How many calories do you eat to maintain your weight

ES110791
ES110791 Posts: 43 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I am about 168cm and around 56/57kg though I do not weigh myself anymore. I find that MFP sets me at 1600/1700 calories for sedentary or lightly active and I aim for NET that amount on the days I exercise. But I find that intake is really not adequate in terms of stopping hunger. I still get hungry and I still binge sometimes.

I'm considering upping my net calories to 2000 both to quell hunger and because i'm training for a half marathon. Coming from an eating disorder background I am trying to learn to listen to my hunger, so it's really appealing for that reason but I really don't want to gain any more weight as i'm a healthy weight now. 2000 calories is much more than 1600, and apart from exercise I don't live a particularly active life (keep in mind i'm talking about net calories. I track my exercise calories and some days I eat 2000+ calories if I have exercised for a long time)

ANYWAY, my question is this: are the MFP estimates actually accurate? Obviously the body and calorie needs is more complicated than just a number but i'm curious, what are other peoples experiences with maintaining their weight on these numbers?
«1

Replies

  • Vorenus85
    Vorenus85 Posts: 112 Member
    Like you said yourself, they are just estimates. I'm still working on finding out my true maintenance; which in itself isn't easy because your tdee is always changing. MFP says I maintain at 2050 (which I was still losing at), so I've pushed it to 2300 temporarily to see if that will work out. A lot of people will try to tweak their calories a bit to find how much they can maintain at. And for some it may involve going up several hundred calories. I think as long as you are keeping an eye on your weight, pushing your calorie intake up a couple hundred calories would be alright. I mean, you aren't going to suddenly put on 20 pounds overnight. It's all trial and error in the end.

    Good luck.
  • FP4HSharon
    FP4HSharon Posts: 664 Member
    Usually they say that if you reach a maintenance level, then you add 300 calories to your daily total. If you do that, it'll stop you from losing & you should just maintain. Might have to tweak it a bit depending on your size & activity level.
  • bunkahes
    bunkahes Posts: 216 Member
    The hunger craving could be something missing in your diet, or not enough water, I felt that way when i first started then i started changing food in my life changing eating plan, i didnot think it was a diet, i changed from white starchy to wheat, accept for potato.
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    I continued to lose following MFPs guidelines so I went to the TDEE method and that gave me 2,250 calories a day. Ate that way for a few weeks and my weight stabilized so I stopped tracking and just do a bit of calorie counting in my head as I'm eating. I've been able to maintain doing this, until I changed up my workout schedule last week. In spite of all the holiday eating I've been doing, my weight has been creeping to the low end of my maintenance range. Yesterday I ate well over 3,000 calories (Burger King for lunch, pizza place for supper, plus a deep fried, hot fudge donut sundae and a few other things ), and this morning I saw a new low flicker on the scale before it stopped on my lowest maintenance range weight. Soooo, I may have to tweak my numbers and start tracking again for a bit. And eat more choclate lol.

    I'm 35 yrs old, female and my weight this morning was 117.5lbs
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    The hunger craving could be something missing in your diet, or not enough water, I felt that way when i first started then i started changing food in my life changing eating plan, i didnot think it was a diet, i changed from white starchy to wheat, accept for potato.

    I agree. Before I upped my calories, I'd up my protein and fat and lower my carbs (under 40% lower, not low, lower) and see if you are less hungry. For me, it's what I eat, not how much, that gives me cravings.
  • einzweidrei
    einzweidrei Posts: 381 Member
    I am about 168cm and around 56/57kg though I do not weigh myself anymore. I find that MFP sets me at 1600/1700 calories for sedentary or lightly active and I aim for NET that amount on the days I exercise. But I find that intake is really not adequate in terms of stopping hunger. I still get hungry and I still binge sometimes.

    I'm considering upping my net calories to 2000 both to quell hunger and because i'm training for a half marathon. Coming from an eating disorder background I am trying to learn to listen to my hunger, so it's really appealing for that reason but I really don't want to gain any more weight as i'm a healthy weight now. 2000 calories is much more than 1600, and apart from exercise I don't live a particularly active life (keep in mind i'm talking about net calories. I track my exercise calories and some days I eat 2000+ calories if I have exercised for a long time)

    ANYWAY, my question is this: are the MFP estimates actually accurate? Obviously the body and calorie needs is more complicated than just a number but i'm curious, what are other peoples experiences with maintaining their weight on these numbers?

