1300 daily calorie goal - too little? trying to lose!

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  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Just to add- 100% agree with tracking your intake.

    Remember it's easier to not eat the slice of cake than it is to burn off the 2-300 kcals once you have done it.

    I basically underestimated everything, portion size, amounts, cals, snacks everything. I was sitting wondering how I can walk about 5 miles a day, bring my own lunch, no sodas, no sugar in my tea etc and still somehow gain.

    Now I track everything- down to those treats people bring into the office. You know, it's somebody's birthday, somebody made fudge, cookies were half price etc. None of those. And also, really silly thing but I take a smaller lunchbox.

    Make sure you are eating enough- but that goes both ways; not too little and not too much!

    I agree with tracking, but i do not agree with restricting…

    if you want cake, eat it..just make room for it in your diary, plan your day around it, and maintain your deficit or stay in maintenance..

    so yes you can have some cake, ice cream, etc…just make sure you maintain your deficit...
  • stripeytrousers
    stripeytrousers Posts: 23
    This thread has been really helpful.

    I just wanted to check. Once you have your BMR (mine is 1550 so ive put my daily goal as 1600) and I work out, do i eat these exercise calories back? Or if you do it using this formula (rather than through mfp) should I not eat them back?
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    This thread has been really helpful.

    I just wanted to check. Once you have your BMR (mine is 1550 so ive put my daily goal as 1600) and I work out, do i eat these exercise calories back? Or if you do it using this formula (rather than through mfp) should I not eat them back?

    If you do MFPs way, yes.
    If you do it as a TDEE +/- method, no.

    So you have BMR, the amount of calories needed if comatose.
    You have TDEE or the apps amount of calories to maintain.

    A person with a BMR of 1550 who trains with high intensity 3x a week and walks a bit....
    1550x1.6=2480

    2480 is an appx maintenance calorie.

    So in theory if you eat below that, and above BMR, you'll lose weight!
    The higher you eat toward TDEE, the less muscle you'll lose.
    The lower you eat towards BMR (unless doing proper Keto) the more muscle you'll lose.
  • DuckDynastyMakesMeLaugh
    DuckDynastyMakesMeLaugh Posts: 363 Member
    "make sure you have a food scale and weight/log/measure everything. Inaccurate logging is the downfall of a lot of people on MFP"

    ^^This!

    Check out this video regarding measuring vs. weighing…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY …you will want to buy a digital scale today!


    …and don't sell yourself short by under eating - can't stress that enough. We see it all the time here at MFP -people want fast results, don't eat enough, and within a few weeks they are crashing and burning and wondering what went wrong. Lack of energy for workouts, tired, suddenly overeating and binge eating, grouchy - keep this up and eventually the posts become about hair loss, brittle nails, complete stalls in weight loss, and a slowed metabolism to match the low intake, which leads to needing to eat less and less in order to lose weight.
  • nikkinixsix
    nikkinixsix Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks everyone! Sorry to not have replied earlier - need to make sure I check in more often on the threads :smile:

    ndj1979: When I first put in my information for my MFP profile, I checked "sedentry/desk job" under activity level, which put me down to 1200 at first. After realizing that MFP doesn't take into consideration excercise outside of your day job, I went back and changed my activity level to reflect the fact that I work out 3-5 times a week after work.

    I am definitely making sure I eat 1700-1800 calories and eating back 20-25% of my excercise calories burned - my energy level is so much better! While the scale hasn't moved (1 lb. down) I feel "tighter" and know that I am losing inches. Just waiting for the scale to start making the move down and I know this takes time.

    I really appreciate everyones feedback and tips!
  • nikkinixsix
    nikkinixsix Posts: 22 Member
    Also, would be great if I could eventually spell exercise correctly! :tongue:

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