Am i eating enough calories?

nikkicancilla
nikkicancilla Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi. This is my first post as I try and stay off these forums cus I'm not very clued up when it comes to calories etc.....
I am eating between 1200-1350 calories a day..... I exercise 5 days a week for anything from 45 mins to 3 hours and burn anything between 400 and 1100 calories..... I never eat any of my exercise calories.
I have MFP set at 1520 but only ever eat that many calories over the weekend.
The scales arent budging and I have 4 pounds to get to my target weight - any help or ideas would be great.
I am 39, female, 5ft 6 and weight 157 pounds.

Nikki x

Replies

  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    Problem is you are netting so low, most likely.
  • ashleybr1980
    ashleybr1980 Posts: 70 Member
    bump
  • witchy_wife
    witchy_wife Posts: 792 Member
    Short answer is No.

    Only 4lbs away from goal you should be eating much closer to your TDEE daily calories and also eating your calories back.

    I'd definitely start increasing if I was in your shoes.


    Edit, I read question wrong way around lol.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    When you are so close to goal weight you need to be bang on your numbers to see any kind of success. Calculate your TDEE and do about 10% cut from that.
  • Ge0rgiana
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
    No.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    No.

    Well, unless of course your intent is to burn away muscle and lose weight faster, and in the end at goal weight you want to have to eat very little to maintain, so no more fun weekends.
  • nikkicancilla
    nikkicancilla Posts: 17 Member
    Thanks for the speedy replies....
    Just calculated that my TDEE is 2268 so 10% of that would be 2040......THATS A MASSIVE JUMP IN CALORIES!!

    I have to feel like I'm on a diet and enjoy seeing the scales move but should I just increase the calories gradually?
    Maybe eat 1500 a day for a couple then maybe 1700 the next......

    Dont want to gain too much weight again! Oh why is it so hard...
    Thanks again.
    Nikki x
  • guardian419
    guardian419 Posts: 391 Member
    Figure out your BMR, eat your BMR and about half of your exercise calories, that way your body is fueled, but you still have a deficit.
  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    Figure out your BMR, eat your BMR and about half of your exercise calories, that way your body is fueled, but you still have a deficit.

    I agree with this.
  • mikeschratz
    mikeschratz Posts: 253 Member
    These are the numbers I came up with for you. This is assuming that your "Moderately Active - Light exercise 1-3 days a week"
    and as you can see, your TDEE is 2109. Even if you cut 15% you are at 1800.
    "Mifflin-St Jeor
    (FOR WOMEN)"
    BMR 1,406
    Maintenance 2,109
    Cut (@ 15%) 1,793
    Build (@ 15%) 2,426

    If I make your activity level "Very Active - Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week" your TDEE would be
    "Mifflin-St Jeor
    (FOR WOMEN)" BMR 1,406
    Maintenance 2,391
    Cut (@ 15%) 2,032
    Build (@ 15%) 2,749


    If you would like to mess with this spreadsheet and educate yourself you can go here to download it:
    https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3kFzsaVmRjmd1k4YjA1SlVWaFU/edit

    (I'm don't know how to make it a hyperlink in here, so you will have to copy and past into a browser) and feel free to use anything in this folder.)
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    I agree you should be looking at your BMR. And more importantly, your TDEE.

    If you are four pounds away from your goal, you should not consider yourself in "weight loss mode" but rather "maintenance mode". Eat to maintain your weight minus four pounds - If you're regularly exercising for 45-120 minutes a day, you will be needing substantially more calories than you're eating now.

    "Eating exercise calories back" is the layman's way of saying "Eating at TDEE". TDEE is where you'll maintain your current weight. You should only be eating at a slight deficit from your TDEE if you're not looking to lose much weight.
  • wahmx3
    wahmx3 Posts: 633 Member
    you are so close to your goal weight that you need to eat a lot more, almost to your TDEE and eat as clean as possible. You are not eating enough, the scale won't move or will actually go in the wrong direction.
  • c2111
    c2111 Posts: 693 Member
    bump im interested as same height and weight well a little under and also on the 1200 :) goodluck x
  • Pedal_Pusher
    Pedal_Pusher Posts: 1,166 Member
    How are you feeling throughout the day?
  • jamielynn020610
    jamielynn020610 Posts: 128 Member
    Figure out your BMR, eat your BMR and about half of your exercise calories, that way your body is fueled, but you still have a deficit.

