Calorie deficit vs Eating al allotted calories

Gee_24
Gee_24 Posts: 359 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi I'd like to ask you all about your calorie intake.

In short I have been allotted 1200 but burn around 700 via work, and also the 60 minute walk to and from work. I tend to eat around 1200 calories as is, but then do not eat back my burned calories on work days.

Is this a long term bad decision? I'm coping hunger-wise. As I have a little low calorie biscuit at night. But I don't want to damage my metabolism.

Thanks!

Replies

  • MzManiak
    MzManiak Posts: 1,361 Member
    Yes it is. (A long term bad decision). Eating all allotted calories IS eating at a deficit as MFP takes the deficit out first and tells you how much you can eat after that. 1200 is extremely low. 500 (1200-700) is WAY too low. Please reconsider. :flowerforyou:
  • Gee_24
    Gee_24 Posts: 359 Member
    Thanks dpenloza!

    I'm not 100% on what I'm burning. So I have purchased a pedometer and I'll probably get a slightly more accurate just logging my steps taken and using that to calculate my burned calories.

    Working 6 hour days as a maid IS very tough, but there will always be easier days than others so once the pedometer arrives I think I'll settle down and trust my stats more.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    Hi I'd like to ask you all about your calorie intake.

    In short I have been allotted 1200 but burn around 700 via work, and also the 60 minute walk to and from work. I tend to eat around 1200 calories as is, but then do not eat back my burned calories on work days.

    Is this a long term bad decision? I'm coping hunger-wise. As I have a little low calorie biscuit at night. But I don't want to damage my metabolism.

    Thanks!

    Yes.
  • Gee_24
    Gee_24 Posts: 359 Member


    Yes.

    Ah, I see. Thank you! lol
  • JonathanBB
    JonathanBB Posts: 252 Member
    Consider a heart rate monitor to get a better idea of what you are actually burning.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Thanks dpenloza!

    I'm not 100% on what I'm burning. So I have purchased a pedometer and I'll probably get a slightly more accurate just logging my steps taken and using that to calculate my burned calories.

    Working 6 hour days as a maid IS very tough, but there will always be easier days than others so once the pedometer arrives I think I'll settle down and trust my stats more.

    Since you only have 24 lbs to lose your goal should be to lose no more than 1lb/week, on top of that being a maid cleaning you should change your activity level to active. So with an activity level of active and a 1lb/week goal should give you more than 1200 cals/day. If you change to active though, don't log cals from your pedometer, only add exercise that is above and beyond normal daily activity.
  • j6o4
    j6o4 Posts: 871 Member
    Eat those calories back. 99% of the time it is better to go over 1200 calories by a little than going under 1200 calories by a little, but in your case you are going under 1200 calories by a lot.
  • KatLifter
    KatLifter Posts: 1,314 Member
    1,200 calories is the VERY minimum most people should net after exercise. Eating that few can really damage your metabolism long-term. Also, at those low numbers you are more likely to be burning muscle than fat, which further slows your metabolism. Here is a calculator that helps determine your TDEE - or how many calories you would need to eat in a day to maintain your current weight, http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
    If you subtract 15%-20% from that you find how much you should be eating each day.
    The number will probably be higher than you were expecting, and yes you can eat that much and still lose. I eat a minimum of 1600-1800 calories a day.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Thanks dpenloza!

    I'm not 100% on what I'm burning. So I have purchased a pedometer and I'll probably get a slightly more accurate just logging my steps taken and using that to calculate my burned calories.

    Working 6 hour days as a maid IS very tough, but there will always be easier days than others so once the pedometer arrives I think I'll settle down and trust my stats more.

    Since you only have 24 lbs to lose your goal should be to lose no more than 1lb/week, on top of that being a maid cleaning you should change your activity level to active. So with an activity level of active and a 1lb/week goal should give you more than 1200 cals/day. If you change to active though, don't log cals from your pedometer, only add exercise that is above and beyond normal daily activity.

    Took the words out of my ... fingers? But, yeah. This.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,340 Member
    Thanks dpenloza!

    I'm not 100% on what I'm burning. So I have purchased a pedometer and I'll probably get a slightly more accurate just logging my steps taken and using that to calculate my burned calories.

    Working 6 hour days as a maid IS very tough, but there will always be easier days than others so once the pedometer arrives I think I'll settle down and trust my stats more.

    Since you only have 24 lbs to lose your goal should be to lose no more than 1lb/week, on top of that being a maid cleaning you should change your activity level to active. So with an activity level of active and a 1lb/week goal should give you more than 1200 cals/day. If you change to active though, don't log cals from your pedometer, only add exercise that is above and beyond normal daily activity.

