Confused about calories?

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PaigeAnderson100
PaigeAnderson100 Posts: 301 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I was allowing myself 1300 calories and not exercising. Now, I am a waitress so, I decided to change my exercise level and in order to lose 2 pounds per week, MFP tells me to eat 1,690 calories a day...
I am confused how I can lose that much weight eating more calories than I was? Maybe someone can explain it to me.... I must just not be getting it!

Also, do you eat back your burned calories? I never have and I don't think that you should but, there is so much to learn on this website that I really feel like I'm going crazy! ;)

Thank you!

Replies

  • LibertyBelle89
    LibertyBelle89 Posts: 275
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    curious to see the answers to this.... the calorie thing confuses me too. i usually dont eat back my exercise calories unless im just really starved afterwards, but wondering if i should..
  • kjf1982
    kjf1982 Posts: 102 Member
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    It upped you calories because you'll be burning more on a daily basis. You need to eat more to keep your body from going into starvation mode.
  • georgeadelaide
    georgeadelaide Posts: 5 Member
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    Hey girls,

    I prefer to work out my calories needs independently from MFP.

    Step 1) Find out your BMR using this site - http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

    This is the number of calories your body would need to maintain your weight if you just lay in bed all day.

    Step 2) Use this equations to find your daily calories needs based on your level of activity

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

    I prefer to say I am 'sedentary' to get a view of the minimum calories I need

    Step 3) Minus 500 calories per day to lose 1 pound a week or Minus 1000 calories a day to lose 2 pounds a week

    And there you have it!

    Remember to adjust your calories when you lose weight - maybe recalculate every so often?

    In regards to eating back, absolutely do this!! You body will need the calories worked out in the above equations. If you need, for example, 1300 calories a day but then burn off 300, your body won't be getting the energy it needs. ALWAYS make sure in net terms you get the calories you worked out from the above equations :)
    xx
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    If you can afford it, get a fitbit. It will prove to you how much you are moving your body and that you will need to fuel it properly.

    What is going on is like this: You have a car and drive to the store that is one mile away every day. So then all of a sudden you are driving to 17 different places, you are going to need to put more gas in the car in order for it to get you to where you want to go. Calories = Energy. You need more calories to have more energy to fuel your body. If you do not eat enough, you will feel sluggish and be in a bad mood.

    I am 44 years old, 5'3 and lost the last 5 lbs every woman wants to lose by eating between 1500 and 1600 calories per day. I now weight 112 lbs. If that is not proof eating more works, I do not know what is.
  • stacyhagberg
    stacyhagberg Posts: 30
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    Hi hon! The dieting industry and crash dieting has left the world with a bunch of misinformation about how many calories you should be eating. Here's a crash course:
    Your BMR, which is the energy your body needs in order to survive just siting there (beat your heart, digest food, brain activity), can be calculated here: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
    Once you have that number, which is what your body uses to survive if you hadn't even moved that day, consider all of the movement/activity you have done. All of that work steals energy from your BMR, which isn't cool.
    For example, if your BMR is 1700 (mine is actually over 1850 at my current weight), you're burning 1700 calories per day. Then, when you move or exercise, you're taking your energy from that number, and need to eat it back. When you're maintaining your weight, you'd want to add your BMR to the total number of calories you've burned throughout the day from movement.
    For weight loss, you want to do the same thing (BMR + movement burning) but subtract a few hundred calories so you have a deficit. A pound of loss is usually considered 3,500 calories, so if you wanted to lose 2lbs a week, you'd have to have a 7,000 calorie deficit (this includes the "lifestyle" you've picked, sedentary/lightly active/active)

    For example: If your BMR was 1700, and your lifestyle burned 500 calories and you did a workout that burnt 300 calories, you'd have to eat: 2500 calories to maintain weight.
    To have a 7,000 calorie deficit per week, that's 1,000 per day, so you'd want to eat 1,500 (these are just example numbers and are probably not really even close to reality)

    Hope this made sense!

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