Okay, seriously, I don't get it.

paperpudding

forgive me if this is a really stupid question, as everybody seems to know these numbers except me - I didnt calculate my BMR or TDEE - I just put in my height, weight, gender, age ,activity level and set it on 1/2 pound a week and it tells me to eat 1540 calories a day plus excercise calories.
Why wont system work if I just follow that? - why do I need to know BMR and TDEE numbers?

Like posters are saying eat 80% of your TDEE number per day - but cant you just eat the number they tell you, havent they worked this out for you?

taso42

it's like minimum wage. some people can survive on it. very few thrive on it.

MyChocolateDiet

You have less than 20 pounds to lose. Set MFP to lose .5lb/wk and see how many calories it tells you to eat. Unless you're very short, it's likely to be more than 1200.

I'm 5'4. Is that considered short? haha

you sound almost like me in size and activity level, and interests but that's here nor there.

so MFP gave me 1200 as well until I put in my real weight when i found out i weighed 11 lbs more than i thought and i also adjusted for slower weight loss. so now i eat between 1200 and the second weight it gave me knowing the only thing that will happen is my weight loss will be faster or slower, or at least that's how I think it works.

I've lost 5 lbs since middle of january so that sounds about right. right?

oh and on workout days i eat back my calories because if i didn't i'd be so hungry, i am hungrier on those days.

Lyadeia

I would starve eating that much (or should I say little?). I'm your height and I eat a minimum of 1500 calories everyday, and I consistently lose weight.

I would simply prefer to be allowed to eat more food by getting my body moving through exercise which strengthens my heart and lungs in the process. :flowerforyou:

mareeee1234

When I first came here. I put in MFP that I wanted to lose 2lbs a week - idiot move # 1

Then, I started eating 1200 calories a day because MFP said so - idiot move # 2

Also didn't eat back my exercise calories - idiot move # 3

And put that I was sedentary.. also.. because I was an idiot.

Until I poked around the forums and started listening to people who were smarter than me about this - I was exhausted and not really losing any weight. So I bumped up my calories by a few hundred and lost some weight.

^^This. All of it. Every last word.

AGREEEED!

I wish I never listened to mfp.. 1200 is too low.
Eat -20% or -15% (depending on how much weight you want to lose) from your TDEE and neeeeever eveeerr net below your BMR.

Please watch this...It explains it well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYi9xjIRvbY&feature=g-all-u

All the best! :flowerforyou:

MoreBean13

OP based on the stats you posted, I would set your calories to 1635 and your macros to 40%carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat. This method would not be eating back exercise cals.

Sarauk2sf

forgive me if this is a really stupid question, as everybody seems to know these numbers except me - I didnt calculate my BMR or TDEE - I just put in my height, weight, gender, age ,activity level and set it on 1/2 pound a week and it tells me to eat 1540 calories a day plus excercise calories.
Why wont system work if I just follow that? - why do I need to know BMR and TDEE numbers?

Like posters are saying eat 80% of your TDEE number per day - but cant you just eat the number they tell you, havent they worked this out for you?

You ate completely correct - it's just a different way of cutting the same pie.

It is explained here:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

One thing I find is that people often put the wrong activity level here - automatically putting it at sedentary (the desriptors do not help) when, in fact, unless you really are totally sedentary, most people should be at least lightly active.

jha1223

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

It really is a lot of reading but here is what I have to say about that. There are 10,080 minutes in a week. Are you willing to take 10 minutes and read this? Are you willing to give that short amount of your week to read something that will give you the tools that you need to make a change in your life, forever? Do it.

tkw6

I found that for me I could eat 1200 to 1500 a day and still lose weight every week and that's with working out everyday.

shorty35565

it's like minimum wage. some people can survive on it. very few thrive on it.

Perfect^

Energizer06

There are a few varying ways to calculate your TDEE and BMR......ALL ARE Estimates

Your TDEE is approx 2000 ---- use this to take your 500 calories off of
Your BMR is approx 1400 --- don't eat less than this

There's only a 600 calorie difference, which is why they say a 1-2 lb loss is all a person should heathly lose per week.


Eat somewhere around 1500 calories and always eat back your exercise calories. You'll lose around 1 lb per week have tons of energy and be a happy camper. Your metabolism will pick up, you'll sleep better, and everyone will love you. If you eat less than your BMR in calories your body won't be as happy and will either stop losing fat or start storing it. So if you want a more toned physique stick with 1500 calories as your baseline and eat what you burn.....Good Luck

Oishii

If you're working, walking to and from the train, and going to classes at night, then you're not by any means sedentary. Why don't you get a pedometer and wear it for a few days to get an accurate idea of your activity level.

Sedentary = <5000 step
Lightly Active = 5000-7499 steps
Somewhat Active = 7500-9999 step
Active = 10000-12499 steps
Highly Active = 12500+ steps

I think you'll find you're at least lightly active. Then revisit the roadmap and recalculate your calories based on the new activity level.

I don't know that these are even close to the definitions mfp is using. I assume sedentary MEANS sedentary, ie, really not moving (sat at a desk/bedridden). This would be waaaay under 5000 steps. A day at home, packing for a holiday (so up and down stairs, lots of little bits of wandering around) is under 5000 steps for me. On the other end of the scale, on mfp highly active is compared to a bicycle courier. I can go over 12500 just by walking a couple of miles and teaching during the day, and I'm sure a bike courier would do the equivalent of far more than that. These definitions may be used by other calculators, but I don't think they line up with mfp's.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I'm just having a hard time figuring out what I'm supposed to do then.

I'm always still hungry throughout the day. I'd say I'm pretty sedentary though. Yes, I have a job, but it's at a law firm and the most walking I do is walking from the train to my desk and from my desk to my bosses office.

Yes, I go to school. But, I'm in law school. Again, the most walking I do is from one classroom to another for about a total of 20 feet).

Yes, I go to the gym. But I DO eat back my calories and I only average about 400 calories a session.

People say to up my calories, but should I really? I've only lost 3-5 lbs (not sure exactly, I didn't really weigh myself when I ACTUALLY started) but it has also been only a little over a month and I DO have cheat days (once or twice a week, a shame really, but I'm not trying to lose THAT much weight)


I just keep getting conflicting information and it's doing my head in.

I thought that I *must* be sedentary when I joined. Recently I went back and did the math to figure out exactly how many calories I was burning (based on how much I'd eaten and how much I'd lost so far) and it turned out that I was burning 1820, which is 200 calories more than the sedentary setting. I set MFP to lightly active and have been in maintenance for a month at 1760 plus exercise calories. Point is, you may not be as sedentary as you think.

It's not that MFP is *wrong*, it's just that MFP uses a formula. It can't apply common sense or make sure that you entered the correct settings. If you told it you're sedentary and want to lose 2 lbs per week, it's not going to know that you're not sedentary and that 2 lbs per week is too much.

Hope that helps.

Alta2000

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE#gid=14

This is the link for the excel form where you can plug in your numbers and will calculate everything for you about TDEE, etc.

wilsoje74

If you already cheat 2x per week you are eating over 1200 on average so you aren't just eating 1200 per day. If you've lost, keep doing what works