I believe I understand.. correct me if I am wrong

kbeaumont88

I am 5'2 at 155 currently

Ok, so trying to figure this out. I used the BMR and the TDEE methods of figuring out how many calories I should have per day. To maintain my weight I would need 1950-2300 a day. To lose weight you should subtract 500 per day to lose 1 pound a week. So if I took off 500 a day and then if aimed to burn 500 a day (without eating back them) I should average 2 pounds a week. So currently I am eating 1200 and try not to eat back my exercise calories… so I believe I could be eating too little and not losing weight... hence my plateau these last 3 weeks. I believe what I should be doing is netting about 1500 a day, that would be about 500 less than the 1950 of maintaining. I would rather stick towards the lower side for now… maybe go up to about 1600 later if this works or I work out more than an average of 500 a day.

So now I am trying to decide if I should change my fitness pal thing to show me 1500 a day and not eat back exercise… or leave it at 1200 and eat back exercise. I guess it's basically the same thing.. but if I do custom goals and enter in 1500 calories a day, I'm not sure what my carb/fiber/etc goals should be.

If anyone has any feedback.. that would be great

ellaloveslove

Try reading these:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/968182-i-lost-a-person-but-i-found-myself-leaky-s-story

I think it will clear up your questions about calories, they both really helped me and a lot of others.

Good luck!

kbeaumont88

That did help me understand more! I found some more threads on this and found that with TDEE I should NOT eat back exercise calories. With MFP I should eat them back.

With MFP it gives me 1200 a day, with TDEE I am closer to 1600-1800.

If I follow MFP and just eat back what I burn... should I still only eat 1200 on days I don't exercise? Or should I always be at least above my BMR (1502)?