Suggested calories/day?

irishpolyglot
irishpolyglot Posts: 10 Member
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! I'm new here and ready to get rid of some belly I've built up in recent months ;)

I am using the Android app, as well as the online interface to track absolutely everything that I take in, and as much as I can from my exercise.

The thing is, the myfitnesspal interface suggested I aim for 1780 calories per day - the last days I've been eating as normal to get an idea how many calories I typically take in before changing my routine, and that's precisely what I end up at, even taking my basic exercise into account.

I don't get it - eating and exercising as I normally do is what's making me put on weight. Can someone suggest a better target? I'm not pushy about losing weight super quickly, but I do want to make sure I'm going in the right direction, and I won't do that at 1780!

I'm male, 28 and am slightly overweight.

Advice appreciated :)
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Replies

  • mtwd65
    mtwd65 Posts: 51
    I found that when I changed my eating plan I ate the same amount of food but the fat and carbs were down and the protein was up. Eating the same amount of food resulted in far few calories but me feeling full and not feeling a need to eat any more. Even eating the same number of calories you can still lose weight.

    I'm here to maintain my weight while eating low fat. My aim is to eat the required number of calories or more that is why I count calories. I have lost 2kg and 8cm around my waist in 4 months just by eating more healthily.
  • irishpolyglot
    irishpolyglot Posts: 10 Member
    Good for you... but that doesn't even remotely answer my question :P
  • NightOwl1
    NightOwl1 Posts: 881 Member
    Trust in the app. For males, eating under 1800 a day generally isn't a good idea, and 1500 is the absolute minimum.

    My advice would be to eat more smaller meals a day. I am eating about the same number of calories now as I did before I was on MFP, but instead of eating 1-2 big meals a day, I eat 5-6 smaller meals. It boosts your metabolism like crazy, and you will burn the pounds.
  • rosnnj
    rosnnj Posts: 25 Member
    Well the site suggested I eat 1800 calories to lose but I don't lose at 1800. So I looked on some other sites and if you know your body fat percentage then the calorie intake is lower because your body is not burning as efficient as it would with muscle. So I aim for 1500 and I'm starting to see a difference.
  • idahogirl71
    idahogirl71 Posts: 1,110 Member
    My calorie and exercise amounts vary daily. I never hit the target calories nor would I want to. I talked to my nutritionist and personal trainer about this exact thing and they both said the target calories are what your body needs for survival based on your weight and how much you exercise. For me my base is 1900 before exercise. I eat between 900-1200 a day plus add in exercise. Some days I burn more calories than I eat. In order to lose weight you must eliminate calories from somewhere. In other words to lose 1 pound a week you need to decrease your caloric intake by 3500 calories from your weeks total base rate. It is working for me...down 19 pounds in 28 days. I don't get the whole eat your exercise calories to lose weight thing so I am just doing what my nutritionist and trainer are telling me to do.
  • Jonesie1984
    Jonesie1984 Posts: 612 Member
    I'd just try it with multiple small meals, healthy choices for two weeks. If it works stay with it. If not drop your calories by maybe 150-200 and re-evaluate :D
  • irishpolyglot
    irishpolyglot Posts: 10 Member
    Thanks for the reply NightOwl! :)

    I generally distribute my eating over 4 meals, with a big lunch at midday and a reasonably sized breakfast. I like my big breakfast and thought that it would be suggested that I'd reduce my lunch, evening meal and snack total calories, or increase the amount of time and types of exercise.

    I'm just confused about what I am supposed to be doing in this program. I can't see any indication that I should change my current patterns. I thought that by exercising more and eating less overall I'd be going for a good target, but based on what this app says and what you confirm I'm already on target to lose lots of weight, which I am not...

    Is changing how I distribute my meals really what this is all about? Why even count what I'm doing if the norm is already within what the app wants me to do? I was expecting a push to eat less and get off my *kitten* more.
  • Jonesie1984
    Jonesie1984 Posts: 612 Member
    Exercise definately is gonna help (it builds muscle, muscle burn more calories than fat, speeds up metabolism). The app is also a gauge in healthy eating. You can be right at the calories for the day but over enormously in fat and catbs..this patter eventhough youre in perimeters is not good for weight loss...eating less is not always the answer but eating smarter often is...100 calories from chocolate or a banana are metabolized at much different rates..