    I was going to post pretty much the same thing. My guess is your activity level should be higher as a maid, and your weight loss goal should be more in the 1 pound per week area.

    Also, the suggestion of a Heart Rate Monitor is good in terms of cardio type exercises, but for figuring out work calories it would be pretty much useless.
  • Gee_24
    Gee_24 Posts: 359 Member
    If you change to active though, don't log cals from your pedometer, only add exercise that is above and beyond normal daily activity.

    Firstly, thank you everyone for your replies. Very helpful as always.

    Secondly, @erickirb: If my activity is active due to work, would you suggest that I shouldn't log my work activity on top of each day? Is it already considered in my MFP daily stats?

    I've been wondering if I should be adding the 700 calories a day or if its already technically included and I'm adding false exercise.

    I may go down to 1lb a week then...
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    As someone mentioned, your weekly loss goal should be set at 1lb per week due to how much you have left to lose if it's not set at that already. Also, if you walk daily to and from work that should be accounted for in your daily activity level instead of exercise. With my old job, I walked at work for 4-6 hours a day depending on what was going on at work. I didn't count that as exercise as it should be included in your daily activity level. If you work as a cleaning person your activity level should be set at active most likely... if not a bit higher depending on the length of your shifts.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Try not to lose more than 1% of your body weight per week, as this can lead to muscle loss. Everybody else already answered most of your questions.
  • KatLifter
    KatLifter Posts: 1,314 Member
    Try not to lose more than 1% of your body weight per week, as this can lead to muscle loss. Everybody else already answered most of your questions.

    what's your source for this? People lose more than that regularly. Regardless of how much you lose in a week, you are more than likely to lose at least SOME muscle, that's why weight training is encouraged, to help you keep the LBM you already have.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Thanks dpenloza!

    I'm not 100% on what I'm burning. So I have purchased a pedometer and I'll probably get a slightly more accurate just logging my steps taken and using that to calculate my burned calories.

    Working 6 hour days as a maid IS very tough, but there will always be easier days than others so once the pedometer arrives I think I'll settle down and trust my stats more.


    IMO, I think it would be better, long term, to set your activity level to active or very active, with a goal of losing 1 lb per week or less. That should give you more calories; then you wouldn't count the time at work as exercise (maybe the walking time, depending on how brisk). That way, you'll probably be closer to you actual calorie needs and won't be overestimating your exercise calories, which you should eat back.

    Even short people need food; I'm 5 feet even, and I get 1400 calories just from a mildly active lifestyle (mother of a toddler).
  • Davidsenter22
    Davidsenter22 Posts: 2 Member
    A female should never be below 1200 calories, and also, coping with hunger is bad. If your body doesnt have enough calories to feed itself, it will go into a catobolic state, and eat your hard earned muscle tisue. When your body is hungry all the time it goes into starvation/ survival mode and will store alot of what you eat as fat. Your body consuming muscle is bad because the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns just sitting around. If i where you, i would get onto some good sites, like cutandjacked.com, or simplyshreded and read the research articles on nutrition and excersize. Doing the research and know what your body is doing scientifically will help you reach your goals alot faster. Keep up the hard work and dont starve yourself! Hope this helps, take care.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    If you change to active though, don't log cals from your pedometer, only add exercise that is above and beyond normal daily activity.

    Firstly, thank you everyone for your replies. Very helpful as always.

    Secondly, @erickirb: If my activity is active due to work, would you suggest that I shouldn't log my work activity on top of each day? Is it already considered in my MFP daily stats?

    I've been wondering if I should be adding the 700 calories a day or if its already technically included and I'm adding false exercise.

    I may go down to 1lb a week then...

    If you choose active your caloric intake would be higher to account for the work activity.
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    Thanks dpenloza!

    I'm not 100% on what I'm burning. So I have purchased a pedometer and I'll probably get a slightly more accurate just logging my steps taken and using that to calculate my burned calories.

    Working 6 hour days as a maid IS very tough, but there will always be easier days than others so once the pedometer arrives I think I'll settle down and trust my stats more.


    Did you put "sedentary" as your activity level? I would think being a maid that you are, at the very least, "lightly active" (not including exercise) maybe even bordering on "moderately active". I'd venture to say 1200, even with eating calories burned is low for you.
  • Gee_24
    Gee_24 Posts: 359 Member
    I'm down as "active" , but as I am 4ft 8 and 112lbs ( which gives me a bmi of 25: overweight ) that's why my calorie intake is set so low. I have a bmr of about 1600 last I checked.

