I messed up, how much weight will I gain?

marissla
marissla Posts: 21
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi this is my first time being on this forum, and I recently joined (5 minutes ago) to get some help.
Okay, so I'm 19 and I don't move much at all. I just sit on the computer all day besides going to the kitchen to get some food...so I'm sedentary.
I have a bmr of 1402, and I over ate by eating 1600 calories. I exercised for an hour and burned 400 calories. The thing is I don't want to lose anymore weight, but I don't want to gain any either (well I could lose 1 or 2, but yeah). I don't know how much calories to eat, and I'm so scared to eat above my BMR. I feel that I ate 1600 calories I will gain lots of weight. It's only 5 P.M. here so I'm going to eat one more meal because 1. I go to sleep at 1 a.m. and 2. food is always on my mind because its so good. So how much weight will I gain because of eating over 500 calories than I usually do? I think by the end of the day I'll have 2000. My bmr is only 1400. Please help, thank you.
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Replies

  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    Zero. But maybe 20.
  • LeonCX
    LeonCX Posts: 862 Member
    edited October 2014
    I predict .0003476004 of a pound.

    Seriously though, you are obsessing with numbers, dear. One 500 calorie slip? Just forget it and look toward tomorrow.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    You would have to eat 3500 calories over what your body needs to maintain (TDEE) to gain 1 lb. So.... yeah... you probably won't gain anything.

    Don't be scared of calories. Your body needs them to fuel your everyday life sustaining functions.
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    Thanks for all the responses so far, but I'm still confused. Not sure if you guys are being serious or not, I'm new to fitness and calories and stuff. What is a TDEE? What is my TDEE? I'm very ignorant in this topic.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    If your BMR is 1400 you need to eat ABOVE 1400 calories. What's wrong with eating 1600 calories? Why not use MFP app, set it to MAINTAIN and see what it tells you to eat, and then eat that?
    Maybe I'm not understanding you, but 1600 calories is not a lot. 1600 calories, if your BMR is 1400 will not cause you to gain weight. What am I missing?
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
    Is this a joke?

    If not, you need to settle down and relax a little. First, you don't understand what a BMR is. If you want to maintain, you HAVE to eat more than that. Secondly, weight gain isn't a daily matter - in other words, you don't suddenly get fat by overeating one day - you get fat by overeating regularly. Yes, your weight will fluctuate but it is usually water weight. However, yo answer your questions, 3500 calories is 1 lb of fat, so if you eat 500 calories over, you will gain 1/7 of a lb (about 2.25 oz). It isn't really measuarable by your bathroom scale.
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
    Your BMR is what you would use calorie-wise if you were in a coma. Your TDEE is your BMR plus any movements you make - getting up to go to the bathroom, walking, driving, changing the channel on the TV, and exercise. Eating below your BMR can be detrimental. It is recommended that you calculate your TDEE and subtract 15%-20% and eat that number. Here's a great TDEE calculator that will get you started. http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    Too many numbers, but I think I'm getting a hang of it (haha....). So I did my TDEE and got 2149 calories to eat a day to maintain. I chose the moderate activity one because I exercise 3-5 hours a week, but it makes no sense. If my BMR is 1402 and I burn 400 calories at the gym 3-5 times a week, then why is it telling me to eat 2149? Wouldn't I be overeating by 300 calories? I really don't want to gain weight, I struggled with it my whole life, by gaining and losing, but I never was able to maintain...it's like a rollercoaster.
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
    Here we go:
    BMR : 1402
    TDEE: 2149
    TDEE less 20% : 1720

