please help me figure out how much to eat

curvygirly911
curvygirly911 Posts: 105 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Please help me figure out how much I should be eating!
I am 5'2, 160 lbs with a small frame , female 27 years old
I have a sedentary lifestyle but I workout daily for at least an hour so I track the burn seperately

MFP is telling me to lose 1 lb a week I need to eat around 1280 cals whereas Scoobies Calculators ( A site highly recommended by members) is telling me to eat around 1600.HELP!I have just created a meal plan for this weak and it ranges from 1400-1600 calories. It includes about 8 fruit and vegetable servings daily, and a lot of protein. I am wondering if this is okay?


1-Can someone please advise me on how many calories I should be eating? And also do I eat back my exercise calories? I am confused because I know you should eat them back, but then I read about people with 1200 calorie diets and not eating anything back and getting results too.

2- I do zumba for an hour daily and it says I burn about 600 calories. I also weight train for about 30-60 minutes. How many calories should I track for this? I don't have a monitor and would like to guestimate. I feel like I might underestimate my tbsp servings so perhaps I should underestimate the calorie burn as well. Should I say that I burn about 400 calories on those days that I exercise?

Thanks for all of your help in advance :)

Replies

  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
    your best bet is to go with the lower number. Try that for a month and see where you are. No calculator can be accurate without long-term tracking of your own data. Calculate the numbers yourself after a month and you will know what your average daily burn really is.
  • j6o4
    j6o4 Posts: 871 Member
    If you choose to do it the MFP way, you need to net 1280, meaning if you burn 600 calories from exercise you need to eat 1880 calories to net 1280. MFP way requires you to eat back your exercise calories.

    I put your stats in the scooby calculator and your TDEE -20% is about 1871 calories. Doing this method, you eat 1871 calories everday and do not eat back your exercise calories, this is with 3-5hrs a week of moderate exercise.

    MFP way requires you to eat back exercise calories, the TDEE method you dont becuase it should account for exercise.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    We cant tell you what number to eat. Neither can MFP, or Scoobys. All they (and we) can do is give you an ESTIMATE of what your body needs to lose weight. This is just a starting number. Pick one. Try it for a week or 2. Assess how it's worked. Tweak the number. Repeat.

    1200 is an absolute minimum - if you're going with the MFP figure of 1280 then make sure you eat back some of your exercise calories. That isnt so important if you chose a higher figure such as your 1400-1600 range.

    I think it's great you have a meal plan prepared, and that you're concentraing on getting plenty of fruit and veg
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    If you choose to do it the MFP way, you need to net 1280, meaning if you burn 600 calories from exercise you need to eat 1880 calories to net 1280. MFP way requires you to eat back your exercise calories.

    I put your stats in the scooby calculator and your TDEE -20% is about 1871 calories. Doing this method, you eat 1871 calories everday and do not eat back your exercise calories, this is with 3-5hrs a week of moderate exercise.

    MFP way requires you to eat back exercise calories, the TDEE method you dont becuase it should account for exercise.

    this. choose either MFP or the TDEE method - both should give you similar numbers if you set them up right.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
    1954
    CALORIES/DAY.. for weight loss.

    Considering you train EVERY day, and I'm guessing intensely since you burn 600 calories?
  • joytrot65
    joytrot65 Posts: 2
    I PREFER THE MFP WAY. THIS WAY ON DAYS YOU DON'T WORKOUT, YOU STILL KNOW HOW MUCH TO EAT FOR THAT DAY. ALSO, I THINK IT BEST TO UNDERESTIMATE YOUR EXERSIZE CALORIES A LITTLE BIT, JUST TO BE SAFE.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    As a recommendation, you may want to take at least one day off as a full rest day. Exercising every single day puts a tremendous amount of stress on the body and does not allow for full recovery. It can also be responsible for excessive water retention due to elevated cortisol levels which occur with high levels of stress.
  • curvygirly911
    curvygirly911 Posts: 105 Member
    Thanks so much for everyone's help as it really helped me figured things out :)
  • Cat232013
    Cat232013 Posts: 23 Member
    I'm 5'2 as well and it took me ages to figure mine out! I'm currently on week 3 of insanity so pretty intense 6 days a week, I use Scoobies calculators set at 3-5 moderate exercise because my job is deskbound. That told me to eat just above 1600 as a 20% cut. I thought I'd be clever and reduce that to 1400 and lose weight quicker, it actually had the opposite effect and I lost nothing in the first 2 weeks! After some researching and advice on these forums I've upped to the 1600 (1700 for a couple of days) and have already seen a difference in body fat.

    I just wanted to chip in with that because I know for me at our height I was pretty scared to eat that many calories daily but it is important to eat enough as well as being at a deficit when you're being so active.

    Good luck :)

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