Am I still not eating enough??

Terpnista84
Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
A fitness specialist told me up my calories to 1,600 a day instead of the usual 1,200 I was doing. Then I came across this great information about eating no less than your BMR and having a 20% deficit from your TDEE to lose weight. My goal is to lose 2 lbs a week.

Now although I have been adding more calories (my exercise is still as vigorous), my net calories are still not matching my goal (1,200). On average my net would be about 500 (you can look at my diary to verify this). I am trying to eat more to get my net to 1,200 but I don't want to keep eating when I'm not hungry. I also considered on scaling back my exercises so I can eat less in order to get a 1,200 net.

My TDEE (since I workout 6 times a week) is 2600. My question is, is it better for me to eat the 2,000 calories so I am at a 20% deficit and meet my goal by burning 800 calories working out...OR should I try to eat 1,600 calories and burn 400 by easing up on the workouts? My preference would be to eat 1,600 and so that my deficit would be 1,000 per day so I lose 2 lbs per week.

I think I am worried about eating too many calories and overestimating my calorie burn from exercise. It is just easier for me to eat 1,600 so I know I am not overeating but now I have to worry about undereating.

Replies

  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    you can do whichever works best for you. since you're having trougble getting up to even 1600, i would recommend trying to do that first before trying ot make yourself eat 2000. it can be hard to convince yourself that eating more is the answer, and you may even see some initial, temporary weight gain as your body adjusts, but it's essentail to your weight loss. if you continue to net such a low number you're not going to see any movement and probably end up bingeing because your body will be so starved for energy.

    ETA: congrats on your weight loss so far, btw, and good for you for recognizing that you're eating too little and making steps to rectify it. your body and mind will thank you when you reach your goal weight the healthy way :-)
  • BflSaberfan
    BflSaberfan Posts: 1,272
    A fitness specialist told me up my calories to 1,600 a day instead of the usual 1,200 I was doing. Then I came across this great information about eating no less than your BMR and having a 20% deficit from your TDEE to lose weight. My goal is to lose 2 lbs a week.

    Now although I have been adding more calories (my exercise is still as vigorous), my net calories are still not matching my goal (1,200). On average my net would be about 500 (you can look at my diary to verify this). I am trying to eat more to get my net to 1,200 but I don't want to keep eating when I'm not hungry. I also considered on scaling back my exercises so I can eat less in order to get a 1,200 net.

    My TDEE (since I workout 6 times a week) is 2600. My question is, is it better for me to eat the 2,000 calories so I am at a 20% deficit and meet my goal by burning 800 calories working out...OR should I try to eat 1,600 calories and burn 400 by easing up on the workouts? My preference would be to eat 1,600 and so that my deficit would be 1,000 per day so I lose 2 lbs per week.

    I think I am worried about eating too many calories and overestimating my calorie burn from exercise. It is just easier for me to eat 1,600 so I know I am not overeating but now I have to worry about undereating.

    I really think 1600 is a reasonable goal. I am 5'2 I try to eat about 1500-1700 per day, I also work out 6 days a week. Wtih that said, I can tell from your profile pic (if its recent) you don't have that much to lose and 2 lbs per week is probably unrealistic.
  • krhale11
    krhale11 Posts: 8
    So that Fitbit I suggested, if you downloaded the app you probably won't see anything. You actually have to buy the Fitbit. It's about $60 but well worth the money, trust me. If you want to know exactly what you're eating vs. what you're burning, you should try it.
  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
    Your TDEE is 2600 - what's your BMR? Pick a number between the two, and eat that.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    How are you calculating your calorie burn? If you are looking at the machines or going by calculations here, they could be pretty far off from what you are actually burning. A HRM would help you get a better picture of your burn while you exercise. If your TDEE is 2600 though, you could safely eat 1800+ calories for the day (doing this method, you wouldn't add extra in for exercise, you would eat 1800 calories total every day.)
  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
    My BMR is 1,500.

    And no I am not using a HRM (which I need to get fast). That is why I said I am concerned that I am overestimating my calories. I go buy the exercise machine.
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    My BMR is 1,500.

    And no I am not using a HRM (which I need to get fast). That is why I said I am concerned that I am overestimating my calories. I go buy the exercise machine.

    use MFP's calcultions. i've found they are often high, now that i have an HRM, but i lost 25 lbs using them, so they can't be that bad. if you're worried about overestimating just knock of 25 or 50 from what MFP calculates depending on how hard you think you really worked.
  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
    My BMR is 1,500.

    And no I am not using a HRM (which I need to get fast). That is why I said I am concerned that I am overestimating my calories. I go buy the exercise machine.

    If your BMR is 1500, and TDEE is 2600, you should be eating 2000-2100.

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