    Hope all the yammering helped even a little :)
  • irishpolyglot
    irishpolyglot Posts: 10 Member
    @rosnnj Yes, I'm thinking of just reducing it 200 or so. The default suggestion just won't lead to any fat loss.

    @idahogirl71 Hold on, how is your base 1900, but you are eating 900-1200 per day? I'm quite confused!

    My data from yesterday:
    Goal: 1700.
    Food: 2268
    Exercise: -918
    Net: 1355
    In this case I did more exercise than normal, but ate what I usually would, which is too much.
    Am I just confusing which number should be where? I'm going with the "net" - and see this annoying "345 calories remaining" basically telling me to eat MORE, since exercising would bring me further away.

    Perhaps I'm interpreting all this wrong?
  • idahogirl71
    idahogirl71 Posts: 1,110 Member
    According to my nutritionist and trainer....my base is 1900 calories. 3500 calories = 1 pound. So if you take 1900 daily calories and multiply it by 7 days you get 13,300 calories for the week. In order to lose 2 pounds a week I must eliminate 7000 of those calories. So 13,300-7000= 6300. Divide this by the 7 days of the week equals 900 calories per day. It is not safe to only consume 900 when working out so I eat 900 if not exercising and up to 1200 depending upon how much exercise I do that day.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    OMG please don't listen to Idahogirl71. If MFP says to eat 1900 and you eat 900-1200 you are starving yourself and are going to get weak, tired, irritable, sick, lose muscle, etc.

    Perhaps she needs to tell her trainer that MFP gave her that number based on a deficit OF her TDEE, it is NOT her TDEE (which is your BMR plus your activity level, TEF, and TEA, and other factors.)

    The goal in your diary is:
    (the number of cals you burn daily living your normal life) - (the number calories needed to lose a pound a week, or 2 whatever you chose) = your MFP goal.

    Problem is WAY too many people eat too LITTLE and it makes them NOT lose weight because they are starving.

    First step is to recheck ALL you numbers. Are you sure you're set to "male"? did you choose 1 lb a week loss or 2? if you didn't choose then you are set at maintenance and that is your "eat this to stay the same" calories....
    are your current height and weight entered correctly?

    check everything carefully before making any other changes. Then set it to 1 lb per week and follow the plan.
    It may take a couple of weeks for your body to adjust but then it will start to come off, 1 lb a week, its not a race, much faster than that is unhealthy.
  • idahogirl71
    idahogirl71 Posts: 1,110 Member
    Based on your base being 1700 calories you would multiply that by 7 days which is 11,900 calories for the week. Minus 3500 calories (or 1 pound) = 8400. divided by 7 days = 1200 per day. That should be your total caloric intake IF you are not exercising. The days you exercise you should add more calories to it.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    Based on your base being 1700 calories you would multiply that by 7 days which is 11,900 calories for the week. Minus 3500 calories (or 1 pound) = 8400. divided by 7 days = 1200 per day. That should be your total caloric intake IF you are not exercising. The days you exercise you should add more calories to it.

    Again, do NOT listen to this!

    1200 for ANY male is starving, most WOMEN shouldn't even TOUCH 1200.
    1500 is the BARE MINUMUM for healthy males, and only if they are relatively small.

    I am a 5'2" 105 lb woman and I eat 1700-2000 a day to maintain.

    please do not starve yourself. you will ruin your metabolism.

    And based on your numbers from yesterday, that is fine, you are on track to lose whatever you set as your goal plus a little more because you left some on the table, just don't leave so much on the table that you actually eat less than 1500.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    Based on your base being 1700 calories you would multiply that by 7 days which is 11,900 calories for the week. Minus 3500 calories (or 1 pound) = 8400. divided by 7 days = 1200 per day. That should be your total caloric intake IF you are not exercising. The days you exercise you should add more calories to it.