    I know the way MFP states the differences between activity levels makes it seem only job-related but if I were training for a half-marathon I would not call myself "sedentary" or "lightly active." I'm "lightly active" and my goal is just to get out of the house and walk 1-2x/week. LOL. (I'm on my feet a lot at work too.)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I would never use MFP goal at maintenance, personally. You're still supposed to eat back exercise calories. What a pain in the butt, seriously.

    Use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • robathealthsidekick
    robathealthsidekick Posts: 20
    I agree with the above post. I used MFP in the beginning of my journey but you have better data than any general calculation can give you. Simply put your data into an excel spreadsheet and if you can get back you exact maintenance.
    Remember this though are bodies are always changing so that maintenance will be forever changing. I use healthsidekick because their calculator work differently from others and dynamically updates for me.
  • addean1
    addean1 Posts: 119 Member
    Mfp gives me 1750 per day for maintenance. i add an extra 400 each day for exercise, minus Sundays (60 min spin class, or running 4-5 miles) So I aim for 2100. so for instance yesterday, in training for my half marathon, I had a 8 mile run- so an extra 800 or so calories. Eek, yah, that's a lot of food, and i had an extra 500 calories that i didnt eat, But today is a rest day, so with my base at 1750, I'll probably use yesterdays extra, and still aim for 2,00 or 2100. It's working so far for me! Maintaining since oct!
  • Laura3BB
    Laura3BB Posts: 250 Member
    Well for me the MFP estimates work fine.
    My maintenance is estimated at 1750 net, I'm 1m68 and 67 kg, and I eat 1700 net (around 2100 with light exercise) and maintain that way.
  • lrmall01
    lrmall01 Posts: 377 Member
    ANYWAY, my question is this: are the MFP estimates actually accurate? Obviously the body and calorie needs is more complicated than just a number but i'm curious, what are other peoples experiences with maintaining their weight on these numbers?

    IMHO MFP is accurate and the error introduced is mainly due to the users tracking of food and exercise.

    The way I see it, MFP is just doing math. You provide it with details on your weight and activity and it comes up with an estimate of the calories you need. Of course you can debate how accurate this estimate is, but generally it is as good as any estimate you will ever be able to do. To do better, you'd have to have BMR measured in a test facility.

    Now, MFP will add or subtract some calories based upon your goal to lose, gain or maintain. This is all just based upon 3500 calories being equal to one pound. Then MFP expects you to input calories eaten and calories burned with exercise. It then simply adds and subtracts all those numbers.

    This is why I say MFP is accurate. It is simply a computer doing math.

    If you are hungry then my guess is that you are under-estimating what you eat or under-estimating how much you are burning with exercise or perhaps both.

    It is difficult to say for certain because your diary is locked. If you have a couple of weeks logged and want me to review and provide an opinion, just PM me.

    Best of luck!
  • EdTheGinge
    EdTheGinge Posts: 1,616 Member
    I'm on 2000 this was a figure I plucked out of the sky and yeah it seems to work for me. I was on this during marathon training which worked well or so my time would suggest.
  • tigerbunny91
    tigerbunny91 Posts: 7
    When I started maintainig 52-53 kg (I'm 155 cm tall btw) I didn't use MFP, I just ate what I used to eat when i was losing weight but I was little bit naughtier (I exercised 3 times a week, not 5)
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    It's hard to keep track of your weight and to determine even a rough idea of your calorie requirements if you don't weigh yourself. Maybe you weigh yourself less than when losing, but you still need a record. Actually, my sense is that most people who successfully maintain their weight weigh themselves just as frequently as when they were losing.
  • mel4bee
    mel4bee Posts: 225 Member
    I eat 1600 calls plus exercise calories. Pretty sedentary lifestyle minus the workouts.

    I'm 5'3'' 103 pounds and 21 yrs old.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I am about 168cm and around 56/57kg though I do not weigh myself anymore. I find that MFP sets me at 1600/1700 calories for sedentary or lightly active and I aim for NET that amount on the days I exercise. But I find that intake is really not adequate in terms of stopping hunger. I still get hungry and I still binge sometimes.

    I'm considering upping my net calories to 2000 both to quell hunger and because i'm training for a half marathon. Coming from an eating disorder background I am trying to learn to listen to my hunger, so it's really appealing for that reason but I really don't want to gain any more weight as i'm a healthy weight now. 2000 calories is much more than 1600, and apart from exercise I don't live a particularly active life (keep in mind i'm talking about net calories. I track my exercise calories and some days I eat 2000+ calories if I have exercised for a long time)

    ANYWAY, my question is this: are the MFP estimates actually accurate? Obviously the body and calorie needs is more complicated than just a number but i'm curious, what are other peoples experiences with maintaining their weight on these numbers?