    I'll stop logging my work as exercise now. This may even mean I'm eating slightly over my suggest daily calories!

    Thanks everyone.
  • Gee_24
    Gee_24 Posts: 359 Member
    After changing my goals to 1lb per week I'm still allotted 1200 calories. My projected weight loss hasn't changed either. Damn im mucking up somehow.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    After changing my goals to 1lb per week I'm still allotted 1200 calories. My projected weight loss hasn't changed either. Damn im mucking up somehow.

    Are you sure your activity level set as active then? Go to your goals tab and look at calories burned from normal daily activity, what is that number, and what is your BMR, there is a calculator on MFP for this?

    I just ran your BMR and it appears to be just under 1200, so once you factor in activity level, then take away 500 cals for 1lb/week loss 1200 is probably the right number for you to lose. When you get down to your last 10-15 lbs I would suggest changing your goal to 0.5 lbs/week, this should give you a few more calories to work with
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    I'm down as "active" , but as I am 4ft 8 and 112lbs ( which gives me a bmi of 25: overweight ) that's why my calorie intake is set so low. I have a bmr of about 1600 last I checked.

    I'll stop logging my work as exercise now. This may even mean I'm eating slightly over my suggest daily calories!

    Thanks everyone.

    Are you sure 1600 is your BMR? I'm 5' 5" and 196lbs and my BMR is just above 1600. I would imagine 1600 would be somewhat close to your maintance.

    Maybe research BMR and TDEE and eat slightly below your TDEE. Depending on your age I got a BMR of just above 1100 for you so I'm guessing that 1600 is closer to your maintance calories. I plugged in your info into the goals section and to maintain your weight you would have to consume 1600 calories plus any exercise calories (this has a daily activity level as active). Maybe set your weekly goal to 0.5lbs per week which will give you about 1350 calories, than eat your exercise calories (or at least half of them if using MFP numbers). Just because your weekly goal is set at a certain amount doesn't mean you will lose that each week.
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    I'm down as "active" , but as I am 4ft 8 and 112lbs ( which gives me a bmi of 25: overweight ) that's why my calorie intake is set so low. I have a bmr of about 1600 last I checked.

    I'll stop logging my work as exercise now. This may even mean I'm eating slightly over my suggest daily calories!

    Thanks everyone.

    you should never eat less than your BMR. BMR is the amount of calories required to keep you alive in a coma. Perhaps you are confusing that with TDEE, which should be higher than that considering your level of activity. Where are you getting these numbers from?

    These are good reading and might clear up a few things:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin_Bin
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy
  • Gee_24
    Gee_24 Posts: 359 Member
    Your all right, I'm mixing up my numbers. I used this calculator which gives me a BMR of 1294.95:

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

    And my calories burned from normal daily activity according to MFP are:

    From Normal Daily Activity 1,650 cal/day

    So I'll have a deficit of 450 calories and a projected weight loss of 0.9 lbs per week. Which isn't going to be totally accurate as we're all different.

    I'm now pretty confident that I can, and will eat up to 1200, as my extra 450 cals have been deducted. I will also only add in additional exercise such as my 60 minute walk to and from work in future as my housework / maid calories are already covered. Vigorous cleaning probably adds up to 450 ( considering I'm not cleaning vigorously the whole shift ) walking is a lot more. So I think that 450 is a lot more accurate than the 700 brisk walking points I've been awarding myself! lol

    Thank you all very much, and I'm confident this will be my last newbish thread / question spree!
  • DeborahBarone2
    DeborahBarone2 Posts: 7 Member
    I eat most of my calories. Maybe a few left over. I have noticed a little weight loss everyday. I usually burn an extra 250 or 300 a day. It's working for me. My calorie goal is 1200.
  • DeborahBarone2
    DeborahBarone2 Posts: 7 Member
    I use a polar watch and it tells me exactly what I have burned. I don't work out without it.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    I eat most of my calories. Maybe a few left over. I have noticed a little weight loss everyday. I usually burn an extra 250 or 300 a day. It's working for me. My calorie goal is 1200.
    Your goal is 1200 because you probably put the wrong information into MFP when you set it up. I'm guessing 2lbs per week and sedentary?

    aaaaaaaaaand.
    I use a polar watch and it tells me exactly what I have burned. I don't work out without it.
    Almost. It'll give you an estimate of calories burned for steady state cardio. Certainly not exact.

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