledge
  • GoTeamMeaghan
    GoTeamMeaghan Posts: 347 Member
    Lol, I will check out the BMR and TDEE thing. Losing inches is important that is for sure!! Though I would love to not care about the number on the scale, at one point I weighed 250lbs and idk its just super important for me to see how much progress I have made in both areas of inches and the scale haha. Thanks everyone for the advice. :D

    I like the calculators at bmi-calculator.net. Just click on BMR and enter your numbers then click on harris benedict equation and enter you numbers again. Just subtract 500 calories per day from the harris benedict number to lose 1 lb a week. you're tall, so my guess is you will be pretty close to the 2000 calorie range. I recently raised my calories too and I've promised myself no measuring for 3 weeks so my body has time to adjust. It's so awesome to be able to eat more than like 1300 calories-eating just becomes so much more enjoyable and is so much less stressful. good luck!
  • rose313
    rose313 Posts: 1,146 Member
    Did you burn 400-500 cals a day when you were eating only 1300 cals? If so, then a bump up to 1700 will be good for you. Netting 1300 is better than netting only 900. You could even bump up your cals from there if you want.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Lol, I will check out the BMR and TDEE thing. Losing inches is important that is for sure!! Though I would love to not care about the number on the scale, at one point I weighed 250lbs and idk its just super important for me to see how much progress I have made in both areas of inches and the scale haha. Thanks everyone for the advice. :D

    I like the calculators at bmi-calculator.net. Just click on BMR and enter your numbers then click on harris benedict equation and enter you numbers again. Just subtract 500 calories per day from the harris benedict number to lose 1 lb a week. you're tall, so my guess is you will be pretty close to the 2000 calorie range. I recently raised my calories too and I've promised myself no measuring for 3 weeks so my body has time to adjust. It's so awesome to be able to eat more than like 1300 calories-eating just becomes so much more enjoyable and is so much less stressful. good luck!
    ^Don't forget the last part they mention, make sure you're in the harris benedict equation before you subtract anything. The BMR equation is much lower then that.
  • edge_dragoncaller
    edge_dragoncaller Posts: 826 Member
    I think that while losing weight can certainly be a goal, focuse just as much on becoming stronger and more tone. Eating more healthy with the purpose of fueling your body to excercise. Set your goal at 1300 a day, but remember, what you excercise...eat. If you burn 160 Calories jogging for 10 minutes, time to Nom a handful of almonds. Try also to not focus so much on the single day as you do the week. If you have 3 days at 1500 calories, but through the week you also burn 1400 calories (not all that much really) then you've done your 1300 a day for the week.

    When you are flab...the scale matters. Believe me, I know because I'm still there.

    When you are toned, fit, and strong.... the scale should no longer matter.

    bmi-comparison.gif

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