    1700 is his MFP GOAL, not his "base" as you call it. MFP already subtracted his 1000 a day (if he chose 2 lbs a week at setup). He needs to eat ALL those calories. Stop trying to kill the poor guy.
    Did you not realize that MFP gives you a deficit? they don't tell you your maintenance and let you make your own deficit. they tell you what to EAT to LOSE, with the deficit already subtracted!
  • irishpolyglot
    irishpolyglot Posts: 10 Member
    @robin Thanks for trying to bring some sense to this!

    But I can confirm that all my details are correct. I weighed myself, checked my height, and am definitely male according to my profile and in real life! :)

    I also have it set to 1lb per week. I'm really not in a crazy rush to look like a model - but I do want to make sure I start on the right foot to gradually getting in better shape. Based on my current settings this is not likely to happen since I know I'm eating too much and not exercising enough to balance it out but the program says I'm doing fine. In fact, it's telling me to eat several hundred calories more!!

    There has to be something I'm missing?
  • marber
    marber Posts: 118 Member
    The fact that you were recording what you were eating so you could see the calories may have made you think twice about eating something without even realizing it, so you ate less than normal.

    I find I don't eat as much when recording everything as it is there in black and white and I can't forget what I have eaten.

    Try the calories given by MFP for a few weeks and see what happens.
  • idahogirl71
    idahogirl71 Posts: 1,110 Member
    Robin52077....I don't want this to turn into a nasty debate, but just so you know my 1900 base is not going by what this program says. I had a complete body analysis done with a nutritionist/doctor/personal trainer to know that it is my daily base caloric need for my body's weight if I am not exercising.

    Losing weight is not one size fits all and what works for one person may not work for another. All I know is that I go by what my medical team says and it is working. I use this site for moral support and calorie and exercising tracking.

    I'm sure that eating the higher calories works for many people. But it depends upon the person's body, metabolism, and many other factors. That is why I went to a medical team for my analysis.
  • irishpolyglot
    irishpolyglot Posts: 10 Member
    @Marber
    I've been eating full pizzas followed by chocolate desserts, french fries, fried breakfast etc. logging everything including sides of ketchup and any juice.

    When I logged some exercise one day, after eating like a pig, at the end of the day when everything was logged it told me I was 700 calories off my target! Trust me, I'm not adjusting anything, I wanted to log a typical few days to see what I could and couldn't change.

    If I followed the advice in this program right now I'd put on even more weight! I'm starting to think that setting a target of 1200 or something would be much more logical. This wouldn't be such a dramatic change in lifestyle and I would definitely NOT be starving to death...

    Some calculation has gone wrong somewhere. Maybe it's because I'm on metric and they forgot to carry a zero somewhere. The only imperial measurement in my system is the 1lb goal. I won't change this setting because I don't understand non-metric in terms of my own weight and height and progress.
  • robynrae_1
    robynrae_1 Posts: 712 Member
    Here is an odd question for you. How would you define your muscle mass? The amount of muscle that you have on you body will help determine how many calories your base is.
    For example men and women have the same body functions by the base calories are different because men carry more muscle mass.
    So I guess my suggestion is to lift weights to gain muscle. And what you eat.
    Any fat and sugar you eat goes straight into the blood stream without much work. When you eat protien it takes longer to get absorbed into the blood stream, (theroy behind Atkins diet.)

    If you want to alter your calories I would only go down about 200 at a time to see where your body wants to be at. (I think down 500 is a little drastic.)
    also double check what you log in. Just because it is in the MFP food log doesn't mean that it is right.
  • chocolatnoir
    chocolatnoir Posts: 182 Member
    I don' t think anything is off.

    Are you serious about eating the fried foods and pizza and desserts and expecting to lose weight? I haven't had my coffee yet so I'm not sure if that was meant as a joke...

