SOOO CONFUSED ABOUT CALORIES...HELP PLEASE!!!
memes_74
Posts: 18 Member
I have been reading on the BMI and how many calories I use and all that..I am not sure how many at the end of the day should I have eaten...I used calculator and it says I use like 1957 calories a day. Does that mean how many I need to eat to maintain.if so what to I need to eat to lose...I am just so confused about at the end of day with exercise what my target of calories eaten should be.
Help Please!!! :noway:
Help Please!!! :noway:
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Replies
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The short answer is "less than that". :bigsmile:
The long answer is that you have to bear in mind that this is a calculation, and therefore an estimate. So you're going to have to do some trial and error. It's a good starting point though. A good rule of thumb is to eat about 80% of your maintenance total to lose weight, but if that feels too much like deprivation, you can try eating at 90% for slower losses. If you do that, though, beware of calculation errors. If you overestimate your calories burned through exercise, or don't track your food calories very accurately, you could be eating at maintenance without realizing.
And if you try a certain calorie total and don't lose weight, the answer is simple. You have to reduce the total more. So if eating 1600 calories a day doesn't do the trick, try 1500. And above all, make sure your calorie tracking is as accurate as possible. And don't forget beverages and condiments. All calories count!0 -
You should subtract 250 (if you have under 10 lbs to lose), 500 (if you have 10-30 pounds to lose), or 1000 (if you have over 30 pounds to lose) calories from the number that you got. Also, if you want a more accurate version of your total daily energy expenditure without having to log workouts, then you can search the TDEE calculator on Google and use the one with the dials from health-calc.com. That's much more accurate as it takes into account literally all of the physical activity that you do, from sleeping to standing to vigorous exercise. And you should eat back about 50-100% of your exercise calories. That means that if you burn 200 calories from walking, then eat from 100 to 200 extra calories. The reason that you might not want to eat back all of your exercise calories is that most exercise calculators overestimate how many calories you burn.0
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I have been reading on the BMI and how many calories I use and all that..I am not sure how many at the end of the day should I have eaten...I used calculator and it says I use like 1957 calories a day. Does that mean how many I need to eat to maintain.if so what to I need to eat to lose...I am just so confused about at the end of day with exercise what my target of calories eaten should be.
Help Please!!! :noway:
You mean BMR?0 -
Also bear in mind that exercise is optional. Honestly, it's just one more variable to take into account. I simplified my calculation by losing weight without exercise, so I didn't have to deal with the very nebulous guesstimating process.0
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with the exercise i put in there is a ton of calories this MFP allotts me but i dont use them. I feel i eat healthy enough and once i hit the 4th or maybe 5th meal of the day im finding myself eating just to get my meals in. i usually avg 1300-1500 calories a day but if for some reason i think i need more then i give myself more. I just try hard not to go too low on the calories and try hard to balance my food with enough protein,carbs,fats and fiber0
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If you're in over your head, just use the MFP defaults: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
Weight loss takes a whole lot of trial & error, so don't panic. Choose an activity level & a goal. (A slower loss is healthier, but people can be impatient.) Log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Log your exercise, and eat back your exercise calories.
After a few weeks, reevaluate. If you're losing at least a half pound per week, great! If you're not losing, lower your activity level or start eating back just half your exercise calories. Give it another few weeks, then reevaluate again.
Everybody's different, and it will take a while to find what works for you.
Edited to add this link. It's full of good info that closely matches my MFP experience: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants0 -
I have been reading on the BMI and how many calories I use and all that..I am not sure how many at the end of the day should I have eaten...I used calculator and it says I use like 1957 calories a day. Does that mean how many I need to eat to maintain.if so what to I need to eat to lose...I am just so confused about at the end of day with exercise what my target of calories eaten should be.
Help Please!!! :noway:
You mean BMR?
ooopppsss..BMR...I told you I am so confused...to many BM's...0 -
Thanks for all the suggestions..I am not impatient..I want to do this right, too many times I starved myself and give up...0
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That's the right attitude to take. You can do this!0
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Yep you are definately confused!
What calculator did you use to arrive at your 1957 calorie amount?
And what was the goal you entered in that calculator?
When you set up your MFP account what goal did you input and what daily calorie amount were you given?0 -
I have been reading on the BMI and how many calories I use and all that..I am not sure how many at the end of the day should I have eaten...I used calculator and it says I use like 1957 calories a day. Does that mean how many I need to eat to maintain.if so what to I need to eat to lose...I am just so confused about at the end of day with exercise what my target of calories eaten should be.
Help Please!!! :noway:
You mean BMR?
ooopppsss..BMR...I told you I am so confused...to many BM's...
Taco Bell is GREAT for BMs! :drinker:0 -
You should subtract 250 (if you have under 10 lbs to lose), 500 (if you have 10-30 pounds to lose), or 1000 (if you have over 30 pounds to lose) calories from the number that you got..
Whoah...I have 66 lbs to lose and my BMR is 1600 or so. So I should eat 600 cals per day?
My TDEE is around 2100 assuming I'm sedentary...that would still only give me 1100 cals per day, if I'm subtracting the 1000 from TDEE not BMR.
