Am I figuring my cals right?

Karabobarra
Karabobarra Posts: 782 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, long story short ... I've been an mfp member for awhile now and I should know this. I lost a total of 90 pounds, fell off the wagon sometime last June or July and have been struggling to get back into the swing of things since. I've gained 12 pounds back and have not really been taking it seriously because hey... I lost 90... I know what I'm doing right? :noway: I'm not so sure anymore... too much information and misinformation and opinions floating around and what was working before is not working now. I'm beyond confused...

I was reading a book and it gives a formula to figure out your daily caloric needs, and according to that I have been under eating by quite a bit. I am still struggling to get at least three workouts in a week (insert usual time excuses here) and I am a little scared to be increasing my calories until I can get more consistent with the workouts... I just can't gain another ounce it will destroy my motivation, I have that stupid voice in the back of my head telling me "in order to lose weight you have to cut calories" which I know is not the way I want to lose weight.

so here is the formula:
I'm 5'7" and weigh 170 pounds *cries* giving me a BMI of 27 (I do have some muscle on me but my bf% is still too high)

to convert weight into kilograms divide pounds by 2.2 (170/2.2 = 77.28)
to find resting metabolic rate multiply body weight in kilograms by 7.18 (77.28*7.18 = 554.87) and add 795 (554.87+795=1349.87 rounded up to 1350)
my resting metabolic rate is 1350 calories (this is how many calories I burn being a sloth)

From there I take my resting metabolic rate and multiply it by 3 different numbers to figure out the calories I should be eating on non-workout days, active workout days, and strenuous work /workout days (according to a chart that is in the book) because my BMI is over 25 and I'm over 35 years of age I multiply by 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6
1350*1.2 = 1620 (this should be my base calories everyday)
1350*1.4=1890 (workout days)
1350*1.6= 2160 (kill myself days)

I've been eating 1210 calories a day net... I want to increase my calories so I have the energy I need to workout but also wanted to keep my base calories low enough in case a workout doesn't happen. I just wanted to make sure I was figuring out my calories the right way first. Like I said I'm a little scared to be increasing my calories but eating 1210 a day isn't working and something needs to change.

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