    1720 is what you need to eat to maintain a 20% calorie reduction, if you are exercising moderately 3-5 hours a week. If you ate 2149 while exercising 3-5 hpw, you would stay at your current weight. Eating at a 20% deficit is generally regarded as the best and safest way to lose in a sustainable fashion. Every 5-10 pounds you lose, you need to go back to that calculator and plug your numbers back in to get your new TDEE and deficit.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    marissla wrote: »
    Too many numbers, but I think I'm getting a hang of it (haha....). So I did my TDEE and got 2149 calories to eat a day to maintain. I chose the moderate activity one because I exercise 3-5 hours a week, but it makes no sense. If my BMR is 1402 and I burn 400 calories at the gym 3-5 times a week, then why is it telling me to eat 2149? Wouldn't I be overeating by 300 calories? I really don't want to gain weight, I struggled with it my whole life, by gaining and losing, but I never was able to maintain...it's like a rollercoaster.
    Eat 2000 and stop fretting. :)

  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
    edited October 2014
    Edited to note: You want to maintain! If you are doing moderate exercise for 3-5 hours a week, eat at 2100 and you'll be in maintenance. If you're not exercising, recalculate at the sedentary rate.
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    Okay I think I understand so far. But I have one more question. If I were not to exercise on a certain day would I eat less or would my TDEE still be 2149... it makes no sense because I don't get any exercise that day and I chose 3-5 moderately active, thank you.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    marissla wrote: »
    Okay I think I understand so far. But I have one more question. If I were not to exercise on a certain day would I eat less or would my TDEE still be 2149... it makes no sense because I don't get any exercise that day and I chose 3-5 moderately active, thank you.
    Try not to think in 24 hr increments. Your body doesn't reset at midnight.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited October 2014
    OP: you're overthinking it. Seriously. :) I get why, you're new to maintaining. But don't freak yourself out and become obsessed with each calorie. Please.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    marissla wrote: »
    Okay I think I understand so far. But I have one more question. If I were not to exercise on a certain day would I eat less or would my TDEE still be 2149... it makes no sense because I don't get any exercise that day and I chose 3-5 moderately active, thank you.

    If you're following the method on the scooby calculator, you eat the same amount everyday, regardless of exercise. It really streamlines everything for you that way. So if it says to eat 2149, you eat that amount every day (or close to it).
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    marissla wrote: »
    ...If my BMR is 1402 and I burn 400 calories at the gym 3-5 times a week, then why is it telling me to eat 2149? Wouldn't I be overeating by 300 calories?...

    No, you wouldn't. Your BMR is what your body would burn if you were in a coma or a deep sleep. Even if your life outside of exercise is sedentary, it probably isn't that sedentary! :)

    Your TDEE has the following components:

    BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate - note the "basal")
    NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) = what you expend above BMR through ordinary activity
    TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) = energy required to consume and digest food
    EAT (Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) = energy expended in deliberate exercise

    TEF can be significant; some foods take more energy to assimilate than others (e.g. fats are very easily digested, while proteins take more energy).

    Most online calculators that I have seen assume that BMR+NEAT+TEF = 1.2 * BMR. That, of course, is an assumption that might not be right for every person. Some people burn a couple hundred calories a day because they are fidgety.

    And keep in mind that all these calculations are only estimates. Just because a calculator says that the average person of your sex, height, age, and weight has a BMR of 1402 does not mean that your BMR is that. You need to compare the numbers against results, and adjust them if necessary. Example: I had MFP set to lose 1.5 lb./week. In my first few months, I actually lost about 1.1 lb./week. That means that there was a difference of 200 cal/day between reality and the estimates I was using: MFP's estimate of my BMR, TEF, and NEAT; my estimate of calories eaten; and my estimate (using HRMs) of EAT.

    Had I set my goal to 0.5 lb./week, I would have lost practically nothing, despite believing that I was 250 calories under maintenance.
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    edited October 2014
    Oh I see thank you so much! Thank you everyone else too. Should I just eat 2000 calories to be on the safe side? Because if I weren't to eat the 100 calories that means in a month I could lose one pound right? That's all I really want. I don't want to be fretting anymore calories. Thanks y'all :)
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    edited October 2014
    2nd post sorry
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
    2000 would be great. Watch your weight, and if it fluctuates one way or the other at the end of the month, adjust accordingly. Only slight adjustments should be needed at that range.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited October 2014
    pincushion14 wrote: »
    2000 would be great. Watch your weight, and if it fluctuates one way or the other at the end of the month, adjust accordingly. Only slight adjustments should be needed at that range.