This seems a little low, as I've been working towards 2100 less 25%, but eating back any exercise cals...?0 -
You should subtract 250 (if you have under 10 lbs to lose), 500 (if you have 10-30 pounds to lose), or 1000 (if you have over 30 pounds to lose) calories from the number that you got..
Whoah...I have 66 lbs to lose and my BMR is 1600 or so. So I should eat 600 cals per day?
My TDEE is around 2100 assuming I'm sedentary...that would still only give me 1100 cals per day, if I'm subtracting the 1000 from TDEE not BMR.
This seems a little low, as I've been working towards 2100 less 25%, but eating back any exercise cals...?
How tall are you and how much do you weigh?0 -
You should subtract 250 (if you have under 10 lbs to lose), 500 (if you have 10-30 pounds to lose), or 1000 (if you have over 30 pounds to lose) calories from the number that you got..
Whoah...I have 66 lbs to lose and my BMR is 1600 or so. So I should eat 600 cals per day?
My TDEE is around 2100 assuming I'm sedentary...that would still only give me 1100 cals per day, if I'm subtracting the 1000 from TDEE not BMR.
This seems a little low, as I've been working towards 2100 less 25%, but eating back any exercise cals...?
Yeah it's bad advice. I wouldn't subtract more than 500 unless you have 100 to lose, personally.0 -
You should subtract 250 (if you have under 10 lbs to lose), 500 (if you have 10-30 pounds to lose), or 1000 (if you have over 30 pounds to lose) calories from the number that you got..
Whoah...I have 66 lbs to lose and my BMR is 1600 or so. So I should eat 600 cals per day?
My TDEE is around 2100 assuming I'm sedentary...that would still only give me 1100 cals per day, if I'm subtracting the 1000 from TDEE not BMR.
This seems a little low, as I've been working towards 2100 less 25%, but eating back any exercise cals...?
How tall are you and how much do you weigh?
Me? I'm 5' 3" and 220 lbs...I wasn't quoting my numbers precisely BTW, just vaguely from memory from when I calculated them earlier....0 -
You should subtract 250 (if you have under 10 lbs to lose), 500 (if you have 10-30 pounds to lose), or 1000 (if you have over 30 pounds to lose) calories from the number that you got..
Whoah...I have 66 lbs to lose and my BMR is 1600 or so. So I should eat 600 cals per day?
My TDEE is around 2100 assuming I'm sedentary...that would still only give me 1100 cals per day, if I'm subtracting the 1000 from TDEE not BMR.
This seems a little low, as I've been working towards 2100 less 25%, but eating back any exercise cals...?
Yeah it's bad advice. I wouldn't subtract more than 500 unless you have 100 to lose, personally.
That's what I thought....just checking!!
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You should subtract 250 (if you have under 10 lbs to lose), 500 (if you have 10-30 pounds to lose), or 1000 (if you have over 30 pounds to lose) calories from the number that you got..
Whoah...I have 66 lbs to lose and my BMR is 1600 or so. So I should eat 600 cals per day?
My TDEE is around 2100 assuming I'm sedentary...that would still only give me 1100 cals per day, if I'm subtracting the 1000 from TDEE not BMR.
This seems a little low, as I've been working towards 2100 less 25%, but eating back any exercise cals...?
How tall are you and how much do you weigh?
Me? I'm 5' 3" and 220 lbs...I wasn't quoting my numbers precisely BTW, just vaguely from memory from when I calculated them earlier....
Oh wow, that is close to what I got as well. I would have figured that being 220lbs would have made your maintenance calories a few hundred higher.0 -
This. That's absolutely horrendous advice (you shouldn't be subtracting anything from your BMR, that's the minimum you should be eating), and doesn't really even work if subtracting from maintaining.You should subtract 250 (if you have under 10 lbs to lose), 500 (if you have 10-30 pounds to lose), or 1000 (if you have over 30 pounds to lose) calories from the number that you got..
Whoah...I have 66 lbs to lose and my BMR is 1600 or so. So I should eat 600 cals per day?
My TDEE is around 2100 assuming I'm sedentary...that would still only give me 1100 cals per day, if I'm subtracting the 1000 from TDEE not BMR.
This seems a little low, as I've been working towards 2100 less 25%, but eating back any exercise cals...?
Yeah it's bad advice. I wouldn't subtract more than 500 unless you have 100 to lose, personally.0 -
Yep you are definately confused!
What calculator did you use to arrive at your 1957 calorie amount?
And what was the goal you entered in that calculator?
When you set up your MFP account what goal did you input and what daily calorie amount were you given?
A TDEE calculator told me 1957, but my BMR by mfp says 1480...so???? What is the difference in those two..I think I am putting to much thought into it...0 -
You shouldn't compare MFP (which excludes exercise) to a TDEE calculator which includes it.Yep you are definately confused!
What calculator did you use to arrive at your 1957 calorie amount?
And what was the goal you entered in that calculator?
When you set up your MFP account what goal did you input and what daily calorie amount were you given?
A TDEE calculator told me 1957, but my BMR by mfp says 1480...so???? What is the difference in those two..I think I am putting to much thought into it...
Have a read of this and all will become clear:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf0
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