help/advice please?

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beanymac22
beanymac22 Posts: 47
in Food and Nutrition
I need some help with calories/macros. I am sure it has been talked about like crazy on here but I am fairly new, I would like some advice that is more specific to me. My diary is public. I am just wondering how much I should be eating. I know that the 1200 goal MFP sets is too low, So I set mine to 1300 just to see how it goes. Today my net was only about 800 calories, I tried making healthy choices throughout the day but now that the day is over, and I am looking at it, I know I should have ate more, but I wasn't hungry at any point during the day, and am not now (its 10:30pm) so for the future I am just hoping to get some advice from people who have succeeded :)

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  • lalonmeg000
    lalonmeg000 Posts: 276 Member
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    This is super quick and I am actually coping what I wrote for someone else but this what I do and I have had a lot of success.

    I used this, its quick and pretty accurate. There are others online you can search and compare.

    http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    If you want to maintain then eat your TDEE.

    If you want to lose some say eat at the TDEE of your GOAL weight for 6 weeks then drop 20% below the target goal weight TDEE to finish getting the weight off. Others say eat 20% under your CURRENT weight and recalculate every 10lbs of weight loss, then eat at your TDEE to maintain the new weight. It’s what makes you feel best. For me once I switched over to this method I honestly don't know how I ate only 1200 cals a day, I feel horrible when I eat that little now, but it was a huge mentality wall to get through. I am happy at 1600, weekends I go close to 2000 when friends come to visit, and yes I am at a consistent weight loss.

    Also this lady did a wonderful job explain what TDEE is etc.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide?hl=TDEE+explained

    Best of luck and feel free to add or PM me any further questions!

    Meghan
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    At 22 years old, 5'4" and 165 lbs, your Basal Metabolic Rate is roughly 1500 calories daily. That's how many calories your body needs to maintain proper organ function and keep you alive.

    On top of BMR, you burn additional calories sitting around, driving, walking up stairs, showering etc. That's called your NEAT burn (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis); if you're mostly sedentary, it is estimated your NEAT burn daily would be about 300 calories per day for a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) of about 1800 calories.

    If you can find your way to exercising lightly for a combined total of 2-3 hours per week, your TDEE average comes up to about 2000 calories daily.

    I recommend you don't eat less than 1500 calories daily so as to not affect your metabolism/hormones/endocrine function while losing weight. So if you don't exercise, you'll have a daily deficit of about 300 calories (your NEAT burn) or, if you exercise lighly for 3 hours a week, you'll have a daily deficit of about 500 calories. The latter would see you losing about 1 lb/week.

    You don't have much to lose so 1 lb/week is about as much as you're going to get - less if you don't exercise. So here are my recommendations:

    1) Eat 1500 calories daily give or take 50 - every day
    2) Exercise for a combined total of 3 hours each week (look into heavy weight lifting)
    3) Aim to get 100g of protein daily while sticking to 1500 calories
    4) Eat 5-10 servings of colorful fruits and veggies daily
    5) Drink plenty of water
    6) Eat the highest fiber foods you can enjoy
    7) Avoid fat-free/low-cal/100-calorie-pack/sugar-free/non-foods

    That's it. You should drop the weight you want in about 3-4 months. That's my non-professional opinion.
  • beanymac22
    beanymac22 Posts: 47
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    I've got about 30-35 more lbs to lose. Maybe a bit less depending how I am feeling when I get close. My main issue is I just don't feel hungry enough to eat that much. I felt like I ate a lot today and I really didn't. 1500 seems like a lot. And I feel like my weight loss stalls or starts to climb whenever I get into the 1400s.
  • FlowersInTheDirt
    FlowersInTheDirt Posts: 124 Member
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    Try getting in some easy calories:
    Peanut butter
    Nuts
    Fruit
    Homemade fruit smoothies & Milkshakes
    Milk

    If your not hungry then adding things like this into your meals should help get your calories up.
    Best of luck.

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