BMR? TDEE? I can't figure out how many cals to eat! GYAH!

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monbjork
monbjork Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
GYAH! I'm sure this has been addressed in another thread, so feel free to send me that way, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how many calories I should actually be eating.

I'm 5'4" (and a half!) and I'm currently at 133/134, I started at 140. I'd like to be at 120. I'm mildly active. MFP has me eating 1200, which is fine with me, I don't have a hard time staying in that range. HOWEVER, reading around on the forums and the internet in general I'm starting to think that 1200 may not be enough for my body to be happy. I'm freaked out by that 'starvation mode' thing.

I calculated my BMR and TDEE with that fitness frog thing, the BMR was 1400 and the TDEE was 1900. I don't really understand what that means, and I don't know what that realistically means I should be eating. I just want to do the healthy thing for my body, I'm not trying to accidentally crash diet or anything!

HELPPP!

Replies

  • focuseddiva
    focuseddiva Posts: 174 Member
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    Many people recommend you take your TDEE (1900) and subtract 20% (380) to give you a calorie goal of 1520 to eat per day. Your exercise level that you set with TDEE takes this into account.

    So, you could try eating 1520 per day and NOT eating any extra calories back from exercise.

    Or, you could use the 1200 calorie MFP recommends and log your exercise and eat back those calorie. So if you eat 1200 calories, and you burned 300 calories exercising, you would eat 1500 calories for that day.

    But I gotta tell you -- 5'4" and aiming for 120 is going to be hard ... that's pretty darn low. Sounds like you are at a healthy weight now. If you REALLY feel like you have to get to 120, it could take you a while to do it the healthy way. And then you have to make sure you can maintain that without starving.

    BTW -- your BMR is what you need to eat just to keep your organs functioning.

    Honestly, I'd try 1400-1500 a day, do whatever exercise you would like and if you get hungry, eat some of those calories burned back (and if not hungry, don't), and see if you lose anything at the end of a few weeks.
  • monbjork
    monbjork Posts: 7
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    Ahhh, thanks for the info! I know I don't have a ton of weight to lost, but I have a significant muffin top that ruins my day whenever I try to get dressed. I'm not "fat" by any means, but I've definitely got pudge. I'm not dead set on 120, that's just my guess as to where I'll be happy with the way my clothes fit. Thanks again!
  • Saramelie
    Saramelie Posts: 308 Member
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    So you have about 13-14 pounds to go? Did you set your weight loss goal at 1/2 pound/week? I've heard many times on MFP that we should lower the goal at 1/2 pound/week if we need to lose under 15 pounds... This would give you more wiggle room in the calories department.
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    Many people recommend you take your TDEE (1900) and subtract 20% (380) to give you a calorie goal of 1520 to eat per day. Your exercise level that you set with TDEE takes this into account.

    So, you could try eating 1520 per day and NOT eating any extra calories back from exercise.

    Or, you could use the 1200 calorie MFP recommends and log your exercise and eat back those calorie. So if you eat 1200 calories, and you burned 300 calories exercising, you would eat 1500 calories for that day.

    But I gotta tell you -- 5'4" and aiming for 120 is going to be hard ... that's pretty darn low. Sounds like you are at a healthy weight now. If you REALLY feel like you have to get to 120, it could take you a while to do it the healthy way. And then you have to make sure you can maintain that without starving.

    BTW -- your BMR is what you need to eat just to keep your organs functioning.

    Honestly, I'd try 1400-1500 a day, do whatever exercise you would like and if you get hungry, eat some of those calories burned back (and if not hungry, don't), and see if you lose anything at the end of a few weeks.

    Agree.

    Eating anything less than TDEE will result in weight loss (just remember it is an estimate though, and intake is somewhat of an estimate too even with careful logging).

    The question is how much below it should you go. To lose 1 lb a week, you need a 500 cal daily deficit - 0.5lbs a week would be a 250 cal daily deficit. You don't have much to lose so somewhere in between there would be appropriate in order to minimize muscle loss with a high deficit. TDEE - 20% is usually a good guide because it will give you that moderate deficit.

    Remember not to eat "exercise calories", they are included in TDEE. Try it for a few weeks and see if you are losing as expected. This allows you to figure out your own TDEE, working backwards.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    1. Buy and religiously use a digital food scale to weigh literally everything you eat and drink. Account for everything and log consistently.
    2. Eat about 300 to 350 calories under 1900 (1600 to 1550).
    3. If your TDEE truly is 1900 to maintain weight, then you'd be losing at a trend of 0.6 to 0.7 lbs per week, initially.
    4. Once you have less than 15 lbs to lose, then up calories so you are 250 below 1900 (1650) and continue until you're done.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Start weight/ strength training to improve your shape and reduce body fat. The scales are a very unreliable measure to use.

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