Very confused about my calorie intake

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Replies

  • laurenmcd94
    laurenmcd94 Posts: 18
    Thanks everyone! I get what you're all trying to say. The BMR stuff always throws me off and confuses me.

    So basically, even though the site uses formulas that are technically estimates, I should trust what the numbers tell me and try to eat 2,000 if it's telling me to?

    I read a blog post one day about how this girl lost weight and she said that on the days she'd work out, she'd eat a higher amount of calories, but on the days she was sedentary she adjusted it to the 1000 calorie deficit...

    So basically, if I'm sitting on my butt I should eat 1650 and if I'm working out and log my workout and it tells me to eat more, I should eat more and my deficit will still remain the same?

    But I shouldn't eat UNDER 1650 on ANY given day and I shouldn't eat over 2000 either?
  • vanillarama
    vanillarama Posts: 101 Member
    When you are given your BMR (basal metabolic rate)- on this particular site, it is how many calories you need maintain your current weight, without any sort of physical exercise. The amount of calories needed to lose weight safely is a small percentage below that. A lot of other BMR calculators originally take your level of activity into account, such as this one:

    http://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-and-daily-calorie-calculator.html

    The thing is, you really have to be honest with yourself about what you're doing- neither under or overestimating- to get a more accurate number. I mean, if you want a super accurate number, you could go to a doctor and pay to have it done, but I don't think that is necessary.

    Just make sure, and this goes to a lot of people posting in here, that you DO eat enough calories coming from healthy sources. Your body wants to help you be healthy, but you need to help it efficiently access the fuel it needs to do so.

    I wish you the best of luck on your journey :)
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    I eat back every one of my exercise calories and I'm going fine with losses. I hit a plateau and ate more and dropped even more straight away.

    Don't let yourself get hungry like I did. I was fine for months then all of a sudden eating the same amount was starving even with eating exercise calories too. Eating more can work because it can stop you bingeing.
  • floridachikk
    floridachikk Posts: 41 Member
    Try nuts, nut butter, avocado, beans, lentils, or meat to add healthy calories. Hummus it also a great choice. :)

    If you told MFP that you are sedentary when you set your goals, then it did not include exercise/activity in your calorie intake. Your fitness goals of exercising 5x a week are recorded to help you keep track as a separate goal.
  • emsicle_o
    emsicle_o Posts: 162 Member
    This really threw me the other day too!

    I think what it basically means is you need xxxx amount of calories just to do your normal everyday things, and if you do any additional exercise or movement you will need more calories to compensate.

    So for me, I need 1200 calories per day just to sit on my lazy butt, do a bit of cooking, cleaning, and go to work.

    But, if I were to do an hour exercise, I'd need an additional say 300 calories on top of that, otherwise I could start losing weight in the wrong way i.e.) burning muscle mass instead of fat. So my daily instake goes up to 1500.

    Well, that's what I assume anyway. Not sure if it's right, but makes sense to me! xx
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
    Let's just say "eat less to weigh less" is what gave me the body I have today, Been there, done that, the T-shirt doesn't even fit. I'd rather take it slow and now I'm at a place in my life where I can.
  • laurenmcd94
    laurenmcd94 Posts: 18
    I eat back every one of my exercise calories and I'm going fine with losses. I hit a plateau and ate more and dropped even more straight away.

    Don't let yourself get hungry like I did. I was fine for months then all of a sudden eating the same amount was starving even with eating exercise calories too. Eating more can work because it can stop you bingeing.

    Yeah, it's 3AM where I am and I'm sitting here wondering how the heck I'm gonna eat the rest of the calories haha! I'd have to binge in order to do it.

    I totally understand plateaus even though I don't understand this stuff too well - it just makes sense that your intake or output is off if you're hitting a plateau. Plateaus have always looked like "starvation mode" symptoms to me - you're eating calories and working hard but your body isn't letting you lose weight? Then you're not eating enough. That I get :)
  • laurenmcd94
    laurenmcd94 Posts: 18
    Let's just say "eat less to weigh less" is what gave me the body I have today, Been there, done that, the T-shirt doesn't even fit. I'd rather take it slow and now I'm at a place in my life where I can.

    I know what you mean! Your body just adds more fat to compensate (:
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Thankyou! I'm new to this and all I'm trying to understand is how, even though I burned off 466 calories through exercise, eating them back is going to help me lose weight. To me that makes absolutely no sense.
    It isn't going to help you lose weight, the argument is that if you've restricted your food intake in order to lose weight then on days you do exercise there's no need to increase the restriction / deficit further so you eat the exercise calories and that cancels out the calorific benefit of the exercise.

    If you were exercising for other reasons it would make sense, but if you're only exercising for weight loss it doesn't - especially as the 466 is probably an overestimate.
  • laurenmcd94
    laurenmcd94 Posts: 18
    This really threw me the other day too!

    I think what it basically means is you need xxxx amount of calories just to do your normal everyday things, and if you do any additional exercise or movement you will need more calories to compensate.

    So for me, I need 1200 calories per day just to sit on my lazy butt, do a bit of cooking, cleaning, and go to work.

