1600 calories a day - eating enough?

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calliope_music
calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
in Food and Nutrition
i have my daily goal set at 1600 cals. i usually make it there, and usually eat back most of my exercise calories. lately i have been very hungry lately. i'm getting better at distinguishing appetite vs. actual hunger, and i find my tummy actually growling. normally i can quiet it with water. i haven't been exercising more than usual lately, so i'm a bit confused. should i bump up the calories? i'm trying to rearrange my snacks so that i feel fuller longer. does anyone have insight as to what may be happening?

MFP tells me i should be eating 1900 calories a day, but i think that's wrong. my BMR is only around 2100 calories and i am trying to lose 2 lbs per week, so i should need a deficit of 500 cals/day. should i decrease to 1 lb loss per week?

BTW, i'm 5'9" and 291 lbs.

EDITED: i put down "lightly active" as while i do have a desk job, i still walk around the building a lot and do heavy workouts about 3-4 times per week.
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Replies

  • mls37390
    mls37390 Posts: 7
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    Listen to your body. if it tells you to eat, do it.
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
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    Your BMR is 2100 or your TDEE? They are two different animals.

    Your BMR is the minimum your body needs to fuel vital functions
    Your TDEE is the number you pull your deficit from.

    You can calculate both here: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ - After you calculate your BMR, scroll down and click on "Daily Calorie Needs".
  • NightOwl1
    NightOwl1 Posts: 881 Member
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    Remember, your BMR is not the same as your maintenance calories. MFP calculates maintenance calories for you based on your activity level and your BMR. So if your lifestyle is sedentary, lightly active, active, etc, MFP will set a different goal for you because of it. Since BMR only calculates how many calories you would burn if you stay in bed all day. So maybe that's where the disconnect is,

    As for hunger, it's not directly related to calorie consumption. It has to do with the amount of food you eat, not how many calories are in. I could scarf down a 2500 calorie burger combo at burger king, and be hungry two hours later, or I could eat vegetables and low calorie foods all day and have way less calories and be full. So if you think your calorie level is okay and you are feeling hungry, try to eat less calorie dense foods.
  • calliope_music
    calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
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    Your BMR is 2100 or your TDEE? They are two different animals.

    Your BMR is the minimum your body needs to fuel vital functions
    Your TDEE is the number you pull your deficit from.

    i used the BMR calculator on MFP and it told me i was at 2100 calories. i have never heard of the TDEE...can you explain it? i did a google search and it went over my head, haha.
  • skinimin
    skinimin Posts: 252 Member
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    one of the things for weight loss is you're supposed to eat less more often. so have your three meals a day and have a small snack in between each meal. you will need to make the size of your main meals smaller so that you don't go over your calories. the idea is that you're not actually supposed to get to stomach growling hungry because that's when your insulin spikes which leads to weight gain.
  • Amhogue323
    Amhogue323 Posts: 5
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    If you eat more calories, you will have to increase your exercise. You have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. If your eating back all of your exercise calories, you will not lose weight but you will mantain it. I would decrease to 1 pound per week, it's realistic and will get you where you wanna be.
  • carolww
    carolww Posts: 143 Member
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    Listen to your body. if it tells you to eat, do it.
    Not sure I agree. If I listened to my body I would be the size of a house! If you are feeling hungry, I would look at your food choices and make sure you are getting the best bang for buck for your calories. Protein seems to be quite filling and make sure your carb choices are high fibre too.
  • ebkins7
    ebkins7 Posts: 427 Member
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    If you eat more calories, you will have to increase your exercise. You have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. If your eating back all of your exercise calories, you will not lose weight but you will mantain it. I would decrease to 1 pound per week, it's realistic and will get you where you wanna be.

    Agree...
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    If you eat more calories, you will have to increase your exercise. You have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. If your eating back all of your exercise calories, you will not lose weight but you will mantain it. I would decrease to 1 pound per week, it's realistic and will get you where you wanna be.

    Where's this info coming from?
  • slp2112
    slp2112 Posts: 107
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    There are several possibilities. The simplest is that the amount of carbs you're eating is too high (so you never feel full) but I just took a peek at your diary and that doesn't seem to be the case. You could certainly try increasing your protein and seeing if that helps - protein is HUGE when it comes to really feeling full and satisfied.

    Depending on your workouts, you could have dropped fat and put on muscle, therefore increasing your resting metabolism and your demand for food. In this case, yes, up your calories!

