Calorie help please...

amcmillan730
amcmillan730 Posts: 591 Member
edited September 22 in Health and Weight Loss
ok. when I first started... before mfp... I wasn't counting calories... I was just eating much better and exercising at least 5 days a week (cardio mainly).... and I lost steadily for a few weeks (water weight I'm sure). then I started tracking my calories... and continued to lose... (just slower)... until I hit a 3 week plateau. After the 3 weeks I spent one week NOT counting... and dropped 3 lbs that week. So now I haven't been counting calories or logging food. and have been losing about 1 lb a week (except last week and this week... but thats my eating choices im sure..) I've been thinking about starting to log again... but I'm wondering if I wasn't eating enough calories. MFP has me set at 1410. When I calculate my BMR on other sites... it says its around 2000-2200. So if I took the 500 calories out... that would put me at 1500-1700.


Questions... Comments... Concerns... lol

HELP!

Replies

  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    Honestly, any of the calculators you find online (MFP included) are only estimates. I could do a work up for you with the formulas I've been taught in my nutrition classes and see if I get a number closer to what you are consuming when you are not logging here. It's what I used for myself when I set up my MFP numbers. It actually gives me a higher calorie need, too, so you may be like me in that you do need more calories then the MFP calculations give you.
  • erinsolesky
    erinsolesky Posts: 20 Member
    I am a firm believer in logging calories. I have been logging for quite some time now and have lost a considerable amount of weight. I think that once you stop logging, you have more of a chance to slowly slide into bad habits. There have been so many times where I think I am making a good food choice, log it in later, and realize that it was not low-cal AT ALL. I think that if your base calorie goal seems too low, increase by 100-200 calories OR you can always go to they gym and exercise to make up for the calories. That has been such a help for me ... knowing that if I burn 600 calories exercising, I can eat it later. In all reality, if you have a base calorie goal of 1410, you then burn 600, that gives you over 2000 calories to eat. That is quite a considerable amount of food. As far as not eating enough food, that is also why I say to LOG your calories! You have to EAT!!

    I hope that helps and I also hope that you will continue to log your foods, exercise, and live a healthy lifestyle!
  • kasmir8199
    kasmir8199 Posts: 507 Member
    ok. when I first started... before mfp... I wasn't counting calories... I was just eating much better and exercising at least 5 days a week (cardio mainly).... and I lost steadily for a few weeks (water weight I'm sure). then I started tracking my calories... and continued to lose... (just slower)... until I hit a 3 week plateau. After the 3 weeks I spent one week NOT counting... and dropped 3 lbs that week. So now I haven't been counting calories or logging food. and have been losing about 1 lb a week (except last week and this week... but thats my eating choices im sure..) I've been thinking about starting to log again... but I'm wondering if I wasn't eating enough calories. MFP has me set at 1410. When I calculate my BMR on other sites... it says its around 2000-2200. So if I took the 500 calories out... that would put me at 1500-1700.


    Questions... Comments... Concerns... lol

    HELP!

    Great questions!!

    I have learned, from logging consistently, that I'm eating better quality foods now and getting more out of my calorie intake. So on the days that I don't log, I still have a feel of whether I'm in that target area.

    I do, however, think I'm under-eating. Actually, I know I'm under-eating. According to my BOD-POD measurements, I'm supposed to consume at least 1710 cals a day and I've been way below that (1300-1500). The scale hasn't moved in 2 weeks, but I'm still losing inches and getting more toned (from strength training).

    I think I'm going to aim to eat more. Weird how that's so hard to do now (with healthier foods) than it was when I ate poorly.
  • amcmillan730
    amcmillan730 Posts: 591 Member
    Honestly, any of the calculators you find online (MFP included) are only estimates. I could do a work up for you with the formulas I've been taught in my nutrition classes and see if I get a number closer to what you are consuming when you are not logging here. It's what I used for myself when I set up my MFP numbers. It actually gives me a higher calorie need, too, so you may be like me in that you do need more calories then the MFP calculations give you.

    That'd be great!! I found one site that had some formulas... and I came up with about 2100 cal I believe.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    Honestly, any of the calculators you find online (MFP included) are only estimates. I could do a work up for you with the formulas I've been taught in my nutrition classes and see if I get a number closer to what you are consuming when you are not logging here. It's what I used for myself when I set up my MFP numbers. It actually gives me a higher calorie need, too, so you may be like me in that you do need more calories then the MFP calculations give you.

    That'd be great!! I found one site that had some formulas... and I came up with about 2100 cal I believe.

    PM me with the following and I'll do the math.

    Age
    Height
    Weight
    Body Fat % (This is not BMI. If you don't know your body fat percentage, I can figure an estimate with the other information and your waist and hip measurements)
    Activity level not counting exercise (Scale of 1-5 with one being never getting off the couch and 5 being never sitting down)
    Normal calorie burn from exercise if you know it, or just a list of what you do for exercise, how intense you go (scale of 1-10 with one being laying on your couch and 10 being running a marathon), and how long you go.
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