Confused about calorie intake

MACnificence · May 2013

Hi

I'm hoping some of ye can help me with this one I'm still unsure if I am eating enough calories or not , I started off eating 1200 calories and walking 6 days a week never ate back exercise calories and lost a lot of weight this way but I found myself constantly thinking about food and getting extremely irritable , I then made the decision to join my local gym and I knew I had to up my calories as I just wouldn't have the energy to work out eating 1200 calories , I upped them by 200 to 1400 which apparently I should have been always eating at this is roughly where my BMR is . I then bought a heart rate monitor and I now realise I burn at least 1000 calories a day through exercise 6 days a week I'm still walking 5.5 miles which gives me a burn of 450-500 calories and I never burn less than 500 calories in the gym ( this is according to my HRM )
I have read many times about the importance of eating exercise calories and not netting below BMR so last week I upped my calories to 1500 in sheer dread I'm going to mess up my metabolism but I'm still unsure is this enough or am I ok eating 1500 calories for now till I get to goal weight I'm currently 130Ibs goal weight of 120Ibs , I'm 5 2 and 24 years old if that makes any difference

Thanks in advance

srk369 · May 2013

If you are still hungry and irritable, then up the calories. If you are liking the 1500, try upping by 50-100/wk until you get to the level you need to be at. I'm similar to you in size...5' 2", 132lb but a lot older and I'm eating at 1600-1800 and losing. My BMR is around 1200 and I burn less than you on average per day. My TDEE is around 2000. I would assume at 1000/day burn, yours is higher. You can eat more and still lose!! Fuel your workouts. You are close to your goal and you don't want your deficit to be too large.

TeaBea · May 2013

Your BMR - basal metabolic rate ..... calories needed if you were in a coma are 1,393

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

TDEE - total daily expenditure .... calories you use based on activity level (including) exercise .... these are 2159 for moderate exercise

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

There are many people who take a % off of their TDEE (including exercise) and use that for weight loss. Because the exercise calories are already included, you don't have to log exercise, and worry about eating the calories back.

For close to goal .... you would use in the neighborhood of 10% off your TDEE (1943) ..... just a different approach

MACnificence · May 2013

So do you think my deficit is too high ? I know I'm not in a race to shed the last few pounds but I would like to lose as much as I can while still being healthy and not messing with my body.. What is your average weight loss on 1600-1800 calories ?

MACnificence · May 2013

Thanks for that I was looking at TDEE - 20% is that too high of a deficit for my weight loss goals ?

TeaBea · May 2013

Thanks for that I was looking at TDEE - 20% is that too high of a deficit for my weight loss goals ?

For someone with 10 pounds left to lose .... absolutely. The closer you are to goal .... the slower you will lose (weight loss is not linear). I'm happy with losing 1/2 pound a week.

proudmommy1003 · May 2013

I'm 25, 5'2.5, and 137 lbs I'm doing p90x not doing any ither workout
I eat 1600 cals and I'm losing very very slowly though

MACnificence · May 2013

How much are you looking to lose? Isn't p90x very intense ? I wouldn't say my workouts are that intense but I do walk and go the gym so that's why my calorie burn is 1000 calories per day

MACnificence · May 2013

So you think my weight loss will be slow whether my calories are higher or lower ?

srk369 · May 2013

So do you think my deficit is too high ? I know I'm not in a race to shed the last few pounds but I would like to lose as much as I can while still being healthy and not messing with my body.. What is your average weight loss on 1600-1800 calories ?

I have lost 19 lbs since the beginning of the year, so just under 1lb/week. Some weeks are greater and some less, but I really like my pace! I can keep doing this until my bf% is where it needs to be. Good luck!

ETA: I've been monitoring my bf% and from what I can see I'm losing the fat and keeping as much of my lbm as possible, which is my overall goal!

proudmommy1003 · May 2013

Yes p90x is intense but I burn sowhere between 250-450 cals depending on tbe workout.
You burn a lot more than me so I think you need to eat a little more

MACnificence · May 2013

So the general opinion is I should up my calories ? I have looked at TDEE would it be safe to say I fall under the category of moderate activity ? I would absolutely love to be able to lose 1Ib a week but is that unrealistic with only 10 Ibs to go ?
But as long as I'm losing ill be happy

Thanks so much for yer replies so far

srk369 · May 2013

I think some of that depends on your body composition. I've used the slope formula that's been posted on the forums and because of my higher bf%, I'm still good using TDEE-20% which is about 400 cal deficit for me...almost 1lb/wk. Most people w/in 10lbs would want to to the TDEE-15%. For your young age and higher TDEE, 15% would probably be fine and be in between 1/2-1lb wk. You can search for this and more info about it if you know your bf%...slope for women 102.1 - (0.712 x body fat%), but I think you would be fine with 15% deficit.

USAAirman · May 2013

that must be rough!!! P90X!

Confused about calorie intake

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