    It could also be the timing/frequency of your meals, but from your post it seems as this isn't likely the solution either...

    It seems like you've identified this as real hunger, and to second a comment here, your body knows best - if you're hungry, you should eat. Plain and simple. (I've recently done this too - I've hit a plateau I'm trying to break and it occurred to me I've packed on several pounds of muscle in the last few months, but haven't started eating more -- oops!). How much you increase is your call. I can only tell you from personal experience that I've decided to start eating 50-100 calories more per day than I was before. I've only been doing it for 5 days though so can't give you any real results, other than to say, I still feel really great, still have tons of energy to put in hard works, and I'm struggling less with feeling hungry all the time (which can be so distracting!).
  • calliope_music
    calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
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    so i used the sitehttp://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ to calculate my BMR and also my daily caloric needs using the Harris Benedict equation. it gave me a daily caloric need of around 2400 calories. MFP tells me i should be eating 1900 per day. are they subtracting the 500 needed for a 1 lb loss per week with no exercise from the 2400 number? maybe i am just in shock, 1900 seems a bit too high.

    however, i am willing to experiment with trying that number to lose 2lbs/week. i currently weigh so much that a 2 lbs loss per week should be safe for me (my doctor also told me this).
  • applebottomjeans11
    applebottomjeans11 Posts: 46 Member
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    Here's my take on all of this. MFP has helped me lose weight and the calories it sets have helped me lose 1lb per day pretty much since I started. Definitely don't eat back the calories you burn off and eat the 1900 calories they have you set at. The more weight you lose the lower your calories will go to adjust for you to lose the weight to your goal.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    so i used the sitehttp://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ to calculate my BMR and also my daily caloric needs using the Harris Benedict equation. it gave me a daily caloric need of around 2400 calories. MFP tells me i should be eating 1900 per day. are they subtracting the 500 needed for a 1 lb loss per week with no exercise from the 2400 number? maybe i am just in shock, 1900 seems a bit too high.

    however, i am willing to experiment with trying that number to lose 2lbs/week. i currently weigh so much that a 2 lbs loss per week should be safe for me (my doctor also told me this).

    So now you see a difference between TDEE (daily caloric need) and BMR (calories your body would use even if you were in a coma). MFP takes your TDEE (for you, 2,400) and subtracts an amount, then uses the result as your daily goal.

    Losing 1lb per week = 3,500 less calories each week = 500 less each day = 2,400 - 500 = your 1,900 goal.
    This 1900 will work for you. But as you mentioned, if you are a bit farther on the overweight side, and have more lbs to lose, you can go with a 2lb per week loss.

    Losing 2lbs per week = 7,000 less calories each week = 1000 less each day = 2,400 - 1,000 = 1,400 goal.
    This might be very tough to do. I do a lot of exercise and have a very active job, and eating 1,400 a day is rough on me. I am much happier with an amount around 1,700. That is just my personal experience.

    If you set to 2lbs / week, goal of 1,400 a day AND you enter in exercise, please, please, please follow the design of the site, and eat the calories you EARN by doing exercise. It does NOT set you back, it does NOT destroy your weight loss. It fuels your body and helps you. This site is set up like this,

    Your goal (1400) + Exercise (let's say, 300) = your NEW goal (1700)
    eating your new goal will still result in a loss at the end of the week.

    I really have no idea why some folks are so vehemently against eating calories you earn thru exercise. It is, in the end, of course your personal choice. I am just trying to provide logic here to help you decide how to go about this.
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
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    Your BMR is 2100 or your TDEE? They are two different animals.

    Your BMR is the minimum your body needs to fuel vital functions
    Your TDEE is the number you pull your deficit from.

    i used the BMR calculator on MFP and it told me i was at 2100 calories. i have never heard of the TDEE...can you explain it? i did a google search and it went over my head, haha.

    You're not the first one to be confused by them. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/217700-confused-about-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-how-many-calories-you
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    Options
    so i used the sitehttp://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ to calculate my BMR and also my daily caloric needs using the Harris Benedict equation. it gave me a daily caloric need of around 2400 calories. MFP tells me i should be eating 1900 per day. are they subtracting the 500 needed for a 1 lb loss per week with no exercise from the 2400 number?

