Confused- How much should I be eating and when?!

natmckn
natmckn Posts: 48 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone,

I feel like an idiot asking this question as I've done as much research as I can, but I'm still ridiculously confused.

Over the past week or so I've tried adjusting my caloric intake to help me break a weight loss plateau that's kept me at the same number for about month now. Eating 1200 cals per day was obviously not enough as I started really getting into a routine with running and lifting. Being 5'6", 140lbs and working a sedentary job, my BMR is around 1450. So, I upped my intake to 1500 then 1600 just yesterday or the day before.

My question is this - do I still eat 1600 calories even on rest days when I'm not working out, or should I be eating less? Yesterday I took a break from the gym, still ate 1600 cals, and felt like I was overeating. I don't know why I find this whole process so confusing.

Replies

  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Assuming your calculations are correct, then you'd eat your 1600 cals everyday, and add the additional workout cals on workout days. So if you burned 300 cals on Tuesday then you'd eat 1900 total cals Tuesday.

    The other way to do this is if you have a weekly routine and you're fairly sure what your total workout cals will be for the week, you can add them into the daily total so that each day you have the same calorie target. So if you had 3 days of 300 calorie workouts you'd go with 3x300=900 /7 =128. 128+1600= 1728*. So each day you'd eat 1728 calories regardless of if you exercised that day or not.



    *excuse the lack of proper parenthesis but I'm not smart enough to know where they go. math is not this meatheads strong suit.
  • natmckn
    natmckn Posts: 48 Member
    Assuming your calculations are correct, then you'd eat your 1600 cals everyday, and add the additional workout cals on workout days. So if you burned 300 cals on Tuesday then you'd eat 1900 total cals Tuesday.

    The other way to do this is if you have a weekly routine and you're fairly sure what your total workout cals will be for the week, you can add them into the daily total so that each day you have the same calorie target. So if you had 3 days of 300 calorie workouts you'd go with 3x300=900 /7 =128. 128+1600= 1728*. So each day you'd eat 1728 calories regardless of if you exercised that day or not.



    *excuse the lack of proper parenthesis but I'm not smart enough to know where they go. math is not this meatheads strong suit.

    Thanks for your reply on this. I felt like a total idiot posting but you helped me clarify for myself!!! :)
  • joaniekimmel
    joaniekimmel Posts: 14
    i'm glad you asked because his response prompted a question of my own. on workout days, i thought i was doing great having such a deficit, but i'm supposed to eat those calories??? on monday i burned over a 1000 cals working out, i can't see eating 2500 cals in a day! so, can i have some advice on this please??
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    i'm glad you asked because his response prompted a question of my own. on workout days, i thought i was doing great having such a deficit, but i'm supposed to eat those calories??? on monday i burned over a 1000 cals working out, i can't see eating 2500 cals in a day! so, can i have some advice on this please??

    If you're only 6 pounds from goal you really don't need to be burning 1000 calories per day. And 1000 cals if an awfully high burn for a 140ish pound female. That's like 2 hours of jogging or something. Depending on your fitness goals you may want to re-evaluate your fitness plan.

    Either way, with that narrow of a gap between current weight and goal weight, you most certainly don't want a 1000 cal deficit. Bon appetit
  • joaniekimmel
    joaniekimmel Posts: 14
    DavPul......i'm stuck though, can't seem to drop below 139. so i have been playing around with calories and exercise. 1200 cals was too hard to accomplish, so i switched to 1500 and don't have trouble staying below that. the exercise is fun actually. i do an hour on treadmill in early afternoon, then go back to the y for zumba and yoga classes at night. i've been steadily losing weight for the past 3 years and my body has called it quits on losing for months now. i feel i can get a lower, so i set up a session with a trainer to start using weights in a week. any thoughts or suggestions for me??
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

    Have you tried that link for calorie guide info? And now that you're a few pounds away from goal, are you sure that you still need to lose 4-5 pounds? Most goal weights are random and change as people near them. What are you hoping to do?
  • joaniekimmel
    joaniekimmel Posts: 14
    i will check out that link.
    yeah, definitely need to push off that 40 yr old female belly flab : ) my goals are to decrease the belly flab and get as flat as possible. my upper arms and thighs would do better to decrease as well. i've been overweight a lot through life, so the skin is loose. toning up would be great , which i think i've gained enough confidence to start doing the weight machines at the gym. in my 20's i got as low as 131-132, couldn't seem to push under that weight. so i though 135 would be a reasonable goal, but so far i'm stuck and can't get under 138-139
  • vichm
    vichm Posts: 174 Member
    This is a good question to ask as I know it puzzes many people (me included) I recentydid the same, brought myself a ki fit, increased my calories and my weights as I try to focus on toning. It is confusing but yes the increase in calories shoud definatly be your revised daily intake minimum and then on workout days eat additional cals.

    It may take a few weeks to sette after the 1200 mfp phase, I know mine has. Week 1 I saw a 4lb increase then week 2 a 3.5lb loss, I am now on week 3 and things are setting down.

    Good luck though, it seems as your goal is close it gets hard to achieve that final hurdle. I am hoping this really works for me otherwise I will be frsutrated!

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