Calorie Level understanding

kelr101
kelr101 Posts: 8 Member
in Getting Started
Hello All,

I've been a member of MFP for a few years but this is the only time I've really used it (My Partner has a lot of weight to lose so I thought it was an ideal time for me to drop a few pounds as well) and have stuck to it for the past 4 weeks so far.

What I would like help with is understanding what calorie level I should be eating at.

My stats are:

Height 5ft 1 (just!)
Female, aged 34
SW 158.5
CW 152.5
GW 126

I have lost 6lbs so far which I'm very proud of, but also know that this is mainly due to the change in weekly takeaways and chips every night to healthy meals, salads and the odd treat in moderation. The 6lb lost was based on 1300 a day (MFP said 1200 but I increased by a 100 as sometimes get low blood sugar levels), and based on 1 1/2 lbs a week loss

I have been exercising, but not a lot yet, say 15-20 minutes on the exercise bike 5 times a week, plus an hours walk into town on the weekend.

This week I haven't lost anything - not surprised and not worried as I'm in this for the long term - but I have been reading all of the forums (amazing posts!) and am now looking at BMR vs. TDEE

According to the Scooby calculator my BMR is 1439 and TDEE 1979 based on 1-3hrs/wk of light exercise

TDEE-20% would then put me at 1583!

I do think I'm eating too few calories, but wonder what sensible alternatives you would suggest to tie in with these numbers and to maintain 1 or 1.5lb loss a week?

Thank you for any advice, and good luck to all fellow members!

Replies

  • melissabaillie2012
    melissabaillie2012 Posts: 15
    My advice would be to set your activity level to sedentary and try to make sure that you always NET more then 1200 a day :)

    if you ate what your goal amount of calories say 1300 and then you did excersise and burned 300 calories , your net would only be 1000 calories ..so make sure minimum you NET 1200 calories...so if you eat 1300 and burn 300 eat 1600 and you will still lose at the same rate... :)
  • melissabaillie2012
    melissabaillie2012 Posts: 15
    also if you take current weight and multiply by 8, ,that is usually a good amount to eat to lose 1 pound a week...
    if you want to maintain...multiply your weight by 12 and eat that much a day to stay the same....

    these numbers you will see should correspond with mfp
  • melissabaillie2012
    melissabaillie2012 Posts: 15
    so 152 x 8 =1216....but If 1216 is not enough to feel full and you want more food go excersise and burn 200 cals and eat 1400 a day and you still will lose at the same rate a week :)
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    Add your exercise into the program - it may not seem like much for 15-20 mins and eat some back - if you entered 2 lbs per week for your goals then you could lower that to 1

    Just remember that MFP calculates calorie burn a little high so I wouldn't eat back all exercise calories if you use their numbers.

    6 lbs in 4 weeks is great and remember that minor fluctuations or no movement on the scale doesn't really mean much - in 2 days you could be down another lb - I only weigh once per week as the fluctuations would drive me batty
  • scottYBRIDGEWATER
    scottYBRIDGEWATER Posts: 206
    A lot of the online calculators over estimate how many calories you should be eating. And IMO too many forum members are on this whole eat eat eat nonsense. For the most part, people eat too much NOT to little. That is why they are fat and are not losing. Everybody loves to hear that they can eat more. But, they reality is that they are eating too much. Stick to the 1300 and track your excercise that you can measure accurately for a few weeks. Track your weight less with consistent diet and excercise numbers. Don't eat back the calories until you figure these out.
  • kelr101
    kelr101 Posts: 8 Member
    Thank you all!

    i'll stick to the 1300 for another 4 weeks and see how that pans out.

    I did see on a lot of posts that exercise if often over-estimated so I'll start with 30% eat back and if I find that is working will review from there and adjust my goals accordingly.

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