We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
calories needed?
av140to114
Posts: 11
first, this is my old account I used last year and did not log in after probably a week. I have restarted a new account, for a fresh start and have been at it for about 2 months now.
This is another "what Am I doing wrong question". Please read and then give feed back.
I am 4'11.5 ft , weigh 140lbs, 27 to be 28, f.
I eat 1200 cal a day. No foods barred, except red meat. Cheats meals once a week, still stays around 1200 or may be 100-200 cals over.
I burn 300 to 500 cals every day 5 days a week, walking and doing online work outs at home. I use a timex HR monitor and log 75% of what it shows. I maintain my hr in zone 140-190 /min for about 20 mins , usually twice a day.
I measure as accurately as possible and use tsp,tbs ,cups and a digital weighing scale for food.
I lost 2 lbs over the last 2 months and I want to optimise my weight loss. I have lost half an inch off my thighs and hips and gained abt .25 inches in my arms and calves.
when I started, I used scooby , freedieting and iifym to calculate cals needed, all of which included my work out to calculate cals to eat to lose weight. They all say I need to eat 1260 cals. +/_ 10 cals. Since it already factored in my exercise to calculate my cal needs, I dont want to eat back my exercise cals as I fear getting back on the scale to see the 2 lbs back. That would be very depressing.
Rest of my day is pretty sedentary, sitting in the couch all day, 8 am till 8pm with laptop .
The question : hehe, what am I doing wrong? better yet, what can I do to improve my plan? it is slower than I anticipated.
Peace.
This is another "what Am I doing wrong question". Please read and then give feed back.
I am 4'11.5 ft , weigh 140lbs, 27 to be 28, f.
I eat 1200 cal a day. No foods barred, except red meat. Cheats meals once a week, still stays around 1200 or may be 100-200 cals over.
I burn 300 to 500 cals every day 5 days a week, walking and doing online work outs at home. I use a timex HR monitor and log 75% of what it shows. I maintain my hr in zone 140-190 /min for about 20 mins , usually twice a day.
I measure as accurately as possible and use tsp,tbs ,cups and a digital weighing scale for food.
I lost 2 lbs over the last 2 months and I want to optimise my weight loss. I have lost half an inch off my thighs and hips and gained abt .25 inches in my arms and calves.
when I started, I used scooby , freedieting and iifym to calculate cals needed, all of which included my work out to calculate cals to eat to lose weight. They all say I need to eat 1260 cals. +/_ 10 cals. Since it already factored in my exercise to calculate my cal needs, I dont want to eat back my exercise cals as I fear getting back on the scale to see the 2 lbs back. That would be very depressing.
Rest of my day is pretty sedentary, sitting in the couch all day, 8 am till 8pm with laptop .
The question : hehe, what am I doing wrong? better yet, what can I do to improve my plan? it is slower than I anticipated.
Peace.
0
Replies
-
Thank you. However I religiously measure what I eat, down to a single nut. I do not miss logging anything . It is easy to estimate calories in my food , because I cook almost all of it. I measure the oil i use and all the ingredients that go into it. After which I divide them into equal portions and calculate the calories.
Outside food, I may have underestimated because I use generic values in mfp database. But I ate 2-3 in latst 2 months and worked up a sweat that day especially to accomodate any extra cals I may have underestimated.
But thanks, I will check my methods again.0 -
Eating just 1200 calories a day and then burning 300-500 on top of your normal daily activity leaves you with very little energy to sustain your body.0
-
open your diary
Plus I just entered your stats as you stated them and ah no...
it says to even at 25% you shoud be eating 1445 (which they don't recommend) so at 20% which is fast 1544 is what you should be eating
as well unless it's a liquid only use a scale for measuring.0 -
open your diary
Plus I just entered your stats as you stated them and ah no...
it says to even at 25% you shoud be eating 1445 (which they don't recommend) so at 20% which is fast 1544 is what you should be eating
as well unless it's a liquid only use a scale for measuring.
I do use a scale for solids as I have mentioned above.
And at 25% the websites show 1276 +_
"[img]"http://i1333.photobucket.com/albums/w627/Roma_Thai/Capture_zpsb2f6bad2.jpg"[/img]"0 -
aaaa!!! how do i attach an image!0
-
open your diary
Plus I just entered your stats as you stated them and ah no...
it says to even at 25% you shoud be eating 1445 (which they don't recommend) so at 20% which is fast 1544 is what you should be eating
as well unless it's a liquid only use a scale for measuring.
I'm getting stats closer to OP than to yours if the activity is set to sedentary. Up the activity level to what OP described each week, and I get closer to your stats.
OP, are you SURE you included your 5 days a week of working out when you figured your TDEE? It appears that you figured it for sedentary.
ETA: Why not log onto your current account so that you can open your diary and let us help you? Am I the only one who is always suspicious when we get the "this is an old account and all of my accurate and consistent logging is on a different, newer account" line?0 -
yeah I set it to 5 days a week of moderate activity. I am trying to attach the screen shot but being a total noob, not able to do it.0
-
I went to Scooby and that is what it said which seems more reasonable. And yes I entered stats as OP said and since they said they don't eat exercise calories back I put that in as well.
