Filling out my fitness profile

alexandraleaden · February 2013

Hello!

Bottom Line on Top: I'm not sure the calculated 1350 calories a day is enough for me....

I am 25, 5'6'' and 160, hoping to be 140 - no particular timeline - would like to lose .5-1 pound a week.

I work out 3-4 times a week for 30-45 min per day doing the Les Mills Body Pump (full body weight lifting program + walks and usually a hike or mountain bike session once a week). I am ready to truly start tracking my calories.

I am sedentary during the day. And I have read that you are not supposed to include your workouts in the "life style" selection. I am sedentary at a desk all day. I did however fill out the "how many times a week do you plan on working out" - I set it to 4 times a week at 30 minutes per.

The calculation came out to 1350 calories a day. Reading up on the whole concept of "body in starvation mode" in the forums, I really wonder if this is enought? I wonder if the reason I haven't been able to lose weight prior is because I have past not eaten enough. I have never committed to myfitness pal for more than a few days - but I plan to now.

Anyways, can someone help me out - I assumed, after reading the forums, that 1500 calories a day would be better for my weight loss....can I have some insight?

Thank you!

Alexandra

Duck_Puddle · February 2013

You're going to get all kinds of exciting responses and links to the roadmap and who knows what else. Mfp asks you about your workout plans but doesn't really "count" them until you actually do them. So you'll get the 1350 goal, but on days you workout, as soon as you log in your exercise, you'll have more calories to eat. If you don't workout ever, 1350 may be enough (if you want to lose). If you do workout (as you plan to), just eat the extra calories you "earn".

psuLemon · February 2013

I would suggest a custom set up, especially since you are doing a BB program. Based on what you are doing I would just recommend eating 1700 calories daily (essentially the same thing as 1350 + exercise calories) and adjust macro's to around 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fats. The people the follow the BB diet plans tend to have greater success.

auddii · February 2013

Both of the above posts are great advice. If you use the site "as intended" you eat back exercise calories. If you want to eat the same amount everyday, go custom as psulemon suggested. Personally I prefer eating the same amount every day unless I do an unplanned workout, so I go the custom route. Just personal preference though.

chels0722 · February 2013

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Great site for figuring out what you need

Just remember you know your body best, so do what feels right for you!

letbc · February 2013

I'm 5"6 and started at 135 lbs. and am doing 1440 per day w/o exercise. This has worked for me. I tried 1200 but after about 10 days I stalled for 2 weeks. I've begun losing again at 1440 and I normally eat almost all my exercise calories. I say try it and if you stall just try upping calories just a little at a time.

shellma00 · February 2013

You're going to get all kinds of exciting responses and links to the roadmap and who knows what else. Mfp asks you about your workout plans but doesn't really "count" them until you actually do them. So you'll get the 1350 goal, but on days you workout, as soon as you log in your exercise, you'll have more calories to eat. If you don't workout ever, 1350 may be enough (if you want to lose). If you do workout (as you plan to), just eat the extra calories you "earn".

I agree ^^^^^ I am doing the roadmap, but I also agree for people who are just starting out to try the MFP settings AND eat back some if not all of their exercise calories.

CorvusCorax77 · February 2013

Hello!

Bottom Line on Top: I'm not sure the calculated 1350 calories a day is enough for me....

I am 25, 5'6'' and 160, hoping to be 140 - no particular timeline - would like to lose .5-1 pound a week.

I work out 3-4 times a week for 30-45 min per day doing the Les Mills Body Pump (full body weight lifting program + walks and usually a hike or mountain bike session once a week). I am ready to truly start tracking my calories.

I am sedentary during the day. And I have read that you are not supposed to include your workouts in the "life style" selection. I am sedentary at a desk all day. I did however fill out the "how many times a week do you plan on working out" - I set it to 4 times a week at 30 minutes per.