    But, if I were to do an hour exercise, I'd need an additional say 300 calories on top of that, otherwise I could start losing weight in the wrong way i.e.) burning muscle mass instead of fat. So my daily instake goes up to 1500.

    Well, that's what I assume anyway. Not sure if it's right, but makes sense to me! xx

    Yeah, I completely understand that. I just didn't know if I was correct or not in my thinking that by burning calories, it was pointless to put them back. But if what I am being told is accurate, and exercise raises your BMR, then it makes very much sense to me that the calculator wants me to eat 2000 instead of 1650 today since I worked out. I guess if it's numbers and those numbers came from scientific data and that's what it's telling me to do, I should listen :P I am afraid of plateaus and I do not want them at all!
  • laurenmcd94
    laurenmcd94 Posts: 18
    Thankyou! I'm new to this and all I'm trying to understand is how, even though I burned off 466 calories through exercise, eating them back is going to help me lose weight. To me that makes absolutely no sense.
    It isn't going to help you lose weight, the argument is that if you've restricted your food intake in order to lose weight then on days you do exercise there's no need to increase the restriction / deficit further so you eat the exercise calories and that cancels out the calorific benefit of the exercise.

    If you were exercising for other reasons it would make sense, but if you're only exercising for weight loss it doesn't - especially as the 466 is probably an overestimate.

    I'm confused - Are you saying I should or shouldn't eat the calories back? Sorry!
  • laurenmcd94
    laurenmcd94 Posts: 18
    Try nuts, nut butter, avocado, beans, lentils, or meat to add healthy calories. Hummus it also a great choice. :)

    If you told MFP that you are sedentary when you set your goals, then it did not include exercise/activity in your calorie intake. Your fitness goals of exercising 5x a week are recorded to help you keep track as a separate goal.

    Thanks!!! I am a huge bean fan and currently I'm eating a lot of them. I forgot about nuts! I have some chick peas, whenever I decide to cook them I'm gonna figure out how to make hummus haha :)
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
    Thankyou! I'm new to this and all I'm trying to understand is how, even though I burned off 466 calories through exercise, eating them back is going to help me lose weight. To me that makes absolutely no sense.
    It isn't going to help you lose weight, the argument is that if you've restricted your food intake in order to lose weight then on days you do exercise there's no need to increase the restriction / deficit further so you eat the exercise calories and that cancels out the calorific benefit of the exercise.

    If you were exercising for other reasons it would make sense, but if you're only exercising for weight loss it doesn't - especially as the 466 is probably an overestimate.

    I'm confused - Are you saying I should or shouldn't eat the calories back? Sorry!

    I wouldn't worry about it for tonight. Just start tomorrow (well today, now) and realize that the numbers are not set in stone. You'll adjust as you go along.
  • emsicle_o
    emsicle_o Posts: 162 Member
    I wouldn't worry too much about whether you've exactly hit these goals or not, just log absolutely everything that passes your lips and your exercise, then see how it goes. If you're not losing, adjust, if you're gaining adjust, if you don't feel well, adjust, but if it's working, keep at it! I'm normally quite naughty when at work as I have a shop next door to the office. But the thought of having to log whatever I buy has discouraged me from getting it - it's little things like that that really help me
  • pixtotts
    pixtotts Posts: 552 Member
    not that iv done much exercise of late... but what i do is do food as i go then i can watch what im eating know how many calories, then just before i finish it for the day pop exercise in then i have the woo look what iv done feeling without feeling i need to eat more because iv already done the food bit.
    I found if i did the exercise as i went i couldnt separate the two.
    x
  • laurenmcd94
    laurenmcd94 Posts: 18
    Thanks guys (: Every day is different and I can't exactly log all of my calories the moment I eat them, but I do write them down and keep track of what I'm eating so that I can look it up later.

    I guess I'll stick to my "no lower than 1650 and no higher than 2000" rule - 2000 is a little higher than I'd like to go but it's less than my BMR, so.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I'm confused - Are you saying I should or shouldn't eat the calories back? Sorry!

    a woman over 200 pounds can sustain a large deficit, I see no reason to eat recreationally because you exercised.
  • laurenmcd94
    laurenmcd94 Posts: 18
    not that iv done much exercise of late... but what i do is do food as i go then i can watch what im eating know how many calories, then just before i finish it for the day pop exercise in then i have the woo look what iv done feeling without feeling i need to eat more because iv already done the food bit.
    I found if i did the exercise as i went i couldnt separate the two.
    x

    That's a good idea!
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    If you continiously do not eat your calories back your body will fight back faster as it adjusts to the under eating - eating back calories allows for weight loss at a regulated rate with less metabolism turn down. But eat less if you feel full and vary your days. It then makes it ok to eat a little more the next days. Keep a small deficit over the week and you will be fine. A large deficit over a short while is also fine if you are very much overweight - but only if you are not very hungry and rready to quit. The mental game is just as important!

    Your BMR varies little with exercise, what varies is the TDEE. This is your total expenditure. read up on these, it will make everything clearer. You'll learn that this is all estimates and guess work and will need to adjust up or down to see what fits you best. Also your BMR will, alas, most likely go down as you lose weight (and exercise, apparently...) so you'll need to recalculate in a few months...

    Have a safe and healthy journey.
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