Can only go by what the OP Indicates.
As well OP you did not specifically say you weigh solids you said you use cups, tsp, tbs and scale.
ETA and yah a suspicious of anyone who is asking for help but has no diary.0 -
There's a formula to calculate your basal metabolic rate (what you need to survive) and then you can add caloric intake needs from there for different activity levels if you chose to. If you haven't yet done this, then you should definitely do it.0
-
open your diary
Plus I just entered your stats as you stated them and ah no...
it says to even at 25% you shoud be eating 1445 (which they don't recommend) so at 20% which is fast 1544 is what you should be eating
as well unless it's a liquid only use a scale for measuring.
I'm getting stats closer to OP than to yours if the activity is set to sedentary. Up the activity level to what OP described each week, and I get closer to your stats.
OP, are you SURE you included your 5 days a week of working out when you figured your TDEE? It appears that you figured it for sedentary.
ETA: Why not log onto your current account so that you can open your diary and let us help you? Am I the only one who is always suspicious when we get the "this is an old account and all of my accurate and consistent logging is on a different, newer account" line?
i donot know, I am rather worried about the kind of backlash / fiery wrath these threads get when said op is eating 1200 cals a day and asks " what am I doing wrong".
This way I can feel free about how I feel without have to be politically correct. I still am a polite person regardless of whether i am hiding or not. :bigsmile:0 -
There's a formula to calculate your basal metabolic rate (what you need to survive) and then you can add caloric intake needs from there for different activity levels if you chose to. If you haven't yet done this, then you should definitely do it.
I will try this thank you. I just googled for calories to lose weight , and picked sites that were top three in fitness website threads.
I will check out my bmr and go from there.0 -
well based on what I see
you should be eating more...you are depriving your body of the nutrition is needs.
Regardless of what calculator you use 1200 isn't enough for the amount of exercise you do.0 -
well based on what I see
you should be eating more...you are depriving your body of the nutrition is needs.
Regardless of what calculator you use 1200 isn't enough for the amount of exercise you do.
I set mine to 25% fat reduction thingy. that makes it show numbers nearer to 1200 give or take.
Wouldn't I be slowing down more than 2 lbs in 2 months If i increase my calories?0 -
I went to Scooby and that is what it said which seems more reasonable. And yes I entered stats as OP said and since they said they don't eat exercise calories back I put that in as well.
Can only go by what the OP Indicates.
As well OP you did not specifically say you weigh solids you said you use cups, tsp, tbs and scale.
ETA and yah a suspicious of anyone who is asking for help but has no diary.
Oh, no I didn't think you miscalculated, I think OP did not actually input exercise when originally figuring TDEE. Sorry for the confusion.
I see no "fiery backlash" on this thread, OP, only people trying to figure out the problem (which is nearly impossible without a diary) and give you solid advice. Your calorie calculations based on your goal are off. I would recommend recalculating them with your actual weekly exercise in it, eating to that new goal for a month, and weighing/measuring everything. See if that doesn't help.0 -
I set mine to 25% fat reduction thingy. that makes it show numbers nearer to 1200 give or take.
Wouldn't I be slowing down more than 2 lbs in 2 months If i increase my calories?
If you are the same stats as the OP then no it doesn't then either it actually says 1631..and am not SS another one to prove it.
Only way it shows 1263 is if you chose sedentary and 25%...which the OP says they didn't0 -
I went to Scooby and that is what it said which seems more reasonable. And yes I entered stats as OP said and since they said they don't eat exercise calories back I put that in as well.
Can only go by what the OP Indicates.
As well OP you did not specifically say you weigh solids you said you use cups, tsp, tbs and scale.
ETA and yah a suspicious of anyone who is asking for help but has no diary.
Oh, no I didn't think you miscalculated, I think OP did not actually input exercise when originally figuring TDEE. Sorry for the confusion.
I see no "fiery backlash" on this thread, OP, only people trying to figure out the problem (which is nearly impossible without a diary) and give you solid advice. Your calorie calculations based on your goal are off. I would recommend recalculating them with your actual weekly exercise in it, eating to that new goal for a month, and weighing/measuring everything. See if that doesn't help.
Yah based on what I can see OP put in Sedentary and is not eating back the exercise calories....blah...0 -
well based on what I see
you should be eating more...you are depriving your body of the nutrition is needs.
Regardless of what calculator you use 1200 isn't enough for the amount of exercise you do.
I set mine to 25% fat reduction thingy. that makes it show numbers nearer to 1200 give or take.
Wouldn't I be slowing down more than 2 lbs in 2 months If i increase my calories?
Not if you're currently depriving yourself of proper nutrition and fuel. And 75% of 2175 (OP's TDEE according to Scooby) is still just over 1600 calories, not 1200. 1200 is just barely half OP's TDEE and 200 calories less than your BMR (the number of calories needed just to survive).0 -
Oh, no I didn't think you miscalculated, I think OP did not actually input exercise when originally figuring TDEE. Sorry for the confusion.
