Eat more to lose weight?

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Zosimah
Zosimah Posts: 54 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Good morning everyone! I apologize if this has been asked and answered before, but my searches didn't turn up anything.

I'm a 220lb 36 year old male standing 5'11-6'0. Five years ago I left the Army and neglected all my fitness habits. In those five years I've averaged a 3-4 lb per year gain while fluctuating 5-10 lbs +/- at any given time. I recently decided enough was enough and have returned to exercise! Currently I have two HIIT sessions a week, with a cardio mix of either treadmill or elliptical six days a week and am now introducing some heavy lifting along 2-3 days a week.

The diet is the confusing part. Using on-line calculators, I ended up with the following:
BMR - 2093.5
Daily needs - 3244.9 (Harris Benedict Formula of BMR x 1.55)
25% deficit - 2433 (which is within 100 calories of what the trainer at the gym came up with)

I've been tracking my meals for a couple of days now with both MFP and the Livestrong site and am hitting ~1250 and 1500 calories. While it's a very small sample, these meals are very indicative of the levels I've been eating for a while. Even at this level I often feel like I've eaten too much.

All of this above to ask: Do I really need to eat more to lose weight? Is this part of why I've slowly added weight over the last few years even though I've eaten less and less each year (even though no real exercise)? If so, are there published diets out there for my calorie needs?

Thanks for your time and advice.

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Well, BMR is basically coma calories, and if yours is 2093 and you're working out hard and only eating 1500 calories, that's not much fuel for your body to go on. Eating too little, especially over a period of time kinda gives your body a reason to store fat rather than burn it.

    Food is fuel! I'm a 44 year old, 135lb woman and I eat more than you do! :tongue: And I'm losing weight, fat and inches eating at 1800+ calories a day, which is my TDEE minus 15%.

    If you're not hungry, but want to reach those calorie goals, you don't necessarily have to stuff your face with more food, but eat more calorie dense foods - nuts and nut butters, full fat dairy, avocados, use olive and coconut oils in your sauces, dressings and cooking - all of these pack a lot of calories in a small amount, so it adds up quick.

    And have a read through this topic, if you haven't already: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Great info in there!
  • Zosimah
    Zosimah Posts: 54 Member
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    What a great article. Thank you!
  • Jarice12
    Jarice12 Posts: 135 Member
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    I have a question. MFP calculates fitness goals based on your activity level at work and then adds exercise goals. I have a sedentary job but I exercise almost every day and lead an otherwise active lifestyle. MFP says my calorie goal is around 1400 cals to lose weight. I think this is very low for my activity level. My question is this, do I need to adjust my fitness level on here to account for my actual activity level or is it already factoring in my exercise.

    I calculated my TDEE at 2723 and BMR is 1584.2. Thanks to anyone who can help.

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