    +1 eat 2000, and weigh yourself. If after a month the scale has gone up order (meaning the number is higher or lower than you like for 4-5 days (not one day), adjust by maybe50- 100 calories.
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  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    edited October 2014
    I'm 19 5'4 and I weigh 120 pounds. I workout (5 once in a while) - 6 times a week and I burn 400-450 calories each time.
    Is that TDEE too high or something? If you have more knowledge than me please let me know my mistake MrM27.
    edit: besides that I don't move around or anything but stay on the computer. On school days I get 20 minutes of walking from walking to class to class, but besides that all my activity is from working out
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Let it go and move on.
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    Hmm? He questioned if my TDEE is correct. I want it to be correct, so that I won't gain weight. He said it as if it was off by a lot, just need to make sure. Sorry if I seem bothersome.
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    I seriously doubt anyone is going to gain weight eating 1600 calories. Even with a really messed up metabolism, that just... doesn't seem probable. Your thinking worries me. It's bordering on disordered. You don't seem bothersome. For me, it's more worrisome. Because for most people (unless they are short, older, or really sedentary), 1600 is still a deficit. So, most people (with a few exceptions) would lose on 1600. Or, at the very least, maintain.
  • SomeNights246
    SomeNights246 Posts: 807 Member
    edited October 2014
    marissla wrote: »
    Oh I see thank you so much! Thank you everyone else too. Should I just eat 2000 calories to be on the safe side? Because if I weren't to eat the 100 calories that means in a month I could lose one pound right? That's all I really want. I don't want to be fretting anymore calories. Thanks y'all :)

    Yes. Start there, and adjust depending on how the scale moves within the next month or so. You may need to go down again, or even up (believe it or not). But that sounds more accurate than 1400.

    Don't stress over the calories this much. You'll set yourself up for disaster if you do so.
    (yes they're important, but I mean don't panic if you have a few off days - we all do. Once, I ate about 3000 in one day while maintaining. I didn't gain a lb. I gained 2 lbs right after, but ... after using the bathroom, it was gone. ;) )
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    edited October 2014
    Sorry I forgot to add lose. I meant to say maintain as well. I have eating problems I said up earlier that my weight has been a roller coaster. I'm just trying to make sure so I can go on a right path. I used to eat little to none because I didn't know what a calorie was, and I also would eat so much because of the same reason.
    edit:
    And I don't want to eat 1600 calories, I want to be able to eat more (lol) so that's why I'm curious.
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    I understand that I can adjust my calories, but what's worrying me is being off by a large amount. I want to be able to eat the right amount of calories and still feel satisfied, which I know how to do because I love cooking, but I also don't want to overeat calories when it's unnecessary, and I also don't want to undereat when I can eat more. This is why the whole TDEE thing is bothering me and I want it to be accurate :(
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    You are overthinking things and also need to remember that none of this is accurate per se. Even food packaging allows for inaccuracy in the calories they say the food contains. It is not an exact science. 2000 calories is what the average woman who is not very active tends to maintain on, or somewhere around there. There are exceptions of course, people who might maintain on less or more, but the only way you are going to truly find out what you will maintain at, is trying eating at 2000, seeing what happens over a few weeks, then adjusting it if your weight goes below or above where you want to be. No-one can give you an exact number.
  • marissla
    marissla Posts: 21
    edited October 2014
    Really? Dang. I'm sort of a perfectionist in everything, but I think this is one I have to let go. Thank you. I'll try the 2000 thing and weigh myself every Saturday morning. :)...and go on from there.

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