I need help

new_nathalie
new_nathalie Posts: 27 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

I started using MFP since two weeks. I am 168cm tall and was 82 Kg (around 180 lbs). The calorie goal set for me is 1210 and I am trying to stay under it and when i exercise I eat back most or some of my calories back.
Until now, I have lost 3Kg (about 7 lbs), but as I was reading some posts on forums I saw that this calorie goal may be too low and I might hit a plateau soon.
I do not want that because I do not want to fail this time after so many attempts.
According to some calculations I saw, I probably should increase my calorie intake to around 1450/day.

Is that correct?
Please help me cause I want to keep losing to stay motivated and not lose my motivation and gain back the weight I lose... as I did before.

Thanks

Replies

  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Follow this and it should sort it out for you.
  • Jude_V
    Jude_V Posts: 72 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
    Hi, you are way taller than me and I eat 1400 and am losing. I did the 1200 when I first started aswell but ended up stalling. That's when I came on here asked why I wasn't losing and was told to up my cals, which worked. Sounds weird I know but I think it has something to do with your body holding onto the calories if it is not getting enough.

    Good luck :smile:
  • casy84
    casy84 Posts: 290 Member
    I did the 1200 thing all the way and never stalled.
  • chaaalgeo
    chaaalgeo Posts: 70
    it might be worth checking your tdee i used to do 1200 happily for the first month then plateaued nor i have lost 30lbs eating 1500-1600 a day and i am 5'2 and used to weight 183 now 152
  • PaulJRaymond
    PaulJRaymond Posts: 100 Member
    If you follow Jude's link then it should be clear. The short version is the theory that you should measure how much you burn in a day - based on activity leavel and your BMR (the amount your body needs to exist even if in bed asleep all day) - and then reduce it by 10 -20%. The calculation is called TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expended) and if you eat more then this, you will put on weight, if you eat less than TDEE - 20%, then your body will store fat but may reduce muscle or may reduce nothing (plateau).

    There are a couple of hoops to jump through in calculating your BMR first and then your TDEE, but lots of people on here believe in it. It seems to be working for me currently.


    Body Fat % http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bf/

    BMR calculator http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ (put your goal weight as your current weight)

    This will give you your TDEE, then you need to multiply the activity level (it will show you your calorie levels for if you are sedentary, lightly active, moderately active etc) that applies to you by 0.8.

    If you choose the correct activity level, do not eat back calories. You can choose sedentary and then eat your exercise calories, as they won't be factored in.
  • PaulJRaymond
    PaulJRaymond Posts: 100 Member
    it might be worth checking your tdee i used to do 1200 happily for the first month then plateaued nor i have lost 30lbs eating 1500-1600 a day and i am 5'2 and used to weight 183 now 152

    Do you mean now I have lost (as opposed to nor have I lost), as it's a crucial difference?
  • chaaalgeo
    chaaalgeo Posts: 70
    yes sorry now i have lost 30lb
  • new_nathalie
    new_nathalie Posts: 27 Member
    Thank you ladies,

    I will read the info tonight and probably increase the calorie goal :)
    Cause I do not want to mess this up
  • chaaalgeo
    chaaalgeo Posts: 70
    good luck scoobys workshop calculator is good
  • new_nathalie
    new_nathalie Posts: 27 Member
    If you follow Jude's link then it should be clear. The short version is the theory that you should measure how much you burn in a day - based on activity leavel and your BMR (the amount your body needs to exist even if in bed asleep all day) - and then reduce it by 10 -20%. The calculation is called TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expended) and if you eat more then this, you will put on weight, if you eat less than TDEE - 20%, then your body will store fat but may reduce muscle or may reduce nothing (plateau).

    There are a couple of hoops to jump through in calculating your BMR first and then your TDEE, but lots of people on here believe in it. It seems to be working for me currently.


    Body Fat % http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bf/

    BMR calculator http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ (put your goal weight as your current weight)

    This will give you your TDEE, then you need to multiply the activity level (it will show you your calorie levels for if you are sedentary, lightly active, moderately active etc) that applies to you by 0.8.

    If you choose the correct activity level, do not eat back calories. You can choose sedentary and then eat your exercise calories, as they won't be factored in.

