Is upping my calories a mistake?

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mxmkenney
mxmkenney Posts: 486 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just decided to UP my calorie goal and I am wondering if it's too high for weight-loss. I was trying to eat around 1500 but then I would allow myself to eat back my exercise calories. I workout 4-5 days a week - cardio and weight-training for about 60 minutes a day. On average I would say I burn about 400 calories a day from exercise, sometimes more. But I haven't been losing for the past two weeks. I actually gained 2 pounds from just 10 days ago. Granted, there was Easter and a birthday party thrown in there.

My thinking is that if I up my calorie goal to 1800 and DON'T eat back my exercise calories, maybe I will have more success? Based on the Scooby's Workshop site, my TDEE for "sedentary" is 1864. If I put my activity level at "moderate" my TDEE is 2400. I have kept my activity level on MFP set at sedentary because I like to log my exercise, but I don't plan on eating those calories back if I am eating 1800 calories a day. What do you think? Is 1800 too much?

Here are my stats:
I'm 5'10"33 y/o female
CW: 168
GW:150
I would like to lose .5 -1 pound a week.

Thanks in advance for your honest answers. :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Best move I ever made was upping my cals. I'm 46 years old and 5'8", and 1800-2000 cals (a 15% or so cut from my TDEE) has been great.

    Our workouts and calorie burns sound similar, plus you're younger and taller than I am, so I would think the 1800 would be fine for you for fat loss. Give it a try for at least 4 weeks and see how it goes. Take pics now for comparison later, and start recording your measurements as well if you're not already. These things often show progress when the scale doesn't.

    Good luck!
  • Jewlz280
    Jewlz280 Posts: 547 Member
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    Honestly, that sounds good to me. I'm much shorter than you and I eat 1600 to 1800 and I don't eat back activity, either. With my BMR at 1585, I set my goal at 1600 with a good cushion. I've gone way over more the last few days and I am sure I will pay on the scale. But I'm thinking that a goal of 1800 may work better for you. That's the TDEE method and for many, just works easier than trying to calculate exercise and how much to eat back.
  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    If you were eating back all your exercise calories before, there's only 100cal difference between your plans. The only way to know if it will actually work for you is to try it for at least a month and check your progress. However, you shouldn't be using the TDEE and marking it as sedentary if you're working out. That defeats the purpose IMO. Personally, I'd try using the moderate setting with a 10-15% cut and see how you go.
  • RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle
    RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle Posts: 1,349 Member
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    I hope you do it, and come back in a month to tell us all how awesome you are:)
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    If your TDEE is 2400 and you eat 1800 you're creating a 600 cal deficit so should still lose over 1lb per week. You could probably stand to raise it to 2000 and you'd still lose around 0.8 lb per week.

    As others have said, the only way to see is to try it. Give it a month and if you're losing too quickly eat a bit more, if you're losing too slow eat a bit less.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    If we go with the assumption 2400 is correct for Moderately Active.

    250-500 cal deficit for 0.5 - 1 lb weekly loss is actually 1900 to 2150.

    With less than 20 lbs to lose - that amount is reasonable. You should bounce between those 2 numbers I'd suggest.

    1800 is actually bigger deficit it appears, and I'd suggest getting into unreasonable area with that little to lose.

    Also, those rough TDEE tables are based on non-exercise is always sedentary desk job for 45 hrs weekly - is that true?
    If actually more active than that outside exercise, you are even higher than Mod Active - at least round up an extra 100 to 2500.

    Logging food accurately is needed to, since as snazzyjazzy pointed out - the difference between methods is actually minor if you've done both right.

    Also - sounds like confusion on MFP activity levels - they are NOT intended to include exercise.
    And as soon as you set a manual eating goal, the math for the activity level and weight loss goal is out the window.
    So those settings don't even matter now except for the math on "in 5 weeks you'll weigh ..."

    Actually, it's interesting that MFP's new BMR multipliers for activity levels that DON'T include exercise are based on some newer research.
    And it shows up how outdate those old TDEE tables are from the 1919 study they are based on, which is ONLY about increases in exercise.
    Because you actually could select MFP Active level and be a tad higher than the TDEE table gives.
  • almozzo
    almozzo Posts: 7 Member
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    I agree with the idea of upping your intake. You might have hit a plateau, which means you should try and change the way you diet/exercise. What has worked very well for me in the past is

    -Playing with macros (increase protein intake and reduce carbs)

    -Changing fitness routine, if you like cardio, try interval training, or add a few resistance training sessions here and there.

    Good luck :-)
  • billhilly1968
    billhilly1968 Posts: 75 Member
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    I just upped my calories 100 calories from 900 to 1000. I am a RNY patient. 900-1200 calories is right for maintenance. It was recommended that I up them since I had been losing in 800-900 for months to trick/shock my metabolism into losing again. I hope it works and I do not gain.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Nope!
    I upped mine to around 1,700 a day when I started up again 40 days ago. MFP has dropped me down to around 1,600, now that I've dropped 10lbs. I tested it out, and it's clearly worked for me.

    Echoing what was said above; fiddle around with it for a bit, and see what works. Also, most likely that 2lbs was water weight; I think we all can relate to a good Easter weekend, haha.
  • mxmkenney
    mxmkenney Posts: 486 Member
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    Thanks everyone for your feedback - I am now feeling ok with my decision to up my calories - I will re-evaluate in a few weeks and see where things are at. I just was worried that I would waste several weeks and lose nothing (or worse - gain!), but I don't think this will be the case. The idea of eating more calories than 1800 right now seems indulgent for me!! :laugh: Knowing me, I would eat any extra calories in junk anyway, so it's probably better that I stay here for now. :)
  • beckywilliams1967
    beckywilliams1967 Posts: 58 Member
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    I've just upped my calories to 1850 and am feeling better already. Not sure if it is psychological as I was eating back exercise calories but am now following TDEE. Stick with it.

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