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bjdw_1977
bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Holy Moly, my target net calories are 1290. Pretty sure I ate more than that for dinner tonight. Time to dust off the old running shoes, blow the cobwebs off the exercycle and evict the slugs and snails from the kayak!

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  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
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    Unless I am drastically misinterpreting your profile picture, that seems like a very low calorie target. Did MFP come up with it for you? Can I ask your height/weight?
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
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    1290 calories?? Are you on a 75% cut??? Wrong - impossible! Where did you get that figure from??
  • bjdw_1977
    bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
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    177cm, 88kg. Set my goal at 1kg a week. Maybe I should go for 0.5.
  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
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    Assuming you don't regularly exercise, your TDEE is 2180 calories. You don't want to go much below that number minus 20% which puts you at about 1750 calories for steady weight loss. It is possible to go below that for a short period, but your body will start to adapt to it and slow your progress.
  • bjdw_1977
    bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
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    Oops. I'd put in 170cm instead of 177. Fixed that and changed my goal to 0.75kg per week. Now I'm at 1600. That's better.
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
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    Once again - where did you get those figures??? 177 / 88 makes an estimated bmr of 1800 calories!
  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
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    Here. Play with this calculator. http://www.1percentedge.com/ifcalc/
    If you don't know your bodyfat% just leave it blank. Set your preset to either "Weight Loss" or "Faster Weight Loss", though the latter isn't intended to be used for extended periods.
  • bjdw_1977
    bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
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    I just put my height and weight in here selected the "lightly active" option and that's the number it gives me.
  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
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    I understand. The calculations work out for the weight loss goal you have set. The problem is that MFP will let you set crazy goals. Someone who is very obese could maybe sustain a loss of .75kg/week, but you aren't that heavy. You will be lucky to safely lose .5kg/week regularly. 1600 isn't a completely crazy number. 1200 would have been. You could probably get away with doing 1600 for a couple of weeks, but you should probably aim for 1750 for sustained loss and recalculate every few kg.
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
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    I just put my height and weight in here selected the "lightly active" option and that's the number it gives me.

    no wonder people cry afterwards because they don't achieve their goals!
    Impossible fella - i am 183 / 83 kg and on 2400 calories on a 15% deficit.

    I use MFP for tracking purposes only - always calculate my calories / macros on my own and can assure you the figures given are waaaayyyyyy too low!
  • bjdw_1977
    bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
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    If I'm reading this right it would put me on 2100 a day, and it's aiming for 0.32kg per week.
  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
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    If you are actually lightly active, then yes. But based on that number you would NOT eat back exercise calories the way that MFP suggests. You would just always aim to be at or below your calorie goal. If you want to eat back exercise calories (If your exercise is not very regular, for instance) then I would select sedentary as your activity level and go from there.
  • bjdw_1977
    bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
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    Alright, one more tweak. Activity level set to sedentary, goal set to 0.5kg and I'll be eating back my workouts.

    Edit: That gives me 1710 net.
  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
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    The general consensus is that MFP overestimates workout calories. So most people who do things the way you are setting up to do them eat back about half of their exercise calories. See how it is going after a week or so and adjust accordingly.
    Feel free to add me if you have any more questions.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
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    Alright, one more tweak. Activity level set to sedentary, goal set to 0.5kg and I'll be eating back my workouts.

    Edit: That gives me 1710 net.

    I'm a little older short lady and I can drop weight on 1700 if I walk 45 minutes briskly 4 or 5 days a week. You can eat more. Up to you.
  • bjdw_1977
    bjdw_1977 Posts: 442 Member
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    The general consensus is that MFP overestimates workout calories. So most people who do things the way you are setting up to do them eat back about half of their exercise calories. See how it is going after a week or so and adjust accordingly.
    Feel free to add me if you have any more questions.

    Thanks for the advice.

    Right, off to bed. First jog in far to long tomorrow. (It'll probably end up being a walk but ah well, nvermind.)
  • abadvat
    abadvat Posts: 1,241 Member
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    The general consensus is that MFP overestimates workout calories. So most people who do things the way you are setting up to do them eat back about half of their exercise calories. See how it is going after a week or so and adjust accordingly.
    Feel free to add me if you have any more questions.

    Agreed - not sure on the overestimate but MFP / workout calories are not accurate.
    The calories someone burns are subjective to intensity - body structure - fitness levels and others.
    This is one of the reasons why i only use MFP for tracking.

    1700 seems still a bit low - same here - feel free to add if you have any more questions.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
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    If you are just starting out exercising then hell yes walk.. as you can of course. No need to run straight off! I took a whole year till I was game to run. Walking is great. Oh and I bet I can out drink you too. :wink: :tongue:

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