Questions on calorie amounts :)

brownmousemama · February 2013

I've just started with MFP, and it's been a bit under a month now that I have been using it every day. I started out at 216, and am currently at 205, though a few of those pounds were lost before starting MFP regularly(I was around 212 at that time), and I did gain a couple pounds back a few weeks ago when I had a crazy pizza and ice cream binge(which I used to do fairly regularly... it's amazing I don't weigh 400lbs..)

Anyways, I have my activity level set to sedentary, which gives me a calorie amount of 1200 each day. I'm not sure if this is a good number though based on my lifestyle, the information I have seen on here from people and their calorie amounts, and one of those "how much should you weigh" calculators.

Current weight: 205
Goal weight: 145(though I'd like to go down to around 130 if it's possible after I reach my original goal)
Height: 5'7 inches
Age: 26 years old

I am a preschool teacher part time, and student full time, so I spend half of my days walking around university campus and my classroom, and the other half sitting in class. I am doing the Couch to 5k Program, and am in week 5 starting Monday (halfway through!!) It's running/walking three days a week that burns about 300 calories each workout (according to my treadmill NOT MFP), and most weeks I do some incline walking on off days.

When I did a couple different calculators that are supposed to tell you how much your Basal Metabolic rate is and how many calories you should be eating, they all came out to between 1500 and 1800 to have me losing weight. I have also read on here from more than a few people that they were at a very low calorie amount, and found they lost weight more effectively when they upped their calories a bit. I also noticed that if I eat even a calorie under my 1200 in a day, MFP sends a message telling me I have to eat 1200 and that I will have more trouble losing weight if I eat less.

I really want to lose weight as quickly as possible, without starving myself or being unhealthy. My self esteem plummeted after my three year old asked "Mama, why are you so fat? Lucy's Mommy is skinny like Daddy." And I really can't take being this unhealthy anymore. I was never really that heavy, always hovered around 160 or so, until after I had my daughter and kept with the "I can eat what I want, I'm pregnant" mentality while being a stay at home Mom and couch potato. My daughter's 4th birthday is in July, and I don't think I can handle another year looking at pictures of my daughter's big day and only seeing how unhealthy I am, and how terrible I look.

So I guess my question is, how many calories should I be eating? I don't find myself starving at 1200, though it seems I find myself frequently going over by 25-100 calories. I generally don't eat back my workout calories unless I am super hungry, and when I do it's usually only around 25% of them. I want to lose the weight quickly, but I also don't want to be eating too few calories and not getting the proper nutrition, especially if I could be eating a bit more and losing the weight easier. Thoughts? How many do you eat? And what is your current weight/goal weight?

Thanks in advance.

wmoomoo · February 2013

By using scooby's calculator (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/), with you set on light activity, with -20% TDEE, you should be eating at about 1900. At this number, you don't have to eat back your exercise calories. However, if you are doing the MFP method, you should always eat back your exercise calories.

Eating at 1200 will definitely get you to lose weight but might not be healthy in the long run. Too large of a deficient will slow down your metabolism. Take a look at this post, it's very helpful,

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Good luck

brownmousemama · February 2013

By using scooby's calculator (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/), with you set on light activity, with -20% TDEE, you should be eating at about 1900. At this number, you don't have to eat back your exercise calories. However, if you are doing the MFP method, you should always eat back your exercise calories.

Eating at 1200 will definitely get you to lose weight but might not be healthy in the long run. Too large of a deficient will slow down your metabolism. Take a look at this post, it's very helpful,

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Good luck

Ack! I friend who also uses MFP told me about that thread and I've been searching for it but never had any luck! THANKS!!

I was told by a couple people on here that if you have your profile set to lightly active, and then eat back your calories that you are essentially eating double the calories you would work off. It doesn't make total sense to me, but it scared me a little. I wonder if somewhere around 1500 is a good place to start and see if I keep losing?

kimberly728 · February 2013

I weigh 218.2, I've lost 11.8 pounds. I have a goal to weigh 130 when all is said and done. I have mine set up at sedentary with the recommended lose 1 pound of week option. It tells me my daily calories should be 1620. It's not very often that I even eat all those calories but this set up works for me considering the weight I've lost since starting 2 months ago.

Mamalea32 · February 2013

I think u should make sure ur measuring ur portions correctly. Im 116 pounds and 1200 calories leaves me starving. Also make sure u count beverages including milk and sugar that may be in ur coffee or tea.

symonspatrick · February 2013

1500 calories is definitely not too high for you. My wife is close to your weight and has been losing 2 pounds per week eating around 1500. She has stuck with it for 5 months and lost over 40 pounds. The weight loss is not linear, sometimes 1 or 3 or none but averaging 2 per week so don't get discouraged if it isn't consistent. At your age you could probably even go up to 1750 and still lose 2 pounds per week.

brownmousemama · February 2013

I think u should make sure ur measuring ur portions correctly. Im 116 pounds and 1200 calories leaves me starving. Also make sure u count beverages including milk and sugar that may be in ur coffee or tea.

I've been measuring everything I eat (with measuring spoons and cups, I don't have a food scale) as much as possible, but sometimes it's just not possible. But I've noticed over the past two weeks or so that I have had zero energy and have been kinda shakey, so I think I AM starving, just not feeling super hungry. As far as liquids go, I log everything, including water. I even make my coffee the exact same way every morning so I can log in the calories for that (same amount of creamer, etc)

brownmousemama · February 2013

1500 calories is definitely not too high for you. My wife is close to your weight and has been losing 2 pounds per week eating around 1500. She has stuck with it for 5 months and lost over 40 pounds. The weight loss is not linear, sometimes 1 or 3 or none but averaging 2 per week so don't get discouraged if it isn't consistent. At your age you could probably even go up to 1750 and still lose 2 pounds per week.

Thanks for the reply! I went through and found my TDEE and BMR and BF% with the Road map thing above and it's saying that I should be eating a minimum of 1400 calories, and a max of 1900, so I set my calorie goal to 1600, and plan to still try and eat just under it each day. Congrats to your wife on her weight loss! I really hope I can say I've lost 40lbs in June!

And way to go for your own weight loss too! 80 lbs! That is amazing!

Freidon · February 2013

I started out with 1200, and am still around that amount, but I'm also pretty sedentary. For you, I wouldn't go below 1500. I'm sure the formula savy people will be here soon to present their piece.

nsdodge · February 2013

If you want to keep the setting at sedentary, I would suggest logging all of your activity, even if it is just walking around school, cleaning the house, etc. and then eat those calories back. Sedentary really means sedentary and doesn't include walking half the day.
Also, I think if you set yourself a higher limit, say 1600, you will have a much easier time staying within the limit and not binging on pizza. And staying within the calorie limit doesn't mean no pizza or ice cream, it just means moderation. When I want to go out for dinner, I usually just work out for an extra hour or so on top of my daily activities and it gives enough calories to fit in pizza and a beer.

Rachiepie6 · February 2013

My opinion: Eat at least your BMR

Questions on calorie amounts :)

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