Still don't know how much I should be eating!

csimpson954
csimpson954 Posts: 28
in Health and Weight Loss
Scooby gives me a bmr of 1440 and tdee of 1900ish, can't remember exactly, for lightly active. MFP tells me something totally different and gives me between 1200 and 1320 to eat. I was at 1200 for a while but after reading raised it to 1350. I've been on that for a few weeks and now I'm wondering if I should really be eating 1500? I have a desk job, do 5x5 3 days a week and maybe 20 minutes on the elliptical (still building up) 2x a week. I'm 29, 5'3" and 145 lbs. Any advise appreciated!

PS- if you decide to look at my diary don't judge too harshly please, it's been a tough few weeks dealing with 5 people with combo flu, virus, and infection!

Replies

  • JennKie1
    JennKie1 Posts: 200 Member
    Try this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It really helped me figure out what works best for me.......However, TDEE - 20% puts me around 1600 calories, MFP puts me at 1200 - I seem to be doing well right in the middle (around 1300-1400). :smile:

    And, I wouldn't worry about your diary. I consider mine a tool to help hold myself accountable for my decisions. I don't care what anyone else thinks of my diary, and you shouldn't either. :wink:
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    MFP tells it what you tell it to tell you (yeah, 'cause that sentence wasn't confusing). If you set your goals too high (you should only try to lose 2 pounds a week if you have over 75 pounds to lose) it will tell you to consume to few calories. It tries to appease you, not tell you what is best for you to do. I would eat somewhere between your BMR and TDEE. Since you're still hungry where you're at, I'd start with 1600 or so. Give it 4-6 weeks, then reassess.
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    What have you set your MFP goal to? If you set it to 2lb a week loss it tends to put anyone who's not very overweight at 1200 cals. Try setting it to 1 lb a week or even 1/2 - it will probably give you a similar figure to scooby.
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    Don't forget MFP expects you to add on exercise calories, whereas Scooby already includes them.
  • csimpson954
    csimpson954 Posts: 28
    I left it at 2 lbs a week because the change to .5 still have me 1320 and since I manually changed that number anyway, I pretty much ignored that part of the goal haha! I will check out the link and see if it helps. Thanks!

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