how many calories per day?
kelieprincess
Posts: 28 Member
I must admit I'm new to calorie counting and I'm finding it difficult to know how many calories to allow each day.
When I joined I was on 1200 calories a day and I lost well in week 1, but gained this week. I dexercise 5 times per week (swimming, bike, walking).
I've upped my calories to 1500 now but it seems like a big jump. Any ideas?? X
When I joined I was on 1200 calories a day and I lost well in week 1, but gained this week. I dexercise 5 times per week (swimming, bike, walking).
I've upped my calories to 1500 now but it seems like a big jump. Any ideas?? X
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Replies
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Few questions to try and help you:
- What are your MFP settings? (ex. activity level, how many workouts per week and how long are they, etc)
- Are you letting MFP calculate goals or are you manually setting them?
- If letting MFP, what is the daily calorie goal that MFP assigned to you?
- Are you eating back exercise calories?
Honestly, just let MFP calculate everything for you, especially if you have any confusion (and remember to update settings/goals every 5-10 lbs lost). As you get used to their system and settings, you can start to play around with manual settings (after doing research of course; the boards are very helpful. but that's future so don't worry about that).
MFP has my goal at 1,680 before I ever do any workouts, after I usually end up in the 1,900 to 2,100 range.0 -
I set my MFP up in the first instance to sedentary level, because I work on the computer all day, I didn't really think about the exercise I do in the evening. It told me 1200 calories, then I read somewhere that it was too low. So I upped it to 1500. But I've never eaten any of my exercise calories before. X0
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Is the weight on your profile current? (14st 7lb)
If my conversion is correct, you're about my weight and you should definitely be eating more (and my setting is on sedentary because I let my Fitbit add or subtract calories from daily activities or the lack thereof but the Fibit part doesn't matter, the base setting does).
If that is your current weight, let me grab a screenshot of my settings and see if we can figure out what's up with your settings because something is off.0 -
Thank you
I'm 5 foot 5 inches, and currently 14 stone 8 lbs x 0 -
Annnnd one last question: how many days per week do you workout and for how long (or ideally how many days would you work out and for how long)?0
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I'd say 3 to 5 times a week, and I do 40 minutes, usually at higher end fat burning heart rate, or lower end cardio heartbeat...
I just used an online tool which was on another thread where you calculate your body fat % using a military calculator, to work out your BMR and TDEE.
My neck measurement is currently 13.5 inches, waist measurement: 36 inches, hips measurement: 46.5 inches. I've put weight as 204lbs, height: 65 inches. My body fat percentage came out at 44.6%.
So using this calculator it worked out my BMR (what I need to survive) as 1479 calories. My TDEE to stay the same weight as I am now is 2329 calories. In order to lose more than 20lbs, it recommends eating 80% of my TDEE and recalculating it as I lose weight so I make that 1863 calories per day. I'm assuming this took into account 3 exercise sessions a week too...
This may explain why on 1200 calories I lost 4 lbs in week 1, yet gained 1lb in week 2 because my body was thinking where is my food???
What do you work it out to be? X0 -
Anyone else get anything different? X0
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Hey Kelie,
Just read a very informative (a tad confusing, and abrasive, but otherwise quite logical) article that I think will sum up the answer to your question and put it in a way that will make some sense!
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/eating-back-calories-burned/0 -
Thank you yes that does make a lot more sense when you read it like that. I'm still not entirely sure how many calories I should be eating a day though, I'm guessing I've got it too low but I work on a computer sat down Monday to Friday, apart from my workouts. I do pretty much cook most of our meals and general washing up/light housework daily 0
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I just read this post - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/931670-bmr-and-tdee-explained-for-those-needing-a-guide - and followed the instructions to find my optimal calories/day - it's WAY more than MFP suggested!
Based on my current height, weight, BMR, goals, etc., I should be eating around 1900 calories/day right now. Not the 1200 MFP recommends or even the 1400-1500 I thought was more reasonable. Does this look legit?
Height: 66in
CW: 204lbs
GW: 145lbs
Body fat: 44.5%
BMR: 1479cals
TDEE: 2296cals
Target daily calories: 1944
(Then recalculate for each 5-10lbs lost.)0 -
Mines at 1800 odd even with the 20% deficit. One thing I will say is that method tells you not to add additional exercise calories.... I've set mine at 1809 this week and will see what happens. One week experiment can't hurt yours sounds about right...
What did you set your activity level to? X0 -
I set my activity level at "light" because I work at a desk most of the time. I'll keep in mind that this method doesn't have you eat back calories burned when exercising. Thanks for pointing that out; I hadn't noticed.0
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Hehe neither did I until I read the forum post a few times...
I'm set to light too. They recommend sedentary only if you are laid down 24/7. Will be interesting to see how this works because I'm going to be a lot less hungry.
I did 1209 calories on week 1, and lost 5lbs. Did 1200 calories on week 2 and gained 1lb, 1500 calories on week 3 and lost 1lb. I'm hoping to see 2lb loss a week if possible 0 -
In 2000-2001, I lost 62lbs using eDiets. After figuring my current TDEE, BMR, etc. and extrapolating how many calories I need to be eating right now to lose weight, I remembered that eDiets had me set around the same number (I think it was 1850) when I started with them at a slightly lower weight. Exercising didn't change your numbers, but it did speed up weight loss once I started working out.
Man, I used to know all of this stuff! I kept that 62lbs off for 4 years because eating healthy and working out were my lifestyle. Working on getting back there.0 -
Wow that's an amazing loss! I've been terrible with yoyo dieting since I was a teenager so this time its as lifestyle change rather than doing that again. I've tried all sorts, slim fast which I lost around 50lbs but as soon as I stopped I gained it again, weight watchers much the same. I sat at 220lbs for the last 7 years give or take a few lbs so I'm already pleased with my progress. Think the exercise really helps 0