    This is correct.
  • calliope_music
    calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
    Options
    so i used the sitehttp://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ to calculate my BMR and also my daily caloric needs using the Harris Benedict equation. it gave me a daily caloric need of around 2400 calories. MFP tells me i should be eating 1900 per day. are they subtracting the 500 needed for a 1 lb loss per week with no exercise from the 2400 number? maybe i am just in shock, 1900 seems a bit too high.

    however, i am willing to experiment with trying that number to lose 2lbs/week. i currently weigh so much that a 2 lbs loss per week should be safe for me (my doctor also told me this).

    So now you see a difference between TDEE (daily caloric need) and BMR (calories your body would use even if you were in a coma). MFP takes your TDEE (for you, 2,400) and subtracts an amount, then uses the result as your daily goal.

    Losing 1lb per week = 3,500 less calories each week = 500 less each day = 2,400 - 500 = your 1,900 goal.
    This 1900 will work for you. But as you mentioned, if you are a bit farther on the overweight side, and have more lbs to lose, you can go with a 2lb per week loss.

    Losing 2lbs per week = 7,000 less calories each week = 1000 less each day = 2,400 - 1,000 = 1,400 goal.
    This might be very tough to do. I do a lot of exercise and have a very active job, and eating 1,400 a day is rough on me. I am much happier with an amount around 1,700. That is just my personal experience.

    If you set to 2lbs / week, goal of 1,400 a day AND you enter in exercise, please, please, please follow the design of the site, and eat the calories you EARN by doing exercise. It does NOT set you back, it does NOT destroy your weight loss. It fuels your body and helps you. This site is set up like this,

    Your goal (1400) + Exercise (let's say, 300) = your NEW goal (1700)
    eating your new goal will still result in a loss at the end of the week.

    I really have no idea why some folks are so vehemently against eating calories you earn thru exercise. It is, in the end, of course your personal choice. I am just trying to provide logic here to help you decide how to go about this.

    thank you! i actually set it to a 2 lbs/week loss and it told me 1880 calories net was what i could eat per day. this was factoring in a minimum of 3 workouts at 30 minutes per week. i will start upping calories tomorrow, and try upping it for a week and see what happens. if i see a gain i will simply adjust again!
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    Perfect attitude! :smile: This is all a work in progress, and trying out different paths to your goal is the best way to deal with it. Awesome!

    P.s. I'm from Medina! I miss wandering Cleveland, a great city!
  • GreenTeaForDays
    GreenTeaForDays Posts: 166 Member
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    http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=bmr+30+year+old+woman+5'9"+291+pounds

    assuming your 30 years old, your "sedentary" energy expenditure would be 2,524 calories leaving you at about 2,000 calories a day to lose 2 lbs/wk.

    If I were you I would up your calories to at least 1,900 if you are feeling hungry.
  • mideon_696
    mideon_696 Posts: 770 Member
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    my advise. forget all that calculator stuff.

    keep eating you're 1900/day NET cals. if you are eating right etc and the scale doesnt move in the direction you see as favourable, then modifiy the calories by 100 or so and test for another week or two...

    If after a month at 1900 the weight is coming off slower expected/want(say only 1/2 lb per week), take another 100 out.

    Best bet is to always experiment. and this can take time and patience. You have yourself a starting point. so go from there.
  • Calidaho
    Calidaho Posts: 110 Member
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    I am six feet tall and my Dr and his nutritionist outlined a 1400 calorie a day diet--regardless of exercise. They say that if I am feeling hungrier on exercise days to eat an extra 100 calories to see if that helps, if not, another 100 calories. They didn't suggest eating back the exercise deficit.

    Something that helps me is having a good dose of protein with every meal and snack. Not Atkins protein but a 3-5 oz serving of fish, chicken or meat with lunch and dinner, a high protein shake for breakfast, some string cheese for a morning snack and some sort of protein for afternoon snack. I eat under 200 calorie protein bars in the afternoon because it is convenient to keep one in my purse. Nuts or unsweetened Greek yogurt (with some truvia) is also a good afternoon snack option.

    I also only eat one serving of carbs with lunch and dinner. 1 cup of pasta, 1/2 cup rice or a 100 calorie sandwich thin (mainly, I sometimes have a whole wheat pita or a little more rice for dinner depending on what else I am eating.

    Anyway, lean protein, sensible servings of carbs. That has really helped me stick to my 1400 calories (seriously, I think I have gotten to 1600 calories only a few times in the last couple of months.

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