This can't be right... can it??

annemarielaney · May 2014

I am 212 lbs with an under active thyroid disease.. I was trying to figure out how many calories I am supposed to be consuming to lose weight. But when I follow the instructions it says for me to lose a pound every ten days safely would mean I eat 2200 calories.. TO LOSE WEIGHT.. WHAT?!!?!? It says for me to maintain my current weight of 212lbs I would have to eat 2880 calories.. I just feel that it's so WRONG.. I mean 2200 calories? Can that be right?!?! This is the method I am following..

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/dietweightloss/a/eatingenough.htm

if links are not acceptable here.. I apologize and here is a copy and paste from that site:

To calculate how many calories you need:
Dvide your current weight in pounds by 2.2, in order to convert your weight to kilograms.
Multiply you weight in kilograms by 30. (30 is the number of calories you need per pound of body weight.)
So, if you are 160 pounds, you divide 160 by 2.2, which equals 73 kilograms.

Multiply 73 kilograms by 30, which equals 2190, which would be how many calories you theoretically need to maintain your current weight of 160.

Subtract 200 calories for your thyroid condition, an estimate to reflect the reduction in your metabolism and calorie requirements.

1990 calories is now the estimated calorie requirements for you as a thyroid patient to maintain a weight of 160 pounds.

To lose weight, you need to cut your calorie requirements by 5 calories per kilogram, so that means you multiply your current weight in kilograms by 25 instead of 30.

So, in our example above, if you are 160 pounds, you divide 160 by 2.2, which equals 73 kilograms.

Multiply 73 kilograms by 25, which equals 1825, which would be how many calories you theoretically need to lose about a pound every ten days, at 3500 calories per pound).

Again, subtract 200 calories to account for your thyroid condition.

1625 calories is now the estimated calorie requirements for you as a thyroid patient to lose weight at a safe rate.

PS.. just to make it clear.. I feel like 2200 calories IS TOO MUCH calories.. I don't even eat 2880 calories when I don't log my food intake.. wtf.. i'm so confused.

Shell_7609 · May 2014

That doesn't make sense to me either. I just used that equation & it said I could lose a pound a week at 2800 calories

blueboxgeek · May 2014

How tall are you? I am about the same weight and only 5ft 4in. I think I could lose 1lb a week eating around 2000 calories as long as I was active (and I mean actively work out) ever day. I don't really work out every day so I try and average around 1600 and lose around 1.5lbs a week on that.

lemurcat12 · May 2014

That's a goofy method. It basically claims to calculate your maintenance (TDEE) from your body weight alone. It gives you the same answer if you are, say, 200, whether you are male or female, 8% body fat or 50%, however old you are, and regardless of the amount of physical activity you do per day.

bridgie101 · May 2014

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results

^^ try this site, and then take off 200 cals for the thyroid.

There is no accounting in your system for age, gender or height. Those are relevant factors.

If you know you have to take off 200 for the thyroid, then use a good quality TDEE site and just do a work-around.

bridgie101 · May 2014

Just had a wee look:

34 yrs old, female, 212 pounds (96.4kg) - the calculator at the above site says you have a tdee of 2290, which sounds normal, and to lose .4kg a week (about a pound, a good amount) you should be eating 1832 cals a day.

So that would mean going for 1632 cals a day.

Pretty sure that website you used has lost its marbles.

geebusuk · May 2014

About.com is a VERY poor source of information for the most part in my experience.

A much better way, I would suggest, is to eat at a set deficit, making sure you log any exercise and log all food as well as you can.

Weigh daily using a tool like the 'libra' app.

This will then give you a figure for your deficit, by averaging out the daily weigh ins to show a 'trend'.

So it may say workout that on average you're actually losing .25lb/week. From that your deficit would be around 125 calories. You can then go back to look at what you're recording as far as food/exercise and change your targets for eating accordingly.

This is going to be MUCH more accurate than a random calculator as it is real world data about YOU, not some equations averaged out for other people.