    If you're using MFPs numbers you're supposed to eat exercise calories back. My MFP maintenance calories are 2350...with the exercise I do, I'd still lose weight at that number...I would have to eat my exercise calories back. I used a TDEE calculator and trial and error and I maintain on roughly 2700 - 2800 calories per day...that would make MFP's calculations about right since I generally burn 400 - 500 calories per day 6 days per week.

    Keep in mind that the more active you are, the greater your calorie requirements will be. If you're training for a marathon your calorie requirements will be substantially more than if you were just generally working out for fitness. My numbers above are for my usual fitness workouts and day to day living...when I'm in a run up to a triathlon or century ride or whatever, my calorie requirements are easily well over 3,000 calories to maintain my weight.

    If you aren't weighing yourself, how do you know if you're maintaining, losing, or gaining? I've been maintaining for about 7 months and I weigh myself at least 3 times per week to track trends.
  • lrmall01
    lrmall01 Posts: 377 Member
    It's hard to keep track of your weight and to determine even a rough idea of your calorie requirements if you don't weigh yourself. Maybe you weigh yourself less than when losing, but you still need a record. Actually, my sense is that most people who successfully maintain their weight weigh themselves just as frequently as when they were losing.

    Since the OP has had trouble with eating disorders in the past, staying away from the scale may be a good thing. That being said, I do agree that progress should be measured somehow.

    In this instance I'd point more towards bodyfat calipers and a tape measure to help avoid some of the anxiety around scale fluctuations.
  • erialcelyob
    erialcelyob Posts: 341 Member
    http://www.muscleandstrength.com/tools/bmr-and-daily-calorie-calculator.html

    Calculate your BMR here then subratct 500cal and that's what you should be eating in order to lose weight :tongue:
  • PaytraB
    PaytraB Posts: 2,360 Member
    I would never use MFP goal at maintenance, personally. You're still supposed to eat back exercise calories. What a pain in the butt, seriously.

    Use http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    This. I found the estimate from the Scooby site to be almost right on. I tweaked it minimally to maintain. MFP had my intake lower and I was still losing weight.
    You'll have to experiment a little to find your maintenance level. It's different for everyone and any calculator will only give you an estimate.
  • WhisperAnne
    WhisperAnne Posts: 453 Member
    I'm 5'4'' and weigh 125 pounds. MFP says I need 1650 calories to maintain my weight. I admit I'm secondary so I trust that I shouldn't go over 1650 to much. Sometimes I wish I could eat more though.
  • ChatoGuy
    ChatoGuy Posts: 8
    I used MFP strictly as a recording/feedback/motivation tool last year during my weight loss period. I successfully lost about 10 kg to settle in at around 70 kg (1.68 m); this puts me at the 'high' end of BMI at around 24-25 but I feel comfortable there.

    I find the question of how many calories to eat to maintain one's weight to be unimportant. Listen to your body and eat normally without external monitoring tools. If you find that you gain weight (or lose weight) then by all means get back on diet or exercise or other monitored programmes that have worked for you before. I think we will discover a few home truths about this whole weight loss business in due time: first, we're all unique. So diets are guides at best because any two people will almost certainly react differently to an identical diet. Secondly, our bodies know best and try to a) prevent excess weight gain b) prevent excess weight loss over a short period of time. It's like a feedback loop where our body seems to want to keep us at a given weight if we have been there for a while, a 'set point' if you want.

    Anyways, these are my thoughts and they're based only on my personal experience and what I've seen and read over the last few decades. Bottom line: eat normally and exercise regularly and....enjoy life!!!
  • NiikouruDesu
    NiikouruDesu Posts: 100
    Between 1500 and 2500
  • ES110791
    ES110791 Posts: 43 Member
    Thanks for the replies everyone. I track my weight according to how my clothes are fitting. I am not going to weigh myself because (a) it becomes an obsession for me and (b) seeing the number on a scale and knowing exactly how much I weigh would probably make me cry

    I don't believe the exact number should be important anyway, it should be more about how you look and feel. I'm hyper sensitive about my body so I can tell if i've gained weight. It's hard to know exactly how many calories I eat in total per day because of eating disorder behaviours, and my main goal is to stop those behaviours with a better intake. It's just so scary because like I said, I don't want to gain any more weight. So that's why I was curious.