    I agree with this.

    ^^ Agree - My BMR through MFP is set at 1315 and I set my daily goal at 1350. But if I don't loose any weight soon, I will move my daily goal up to 1400.
  • witchy_wife
    witchy_wife Posts: 792 Member
    Thanks for the speedy replies....
    Just calculated that my TDEE is 2268 so 10% of that would be 2040......THATS A MASSIVE JUMP IN CALORIES!!

    I have to feel like I'm on a diet and enjoy seeing the scales move but should I just increase the calories gradually?
    Maybe eat 1500 a day for a couple then maybe 1700 the next......

    Dont want to gain too much weight again! Oh why is it so hard...
    Thanks again.
    Nikki x

    I would increase them gradually yes, go for 100-200 increase and stick at that for a week. If you don't gain go for the same next week. Eventually your body will say THANK YOU for the fuel and let you lose your last few pounds. Good luck!
  • fitQueenbeast
    fitQueenbeast Posts: 298
    WRONG ADVICE about BMR.

    BMR is what your body needs for your organs to function, should you end up comatose in bed one day. Plain and simple. Your TDEE is what you need to fuel your body for normal daily activities, like getting out of bed, driving your car, making your bed up, washing dishes, etc. etc. I hate seeing people be misinformed because it can seriously screw you up. That's why I research a lot of what people say to see if it's anywhere near the truth. Research what I'm saying to see how close it is to the truth. I've researched this subject quite often and talked to several people who are well-versed in this.

    If you are not exercising, you should be eating what will fuel your body to go through your normal daily activities, LESS your deficit of 10-20%. When you work out, you should eat back some, most, or all of your calories. MFP already worked your deficit into the numbers. Go back and look at your goals page. That number that says "calories burned from normal daily activities" is your TDEE. How close does it match up to your calculations?

    The important key is that you need to eat. If you don't eat, you will end up losing weight, but you will also end up losing lean muscle, which you do NOT want to happen. I read a study that this guy did (had about 50 test subjects from this site) in regards to eating back calories. It was interesting to find that those who did not ended up losing a great deal of lean muscle across the board.

    But, you know the favorite saying around here: to each his own and do what works for you and everything doesn't work for everybody....blah blah blah

    DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH INTO TDEE AND BMR!!!! You'll see why TDEE is more relevant for your purposes than BMR.
  • NJL13500
    NJL13500 Posts: 433 Member
    Hi Nikki! I am Nikki too! I am 42 years old, 5'6" and currently weigh 135. I'm trying to get down to 132. Speaking from recent personal experience, you should up your calories. I was stuck at 136 for 4 weeks and upped my calories to 1500 and lost a pound the next week. I am slowly upping my calories because it is hard for me to go from 1200 to 1800 all at once. I have also started doing more strength training to build muscle and burn more calories at rest. I was doing between an hour to an hour and a half of cardio every day and stopped seeing results. It's only been 3 weeks into the strength training, so I can't personally say what my results have been yet for that. I feel better when I eat more, but still panic when I see the calories creep up over 1200. It will be a slow proces, but one I will do for my health.

    Good luck to you!
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
    If I was 4 lbs from goal and on a plateau, I would just start adjusting to maintenance.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Thanks for the speedy replies....
    Just calculated that my TDEE is 2268 so 10% of that would be 2040......THATS A MASSIVE JUMP IN CALORIES!!

    I have to feel like I'm on a diet and enjoy seeing the scales move but should I just increase the calories gradually?
    Maybe eat 1500 a day for a couple then maybe 1700 the next......

    Dont want to gain too much weight again! Oh why is it so hard...
    Thanks again.
    Nikki x

    200 extra a day for a week. Then another week another 200. ect.

    If you did the activity level honestly, that includes exercise then, so you don't eat back.
    If you miss a planned workout, skip 250 calories when you are at goal eating. If you add it back in later, an extra 250. Learning to eat for your level of activity.

    I'd confirm and try to nail that TDEE since so close to goal weight.

    Spreadsheet in this topic to use, calculator 1A.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

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