200 calories makes a difference!?? Advice please.

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mbanister1
mbanister1 Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Can somebody shed some light and help me go in the right direction?
I am 25, a nurse and a mom. (I'm 5'5, 218 pounds- have PCOS and insulin resistance, carry most weight in my mid section) I work 3-4 days a week as a floor nurse. I have fitness pal set to lose 2 pounds per week. I have my daily activity set to sedentary because I don't want to overestimate my activity level. Am I busy during the day? Of course! But my body is used to that. According to the scooby calculator my TDEE is 1927, BMR is 1605. My fitness pal has me at 1200 calories. One pound is 3500 calories which means I need a 7000 calorie deficit per week to lose 2 pounds. Initially I had fitness pal at lightly active due to a busy lifestyle and it allowed me 1430 calories. I'm not sure if I have everything figured correctly. Will 200 calories make that big of a difference?

Replies

  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
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    If you're working as a nurse, you're definitely not sedentary. At least lightly active, maybe higher. Honestly, I'd start at lightly active and after maybe 4-6 weeks compare your actual losses to what you'd expect based on your settings and see if you need to adjust.

    Another option is to get something like a Fitbit. It will track your activity all day and give you a TDEE that changes from day to day, and then that info can flow over to MFP to give you your calorie goal (based on your settings of how much you want to lose).
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    Try it. Weight loss is a huge science experiment. If you're not sure, eat the 1430 (plus some of your exercise calories) on workdays and the 1200 on non work days. With an active job, I bet you'll be miserable at 1200. Give it time. Two pounds a week may not happen every week, but whatever you decide, listen to your body, fuel it, or you'll get burnt out. Give any changes 4 weeks before deciding it doesn't work.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    With PCOS and insulin resistance the calculators may not be accurate for your metabolism. To answer your question, 200 calories can definitely make a difference. But, unfortunately you may have to patiently go through a trial and error process to find the right calorie amount for you, specifically. I'm sorry the answer isn't clear cut- those of us with metabolic diseases simply can't plug-and-chug the calculators like some other people can. You may need more fine tuning you macros, adding more activity, etc to find the balance that gets you on the right track. Have some patience and faith- the solution exists, it just may take some digging to find it.
  • mbanister1
    mbanister1 Posts: 29 Member
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    I was creeping through some other peoples diaries and I often see exercise added as "fitbit calorie adjustment." So does the fitbit keep track of total calories burned on top of TDEE and then people count the calories as exercise calories because it's extra above TDEE? I think I should invest in a fitbit if this is the case. I'm sure my daily calories burnt fluctuates a lot. I am miserable some days at only 1200 so far.
  • mbanister1
    mbanister1 Posts: 29 Member
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    Thanks!! I feel very determined (this time around) but I always find the "it's harder for me because of ... (Insert excuse here)" lol.
  • Symonep
    Symonep Posts: 181 Member
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    My 6 year old would be miserable on 1200 calories a day. Definitely bump it up, but if you do you need to be spot on with calorie consumption. Use a scale to measure as much as you can
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    I was creeping through some other peoples diaries and I often see exercise added as "fitbit calorie adjustment." So does the fitbit keep track of total calories burned on top of TDEE and then people count the calories as exercise calories because it's extra above TDEE? I think I should invest in a fitbit if this is the case. I'm sure my daily calories burnt fluctuates a lot. I am miserable some days at only 1200 so far.

    Fitbit tracks all your activity throughout the day. You can set it two different ways to sync with MFP-
    1) If can either add or subtract calories from MFP based on your activity- so if you're lazy, it takes away calories
    or
    2) If can only add calories above your TDEE for extra activity (this is how mine is set, but I'm in maintenance)
  • spikrgrl503
    spikrgrl503 Posts: 247 Member
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    I am a laboratory scientist who walks all day. I set my lifestyle to "lightly active" but I do have a fitbit. MFP and fitbit are linked. Fitbit says I should burn 1850 or so with an "lighly active" lifestyle in order to lose 1 lb per week. It's only 4:21 and I've already burned 2000 from walking around all day. Therefore, it tells MFP that I'm burning more than I am "supposed to" with my lightly active lifestyle, and MFP adjusts accordingly.

    Make sense?
  • RaeLB
    RaeLB Posts: 1,216 Member
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    If you're on your feet all day then you're burning more calories. I'm sedentary because I sit at a desk all day. You are active.
  • Stripeness
    Stripeness Posts: 511 Member
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    Try it. Weight loss is a huge science experiment. If you're not sure, eat the 1430 (plus some of your exercise calories) on workdays and the 1200 on non work days. With an active job, I bet you'll be miserable at 1200. Give it time. Two pounds a week may not happen every week, but whatever you decide, listen to your body, fuel it, or you'll get burnt out. Give any changes 4 weeks before deciding it doesn't work.

