beginner's question

figomezzo

How does one find out how many calories they should be consuming daily? According to MFP I should be having about 1500 or so if I want to lose .5 lbs a week. I am ok with that...but I am definitely exceeding that limit daily and if I don't I am very hungry. I have been doing about 30 minutes of elliptical 4x a week as well as some weights or a Pilates/yoga video on the weekends.

Am I just going to have to get used to eating fewer calories/hunger pains for a little and then I will get used to it?

jacksonpt

The best thing to do is to use one of the zillion calculators to get a starting point. Measure your foods, log your workouts and hit that number. Do that for a month and evaluate your progress. Then make changes as necessary.

There is no way to ensure you have the right number until you've tried it for a while and figured out the number for yourself. This is a game of estimates (estimating how much we actually eat, estimating how much we are supposed to eat, estimating how much we burn, etc) so some trial and error is a necessary part of all this.

FullOfWin

to go with the above, just google "TDEE calculator"

porky44

Find your TDEE then subtract 20% from that. Thats what you should be eating per day. When I found this out It was like the heavens parted. I no longer had to starve to lose weight!! 30m at least 6 days a week should be good to start!! Lift weight and do cardio!!!

sandradev1

If after doing all the calculations suggested above, you find that your calorie goal is around 1500, then try eating more protein and healthy fats as these are your friend and will keep you feeling fuller for longer.

tryclyn

I would start here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833500-what-do-i-do-common-sense-cliff-notes
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/840082-a-sad-realization?hl=sad

MariaChele85

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
You will no longer be hungry, i promise

figomezzo

thanks guys! I looked up two different TDEE calculators and got 2200 calories and about 1900 for the other one. Im thinking I will try and go with 2000 calories for right now.

The funny thing is I am exceeding my protein (according to MFP) so I don't know why the protein isn't making me feel fuller. I will check out the links provided for the road map!

krickeyuu

I agree with Sandradev56, I am at 1500 calories and I am rarely hungry. Make sure your calories are from higher quality foods: lean protein, good fats, fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy and you shouldn't feel hungy. What did you set your fitness levela at? You may need to be eating back your exercise calories.

jacksonpt

thanks guys! I looked up two different TDEE calculators and got 2200 calories and about 1900 for the other one. Im thinking I will try and go with 2000 calories for right now.

The funny thing is I am exceeding my protein (according to MFP) so I don't know why the protein isn't making me feel fuller. I will check out the links provided for the road map!

A couple of notes...

MFP gave you 1500 cals daily, right? With MFP you are supposed to eat those 1500 cals PLUS any cals you burn exercising. So if you burn 400 cals doing 60 minutes of cardio, then you eat the 1500 MFP gave you plus the 400 you burned working out.

With the TDEE method, you don't eat back exercise cals as they are already accounted for in the TDEE calculation.

This difference is often why MFP's numbers seems so much lower than TDEE numbers. In reality, your daily goal should be pretty similar regardless. The difference is what/how you log.

Did that make any sense?

sandradev1

thanks guys! I looked up two different TDEE calculators and got 2200 calories and about 1900 for the other one. Im thinking I will try and go with 2000 calories for right now.

The funny thing is I am exceeding my protein (according to MFP) so I don't know why the protein isn't making me feel fuller. I will check out the links provided for the road map!

MFP protein figure is far too low and in fact should probably be a minimum. It is recommended that we have between .7g ad 1g of protein for each lb of lean body mass. If you go into the GOALS tab you can Custom Set your goals and change the ratios.

I have mine as 40% carbs/ 30% protein and 30% fat. Its a personal choice and really down to your personal needs and activity type. I do heavy lifting, so my protein is set to 1g per lb of lbm.

Hope this helps.

:flowerforyou:

figomezzo

thanks guys! I looked up two different TDEE calculators and got 2200 calories and about 1900 for the other one. Im thinking I will try and go with 2000 calories for right now.

The funny thing is I am exceeding my protein (according to MFP) so I don't know why the protein isn't making me feel fuller. I will check out the links provided for the road map!

A couple of notes...

MFP gave you 1500 cals daily, right? With MFP you are supposed to eat those 1500 cals PLUS any cals you burn exercising. So if you burn 400 cals doing 60 minutes of cardio, then you eat the 1500 MFP gave you plus the 400 you burned working out.

With the TDEE method, you don't eat back exercise cals as they are already accounted for in the TDEE calculation.

This difference is often why MFP's numbers seems so much lower than TDEE numbers. In reality, your daily goal should be pretty similar regardless. The difference is what/how you log.

Did that make any sense?

ahh! Yes, that makes complete sense. I did not realize that! No wonder the TDEE numbers were much higher.

figomezzo

thanks guys! I looked up two different TDEE calculators and got 2200 calories and about 1900 for the other one. Im thinking I will try and go with 2000 calories for right now.

The funny thing is I am exceeding my protein (according to MFP) so I don't know why the protein isn't making me feel fuller. I will check out the links provided for the road map!

MFP protein figure is far too low and in fact should probably be a minimum. It is recommended that we have between .7g ad 1g of protein for each lb of lean body mass. If you go into the GOALS tab you can Custom Set your goals and change the ratios.

I have mine as 40% carbs/ 30% protein and 30% fat. Its a personal choice and really down to your personal needs and activity type. I do heavy lifting, so my protein is set to 1g per lb of lbm.

Hope this helps.

:flowerforyou:

Ok great! When I went to a nutritionist years ago, she said I wasn't getting enough protein so I thought it was strange that I was blowing the protein number out of the water on here after just breakfast and lunch! I will tinker with the settings in the goal structure.