Should I be eating more?

rburd12
rburd12 Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
Right now my daily caloric goal is 1270. I'm 5'4" 150 lbs female. Should I be eating more calories??

When I signed up I put my activity level at sedentary so I could log my exercise calories and not double count them. Is that how it should work? I'm concerned that I might not be eating enough- not because I feel hungry, but just because I know the lowest calories anyone should eat a day is 1200.

My weekly goal is to lose 1 lb per week.

Any suggestions?

Replies

  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    Try this calculator http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ and go with at least the "lightly active" modifier (more if you are exercising a lot), then don't eat back the exercise. I've lost 40 pounds that way.

    I'm 5'4", 130, 36 yo and eat 1,800 calories. I'm pretty darn sedentary, except for my one hour workouts 6 days a week.
  • Sincere24
    Sincere24 Posts: 126 Member
    Try this calculator http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ and go with at least the "lightly active" modifier (more if you are exercising a lot), then don't eat back the exercise. I've lost 40 pounds that way.

    I'm 5'4", 130, 36 yo and eat 1,800 calories. I'm pretty darn sedentary, except for my one hour workouts 6 days a week.

    ^^ This. 1270 is certainly too low for you especially if you're just starting out...you're more prone to rebel lol. The site should definitely help you.

    Unless you do nothing but lie around in the house, you should set yourself at least on lightly active and moderate if you do some sort of exercise most of the week. But i think skylar is definitely on the mark. You can play around with you're calories, and assess them against the amount you've lost during the course of a few weeks.

    At the end it takes a bit of a trial and error to really figure out what calorie target works for you, and 1200 should definitely not be your first choice haha. I think anywhere around 1500-1800 should work fine for you, but then again you know urself best!

    Cheers!
  • rburd12
    rburd12 Posts: 15
    Holy crap.... this can't be right- can it?

    BMR: 1496


    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1716
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1966
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2217
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2467
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job
    or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2717


    There's no way I can eat 1966 calories a day and LOSE! ...right?
  • rburd12
    rburd12 Posts: 15
    Alright...so I just went in and changed my activity level to lightly active and this bumped me up to 1410 a day. I'm thinking maybe 1410 plus add back in exercise? that should put me at about 1700 total calories each day.
  • weliveaswedream
    weliveaswedream Posts: 56 Member
    What they forgot to tell you about using that calculator is that the number it gives you is to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose, subtract 15 - 20% from the total. Subtracting about 15% since you said you want to lose about 1 lb/week puts you at about 1700 calories per day. If you're going to do this method, you would eat that amount every day, including days you do not work out.

    Also remember that that's the number if you're only working out 1 - 3 x per week. I don't see if you specified how many times you do work out but if it's more often than that, you'll need to up your intake accordingly.
  • rburd12
    rburd12 Posts: 15
    What they forgot to tell you about using that calculator is that the number it gives you is to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose, subtract 15 - 20% from the total. Subtracting about 15% since you said you want to lose about 1 lb/week puts you at about 1700 calories per day. If you're going to do this method, you would eat that amount every day, including days you do not work out.

    Also remember that that's the number if you're only working out 1 - 3 x per week. I don't see if you specified how many times you do work out but if it's more often than that, you'll need to up your intake accordingly.

    OHHH makes more sense now :)

    I'm on week 5 of P90X so I'm working out about 6 days a week.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    What they forgot to tell you about using that calculator is that the number it gives you is to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose, subtract 15 - 20% from the total. Subtracting about 15% since you said you want to lose about 1 lb/week puts you at about 1700 calories per day. If you're going to do this method, you would eat that amount every day, including days you do not work out.

    Also remember that that's the number if you're only working out 1 - 3 x per week. I don't see if you specified how many times you do work out but if it's more often than that, you'll need to up your intake accordingly.

    Wrong. My uncle had a plaque in his kitchen that said, "when all else fails, read the instructions". It's great advice!

    After completing the calculator, read what it says under How Many Calories Should I Eat?
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    What they forgot to tell you about using that calculator is that the number it gives you is to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose, subtract 15 - 20% from the total. Subtracting about 15% since you said you want to lose about 1 lb/week puts you at about 1700 calories per day. If you're going to do this method, you would eat that amount every day, including days you do not work out.

    Also remember that that's the number if you're only working out 1 - 3 x per week. I don't see if you specified how many times you do work out but if it's more often than that, you'll need to up your intake accordingly.

    OHHH makes more sense now :)

    I'm on week 5 of P90X so I'm working out about 6 days a week.

    I just finished week 5 of P90X also. I use the "lightly active" modifier because I am very sedentary aside from my workouts.