    This!

    As an example of how even small amounts can make a diff: I was on 1200/day, since my medically measured RMR is 1100 (low, I'm hypo). Even using the eat-back-exercise-cals method, I was freezing and exhausted. So I took a leap of faith & bumped to 1310, and have been blissfully happy & still losing, right on track (15.5 lbs in 43 days!).

    Not saying your numbers will match mine, just that even 110 cals made a world of difference to me :-) My diary's open, if you want to take a look. Not exemplary, but it's working!

    Good luck on your own experimentation :-)
  • jfrankic
    jfrankic Posts: 747 Member
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    For reference and perspective, I work on my feet all day and have two small kids at home as well. With NO intentional walking/cardio on Monday, I logged 22,000 steps and 3,200 calories burned per my FitBit Flex. Give yourself the right amount of credit for your job. Just because it isn't intentional, doesn't make it non-existent. I'm 5'8 and 168 pounds.

    You will want to eat the most amount food possible to still lose fat. Then cut more if necessary. I would trust the TDEE calculator and take a 15-20% cut from that.
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    If you are miserable at 1200 calories, definitely eat 200 more, or even 400 more. Nursing should be at least lightly active in most cases, so you are probably shortchanging yourself on activity level. Maybe re-do your MFP goals with a higher activity level, your weight and height with that activity level should not be 1200 cals/day.

    Remember the most important thing is to find something you will keep doing: if you are miserable on some diet trying to lose, you wont keep doing it, eventually it will be too much. But if you lose at a slower rate with foods you can keep eating, you will more likely keep doing it and lose more in the long run!
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
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    200 calories can make a difference. Especially if you are miserable at 1200. I work a desk job and felt horrible at 1200 within a few days of dropping that low. I found I did better at 1500 (even that became too low at a point) and had no problem dropping the weight even with PCOS. You are active in your job and as a nurse, I'm sure you need to remain alert and feeling good. You will lose just as much weight in the long run eating 1800 calories (as long as you burn more than 1800 in a day) as you would eating 1200. It will just take longer, but you will feel better as you go and more likely to keep it up.
  • mbanister1
    mbanister1 Posts: 29 Member
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    The reason I set it at sedentary is because I only work 3-4 days a week. I just looked at mfp goals it says I burn 2160 per day just going about normal life. So a 1000 cal per day deficit would be 1200 (since that the lowest it goes) if I put it at lightly active it bumps me up to 1430 per day. I know this should be an easy equation: eat less/workout more. But like everybody else I want the most food with the beat results.
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    A fitbit will be one of the best investments you ever make in yourself.

    I was on 1200 per day and was stalled until I moved my daily goal to 1400, so yes, 200 calories does make a difference. You can eat a lot more than you realize you can and still lose weight.
  • HolyHarris
    HolyHarris Posts: 2 Member
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    In the beginning you will always be a bit miserable. You have to give your body time to adjust to the amount your eating, and allow it to realize you don't actually need as much as it may currently think. For me Ive found that Its more that my stomach expects something at specific times. Ie: 9 am breakfast 12 lunch 430 dinner. I break this by eating much more often throughout the day but less overall. Also Foods high in water content will help you feel full while having few calories. Oranges ~70 and sliced radishes~9cal/1/2 cup so they are top choices for me.
  • zilfig64
    zilfig64 Posts: 71 Member
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    200 calories makes a big difference if you look at it long term... 200 calories/day x 365 days per year =73000 calories per year. 73000 calories divided by 3500 calories per pound = 20.85 lbs per year. So theoretically, all other hitngs being constant, if you consumed 200 less calories a day, you would lose 20.85 lbs/year.
    However, there are alot of different factors, and weight loss is not linear - you are doing the right thing - take a long term view, and do some trial and error - try the 1400 and see how you feel, your energy level, weight loss, etc - give it at least 4 weeks, and maybe 6 - and don't get discouraged.
  • csmbsailor
    csmbsailor Posts: 10 Member
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    I don't think the MFP default calculator is any good it puts everyone there, there are other sites (that I found through other Older threads for a good calculator. Side note my Hubby is a floor RN and you are by no means sedentary! I am short and round and have a 1300 calorie day and am still currently losing 1 lb a week (had to do a restart after a year of no activity due to the last straw "female problems" that finally prompted me to have a hysterectomy in October)

    I recently got a fitbit One and am in love with it, I wear it in my bra and did have to set the sensitivity to low to track my steps. I only sync at the end of the day and don't use it for my food calories unless I am having a super active day. Hope this helps
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Will 200 calories make that big of a difference?

    200 calories/day is 20 pounds a year.

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