AntoinetteOK · May 2014

The formula that I have been given is.
Set your goal weight. Lets say it is 160 pounds. Multiple that by 10, and that is roughly how many calories should be eating. In tis case 1600. Due to your thyroid issue, you would take off a another 200 calories per day. So your daily calories should be approx 1400.

If you wanted to maintain your current weight of 212. You would be eating 2112 calories per day.
Hope this makes sense, good luck

annemarielaney · May 2014

About.com is a VERY poor source of information for the most part in my experience.

A much better way, I would suggest, is to eat at a set deficit, making sure you log any exercise and log all food as well as you can.

Weigh daily using a tool like the 'libra' app.

This will then give you a figure for your deficit, by averaging out the daily weigh ins to show a 'trend'.

So it may say workout that on average you're actually losing .25lb/week. From that your deficit would be around 125 calories. You can then go back to look at what you're recording as far as food/exercise and change your targets for eating accordingly.

This is going to be MUCH more accurate than a random calculator as it is real world data about YOU, not some equations averaged out for other people.

While I agree about.com isn't a reliable form.. the author is FAMOUS for thyroid patients and highly recommended by Endocrinologists. I only used the website as a reference because even in her book, "the thyroid diet" it states the same formula. I am utterly confused by all of it..

annemarielaney · May 2014

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results

^^ try this site, and then take off 200 cals for the thyroid.

There is no accounting in your system for age, gender or height. Those are relevant factors.

If you know you have to take off 200 for the thyroid, then use a good quality TDEE site and just do a work-around.

Alright I did this one and it's still listing my calorie intake WAY too high imo to lose weight.. 2145

i'm 5'9" age 34 and weigh 212. moderate"ish" form of exercise I guess? I walk a TON (not for exercise but because I have a small kid and we take walks to the park etc) I also hike three times a week and I want to start strength training but I haven't started yet.

Tanya949 · May 2014

I'm about the same weight as you, and listed as active. I exercise more (including strength training) and my daily calorie goal is 2400, so that sounds about right to me. It is possible to eat more and lose weight... look at my ticker.

cmeiron · May 2014

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/#results

^^ try this site, and then take off 200 cals for the thyroid.

There is no accounting in your system for age, gender or height. Those are relevant factors.

If you know you have to take off 200 for the thyroid, then use a good quality TDEE site and just do a work-around.

Alright I did this one and it's still listing my calorie intake WAY too high imo to lose weight.. 2145

i'm 5'9" age 34 and weigh 212. moderate"ish" form of exercise I guess? I walk a TON (not for exercise but because I have a small kid and we take walks to the park etc) I also hike three times a week and I want to start strength training but I haven't started yet.

FWIW, I'm female, 34, 5'9 and 136 lbs, and I'm currently losing weight eating an average of 2070/day. I strength train 2-3 times a week for an hour, walk a bit, and occasionally (rarely) do cardio (15-25 minutes max) but otherwise sit at my desk most of the day. Those intake numbers you're calculating seem perfectly reasonable to me.

geebusuk · May 2014

While I agree about.com isn't a reliable form.. the author is FAMOUS for thyroid patients and highly recommended by Endocrinologists. I only used the website as a reference because even in her book, "the thyroid diet" it states the same formula. I am utterly confused by all of it..

I don't know a massive amount about thyroid issues, though have discussed it a bit with a few friends that had such issues.
The human body is variable enough as it is, so personally I find it hard to believe that if you add in 'thyroid problems' it doesn't then become even harder to predict unless you know the exact circumstances of the person involved.

msbunnie68 · May 2014

The formula that I have been given is.
Set your goal weight. Lets say it is 160 pounds. Multiple that by 10, and that is roughly how many calories should be eating. In tis case 1600. Due to your thyroid issue, you would take off a another 200 calories per day. So your daily calories should be approx 1400.

If you wanted to maintain your current weight of 212. You would be eating 2112 calories per day.
Hope this makes sense, good luck

This would definitely not work for me.

It would have me eating 1190-1210 calories a day to maintain my current weight. No way is that enough food for me to maintain my body weight. I would be licking wrappers and chewing the legs off tables!!

This can't be right... can it??

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