    Please also read the nutrition guide that came with your P90X plan. The absolute minimum number of calories they say anyone on the plan should be eating is 1,800. P90X is a very intense program and proper fueling is essential.
  • rburd12
    rburd12 Posts: 15
    Thanks everyone! I update my daily goal to 1600- should I add back in my exercise? I set my activity level to active and it still only gave me about 1500 calories a day! I had to manually bump it to 1600! I think in a few days ill bump it up to 1700.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    you guys doing p90x, if your doing it correctly and putting all you can into it.. BTW thats moderate exercise.. 6 hours a week.. and you should be eating per what the nutrition guide says, not the smallest number.. If your not seeing any changes when doing p90x and your doing it 100%, then your probably not eating right. Don't be afraid to eat to fuel your workouts.. bigger deficits do not always equal bigger results.
  • Frances4646
    Frances4646 Posts: 22
    Yes that is too low, to lose just 1lb a week you only need to cut out 500kcals a day, as over a week this would create a deficit of 500x7= 3500kcals, which is the deficit needed to lose 1lb of fat. I did the sedentary thing and am then just adding on my exercise calories too as I don't think choosing daily activity amounts is very accurate as everyone has a different idea of their activity levels. On days you exercise if you just want to lose 1lb a week just calculate the calories lost due to exercise and take in that much more food, eg. if you burned off 200kcals on a day you should consume 1500+200= 1700kcals that day
  • krickeyuu
    krickeyuu Posts: 344 Member
    For what it's worth, I am 5'4" and started at 153. I am 52. I eat 1500-1600 calories per day and then eat back any earned exercise calories (calories burned in an actual work out.) I have lost 20 lbs since January. I was perfectly happy losing 2 lbs per month. This gave me enough calories so that I never felt deprived of anything. I believe that slower weight loss is more sustainable over the long haul.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    Well technically I DO eat more than 1200.

    Here's how.

    I eat pretty close to 1200.

    I go workout and burn 500.

    I eat the 500 back and then some and at the end of the day I'm = 1200.

    Truth be told I'm taking in a heck of a lot more than 1200. So go for a walk, log it, and eat more than 1200 but you're net 1200 at the end of the day. Your heart will thank you.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    Yes that is too low, to lose just 1lb a week you only need to cut out 500kcals a day, as over a week this would create a deficit of 500x7= 3500kcals, which is the deficit needed to lose 1lb of fat. I did the sedentary thing and am then just adding on my exercise calories too as I don't think choosing daily activity amounts is very accurate as everyone has a different idea of their activity levels. On days you exercise if you just want to lose 1lb a week just calculate the calories lost due to exercise and take in that much more food, eg. if you burned off 200kcals on a day you should consume 1500+200= 1700kcals that day

    ACTUALLY it's not too low.

    I'm 141 lbs and 5'6"

    1200 to lose 1lb/week
    1400 to lose .5/week
    1600 to maintain

    Depends on the person. I've always been a healthy weight.
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    Thanks everyone! I update my daily goal to 1600- should I add back in my exercise? I set my activity level to active and it still only gave me about 1500 calories a day! I had to manually bump it to 1600! I think in a few days ill bump it up to 1700.

    Bear in mind you are
    1600
    let's say you burn 500
    you're *boom* at 1100 for the day
    You eat back the 500 you burned and *boom* your netting that 1600 you need to lose 1lb/week

    You mess with your calories and don't eat back your exercise calories you're only at 1100 for the day (using my example) You mess with the numbers and 1700 + 500 exercise cals and you're over 2000 in food intake for the day.

    See what I mean?
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    Right now my daily caloric goal is 1270. I'm 5'4" 150 lbs female. Should I be eating more calories??

    When I signed up I put my activity level at sedentary so I could log my exercise calories and not double count them. Is that how it should work? I'm concerned that I might not be eating enough- not because I feel hungry, but just because I know the lowest calories anyone should eat a day is 1200.

    My weekly goal is to lose 1 lb per week.

    Any suggestions?

    Also if you work in an office and workout an hour per day you are still considered sedentary (like me)
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    you guys doing p90x, if your doing it correctly and putting all you can into it.. BTW thats moderate exercise.. 6 hours a week.. and you should be eating per what the nutrition guide says, not the smallest number.. If your not seeing any changes when doing p90x and your doing it 100%, then your probably not eating right. Don't be afraid to eat to fuel your workouts.. bigger deficits do not always equal bigger results.

    I don't know about others, but I did get my 1800 number from the P90X nutrition guide calculations. Since that number matched up with the number I got by following Helloitsdan's Road Map instructions, I figure I'm pretty spot on. I'm still losing body fat, but my weight is pretty much staying the same now, which is exactly what I was hoping to achieve.
  • rburd12
    rburd12 Posts: 15
    So if I'm using my TDEE to calculate calories- I shouldn't eat back exercise, correct? My TDEE is 2073 figuring in an hour a day of heavy moderate exercise for P90X.

    2073 x .20 = 414.6

    2073 - 414.6 = 1658.4

    So I should be eating 1658 calories a day. Makes sense....
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    So if I'm using my TDEE to calculate calories- I shouldn't eat back exercise, correct? My TDEE is 2073 figuring in an hour a day of heavy moderate exercise for P90X.

    2073 x .20 = 414.6

    2073 - 414.6 = 1658.4

    So I should be eating 1658 calories a day. Makes sense....

    You're close, but please read the instructions in the P90X nutrition guide. A full 20% deficit is not really appropriate for such a strenuous workout. The absolute minimum they say anyone should be eating while on the program is 1,800. Toss a post workout protein shake in there on top of your 1,650 and you'll be right on.
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
    I would start here.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

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