I see no "fiery backlash" on this thread, OP, only people trying to figure out the problem (which is nearly impossible without a diary) and give you solid advice. Your calorie calculations based on your goal are off. I would recommend recalculating them with your actual weekly exercise in it, eating to that new goal for a month, and weighing/measuring everything. See if that doesn't help.
There is so much thought about eating back exercise calories, what is working for you guys?
So I should calculate with activity added at 25% fat reduction set, and eat the cals it shows? Because mfp adds it when i log exercise . I should eat at the cals it shows and ignore mfp added cal, right?0 -
I eat a TDEE-20% of 1600...when I log I change the calories burned to 1..
ETA: I don't use an online calculator tho...I used my own results and this formula
(Total calories consumed+3500*lbs lost) / # of days to lose=1995 -20%=16000 -
Also which calculators do you recommend?0
-
I eat a TDEE-20% of 1600...when I log I change the calories burned to 1..
ETA: I don't use an online calculator tho...I used my own results and this formula
(Total calories consumed+3500*lbs lost) / # of days to lose=1995 -20%=1600
This is what I do too (but my calories are closer to TDEE - 15% for a total of 1750 per day). I just log my exercise as 1 calorie so it's there for me to track my workouts.
ETA: I use Fitness Frog, IIFYM, and Scooby, then average the numbers.0 -
The question : hehe, what am I doing wrong?
You're being impatient. If you are sure your logging is accurate, then just be patient and give it more time.0 -
If you are doing only 1200 calories, then you are just plain short on needed energy.
That is if all you do is lay in bed all day.
Your TDEE should be around 1700 - 1800 cal/day
So for losing weight, I would say hover around 1400 - 1500 / day.
Protein intake should be 115 - 140 gr / day
Fat should be in the range of 50 - 60 gr / day
Your carbs you can float in either direction based on what the rest of your calories are needed.....but on the order of ~100 gr /day.0 -
The question : hehe, what am I doing wrong?
You're being impatient. If you are sure your logging is accurate, then just be patient and give it more time.
Now that is so inconsiderate! kidding! It is the hardest part, " the waiting " to see the changes. It would be so much motivating, a drop in jean size . meh.0 -
If you are doing only 1200 calories, then you are just plain short on needed energy.
That is if all you do is lay in bed all day.
Your TDEE should be around 1700 - 1800 cal/day
So for losing weight, I would say hover around 1400 - 1500 / day.
Protein intake should be 115 - 140 gr / day
Fat should be in the range of 50 - 60 gr / day
Your carbs you can float in either direction based on what the rest of your calories are needed.....but on the order of ~100 gr /day.
yeah, it says 1700 and 25% of it comes to 1270. I think I just have to ignore the calculators and increase my intake by 200 cal and work out the same.0 -
When I put height weight at 30% BF into the calculator, I get 1300ish back as your BMR and 1600 as your TDEE. It seems to me your problem, really, is that you have little fat to lose, in total pounds, so your deficit ends up being very small. Other than going hyper active on the exercise, it would seem that losing 0.5 lb/week is pretty much the ballpark you're living in.0
-
If you are doing only 1200 calories, then you are just plain short on needed energy.
That is if all you do is lay in bed all day.
Your TDEE should be around 1700 - 1800 cal/day
So for losing weight, I would say hover around 1400 - 1500 / day.
Protein intake should be 115 - 140 gr / day
Fat should be in the range of 50 - 60 gr / day
Your carbs you can float in either direction based on what the rest of your calories are needed.....but on the order of ~100 gr /day.
How on earth did you get that the TDEE of a 140lb female who is 4'11" tall and works out 3-5 hours a week has a TDEE of 1800?0 -
IIFYM.comIf you are doing only 1200 calories, then you are just plain short on needed energy.
That is if all you do is lay in bed all day.
Your TDEE should be around 1700 - 1800 cal/day
So for losing weight, I would say hover around 1400 - 1500 / day.
Protein intake should be 115 - 140 gr / day
Fat should be in the range of 50 - 60 gr / day
Your carbs you can float in either direction based on what the rest of your calories are needed.....but on the order of ~100 gr /day.
How on earth did you get that the TDEE of a 140lb female who is 4'11" tall and works out 3-5 hours a week has a TDEE of 1800?
And based it on 3 days of exercise.
and TDEE came out to be 17490 -
If I calculate her at 30% Body Fat, then her TDEE comes out to 1832
Still 3 day exercise level.0
![http://i1333.photobucket.com/albums/w627/Roma_Thai/Capture_zpsb2f6bad2.jpg"[/img]"](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/home/leaving?allowTrusted=1&target=http%3A%2F%2Fi1333.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fw627%2FRoma_Thai%2FCapture_zpsb2f6bad2.jpg%22%5B%2Fimg%5D%26quot){kind=link}
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 394.5K Introduce Yourself
- 44K Getting Started
- 260.5K Health and Weight Loss
- 176.1K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.7K Fitness and Exercise
- 444 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 16 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.8K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions