160 lbs. Goal - lose 40 Increasing Net Calories & SCARED

jilly1130

I have just read the post about TDEE and figuring out this number and subtracting 20% from that number to accurately figure out how many calories I should be eating. I have been used to eating 1200 calories no matter what in order to lose but I have tried this for a while (this time around) and I end up binging or really feeling hungry and thinking about food all day long. Sooooo I am going to try to follow this TDEE strategy and will increase my calories to around 1500. I will be working out at least 5-6 days per week for 45 minutes.

I was looking for some input from people around the same starting weight as me who eat around 1500 calories per day. Will this work? And if it has for you, how many pounds did you lose per week? Did you see results right away?

I would really appreciate any input as like I said, I am nervous to eat more calories. Thank you so much for your help.

jilly1130

Please help!

mccroskey

Have you found out anything? Have you started and seen results? I just calculated mine and I was too set at only 1200 (while I am not always that hungry I have my days where that just doesn't seem like enough) and the calculation said i should be taking in 1300-1350 BUT i am TERRIFIED to increase for the fear of the unknown and gaining instead of continuing to lose....

Thanks.

sexymuffintop

You ask for people around the same starting weight as you for info but didn't give us any of your stats at all? Either that or I just totally missed that bit?

jilly1130

Sorry.....I am 160 lbs. and am trying to lose 40 lbs. I was trying to set up MFP to calculate my calories based on 2 lbs. weight loss per week and it set me up for 1200 cal. per day. I have read about TDEE and BMR and would like to increase my calories to 1500-1600 per day based on this calculation but I am scared. Was just wondering if others with similar stats to mine have had success. Thanks.

RoseTears143

Use this formula to calculate your calorie needs, it's from the Insanity nutrition guide and is really great info:

For women, this equation is: 655 +(4.35 x weight)+(4.7 x height in inches)-(4.7 x age)
For men, this equation is: 66+(6.23 x weight)+(12.7 x height)-(6.8 x age)

This equation calculates out exactly what you NEED just to function. And then you have to use an additional factor in order to determine how many calories you have to eat based on your lifestyle.

1.2 Sedentary Little to no exercise
1.375 Lightly Active Light exercise (1 to 3 days/week)
1.55 Moderately Active Moderate exercise (3 to 5 days/week)
1.7 Very Active Hard Exercise (6 to 7 days/week)
1.9 Extremely Active Hard daily exercise and/or physical job

So you take your number form the Harris Benedict Equation, and then multiply it by your factor for lifestyle. AND THEN you can subtract your 500 calories a day to lose 1-2 pounds a week.

I use this formula and am currently doing Insanity so I used the 1.7 multiplication factor for my calorie needs and am eating about 2400cals/day. 1200 cals/day isn't enough by a long shot IMO to eat healthy and support working out.

vegaspfmf

ok well we still need height/age and activity level if you want help.

jilly1130

I weigh 160 lbs.
I am 5'3'' tall
I am 41 years old

I exercise for 45 minutes 5-6 days a week

vegaspfmf

With a moderately active multuplier Your TDEE is 2250 cals. Its usually recommended that you eat at a 10-20% deficit. 20% is 450 cals. So you should be eating about 1800 calories too lose weight. So 1200 is way to low. So EAT MORE.

Atleast try up near 1800 for 2 weeks and see if it works. You prolly wanna measure yourself because if you put on muscle it will negate what the scale says even though you have lost fat.

sexymuffintop

I weigh 160 lbs.
I am 5'3'' tall
I am 41 years old

I exercise for 45 minutes 5-6 days a week

Ok I'm not sure if this helps, but according to my fitbit I burn around 2550 cals on a moderately active day. Bearing in mind I do literally 10 minutes slow X trainer after lifting in the gym. I weigh about 155 at the mo. I eat around 2000 cals a day, but i'm eating to lose fat, not scale weight. I wouldn't want to lose 2 lbs a week, because I would be losing muscle at that kind of rate. Whats your BF %.

Fr3shStrt

I weigh 160 lbs.
I am 5'3'' tall
I am 41 years old

I exercise for 45 minutes 5-6 days a week

I'm the same weight and height (33 years old). I'm aiming to eat 1500-1600 cals/day, but every weekend has been a mess for me so I haven't actually lost anything. I've maintained- and considering my weekends - I"m thinking if I kept at it and didn't fly off the handle on the weekend I would actually be losing. I wouldn't expect to lose more than .5 - 1 pound a week though. Two pounds per week isn't realistic or healthy unless you have way more to lose. If you've been eating 1200 for a while, slowly bump it up and don't be too discouraged if you don't lose at first, it'll take a while for your body to adjust. Don't be scared. Just do it. Be patient. Good luck!

chasetwins

Just trying to help

The tdee-% WORKS!!! I tried the 1200 and lost nothing..in fact I gained one week. I almost walked away from MFP until I found the whole TDEE thing. First week of change I lost 3 lbs!! I have not lost that much in one week since last year when i originally started dieting.
I am 37 yrs - 198 lbs (as of Monday) - 5'5
I currently usually only do Zumba daily (20 min to 40 min) and maybe a Jillian DVD once per week (I dont like her workouts) Today I can see in my jeans the changes - they are VERY baggy and were not before.
i too was afraid of increasing my calories but knew I had to try something. Give it a shot for a couple weeks...if all else fails try something else but everyone on here that has tried it..it seems to work well