    My head is quite messed up right now and I actually did not understand how to do it.
    Would you mind doing the work for me ;)
    Height: 66 inches
    Current weight: 177 lbs
    Goal weight: 135 lbs
    Activity level: usually sedentary but now moderately active (to lose weight)...

    How much should i eat to lose weight???????????


    Thank you in advance :)
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,473 Member
    I put in your stats at Scooby's http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ (I don't know your body fat) and put you as moderately active and got figures of 2096 to 2144 for a 20% deficit. You would eat that in total, and ignore exercise calories.

    If you don't like that method and find the MFP system simpler, you could always change your goals on MFP to lose weight at a slower pace. The method above is giving you a deficit of about 500 calories, or 1 lb weight loss a week. You could change MFP to lose 1lb a week, and add in ALL your exercise calories, and theoretically, you should end up with a similar number (eating around 2000 calories a day).
  • new_nathalie
    new_nathalie Posts: 27 Member
    I just tried scooby's workshop and I put 1-3hr/week for my activity because each workout I do is about 45mn.
    So I got 1705 calories to lose 20kg/year, which is my goal.

    I'll look more into that
  • PaulJRaymond
    PaulJRaymond Posts: 100 Member
    If you follow Jude's link then it should be clear. The short version is the theory that you should measure how much you burn in a day - based on activity leavel and your BMR (the amount your body needs to exist even if in bed asleep all day) - and then reduce it by 10 -20%. The calculation is called TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expended) and if you eat more then this, you will put on weight, if you eat less than TDEE - 20%, then your body will store fat but may reduce muscle or may reduce nothing (plateau).

    There are a couple of hoops to jump through in calculating your BMR first and then your TDEE, but lots of people on here believe in it. It seems to be working for me currently.


    Body Fat % http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bf/

    BMR calculator http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ (put your goal weight as your current weight)

    This will give you your TDEE, then you need to multiply the activity level (it will show you your calorie levels for if you are sedentary, lightly active, moderately active etc) that applies to you by 0.8.

    If you choose the correct activity level, do not eat back calories. You can choose sedentary and then eat your exercise calories, as they won't be factored in.

    My head is quite messed up right now and I actually did not understand how to do it.
    Would you mind doing the work for me ;)
    Height: 66 inches
    Current weight: 177 lbs
    Goal weight: 135 lbs
    Activity level: usually sedentary but now moderately active (to lose weight)...

    How much should i eat to lose weight???????????


    Thank you in advance :)

    Putting your details in to the link I sent, you get the following

    Sedentary 1925 less 20% = 1540 calories
    Lightly Act (1-3 workouts per week) 2206 less 20% = 1765 kcal
    Mod Act (3-5 workouts per week) 2486 less 20% = 1988 kcal
  • new_nathalie
    new_nathalie Posts: 27 Member
    Oh thank you,
    And that would be the calories without deducting afterwards the calories burnt from work out??
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
    I found the advice listed here to be pretty solid:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/10067-eat-train-progress-
  • PaulJRaymond
    PaulJRaymond Posts: 100 Member
    Oh thank you,
    And that would be the calories without deducting afterwards the calories burnt from work out??

    Yes. By choosing the right activity level, your workout calories are already assumed in the calories you need to eat.

    Hopefully not complicating this, but the other option is to choose sedentary and then eat back your calories. So you need to end up at 1540 calories as a net position. Therefore if you burn 500 calories then on those days eat 2040 calories but on non workout days eat 1540. By choosing an activity level you are smoothing it over a week, but if that doesn't suit you this is also valid.
  • Orient_Charm
    Orient_Charm Posts: 385 Member
    Hi,

    I advise you to follow what MFP system set for you, as long as you are losing weight don't confuse your self by the forum posts, because in the forum ( who knows and who doesn't know ) write.....

    For me ...... Last year I lost 16 kg in 4.5 months on 1200 cals without eating back my burned cals for first 2 months......so don't worry....

    However IF you would like to slow you weight lose down, so yes may be eating more cals is a good idea...

    Good job for your 3 Kg, keep up the good job.....

    Good luck.

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