    I eat back my exercise calories to usually around NET 1650 or so around 2000 total calories. According to those sights my TDEE (including exercise) is about 2100. Should I raise my intake to that? Have people found those sites accurate?
  • _namaste_
    _namaste_ Posts: 246
    5'6, 125lbs was maintaining at 2000 calories (net, I eat back ever single exercise cal! ;))

    Now bulking and eating more and have put on a few lbs since I began (woot).
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
    5'10.5", 170 lbs, 33.

    I maintain at 2200 net, which works out to 2400-2500 total. Although given how slow my weight is coming during my bulk, my maintenance may be at least 2300 now...
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I'm 35, 5'2", 101 pounds. I have to eat more than 1900 or I will continue to lose weight. But, the amount I eat fluctuates. Usually averages around 1900 to 2200.
  • capperboy
    capperboy Posts: 99 Member
    5'10" 164 lbs 1500 calories per day pus I eat back exercise calories calculated from HRM 2 years on maintenance now.
  • 1971jamie
    1971jamie Posts: 34 Member
    Last year I started at 186lbs on 24th April and went down to 153lbs by 14th August, which I decided was about ideal for me.

    I then tried to slowly ween myself of MFP and constant tracking of everything by just being concious of what I was eating against what I was doing exercise-wise (no gym stuff, just walking, working etc.). I didn't want to be a slave to MFP for the rest of my life if I could help it!

    I did weigh myself daily for couple of weeks, then gradually every other day, then once a week just to keep a check on things. Like others have said, I went more on clothes size than anything... I'm a size 32" waist jeans, with a belt, and sometimes can get in size 30" depending on the fit. So I knew when my 32" jeans got a bit on the tight size that I needed to cut back on the calories for a few days.

    Here's how my actual weight panned out since then:

    14th August 153lbs
    7th Sept 154lbs
    22nd Oct 155lbs
    - so very slow increase.

    A pig-out for my birthday just before Xmas put on a couple of pounds taking me to 157, and then over Xmas period itself I put on 4lbs by sitting around too much and eating all the good stuff! =

    1st Jan 161lbs - peak of my xmas binge!!

    then back on strict MFP, 1200 cals/day and trying to keep to around 60g of carbs =

    8th Jan (today): back to 154lbs.

    So I think I got on pretty well between August and Xmas with my first real concious attempt at maintenance. Previously in my life, like many, its been a case of diet, put back, diet, put back, in a cycle. Determined to beat that this time (Xmas indulgence to be excepted!)

    The real challenge is to be able to maintain long-term without MFP propping us up. I guess for many people that simply isn't possible - but give it a go, I very nearly got it right the first time, exluding the xmas binge, I put on half a pound per month. OK - that is basically half a stone a year which isn't good! - but is much better than previously when I've put weight back on faster than its come off, generally.

    My top tips would be this:

    I started off with 36" waist jeans... it was having to buy them as I'd bust the buttons on my 34" that made me realise I needed to take action! - so as soon as I got back into 34", I threw the 36" away... and as soon as I got back to 32" waist, I threw all the 34" away - and vowed never to buy any bigger sizes again... so if I got fatter, I just couldn't go out!
    TIP - get rid of clothes as soon as you slim down out of them, it is a great sense of achievement!

    Try and be concious all the time of what you're eating. It doesn't hurt to go out with friends and have a big meal now and again, but next day try and have a real cut-back on calories to immediately balance out what you had the night before, and do some extra excercise, even if its just going for a long walk. Sounds obvious, of course! - but often I find if I have a big meal in the evening, I'm really hungry next breakfast. Weird!.
    TIP - try and always take immediate action for any binges, one day of salads doesn't hurt!

    Continue to weigh regularly. I normally weigh daily and look at the trend over a week or so. We all know weight fluctuates daily (a lot more for women of course than us men) - some say weigh once a week, but my argument against that is you might happen to weigh one week on a "heavy day" and the next week on a "light day" and fool yourself into thinking you've lost 4lbs when in fact you are exactly the same weight (I.E. the two fluctuations were 2lbs out each time). That can give you a very false sense of what is going on. When I was dieting hard, I weighed every single day, but only logged the weight when it was less than the previous logged weight - so sometimes I might not actually record a loss for several days or even a week at one point, due to fluctuations.
    TIP - it's all about the trend - if you see a weight gain over more than a week or so, nip it in the bud with a quick diet day (or two).

    Anyway, hope that helps someone!
  • mamahannick
    mamahannick Posts: 322 Member
    5'9" and between 125-130 lbs (closer to 125 right now), and I tend to maintain on average at around 1800.
  • Pandora_King
    Pandora_King Posts: 153
    Without exercising, about 2000. I am eating 1500 right now and exercising about 300 - 700 a day.

Categories