Confused about daily calorie intake goal...

vedahanks
vedahanks Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a 33 year old female. I'm 5' 5 1/2" and weigh 160 lbs. I'd like to get to 145-140.

I work at a desk job for 8 hours a day but I walk 25 minutes, briskly, every day at lunch. Sometimes I'm able to add in walking the dog or playground playing with my daughter for exercise.

I had my calorie goal at 1200 but now that I'm looking around on here, it seems like it should be higher based on BMR...TDEE...

Anyone care to clear this up for me? What calculator I should go by? One I tried said I should have a goal of 1800 calories -- seems crazy high...

THANK YOU!!

Replies

  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    How long were you on 1200 and how did you feel it was working?
  • Lyssa62
    Lyssa62 Posts: 930 Member
    I am going to be anxious to see answers. I'm totally confused on all of these numbers and letters. MVP says I should be eating 1240 calories a day ...another site tells me I should be eating between 1386 and 1906. HELP I fall into the lightly active (probably more active than that) ..but I want to account for the days I just want to chill around the house with a book.

    ps I am now 5' 3 weight yesterday was 154.8 (down 10 lbs from starting on here)...and I want to get down to like 130-135 (starting end goal)
  • careerjobster
    careerjobster Posts: 7
    http://www.kriskris.com/how-many-calories-should-i-eat-a-day/
  • thescrumisfun
    thescrumisfun Posts: 355
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
    ^Do this.

    Boom.
  • pinthin87
    pinthin87 Posts: 296 Member
    This is a tricky question. I am your height but have less weight to lose and my calorie goal is 1200. I think it really depends on what results your are currently getting? Are you seeing the scale go down on 1200 or are you just maintaining? Are you hungry all the time trying to run on 1200 a day? There are several factors that play into this. The number one thing I would say is if you are hungry sitting at only 1200 then eat based on your BMR and TDEE. If you feel satisfied on 1200 then stay there and you should see results. Hope this helps. :-)
  • gshoemaker06
    gshoemaker06 Posts: 264 Member
    I think I fell into the same issue. I have a desk job as well, so I picked sedentary style. However I go to the gym and lift weights during lunch, and I usually go home and run/swim 3 days out of the week for an hour, with a long run (usually 8-10 miles) on Sunday.

    MFP recommends about 1500 cal/day. But keep in mind that's NET calories. Just make sure you log all your exercising in cardiovascular training so that MFP will deduct your calories burned from calories gained.
  • hastinbe
    hastinbe Posts: 130 Member
    Pick a caloric intake between your BMR and TDEE.

    Try this http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
  • vedahanks
    vedahanks Posts: 10 Member
    Looking back (I've only been seriously tracking each day for almost 3 weeks) most days my goal was 1300 and it was doable. Some days my goal was 1,400 ish - based on MFP recommendations. Hard to tell what worked but so far I've lost 4 lbs.
  • tryinghard71
    tryinghard71 Posts: 593
    We are the same height and my weight was almost the same as yours when I started. I just used MFP calories. I am not sure if you are working out but I log my workouts and eat back my calories. That is how MFP was designed to work. By doing this I am actually eating 1500-1800 calories a day depending on how active I am. It is working for me. Other's may have a different opinion. Just saying this is how I did it.
  • tryinghard71
    tryinghard71 Posts: 593
    Also measure yourself weekly. Waist, thighs, chest etc... Write that down. My weight was not moving much the first two months but I was losing an inch to a half inch a week.
  • redredy9
    redredy9 Posts: 706 Member
    You are my "twin"!

    I am 33, 5'5.5"" and weight 162. I want to get down to 145.

    I also work a desk job but have a dog I walk twice a day and am in training for a marathon. I haven't been losing at all but I haven't been consistent about my eating. I am hungry at 1200 - 1300. I like 1600-1800 MUCH better. I used the scooby calulator to estimate my caloric needs and am upping my calorie goal to 1433 from the MFP setting of 1300. Hopefully this will help get the scale moving.

    I am still confused about exercise calories though.

    Should I set the calculator to sedentary and eat my exercise calories or set it to active and just stay within the calorie range suggested?
  • vedahanks
    vedahanks Posts: 10 Member
    love it! we ARE twins!
  • ginabops
    ginabops Posts: 26
    Too lose weight you need to have a deficit of atleast 500 calories from what your daily calories are. 1500 calories is good and if you exercise even better. Friend me and I can help you.

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