I am confused, need you help to clear things out.

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Pinkyivy
Pinkyivy Posts: 21
in Health and Weight Loss
My BMR is 1790, I'm 5'3", weight 235 pounds, 39 years old. To maintain my weight my total daily calorie needs should be around 2700 cal daily, taking note that I go to gym min 4 times a week.

So if I want to lose 2 pounds a week, I should be eating around 1700 cal daily, so why MFP is telling me that I should eat 1320?

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  • Arrabindi
    Arrabindi Posts: 169 Member
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    MFP does not factor in what you burn during exercise, so you have to add that on top of the 1320.
  • neecie5
    neecie5 Posts: 9 Member
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    You may feel hungry eating only approx. 1,300 calories per day if you exercise 4X/week or more. I would try to create a 500-700 calorie per day deficit (calories you burn above and beyond what you took in). If your metabolism is sluggish, like mine, strive for the 700. That's what' I'm doing, and I have lost 40 pounds so far from when I was at my heaviest. I have also lost about 21 inches in the past 12 weeks, a lot of which has to do with lifting weights and other strength training.
    Here's what I'm doing re: calories per day: My BMR is 1,658. I exercise hard 6X per week, burning about 300 during a workout. This means I burn 1,958 per day including exercise. To create a deficit, I take in 1,300-1,400 calories per day. I weight 163 now. Hope this is helpful!
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    MFP does math. It doesn't think anything. You need to eat above your BMR and below your TDEE. The easiest way to be somewhat accurate is to set your activity level to sedentary and log your exercise calories separately. Then if you miss a workout you aren't over eating and you can decide how much of your exercise, if any, you want to eat back.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    MFP does not factor in what you burn during exercise, so you have to add that on top of the 1320.

    This.
  • Pinkyivy
    Pinkyivy Posts: 21
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    Ok, so basically, days I don't go to gym, MFP is right, I should eat 1320 cals and days I go to gym, I should eat 1700 cals.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Those numbers sound reasonable... 1350 on rest days and 1350 + exercise cals (however many that may be on a given day) on workout days.

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