    Basically Robin is exactly correct. What I suggest you do is figure out your TDEE- just google it and punch in the numbers so you are not going by only what MFP says. Based on your height, weight and activity level it will tell you how many calories you need to eat in order to MAINTAIN weight. Being a woman who is 5'7 and 153 lbs and working out 5-6 days a week I need 2300 to MAINTAIN my weight. So, to lose weight I NET around 500 calories less than that daily- 1800 ideally but usually I net around 1600-1700 (ie after factoring in everything I eat and my exercise) That is a healthy deficit for me. For a while I was eating 900-1200 net and I wasn't losing anything. After I started eating more I am getting slimmer and stronger.

    Also- please read this thread. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions?page=1

    If you are in fact eating the above mentioned "food" that will explain a lot, as well. The nice thing about MFP is you can track your fat, sugar, sodium, etc and we have to not get too much of any of those on a daily basis, as well as eating fiber dense foods, drinking a lot of water, and eating a lot of fresh vegetables.

    Good luck. I think the above thread should clarify things for you.
  • chocolatnoir
    chocolatnoir Posts: 182 Member
    Another thought-

    Eating 1800 calories of pizzas and desserts is very different from eating 1800 calories of healthy grains, vegetables, fruits, and lean protein. One will result in you losing the belly and the other surely will not. Track not only what you are eating but what is in your food. Your pizza is mainly carbs and fat, for example, and your body only needs so much of that in a day.
  • MernaDea
    MernaDea Posts: 30
    Ok, this is the thread I was looking for. I just found this site today and was a little surprised as how many calories my daily intake was raised on the days I exercise. That FREAKED me out, but doing it my way with an average of 1350 a day, I lost only 1/2 pound, WHICH led me to find this site from my frustration. I exercise 5 days a week come hell or high water. Today is a skip day, but was playing with the tools.

    Here is what I posted on my intro thread:

    I have a question for anyone here. I am reading through the free software to track everything! (I usually do all the math on my own etc.) Incredible tools!

    The calculator is actually giving me more calories than my norm of 1350 a day (I alternate 1200 & 1500 - avg 1350 per day) Should I eat more than with the days I exercise? That makes me nervous...BUT, this past week I only lost a half a pound and it Freeaked me out, which led me to find you all on Google for support. (so that low loss is still GREAT to me ) ;)
  • MernaDea
    MernaDea Posts: 30
    Thanks, I clicked on that link and found exactly what I am looking for! I am going to do it and follow eating my exercise calories this week and take one week at a time. Its hard and never really did it.

    This could be what Jillian and Bob always talk about with contestants eating too little and scared to eat all these calories.. Me too!

    Here goes.......
  • chocolatnoir
    chocolatnoir Posts: 182 Member
    Thanks, I clicked on that link and found exactly what I am looking for! I am going to do it and follow eating my exercise calories this week and take one week at a time. Its hard and never really did it.

    This could be what Jillian and Bob always talk about with contestants eating too little and scared to eat all these calories.. Me too!

    Here goes.......

    Good luck!!
  • irishpolyglot
    irishpolyglot Posts: 10 Member
    I also found the link to be helpful.
    But I still think the daily calories estimate for me is off. There must be some discrepancies in the number of calories for what I'm putting into it (and I do finish everything on my plate), or over estimate of how many calories I'm burning in my exercise periods (and I am doing a rigorous version of the exercise).

    I'm sure this program can help me because tracking tools have been good for helping me improve other aspects of my life in the past. I just want to make sure I've got all this right, and when it says I'm several hundred calories too short after a day of over-eating then I have to wonder what I'm doing wrong.

    Perhaps it's just equating calories and carbohydrates as being similar in my mind as smarina79 suggests? Does the program simply presume that those calories are coming from healthy foods? I suppose if I ate the same "weight" of food in more healthy form it would indeed ask me to eat more.

    Of course, I'm not eating those as part of my strategy to lose weight. I just wanted to see what my typical result is from my current lifestyle before really getting serious and was expecting the program to tell me I'm getting too many calories that aren't getting burnt in my typical day.

    So is my issue just a carbohydrates/fat vs good calories confusion problem? Since you'll get fatter even if you are safely within recommended calories limits because precisely what you are eating is junk? This would at least somewhat explain why the program (unfortunately) isn't telling me that I'd put on weight with my current lifestyle.

