I cannot figure out how many calories I TRULY need.

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bevy_f4
bevy_f4 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
I read everything there is to figuring out how many calories I should be eating.. I am not so sure that the calories that MFP tells me is right. I asked a male friend of mine who's ripped. I told him my numbers: 5'6, female, 149 lbs, and 19 years old. He said that because I want to be a little more toned but maintain my weight, I should be eating:
Calories: 1500-1600
Fat: 50-60g
Carbs: 190g
Protein: 75-85g

Is this correct? I am hearing so many things that I don't know who to follow. I have been exercising 4-5 days a week, 2-3 days being cardio (started doing Insanity a week ago) and 2 being weightlifting, all around 45-50 minutes each workout. The thing is... lately ever since I lowered my calorie intake (i am assuming I had been eating around 1900-2000 calories and I felt fine) I have been feeling less energetic.. I feel weak and dizzy sometimes too. Does that mean I should be upping my calorie intake? If that is the case, what foods can I eat to increase it but not affect my toning/maintaining weight goal? I eat veryyy healthy too.

Thank you to all for taking your time to read!

Replies

  • kell2116
    kell2116 Posts: 77 Member
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    I would recommend (from personal experience) upping your calorie intake if you're feeling weak and dizzy.

    In terms of how many calories is enough: you will get different answers from different sources and every body has different needs so be patient and go with trial and error. Up your calories a bit, see if that gets rid of the weak feelings, and then adjust based on how your body is responding.

    Have a read of of this, which should also give you a bit of guidance:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
  • Levinia2013
    Levinia2013 Posts: 30 Member
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    there is a site iifym get your calories intake.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
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    Actually those numbers aren't too bad.. I would try them and see what happens.. I would however increase your protein to 100-120g and reduce your carbs accordingly.. but ya..

    So your partially doing Insanity and then doing weight lifting? Or are you going to do both workouts on the same days? Also reducing calories it may take your body a bit to get used to it.. so less energy, possibly moody etc etc.. but it really depends on what your results are in the next few weeks to determine if you increase calories or lower.
  • bevy_f4
    bevy_f4 Posts: 5
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    Actually those numbers aren't too bad.. I would try them and see what happens.. I would however increase your protein to 100-120g and reduce your carbs accordingly.. but ya..

    So your partially doing Insanity and then doing weight lifting? Or are you going to do both workouts on the same days? Also reducing calories it may take your body a bit to get used to it.. so less energy, possibly moody etc etc.. but it really depends on what your results are in the next few weeks to determine if you increase calories or lower.

    Carbs are very difficult to lower. For me at least haha. And yep Insanity on Monday/Friday, and weightlifting on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I think I may need to just play around with it a bit. The thing is though is that if I were to increase my calories, what foods should I eat that are low in carbs but has a decent amount of protein and a good amount of calories?
  • bevy_f4
    bevy_f4 Posts: 5
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    I would recommend (from personal experience) upping your calorie intake if you're feeling weak and dizzy.

    In terms of how many calories is enough: you will get different answers from different sources and every body has different needs so be patient and go with trial and error. Up your calories a bit, see if that gets rid of the weak feelings, and then adjust based on how your body is responding.

    Have a read of of this, which should also give you a bit of guidance:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

    Very true. Every person's body is different. What type of foods do you recommend I eat if I were to up my calories? Are bananas good? Or trail mix of some sort?
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member
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    I am 5'3. I weigh 115. I am maintaining at 1800 calories a day plus exercise.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
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    I'm 5 3 and weigh about 120. I get 900-1200 most days. It's a little low; I'm middle aged.
  • Charis_Sophia
    Charis_Sophia Posts: 16 Member
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    I find I feel best and lose weight when I net about 1400 calories with a total intake of about 1800-2000 calories. When I only net 1200 calories, I have no energy for anything and my body tends to hoard the stored energy so I don't lose anything.
  • Linnaea27
    Linnaea27 Posts: 639 Member
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    It sounds to me like 1500-1600 isn't enough for you, if you're dizzy and tired. I'm losing weight at net calories of about 1400 a day (so I eat more depending on how much I exercise). That means that, when I exercise (usually for a pretty intense hour a day), I usually can eat 1700-1800 calories and still *lose* weight. I'm 5'1", currently around 115 lbs.

    When you ate more, were you gaining weight at all? Were you doing the same workouts when you were eating more? If you were more sedentary but eating more, and were gaining a little weight, I think it would make sense that you could eat the same amount now that you're exercising and maintain your weight.

    ETA: if this is the first week of your eating less than you're accustomed to, feeling super hungry, tired, and grumpy is kind of to be expected. I did not feel good when I first started reducing the amount I was eating-- because I had been used to 2000-2200 cal a day (!)-- but I'm quite used to eating comparatively less now, and feel full much more quickly, without being grumpy/tired.
  • Binkie1955
    Binkie1955 Posts: 329 Member
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    I use the keto calculator on line for this and it seems pretty accurate to me depending all on your objectives. it's designed to help us MFP folks customize the goals section from the defaults.
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    I would recommend (from personal experience) upping your calorie intake if you're feeling weak and dizzy.

    In terms of how many calories is enough: you will get different answers from different sources and every body has different needs so be patient and go with trial and error. Up your calories a bit, see if that gets rid of the weak feelings, and then adjust based on how your body is responding.

    Have a read of of this, which should also give you a bit of guidance:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13

    This took a few read throughs for me, but it works. You just need to play around with the numbers to see what amount works best for you. But please up your cals if you're weak!
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
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    Are you eating back your exercise calories? Because working out as much as you are, I am willing to bet your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) is quite a bit higher than that.
    So, if you are eating 1600cals, and burning 300 working out, your trying to get by on 1300... Which is fine if you have a lot of fat to lose, and are willing to lose some muscle as well, but it sounds like you don't.
  • azyzzam
    azyzzam Posts: 36
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    Wow, I'm also 5'6'' and started at 160+ lbs, also trying to lower bodyfat (cardio + lifting atm).

    To lose steadily ~1lb per week, I ate 1650-1700 cals per day, 120g protein, 40-50g fat, and rest carbs from veg., fruits, oatmeal, etc. (That was with plenty of cheat meals, and I often went over)

    I REALLY lost weight when I ate 1450-1550 cals though and looked super toned, but I find that amount was too low for me and I couldn't stick to it. So I'm just losing slowly at 1650-1750 cals. Once I stabilize a little more, I'll prob lower down to 1550.

    :)

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