Adjusting calories to fit

plipsurt
plipsurt Posts: 185 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi looking for some advice regarding my calorie intake.
I have hit a plateau now for about 5 weeks and am getting frustrated. MFP (on guided settings) gives me 1200 calories a day (assuming I want to lose 2lbs per week) but I find this low and leaving me hungry and tired. I walk at least 5 miles a day (I have a very active dog), use a stationary bike for 20 mins on at least 5 days a week. I work full time (as a teacher in high school) and have a family so don't have time (or money) for the gym.
Using my weekly Fitbit updates I have calculated my average TDEE over the last 7 weeks to be 2385.
What amount of calories would you guys suggest I should be eating in order to start losing again?
I stay within my calorie goal (with rare exceptions) but am not willing to make my diary public so don't ask. I eat fresh fruit and vegetables daily, make all my meals from scratch. I don't drink soda, tea or coffee. I share a bottle of wine once a week with my other half. Other than that I don't drink except for special occasions (Christmas, weddings, birthdays etc).

Replies

  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    Are you eating back those exercise calories?

    The fitbit tells you what you burned INCLUDING exercise while MFP calculates WITHOUT exercise with the expectation that you eat those back.

    If you follow MFP, eat 1200 + the amount of calories logged for exercise. So if you burned off 700 calories, eat 1900 (1200 + 700) for the day.

    If you follow fitbit instead, then eat about 20% lower than your TDEE which is about 1908 calories.

    But...they're the same, lol. Just be sure to eat those exercise ones back on MFP. You should definitely be eating waaaay more than 1200 if you are very active.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    MFP often gives the lowest goal possible (1200 calories) based on users saying that they have a sedentary lifestyle. Walking 5 miles a day, and doing additional exercise 5 days a week, you are far from sedentary and this should either be reflected in the "how active are you" setting, or you should be logging that exercise on here and eating back those calories. I'm willing to bet that even just with you're job, you're not sedentary.

    Whether you follow the MFP method of logging exercise and eating back those calories, or set your own custom goal based on your TDEE, you should definitely (imo) be eating more than 1200. I would consider upping your intake gradually - maybe 100 or so a week - and see how you get on. You might see small gains because of more food/waste in your system, and water weight, but they should only be temporary.

    Also, if you've been at 1200 for quite a while, consider taking a diet break and eating at around 2300 for two weeks, before making a more moderate cut. http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    Also take a look at the ideas in this blog: http://fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/most-dreaded-word-in-weight-loss.html It might be worth incorporating some resistance training into your workouts. Bodyweight exercises, for example, can easily be done at home.

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