    I wanted a big red number to wake me up you see :P But the good news is I get that if I dig into the settings to see my nutritional intake. Perhaps I should look at that more than the calorie count?
  • ebgbjo
    ebgbjo Posts: 821 Member
    My calorie and exercise amounts vary daily. I never hit the target calories nor would I want to. I talked to my nutritionist and personal trainer about this exact thing and they both said the target calories are what your body needs for survival based on your weight and how much you exercise. For me my base is 1900 before exercise. I eat between 900-1200 a day plus add in exercise. Some days I burn more calories than I eat. In order to lose weight you must eliminate calories from somewhere. In other words to lose 1 pound a week you need to decrease your caloric intake by 3500 calories from your weeks total base rate. It is working for me...down 19 pounds in 28 days. I don't get the whole eat your exercise calories to lose weight thing so I am just doing what my nutritionist and trainer are telling me to do.

    Doing what you are doing is damaging your muscles. If I ever had a nutritionist and personal trainer suggest to me what yours did to you, I would fire them both. Your body needs more than 900-1200 calories a day, ESPECIALLY with exercise
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    My calorie and exercise amounts vary daily. I never hit the target calories nor would I want to. I talked to my nutritionist and personal trainer about this exact thing and they both said the target calories are what your body needs for survival based on your weight and how much you exercise. For me my base is 1900 before exercise. I eat between 900-1200 a day plus add in exercise. Some days I burn more calories than I eat. In order to lose weight you must eliminate calories from somewhere. In other words to lose 1 pound a week you need to decrease your caloric intake by 3500 calories from your weeks total base rate. It is working for me...down 19 pounds in 28 days. I don't get the whole eat your exercise calories to lose weight thing so I am just doing what my nutritionist and trainer are telling me to do.

    Doing what you are doing is damaging your muscles. If I ever had a nutritionist and personal trainer suggest to me what yours did to you, I would fire them both. Your body needs more than 900-1200 calories a day, ESPECIALLY with exercise

    Yes! Thank you! And the statement "Some days I burn more calories than I eat. " ...ending the day at a NET of below 0?!?!?! seriously?!?!? When she ends up in the hospital she'll realize she should have fired them like you said.

    To Irishplyglot: I really really think you are not putting in all your food correctly. Any time I even LOOK at a pizza I go over 2000 for that day. Are you logging EVERYTHING you eat? And you can't eyeball the portions. Most people underestimate by 30% or so. Weigh and measure everything. And yes, WHAT you eat makes a big difference, not just how much. If you ate the same amount of calories but changed the fried foods to fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats, and lots of water, the pounds will fall off.
  • irishpolyglot
    irishpolyglot Posts: 10 Member
    OK, I see a problem with the pizza. I selected one PIECE rather than one "container". This was confusing as I would think of a "slice" as being the relevant word for a "piece". Changed it and the number of calories zoomed up to a ridiculous amount - yay! lol - so it's making more sense now. I just have to make sure I use the right units.

    Seeing that one pizza take over the day and kill any chance of losing weight is the kind of wake up call I was hoping for ;)

    Otherwise I should select higher numbers of servings perhaps for other meals that definitely feel and look bigger. This brings the total up much more and makes it all more logical. Sorry for the confusion - I think I'm on track now - I just needed to understand the context of my current diet before altering it.

    Thanks!
  • jadesign19
    jadesign19 Posts: 512 Member
    Did you get a physical? Get your thyroid levels checked.
  • paulmmichaud
    paulmmichaud Posts: 59 Member
    Thanks, I clicked on that link and found exactly what I am looking for! I am going to do it and follow eating my exercise calories this week and take one week at a time. Its hard and never really did it.

    This could be what Jillian and Bob always talk about with contestants eating too little and scared to eat all these calories.. Me too!

    Here goes.......


    I've always wondered what the amount of calories the contestants on the Biggest Loser are supposed to eat? If anyone knows let me know as I would find that very interestings
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