The calculation came out to 1350 calories a day. Reading up on the whole concept of "body in starvation mode" in the forums, I really wonder if this is enought? I wonder if the reason I haven't been able to lose weight prior is because I have past not eaten enough. I have never committed to myfitness pal for more than a few days - but I plan to now.

Anyways, can someone help me out - I assumed, after reading the forums, that 1500 calories a day would be better for my weight loss....can I have some insight?

Thank you!

Alexandra

It isn't enough, because MFP assumes you'll eat exercise calories. I think it'd say you're burning about 140 cals when you work out (assuming that's mostly lifting weights), so you'd get about 1500 cals a day.

Problem: when you weight lift, the MFP calculation of calories burned is so not accurate. You burn more than 140 cals a day when you spend 45 minutes lifting weights.

Solution: Base your calories on your TDEE. Figure out your TDEE, subtract 20%. Eat that every day. Maybe a little more on work out days, a little less on off days. But you don't "earn" exercise cals on this method because it is already calculated in there.

If you don't think it's enough, that's because it's not.

Youre TDEE is: 2383 (from http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html assuming you work out 3-5 days a week "moderate" exercise)

2383-20%= 1900 cals.

If you do "light exercise" your TDEE would be 2114, meaning you should eat 1700 cals.

If i were you, and I were lifting weights 4x's a week, I'd eat 1900 on lift days, and 1700 on non lift days.

Hope this helps.

wildfirediva · February 2013

Go through the "Recommended" Goal setting just to get your base line Activity level set, then go back in and "Customize".

Remember the figure MFP gives you is NET calories and NOT TOTAL. You may NET 1400 but have eaten 1900+ TOTAL because you busted your butt with exercise.

Many use heart rate monitors (there are several with apps that link directly to MFP) or in my case Body Media Fit Link to auto load my Burn above my MFP calculated activity. Just know that some of the numbers loaded in MFP that you use manually are a little high on their burn estimates.

BusyRaeNOTBusty · February 2013

MFP estimates really low for me. I have to tell it "very active" for it to get it right, and I have a desk job.

jsd_135 · February 2013

I would suggest a custom profile. I'm quite a bit older than you (48), 5'6", and I started at 158 pounds. I did 1200 calories for about 2 weeks or so and lost several pounds pretty quickly but found that 1200 was a little too limiting. After calculating my BMR (about 1400) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), I upped my calories to mid-1300s, and I should probably up it to at least my BMR. I'm sure your BMR is higher than mine, so you can probably eat a bit more than you currently are and still lose weight. I found the "roadmap" info to be very helpful. Someone else will probably supply a link, but I can look for it and post it if no one else does.

Good luck!

P.S. I calculated my TDEE using the muliplier for a sedentary lifestyle. I did this only so I could add in my exercise calories, which I generally eat back. I like having the lower calorie limit for those days that I'm sitting around on my azz too much.

cmriverside · February 2013

THIS is why I always say "Don't use Sedentary as an Activity level if you have any kind of job, or go to school, or care for children at home".

In my opinion the Sedentary setting is too low, by 300-400. I can't make it work for me, and I really am Sedentary. I think it is an artifically low setting. I've found this to be a common complaint on the boards, so I think you have to be extremely Sedentary - like no house-cleaning, no walking to the mailbox, no grocery shopping.

I don't work, don't have kids or dogs, I'm not married. Really low activity lifestyle. (I live in a condo - so no outdoor maintenance). I don't even spend a lot of time house-cleaning, it's a condo! If I use Sedentary - I'm miserable because the calories are so low.

jsd_135 · February 2013

Here's the link to Dan's roadmap: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

The calculators referred to in the link are at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

alexandraleaden · February 2013

THANK YOU EVERYONE - now for the next topic - i didn't know you guys posted reply to my original post, is there a way to activate a notification? or do you have to manually come in and go to my topics (not a problem) I'm just curious

THANK YOU AGAIN!

Filling out my fitness profile

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